Denon AVR-A1H High-end AVR Review

[zentiques]

Did you read both ASR reviews?

Don't have an 8500, didn't read the review.
Enlighten me.

 

[Golfx]

Don't have an 8500, didn't read the review.
Enlighten me.

Naw that is your job

 

[Frank207be]

Are there any reviews or measurements of the phono stage on the A1H? I really enjoy it over several of my dedicated phono preamps.

I guess you should read the Marantz AV10 review as they both share the same DNA

 

[welwynnick]

Sorry about the mess, but staying with the A1H, does this amp design bring anything different to the table, than say, the 8500 ? If not, I'm good with that.

More channels, and slightly better performance all-round.

If 13.2 is enough for you then I think the 8500H probably provides great value now.

 

[kawauso]

Bi-amping with the same amplifier (such as the Denon in question) does not increase power consumption, as the losses remain the same due to sharing a single power supply.

Bi-amping with two separate amplifiers will consume more power since each amplifier has its own power supply, resulting in twice the losses.

Oh, I see! It's good to know that power consumption doesn't actually increase. I thought having two amplifier channels would lead to more heat dissipation and inefficiency. Seems like there's no need to rush to disable the bi-amp function.

 

[zentiques]

Naw that is your job

Oh, but where is all that brotherly ASR kumbaya ?

 

[rvsixer]

Oh, but where is all that brotherly ASR kumbaya ?

Review Index

 

[scampbell1839]

The black color doesn’t look much different from the lower-end models, but just having the silver finish makes it feel more luxurious to me, and I really like it.


I have my JBL speakers' L/R connected in a bi-amp configuration since I had extra speaker output channels available on the AVR-A1H. From this thread, I’ve learned that bi-amping provides no audible benefits and only increases power consumption. Once I recalibrate my speakers, I plan to remove the bi-amp setup.

Denon should have focused less on explaining bi-amping in the manual and instead emphasized that the speaker pre-outs perform better with RCA than XLR, making RCA the recommended choice

Curious if the A1H pre-out balanced converters are the same as the AV10 which measured the same as single ended? Maybe a firmware fix can address this?

 

[GusTheCat]

Thanks for this review @amirm - I am already a very happy owner of the A1H but it was still nice to see some hard performance numbers.

I noted in your review that you said that toslink is limited to 96 kHz. I wondered if your test equipment would allow you to use a spdif coax input? I only ask as the amp will accept 192 kHz via that input. I’m using a Pi2AES to achieve this as a Roon endpoint.

Anyway, thanks again for your work.

 

[peng]

Curious if the A1H pre-out balanced converters are the same as the AV10 which measured the same as single ended? Maybe a firmware fix can address this?

There is a difference, the A1H's XLR has to go through some switches, most likely the NJU72750 and it has SINAD of about 108 dB, also about the same as the Volume control IC's. That has to happen because the XLR outputs are default to subouts, but Amir had to use the assign function to measure them on the front L/R, iiuc. Since overall SINADs of those ICs are going to be accumulative, the SINAD at the pre out will be lower.

Another possible explanation could be again, Amir's grounding when taking those measurements as it happened to him before but you would have to ask him, I am only suggesting that it might be possible.

 

[RadioPalace]

I think one of the key features is four subwoofer out and lots of channel processing.

Why would anyone get this if you could get better performance by getting a cheaper AVR plus better amplifiers? For installers, it could be both cheaper and easier because you can substitute components if you're low on one or get one with different features if your client needs something specific.

Genuine question here: what cheaper avr + amp would give better performances for a 7.2.6 home cinéma setup?

 

[masterhw]

Genuine question here: what cheaper avr + amp would give better performances for a 7.2.6 home cinéma setup?

If you need that many channels, there is no better option. But I'm interpreting the dissatisfied comments as speaking to the fact that there is no reason to get a flagship AVR if not for the channel count. The performance of each channel isn't meaningfully improved over a midrange one - theres just more of them. Which isn't really all that exciting.

 

[Frank207be]

If you need that many channels, there is no better option. But I'm interpreting the dissatisfied comments as speaking to the fact that there is no reason to get a flagship AVR if not for the channel count. The performance of each channel isn't meaningfully improved over a midrange one.

