Denon S-101 DVD Home Entertainment System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Under entirely different circumstances, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with the two other reviews posted for the Denon S101 DVD Home Theater. While the product works, the picture and sound are wonderful, the units are compact and a joy to look at.

But something has happened after a few months of owning my S101 which is making me rethink my opinion of it as a product and of Denon in general.

First, the remote control died. I tried changing the batteries, but to no avail. Then, one fine day, my unit simply stopped turning on. The little red light ring around the "Power" button would shine, but there was no way of powering up the unit, either by pressing the button or by using the remote control.

I called Denon a couple of times to ask about sending the unit in for inspection and warranty service (remember, I had only owned it for less than half a year). Those phone calls involved my spending some very irksome half hours on hold, listening to tinned Haydn and Vivaldi and automated messages. On a third attempt, I managed to get a real human being by hitting "0". I finally got instructions as to what I had to do to get my S101 looked at.

I spent $75 to send the unit to Denon via UPS for warranty service. The unit was repaired and sent back to me before two weeks were up.

My happiness with this first outcome wouldn't last very long. Next thing you know, the S101 is dead once again. I try e-mailing and calling Denon about it. It takes some doing--days of doing, in fact, for me to get another human being on the phone, who arranges for UPS to pick up the system at my home and promises me satisfaction, apologizing profusely for the many phone calls I had to make and e-mails I had to write to get some service.

That was some five weeks ago.

Since last week I've been trying to reach Denon. I've subjected myself to plenty of baroque music and recorded "All of our representatives are busy" messages. I was given some promises of assitance by the one real person to whom I spoke. But five days into the affair, I'm not hearing anything from Denon. They have my on-the-fritz S101. I want it back. Will they return it, ever? Is a month a reasonable time for anyone to have to wait for warranty service? Shouldn't customer service be more available to customers, given that Denon is a company that enjoys a certain prestige?

All these are questions I'm asking myself as I wait to get my S101 back, or at least to get an explanation as to why it's taking so long.

Lest anyone think this has nothing to do with "reviewing" the actual S101, I think warranty service and user satisfaction need to play a huge part in any real assessment of a piece of consumer electronics.

Caveat emptor, etc.

Meanwhile, I wait for Godot.

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Product Description:
The Denon S-101 is a rock-solid DVD home-theater system that's easy to set up, easy to use, and easy on the eyes. But what really sets it apart from other systems in its class is its ability to bring a very big sound -- and even big pictures -- out of Apple's tiny iPod.

The attractive S-101 home-theater DVD system delivers big sound and big pictures -- even from a tiny iPod. View larger.
Shoebox-sized DVD player takes up very little room. View larger.
Back panel includes plenty of inputs and outputs for all your home-theater component needs. View larger.
Handy, well-designed remote control. View larger. The first thing you'll see upon opening the box is Denon's language-free quick-start guide, which breaks set-up into seven easy, illustrated steps. We were able to get to a DVD menu within about 10 minutes of cracking the tape seal on our box. The system is comprised of two speaker panels (including hardware for table or wall mounting), a desktop PC-sized subwoofer, the player, a remote, and all the connections you'll need for a basic video set-up. The player itself is about the size of a shoebox (15-by-4-by-10 inches) and includes inputs and outputs for composite, S-video, component, and optical connections. Three auxiliary ports allow you to add game systems, disc writers, or other home-theater components.
To finish the set-up, the remote's help button summons an awesome on-screen guide to help with everything from switching between DVD and audio functions to positioning the speakers. The remote is well designed; the most frequently used buttons sit in uncluttered arrangement while specialty buttons and a number pad hide behind an access door underneath. Play, pause, track, search, and volume buttons glow in the dark and are easy to feel--a must-have while watching movies in a darkened home theater.
The most interesting feature of this system, however, is its connectivity to the Apple iPod. More than just playing music, the S-101 can actually control the device through the system's remote and allow you to browse music files or watch iPod photos on your TV -- all while recharging your iPod's battery. The system even includes a stereo miniplug port for connecting other digital music players.
Audio from the unit is outstanding. The system puts out a crisp sound, even at ear-splitting volume, thanks largely to the 100-watt subwoofer. Denon eschewed the myriad cords of satellite speakers in favor of Dolby's Virtual Speaker technology, which was designed to create a virtual sound field using only two front speakers. The effect is quite nice once it's fine-tuned with the on-screen audio set-up, but we found it lacking the fine spatial details of 5.1 surround-sound systems. Note that it also lacks the complicated set-up and wiring of those systems, which makes for a more even trade off.
The S-101 has at its heart a progressive-scan DVD player that loads commercial DVDs in about 19 seconds and recordable DVDs in about 21 seconds. A little bit of DVD spin noise leaks out of the top air vent, but placing the unit in a cabinet or a bookshelf could easily baffle the sound. The unit's ability to tune radio and play Kodak picture CDs makes the S-101 a bit like the Swiss Army knife of digital entertainment.
It's not without some faults, however. We were able to play MP3 and Windows Media (WMA) files from a data CD-R that was burned through Windows Media 9, but another data CD-R burned with Roxio software was unrecognizable to the system--even though the disc had been verified in Windows XP, Macintosh OS X, and an older, low-end KLH disc player. We were pleased to see the system's FM tuner supports Radio Data System (RDS)--a way of sending station identification and other snippets of information over standard FM waves--in its front panel display, but it neglects to use that same display to convey song IDs from digital music files being played. To see song titles, you must turn on the TV. --Porter B. Hall

What's in the Box
Player, left and right front speakers, subwoofer, remote control unit, iPod cable, AM and FM radio antennae, speaker stands, speaker wall brackets, instructions, warranty, system cables, RCA-type component video cable.

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