Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on an HD disc is actually the second-most anticipated launch of 2007. Top of that exalted list is Denon's AVR-1907.

Why? Well, according to my mates in AV retail, many of whom actually have my credit card details on their mortgage documents, Denon's previous sub-£400 receiver was a proverbial hot cake.

In some shops the AVR-1906 outsold all other budget receivers ten to one - and rightly so, as it was a cracker, a first-class bargain. No pressure then.

The all-new AVR-1907 comes to the test bench promising more features, more power, and even better value - sort of. Number one point of contention is that the price has actually risen from £330 to £400, which is the wrong side of an inflation-busting 20 per cent increase. Ouch.

This is the 'full asking price', of course, and there are some damn fine deals to be had if it is purchased with a Denon DVD player as a package.

Power up

The good news is power is up - just. Output is up by 5W per channel to 85W, as verified by our Tech Labs... which should make absolutely no difference at all. However, there is no change to the basics. The chassis is identical, the setup, OSD and fascia are exactly the same and the decoding set is likewise verbatim. Indeed, you could count the changes from the previous model on one hand without needing your thumb.

Looking under the lid I am getting serious amplifier deja vu. But, hold the phone. Surely if you were going to implement any major upgrade from the previous model you would address the one and only gripe I had about the AVR-1906 - namely that it didn't have HDMI.

Of course, it's obvious! Well, not to Denon's engineers apparently, because the AVR-1907 remains stoically devoid of HDMI switching. Up against similarly-priced models from the likes of Onkyo, resplendent in their HDMI switching and in some cases HDMI upconversion, the budget king's crown is starting to slip.

So on the face of it, this year's model is a lot like last year's model. Underwhelming? Possibly, but let's take a moment of quiet, retrospective contemplation.