FedEx finally delivered my new 3800H, so I immediately unpacked it, installed it and performed the initial setup. Here are my first impressions, after just a few hours of playing with it:
- It is lighter and not as deep as the Yamaha RX-A6A (which I evaluated back in the spring), so easier to set up and make connections at the back.
- I thought that unlike the A6A plastic front panel, the 3800H's one will be made of aluminum, but that does not appear to be the case. Also, I expected a tilting lower front plate to hide additional controls, but there is none. However, unlike in the A6A there is no plastic panel at the top (prone to scratching, even at the factory), which is a good thing.
- The display is an old style fluorescent instead of LED or LCD, so I am not sure about its durability.
- I followed the setup procedure to the letter. One thing that really surprised me was that it required the user to connect speakers to the AVR when powered on (!).
- The Audyssey MultEQ XT32 requires a min. of 3 measurements in different listening positions, which does not make much sense (an HT with just one chair instead of a wider sofa should also be supported with just 1 measurement). The cardboard mic stand does the job, but it is somewhat flimsy and susceptible to be toppled. (I do appreciate the "greenness" of it, though.)
- Audyssey-determined crossover frequencies are too high. My center channel and surround speakers are THX certified, so they all perform adequately down to exactly 80 Hz. But Audyssey set the center crossover at 120 Hz and, strangely, the surround (speakers much smaller than the 3-way center one) at a lower 110 Hz.
- I do not have a subwoofer in my setup because my L/R front speakers easily reproduce low frequencies down to 24 Hz. So far, I have not been able to find an explicit setting (which exists on the A6A) to direct the LFE channel to those speakers, although Audyssey correctly determined them to be "large."
- The corrections Audyssey set for the L/R front speaker are rather unacceptable (bass is largely gone), so I had to immediately switch to "front L/R bypass mode." However, the setup screen where this can be performed is only accessible when the input is a BD player. When the input is the TV connected via HDMI/eARC (on which the apps to stream Netflix, HBO and Amazon Video run), it is not possible to enter the setup mode on the TV screen. The only option available is to select a "Home Theater" (AVR) source on the TV, which then only shows Audio Inputs (which can be selected), but not any settings. So while streaming Dolby Surround movies from those TV apps, I was only able to access settings on the AVR's display. I was able to set Audyssey to "front L/R bypass mode" for the TV source as well, but I am not sure if I messed up some other settings, since there this one-line navigation is very limiting. (As I recall, there was no such limitation on the A6A, which made it possible to use a full-screen setup even if the source was the TV.)
- The bass leaves a lot to be desired. When listening to CD music from the BD play, it is barely OK. But in action movies, it is quite lacking (e.g. I tried the last episode of The Expanse on Netflix, which has quite a few chest-pounding space explosions; they were kind of there but not really). My L/R front speakers have a sensitivity of 90 dB, nominal impedance of 8 Ohms and lowest impedance of 5 Ohms, so they do not present an overly difficult load on the amps. Even my 23-yo Yamaha receiver appears to have more low-frequency current oomph than this 3800H. Also, at low volumes the bass is quite weak; the volume needs to be cranked up for it to appear, which is a no-go for my nighttime listening (this was also noted in Robinson's review of the 3700H, not that I watch his videos frequently).
- The 3800H temp seems OK in stereo listening, but once I played multi-channel movies (at low to moderate volume), it got quite hot. It has got a lot of vents on the sides of the enclosure, not just at the top, most likely for that very reason. This model has a clear secondary function as a space heater, which would certainly come handy in colder months, but in the warmer season it is an additional burden on the A/C. Excessive heat also reduces reliability.
- So the lows are lacking, what about the highs? To my ears, they are OK but a bit "unclear." I plan to try some full-range reference recordings from Amazon Music HD and report more on that.
Edit:
- The ECO mode defaults to Auto, which causes a switch (with audible relay clicking) of the power amps to higher voltage rails once the volume is increased to roughly 55 dB (on the default scale of 0-98 dB). I observed no difference in bass when ECO is set to Off (which, presumably, causes the higher voltage rails to be used all the time). There is a slider graph which shows relative power consumption, which will come handy to estimate the max. power consumption once I get the power meter.
Overall, I have to say I am not initially impressed. This is my first hands-on encounter with a D/M product, so I may likely not know all the setup tricks, but still... Any tips on how to overcome the above problems are welcome.