Denon released the slightly cheaper A10H a while ago and the X6800H can do 7.4.6 with an extra amp for the main channels.

 

[RadioPalace]

Denon released the slightly cheaper A10H a while ago and the X6800H can do 7.4.6 with an extra amp for the main channels.

Interesting, I asked the question because I'm actively trying to find something to power a 7.2.6 setup I would like to upgrade to. I had thought about the x6800h but haven't seen it reviewed here and wasn't sure what would be a good 3 channel amplifier to add to it for LCR. That's why this review made me think might as well go for this avr, but if I can spend less for the same performance I'm all for it!

 

[peng]

Interesting, I asked the question because I'm actively trying to find something to power a 7.2.6 setup I would like to upgrade to. I had thought about the x6800h but haven't seen it reviewed here and wasn't sure what would be a good 3 channel amplifier to add to it for LCR. That's why this review made me think might as well go for this avr, but if I can spend less for the same performance I'm all for it!

The 6800 and the C30 can do it, but you do have to add at least one 2 ch amp so the cost difference won't be much, unless you go with the 6800 and a 3 channel buckeyeamp or Audiohphonic amp as those are typically cheaper.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!

www.buckeyeamp.com

 

[RadioPalace]

The 6800 and the C30 can do it, but you do have to add at least one 2 ch amp so the cost difference won't be much, unless you go with the 6800 and a 3 channel buckeyeamp or Audiohphonic amp as those are typically cheaper.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!

www.buckeyeamp.com

Thanks for the suggestion, I found the Audiophonics HPA-T450ET that uses three Purifi 1ET6525SA, this plus the x6800h would be 500€ less than the A1H, not bad. Last question, but I guess we need to wait and see if it will be tested here, would the processing of the 6800 be on par with the processing of the A1H?

 

[peng]

Thanks for the suggestion, I found the Audiophonics HPA-T450ET that uses three Purifi 1ET6525SA, this plus the x6800h would be 500€ less than the A1H, not bad. Last question, but I guess we need to wait and see if it will be tested here, would the processing of the 6800 be on par with the processing of the A1H

The amps you mentioned are much more powerful than the A1H's.

Denon uses the same DSP IC from the X3800H through the A1H. The A1H does use a better DAC IC but I expect the 6800 will measure almost as good if tested on ASR, someone just need to send one to Amir, if we want to be sure.

 

[masterhw]

Thanks for the suggestion, I found the Audiophonics HPA-T450ET that uses three Purifi 1ET6525SA, this plus the x6800h would be 500€ less than the A1H, not bad. Last question, but I guess we need to wait and see if it will be tested here, would the processing of the 6800 be on par with the processing of the A1H?

go for it not aware of any meaningful difference between them. The X6800H's sole PCM5102A is on the final sub out since 2xES9017S=16 channels.
P.S. the Masimo training videos contain some info hard to find elsewhere, worth reviewing if considering purchase (A1H/A10H, X6800H)

 

[kawauso]

Choosing the AVR-X6800H or AVR-X3800H with an external power amplifier based on the required number of channels is a smart choice. It delivers better performance than using the AVR-A1H alone, and even compared to the AVR-A1H with an external power amplifier, I think the difference is almost negligible.

In terms of features, the AVR-A1H and AVR-A10H allow custom assignments of internal amplifiers to any channel, whereas models below the AVR-X6800H don't seem to have this customization option.

Not many people may need this, but I find it very useful. I have separate speaker setups for Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D with 12 speakers each, and I can switch between them seamlessly using preset 1 and 2 without rewiring the speakers

 

[Oddball]

Interesting, I asked the question because I'm actively trying to find something to power a 7.2.6 setup I would like to upgrade to. I had thought about the x6800h but haven't seen it reviewed here and wasn't sure what would be a good 3 channel amplifier to add to it for LCR. That's why this review made me think might as well go for this avr, but if I can spend less for the same performance I'm all for it!

You need to evaluate yourself if 6 Atmos is worth it. With 4 of them you would have 3800H as option for much less - if you feel that it’s measurements are sufficiently transparent. With external amp for 3 or 5 channels, you would be in $2k budget.

There is a step premium moving from 11 to 13 channels and then again from 13 to 15. Beyond 15 there is Storm and Trinnov luxury tax.