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Rating: 
Summary: Before you jump on the ¿Deal of the century" Read On...
Review: I have owned the Kenwood VR- 6060 for about 6 months now. . I was a very proud new owner when I bought this unit, but little by little I have become disenchanted with my 6060. The VR6060 is one step below the VR-6070. The only difference mainly being the THX sticker on the front panel of the VR6070. They share the same amplifier section and pretty much the same spec sheet, and almost all the same inputs/outputs. When I bought the 6060, I did not see the [price] difference between the two models and neither did the Audio tech selling the unit to me, he said I may be better off without THX, because THX limits your subwoofer crossover control to 80hz. (But that's a subject for a different review), and you have no control of the Subwoofer crossover with either Kenwood, pardon my digression here... The thing you really have to know here is that with these Kenwood's you have very little control of the setup. This may not sound important if you are new to Home Theater, but it is. Every room has different sonic characteristics, every set of speakers sounds a little different. With other receivers that sell for what the 6070 originally retailed for, you have control of these elements of the setup. With the Kenwood's you have very little control of anything, and the manual is of little or no help. Now that they are last years models, and are selling out the stock, does not make them worth more, no it just means they sell cheaper. One of the main problems with the 6060/6070 is the less than clean rear channel amplifier sections. "Note: The Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) rating for the Left Surround and Right Surround amplifiers is 0.7%" This has to let you know that the rear surrounds are getting more than boom and bang, they are getting hiss and flutter as well! (The {THD} for the front speakers is .09%.) Another limitation in the Kenwood-6060/6070 line is the very poor video switching and component bandwidth capability. The Component bandwidth @ 10mhz is what really has gotten me off of Kenwood's bandwagon. Think about signal degradation occurring when video signals run through a HT receiver. This was a factor that I did not consider when I bought my Kenwood VR-6060. I routed all of my video through the receiver and everything worked as I thought it should. I was quite happy with my setup and yes, the S.O. thought I had too many "toys". Having the ability to control all of your inputs with one remote and select source material and the touch of a button is what todays HT receivers are so phenominal at doing. The ones that don't get overloaded with the source material that is... I would notice the video signal dropping out on my T.V. like a I was viewing a bad video tape. I was playing brand new DVD's in my Sony CX-850D and it would occur regularily. It occured especially during demanding portions of video/audio portions in the DVD's like the explosive scenes in XXX or the battle scene at the beginning of Gladiator etc. I thought I had a laser alignment problem with the Sony DVD player. But then I also noticed in digital programming from my local Time Warner Cable Company, when changing channels the signal would be pixilated from the top of the screen on my 32"RCA T.V. slowly top to the bottom, almost like watching a slow screensaver on a computer monitor. I looked into this problem a bit further and discovered that my Kenwood 6060 only has 10Mhz of component video bandwidth available. Quote below from Crutchfield website. "Component Video Bandwidth" "The bandwidth available to send component video signals to your receiver. You'll need bandwidth over 10 MHz to pass on progressive-scan video without noticeable softening of the picture. And for HDTV signals, you'll need bandwidth in the upper 20s or higher to avoid noticeable softening of the picture (with most TVs)" I am assuming that the entire video hardware in my Kenwood is less than spectacular. When your DVD's flip and shutter during action scenes because of limited bandwidth, and when you're watching a digital TV signal pixilated down the screen like a slow screensaver when you change channels. And then when you are listening/Watching to the DTS DVD "Eagles Hell Freezes Over" and you want to exercise your Cerwin Vega LS-10's, the amplifier section clips out on heat protect and shuts down the whole receiver, which is very hot to the touch, even though you have gone to the trouble of purchasing a 110v cooling fan to keep your temperamental Kenwood cool. In addition to running the whole setup on clean power with a battery backup and voltage regulation. Then it's time to trade! After only 6 months I have outgrown this receiver, or it has failed me. Either way a change is in the works! Today I placed an order for a brand new Sony DA4ES, which has 50hz of component video bandwidth (along with a lot of other specs that the Kenwood cannot match up to). I am chalking up my faux paux as a life lesson; I had thought I was getting a good deal with the Kenwood. I only proved that you get what you pay for.
So... Check your spec's before you jump on the "deal of the century" surround sound receiver. It may not be up to the tasks you may expect from it. Especially you other Kenwood brethren out there unless you own, or are looking at a Sovereign line Kenwood, keep shopping.
