Home > Consumer Reviews > Kenwood VR-505 Surround Sound Receiver

This is a great receiver with lots of sound options as well as input/output nodes. It has everything including fiber optic input. Kenwood makes great audio equipments and this is one of them,

I've had this receiver since 2001 and it is good (not great, not terrible). The sound produced is fine, the power is fine, the fact that it has a lot of inputs (including 1 (or 2?) digital) is convenient and it is easy to set up. I have had some problems with the CD (not digital) inputs on several different pieces. All in all, it is fine for a receiver, great for the money, but now there is much better out there (if you have the cash). Considering you can get this for under $200, why not?

Has ample power and features. The bad part is that is has no bass, treble, or equalizer settings that can be changed. If you like to fine tune and play with different settings, this is not the receiver. If you want a receiver that has Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround etc this will do the job for you.

Good power, specially in movies. In music is a little flat. For the price is not bad, but what you save in this piece, you will spend it in speakers to achieve good musical sound. Dont even try to listen to music in the 5.1 (dolby prologic)mode. It will sound like if it was comming out of a can. If you are a music enthusiastic, I would consider another more upscale brand like Harman Kardon or Denon. But for cinema is very good. The DTS and Dolby Digital decoders sound very potent and clear. Is very easy to set up and tune.

I know I'm hopelessly out-of-date, but would it kill these guys to put bass, treble, and balance knobs on the front panel?

Actually, in general, my complaint is that this receiver, like many other digital audio products, severely limits one's ability to make these basic adjustments. Failing to put a few simple knobs on the front panel does NOT make it a better product, just a cheaper one for them to manufacture.