Later, as there is a "firefight" in space, the purposefully muted sounds of the vacuum-inhibited explosions and gunfire gave birth to a "leaf on the wind" dogfight scene with over the top flybys and metallic crunches as enemy ships collided and the Firefly ship ran the gauntlet to get through an enemy blockade. The conclusion of this scene was phenomenal as the ship "glides" to a landing on the planet below.

DVD: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume Two
In this animated prequel to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith , a rich musical score combines with sound effects worthy of Benn Burtt to make a dynamic front stage and surround presentation. Unlike the Volume One animated series, this volume comes in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround. The outer space battle sequences were filled with dramatic vehicle-bys and laser turrets which ripped from the center channel to the surround back speakers (using Dolby Pro Logic IIx: Cinema overlay).

When Coruscant is attacked by the separatists, the gut-rupturing sounds of large carrier ships filled the screen and a low-height chase sequence brought back memories of the original Star Wars Death Star sequence as ships raced through the city, dodging in and out of buildings.

Subtleties were also appreciated. In the scene where General Grievous kidnaps Senator Palpatine, there is a period of time where the guardian Jedi are waiting for an elevator. There is a significant amount of blaster fire and lightsaber action down the hall. The ambience in the room and the off-screen action are perfectly placed and the lack of audible noise is almost uncanny. A lesser receiver with less dynamic range would not be able to effect such a dramatic difference in dynamics and I appreciated the low noise floor of the Denon.

The Denon AVR-4306 is jaw-dropping. This is the type of receiver you can put into your system and keep for a long, long time. With the introduction of USB and Internet radio support it is like getting a streaming media device for free - allowing for an almost endless source of free music for parties and casual listening. On the high-end, its underrated power capabilities and noise-free performance is sure to satisfy even the most discriminating audiophile. Try the Audyssey room EQ system, but don't count on it being the magic bullet for every room, especially with their latest round of changes which seemed to dull the low and high frequency system response. We left it off for most of our listening tests and were a bit disappointed that they haven't yet ironed out these issues.

Denon has scored several goal-winning points in the last several years, and the AVR-4306 may actually be a product that hits the mark for many consumers looking for an affordable high end product to control their home theater system. I would highly HIGHLY recommend this receiver to anyone looking for the best performance and feature set available for a receiver under $2000. This is a true benchmark, trend setting product!