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Product Description Denon has long been one of the elite names in home theater receivers, offering a combination of advanced technologies and user-friendly features that transform even the most mundane living rooms into rich, powerful audio environments. Now Denon has updated its audio and video circuitry to produce the AVR-888 7.1-channel receiver, which delivers high-end surround performance in a mid-priced body. The AVR-888 incorporates such features as HDMI v1.3 inputs and outputs, which allow the receiver to play back many of today's leading audio/video formats; low THD rated amplifiers that deliver pure, clean, high-power sound for enhanced listening enjoyment, even through demanding speakers; serial I/O control ports for better integration into home control systems; and Denon's Audyssey MultEQ calibration process, which makes setup easier than ever.

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Under the Hood: Component Technology

With a power output of 100 watts per channel, the AVR-888 multizone 7.1 receiver can handle a variety of audio applications.

The AVR-888 offers a power output of 100 watts per channel, but adds a number of engineering advancements to get the most out of the technology. One of the most significant--7-Channel Equal Power--lets you connect seven speakers independently without connecting individual power amps via pre-outs. That's because the AVR-888 comes with a built-in internal amplifier for each speaker in your collection. This makes it possible to do things like connect a second surround back speaker directly off the main amplifier to play 7.1 surround formats. The receiver also boasts a 32-bit floating-point digital signal processor (DSP) to improve audio quality.

In addition, the receiver is equipped to handle the latest in HD video support, with such features as Deep Color up to 36 bit, 1080p video pass-through, 10-bit encoding and decoding, and Faroudja DCDi video processing. The latter employs advanced algorithms to remove the jagged edges that appear when standard interlaced video is viewed on progressive scan displays.

Diverse Sound Modes

As with the best surround receivers, the AVR-888 is capable of reproducing a host of 5.1-, 6.1-, and 7.1-channel audio formats, with several processing technologies layered over the top. In addition to providing standard Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic II formats, the receiver also supports Pro Logic IIx, which allows 5.1-channel sources to be played in up to 7.1 channels, and the expanded multichannel capabilities of DTS 96/24, Neo:6 Surround, and DTS-ES Extended Surround, all of which improve the digital surround impression for 5.1 or 6.1 channels.

To assist with film soundtracks, the receiver offers a Cinema Equalizer that corrects for the placement of your speakers vs. the way they're placed in the movie theater. Theaters that locate their front speakers behind the movie screen tend to emphasize the high frequencies, which can sound too strong in a home with a conventional surround setup. Denon amplifiers adjust the high-frequency range so that the sound is cleaner and easier to listen to than uncorrected audio. Listeners can also improve the image detail of their audio sources using Neural Surround technology. This audio breakthrough--which is 100-percent compatible with stereo--offers superior spectral resolution and channel separation, thereby drawing the brain's attention to the sonic details in musical instruments, vocals, and ambience that are typically masked by other playback systems. This allows the listener to fully experience the richness and subtleties in recorded performance as never before. Neural Surround is the chosen format for XM satellite radio's XM HD surround programming. Finally, the receiver offers a seven-channel stereo mode that enables top-quality two-channel stereo output through your surround speakers.

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Convenience Features

The AVR-888 offers 2 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output, and a host of other connectivity options.

Modern A/V receivers are increasingly designed for multi-room listening, and the AVR-888 is no exception. The two-zone, multisource system lets you select different audio sources for listening in different locations, letting you simultaneously listen to the DVD player in the main room and the iPod in the bedroom, for example. The receiver also offers compressed audio restoration, an audio technology that restores the fidelity of compressed MP3, WMA, and AAC formats to reproduce a higher frequency range and deeper bass performance. And to make iPod playback easier, you can connect the receiver to Denon's separately sold ASD-1R iPod docking station, which lets you control your iPod through the receiver's display.

Other user-friendly features include XM satellite radio compatibility (requires a subscription and an optional plug-and-play XM antenna), a night mode for neighbor-friendly listening, an auto surround mode, and a volume limiter that lets you set maximum volume levels.

Connectivity and Setup

The AVR-888 offers a host of inputs and outputs for connecting to diverse audio and video sources. The most significant is HDMI v1.3a, the digital interface standard for next-generation TV. With the receiver's two HDMI inputs and one HDMI monitor output, you can easily connect to such devices as HDTVs, DVD players, video game consoles, and cable and satellite boxes, each through a single cable that handles both high-definition video and multichannel audio signals. HDMI is also compatible with High-bandwidth Digital Contents Protection (HDCP), a technology for protecting copyrights that encrypts digital video signals. If your components don't offer HDMI outputs, you still have plenty of options, however, as the receiver also offers three component inputs, five S-video and five composite inputs, six total digital audio inputs (three optical and three coaxial), and nine analog audio inputs.

The receiver also lets you input multichannel audio signals, whether in high-definition MUSE 3-1, SACD, or DVD-Audio formats, via the eight-channel input. Made using eight standard RCA cables--one each for front left, front right, center, surround left, surround right, surround back left, surround back right, and subwoofer--the eight-channel input receives discrete analog audio signals via a digital source such as a DVD player, creating an immersive multichannel audio performance.

Setting up the AVR-888 is easier than ever thanks to Denon's Audyssey technologies. Audyssey Equalized was the first technology to properly measure sound information throughout a listening area, and then combine the information to accurately represent the acoustic problems in the room. Based on these measurements, Audyssey calculates an equalization solution that corrects for both time and frequency response problems. Denon also employs Audyssey MultEQ XT technology, which automatically determines how many loudspeakers are connected, whether they are connected in phase, and whether they are satellites or subwoofers. After processing, it then analyzes all the physical details--speaker level, size, and distance--and determines the correct frequency response for up to eight listener positions simultaneously. It's a must for people who want to get the most out of their surround systems.