Denon AVR-A1H High-end AVR Review

[Adis]

Voted “fine” because although the level of performance is far below SOTA, it manages decent performance for FIFTEEN channels of high power amplification. That’s impressive. Plus, although expensive, it actually represents a pretty good value. Try to buy a pre/pro that can handle 15 channels of processing and three separate five channel amps for $6400. I doubt you could do that.

Tonewinner.

 

[Chrispy]

I gave it a "fine," as most seemed to do. I think most home theatre folks will believe this unit is very good, if not great. As an audio enthusiast, for 6K I personally demand better specs and DAC performance.

So what is your 15ch solution with similar feature set for the "better" audio?

 

[NADKEF listener]

Ok, i am willing to accept that engineering a 15.4 channel device is much more challenging than a stereo solution. And the price for a NAD M17 + M28 is double the price with half the channels. For that i can also rate the Denon as “great” but there is no excuse for the very mediocre looks...

 

[Mnyb]

The price can be explained they really overdoing it 15 ch of amplification ??? And processing cramed into one box ???
And it’s quite a niche need . Engineering challenges everywhere.

This kind of system are overdue for a competitive priced pre/proccesor . It would be a more reasonable architecture ? Put the processing in one box get amps elsewhere ?

But the pricing in this category would make this AVR competitive as a processor it’s a bit sad ht enthusiast deserves more.

 

[Chrispy]

The price can be explained they really overdoing it 15 ch of amplification ??? And processing cramed into one box ???
And it’s quite a niche need . Engineering challenges everywhere.

This kind of system are overdue for a competitive priced pre/proccesor . It would be a more reasonable architecture ? Put the processing in one box get amps elsewhere ?

But the pricing in this category would make this AVR competitive as a processor it’s a bit sad ht enthusiast deserves more.

This avr is a niche need for sure, for those wanting this feature set in one box. There's no pre-pro alternate really without spending a lot more on just the pre-pro. Compared to its sister brand Marantz' pre-pros, the Denon avrs measure very well, certainly not an audible difference. Whether you need the on-board amps or just like the flexibility, just options some would find valuable. I don't need something like this myself altho I have several multich systems....but with the right room/speaker setup this could be a very nice unit.

 

[Mnyb]

This avr is a niche need for sure, for those wanting this feature set in one box. There's no pre-pro alternate really without spending a lot more on just the pre-pro. Compared to its sister brand Marantz' pre-pros, the Denon avrs measure very well, certainly not an audible difference. Whether you need the on-board amps or just like the flexibility, just options some would find valuable. I don't need something like this myself altho I have several multich systems....but with the right room/speaker setup this could be a very nice unit.

it's probably what the market demands , I'm just a bit surprised i would think the break point for internal amps would stop at 5 channels ? and then processor and external amps would be the economical and sensible path . But in practice the market has not worked out this way ? Suppose channel count has crown over the years and people expect them to be there ? But if we started from a clean slate it would be different ( it would probably be software and active speakers )

To me it would be if moving from a mobile home to a house happened at the size of a mansion

 

[Matias]

AVRs are stuck at this level and can't get past. Fine, but not excellent, and the price...

 

[pogo]

I now have a new test which samples power at 10 frequencies, attempting to compute power at 1% THD.

Such a test was overdue, thank you.
Now our speakers are not just purely ohmic.
What results can be expected with different phase shifts?

 

[Koeitje]

I'm always disappointed is these devices. The distortion from the DACs is fine (expect the subwoofer output, clearly using different DACs or design to save money there), but what is up with the noise? And amplifiers in this kind of product should be able to clear 90dB SINAD. I mean it's fine, but it's not a high-end device.

 

[Chrispy]

it's probably what the market demands , I'm just a bit surprised i would think the break point for internal amps would stop at 5 channels ? and then processor and external amps would be the economical and sensible path . But in practice the market has not worked out this way ? Suppose channel count has crown over the years and people expect them to be there ? But if we started from a clean slate it would be different ( it would probably be software and active speakers )

To me it would be if moving from a mobile home to a house happened at the size of a mansion

LOL many want avrs with only 5ch of amp and processing but good luck with that these days. Many are fine with the one box solution or at least prefer the flexibility to add amps if needed. Selling a hybrid avr with 5 ch of amps and 11-15 ch of processing might be harder than it sounds. Then you'd need matching amps to make the guys who lean on aesthetic happy. What power levels would you make such amps? Will the software come with licenses for various codecs/eq processing? I'm fine with the quality level of avrs for quite a while, as good as my old 2ch gear at least as far as audible differences go.