Rating: 
Summary: Kenwood Kicks...With This Receiver !
Review: Wow ! wow and wow ! is the only word at the moment I can think of after utilizing this receiver for my dvd theatre surround applications. This impressive 100 watt (per all channels surround and stereo)system may not have the pretty ergonomic streamlined face of the pricier more competetive upper echelon models;What it lacks in that category it wins with it's amazing performance ! The most important primary feature is it's capability of decoding ,if not all, most of the more desirable and latest movie surround code formats in 6.1 (DTS ES, Dolby Dital EX, THX ES, etc., etc.).What all this means is that a 6th back surround channel can be hooked up as a matrix or discrete channel, depending on the surround encoded material, for an overwhelming 360 wraparound experience. Some may roll their eyes or grind their teeth (after only purchasing a normal 5.1 decoding receiver but the payoff with the Kenwood 6070 is immense). This receiver meets and wears the Lucasfilm THX Select certification badge with pride. What the THX means is that this system brings as close as possible the sonic characteristics or qualities found or heard in a THX certified movie theatre (on a smaller scale for in home use of course).It meets Mr. Lucas' approval and that of his movie-sound engineer designers for a more realistic and natural approach to enjoying a film sonically as was intended by the film sound engineers/creators.When the 6070 is used in normal stereo playback mode for cds or tuner the sound is warm and natural with smooth highs and tight but not soft thumping bass. The remote is a behemoth loaded with all sorts of features and buttons. While the remote looks busy and complicated with the plethora of buttons and joystick it feels comfortable in the palm. It is a universal and smart learning remote which means that it will control functions from other basic video name brand sources of tvs, dvd players, cd players, etc. In some cases the remote from another source can be held up to the Kenwood's infrared emitter remote and will read the other's coded information (with the succession of pushing a few buttons on the Kenwood remote). The lcd readout screen on top of the remote shows which source is currently in use. However, for a remote this size Kenwood could have made it backlit. Remote also operates on a radio frequency for long distance use if your moving around the house. Here are the only cons, though. There is no Tape 2 loop monitor if you're thinking of hooking up a graphic equalizer (much to my shock when I tried to hook my old Optimus RadioShack equalizer !) Theoretically, an equalizer is overkill and does not need to be hooked up to these newer digital surround receivers due to the fact that the high quality resolution playback of cds and dvds is bright to begin with. Much to the dismay of audiophiles it's another one of those darn systems with built in EQ settings(Music,Cinema,Normal, etc.)Basically, no fine tuning or sound tweaking can be done by the user. Also, when the optical digital signal is decoded or signaled through the receiver any type of equalization would be defeated in place for the pure digital signal. An equalizer would be like tossing salt on a chef's well prepared meal for his guests without tasting it first (it's practically an insult). There is also no balance knob or control for 2 channel stereo analog processing (more and more manufacturers are getting lazy in the basic control functions category these days). However, there are basic tone and bass functions available for 2 stereo channel operation that is done only in increments of 2 up to 10 along with a loudness control. While the Kenwood 6070 may seem overwhelming both in its features and controls (and trust me it is)the time spent on learning how to operate this finely crafted system will surely pay off with it's exceptional performance on almost every level !
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Price for a THX Select Receiver
Review: Yes it is true. While other brands are asking up to 1K+ (even 2k+) for a THX Select Certified receiver, Kenwood offers this new product for around [amount]. Are there compromises? Of course, but are those compromises important? - NOT AT ALL. This receiver is Dolby Digital EX, DTS NEO, THX EX and Prologic II and Circle surround. They didn't left anything out. Has 6 outputs/ 100w/each. Has three optical and coaxial inputs, may control room B speakers (same source), has a nice although funky-looking multi-funtion RF (yes RF! AND IR to control other devices) remote control and is energy-star compliant. The compromises; well it has no OSD (On Screen Display), the remote control forces you to select the device to be controlled (well this is a real pain) and... Hah! those are the only compromises. Today Dolby Digital performance is well executed even in $[amount] receivers. But DTS ES AND THX EX... That's were this baby delivers the goods in such films as Attack of the Clones and Gladiator. Yes, it uses a single power module... good enough to earn THX Select certification. Highly recommended. Buy it. Nothing better for the price this 2002 Christmas.
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