Denon AVR-X3800H Review

[twistedin]

Just received my refurb x3700h yesterday. This makes me feel even better about my purchase.

 

[DavidK442]

 

[Karls_speaker_works]

Seems in-line with expectations - possibly 2-3dB less than I expected. No change in plans for me. I'll be picking one up in a few weeks once I've finished getting my new OLED TV set-up.

 

[dlaloum]

Seems like we are seeing the measured results of the step down in DAC quality...
I expect these results would be roughly the same as the late production batches of X3700, after the were forced to change the DAC's.

Sad that they could not wait a couple more months for AKM's DAC's to be available again.

 

[Beershaun]

It is frustrating to see these pre-amp sections with such low output and a "it's fine" attitude. My SVS subwoofers react measurably and significantly audibly different to my old Denon AVR pre-amp output vs. my Anthem MRX1140 pre-amp output. Specifically, auto turn on function is not engaged until there is some huge explosion or big bass hit. Meaning at normal listening levels there is little to no signal going to the subwoofers and I'm losing the information during playback. They even sometimes go back to sleep in the middle of a movie or music! Where with my Anthem they fire up right away and provide clear audible low frequency information and never go back to sleep. We need higher output voltage for our subwoofers.

Also, I can't get behind year over year regression in engineering quality and performance. It is a bad practice to take something away from your customers.

 

[Chrispy]

And this got a 5 star review on What HiFi

They quote:

"Streaming SBTRKT’s Trials Of The Past, the AVC-X3800H delivers a surprisingly nuanced musical performance with an assured attack at the start of each synth note and the envelope of each reverb tail given space to breathe. The hefty bass is solidly controlled, while at the top end of the spectrum, the shakers are nicely defined and spread wide"

Gotta love that level of creative writing one way or the other

 

[Beershaun]

Also, I am annoyed to see the continued HDMI noise leakage. This should be a solved problem by now and it's the most common connection for these devices.

 

[DHT 845]

I hope 1700h measures better

 

[respice finem]

Sad. "Wartime production"?
This kind of confirms my attitude of never buying anything new on the market, at least not before having seen it tested.

 

[Stokdoof]

In the past one could trust Japanese products to be the best of the best but those days are over.

 

[GXAlan]

As I noted, I ran the measurements by Denon so no bad cap this time.

I missed that line when speed reading. Thanks for clarifying.

Sort of frustrating. If they called it a X3750 or X3702 and priced it differently, expectations may have been different!

 

[Vovgan]

Thank you so much for this review, Chief! This was the one I was most waiting for.

Is it possible to see the same graph how the SINAD degrades after ~1.4 volts as for the 3700 model? I am usually happy in my room with volume around 77-78 for movies, and if it’s close to what 3700 was I’d go for it when Dirac arrives. Thank you!

 

[Lukino]

Lovers of tube amplifiers will get their money's worth... the worse it measures, the greater the space, dynamics, temperature.... Aren't you happy... free tube power... Thanks Amir for the measurement. You always hit the nail on the head.

 

[napfkuchen]

Thanks for the review. For my needs (Auto 3D, 5.1.4 single subwoofer setup) a used 3700X should be just as good and costs "only" 900 Euro.

 

[voodooless]

For anyone thinking to pick up a better performing X3700H for less, you’re out of luck. Performance will be about the same because both units use the same DAC chip now.

I see nothing unexpected here. It basically performs only a bit worse than the DAC datasheet.

 

[amirm]

Is it possible to see the same graph how the SINAD degrades after ~1.4 volts as for the 3700 model?

??? I already showed SINAD up to 2 volts:

Are you asking for something else?

 

[Sancus]

I hope 1700h measures better

It won't, the lineup to the 4800H uses the same DAC and probably a very similar implementation. Only the A1H is different.

 

[192kbps]

Are there any gold samples for the X3600H/X3700H?

 

[notabenem]

Who knows if X3700H that you can get these days actually perform better? The revised version hasn't been measured, to my knowledge.

 

[voodooless]

Who knows if X3700H that you can get these days actually perform better? The revised version haven't been measured, to my knowledge.

It will probably be the same as this one.