Lost me on the analogy with houses, tho.

 

[Geert]

Great to see the new full bandwidth power test followed up by a thermal image. Curious what we're going to learn from this after a few reviews.

 

[welwynnick]

Thank you, Amir, I've been looking forwards to this test for a long time.
In particular, thanks for the comprehensive test while you're trying to burn down the backlog.
A few things stand out:

• Your results are similar to Denon's own results, which seem to be honest and reliable.
• The A1H is slightly better at everything than the preceding X8500H.
• Notwithstanding the power amps, the A1H would make a competitive AVP.
• The power amps, though better than the X8500H, seem to be the weak link.

Here in the UK, EVERYONE who has compared Denon and Arcam receivers ALWAYS, without exception, prefers the Arcam, in spite of the dreadful ASR test results.
Does this mean they are all wrong? Does it mean the measurements are wrong? No - neither.
The measurements are right, but they've got to be the right measurements. Not just at 1V, 1W, 1%, 1dB, 1kΩ, 1kHz etc, but the whole audio envelope IMHO.
That's why I was so pleased to see the THDN vs power vs frequency, which adds a big piece to the jigsaw.
Here are the whole audio envelope charts for the X8500H, A1H, JBL SDR-35 (Arcam AVR-31 clone) and the Topping B100, just to be gratuitous:

I used to think it was mainly class D amplifiers that suffered from high frequency non-linearity, when compared with linear amps. But no, many linear amps are also poor.
Though the A1H is better than those before, all Denon AVR amps are weak in this respect (look them up), and worse than good linear amps like the JBL / Arcam.
This was a very illuminating detailed review.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I now have a new test which samples power at 10 frequencies, attempting to compute power at 1% THD. Testing starts fast from 20 KHz but slows down as it gets down to 20 Hz. The amplifier is pushed hard into clipping for every measurement point:

Thanks for developing this test Amir! It's very informative.

 

[anphex]

Maybe the last new Denon product well see?

channelnews : Former Sound United Business Could Be “Discontinued” Next Year After Falling Revenues, No Buyer and Losses Claims New Director

Masimo executives are back calling their consumer audio business Sound United, with a senior executive on a conference call this week claiming that they will move the business into being a “discontinued operations” if and when the board decides “to no longer pursue a spin-off, of the this...

www.channelnews.com.au

It feels like every 2-3 years they put out a new AVR that isn't actually new. Audyssey XT is the same for a decade now. The interface and remote is the same. The only consistent updates? HDMI FPGA and just lately, a Dirac option. That's it, apart from that it's the same AVR for ages. The only main difference is the amount of amps in the models, for years.

 

[Sokel]

Thanks for measuring this beast!

A question for the more experienced engineer-types among us - this amplifier measures very well for an all-in-one AVR, but as a DAC/preamp is still well behind the best measuring Toppings et al.

Is this due to failures or oversights (or simply different priorities) of Denon's engineers, or is it just an unavoidable consequence of packing so many different electronics so close together in a small space like this? Are you just never going to get SINAD better than ~105 when you've got that massive power brick and all those video processing circuits and all the other fun stuff in a top-end AVR sitting next to the DAC chips?

Think of it the other way around:
The moment Topping went away from a simple DAC and made an interface (a DAC and an ADC really) SINAD crumbled to 100dB,that's 20 yo (if not more) performance.

Combining things at a cost probably has its penalty.

Thanks Amir!

 

[welwynnick]

Tonewinner.

61dB SINAD at 1kHz? I don't think so.

 

[vkvedam]

Now, who is going to help me pack it back in the box???

 

[AdamG]

150w $6.5k ?
No thanks …
Better options exist for far less money

Bk

Name one please? One that can do what this does. Not a 2 channel set up. Look at the full capabilities and functionality on this unit. Amir didn’t even touch on the room correction capabilities nor the Video processing in 8K HDR Dolby Vision. This is an AVR. Not just an amp and DAC. It has 17 seperate assignable and configurable channels processing. It can do the same to 4 more separate Sub channels. Comparing this to a 2 channel amp and a separate DAC is most definitely comparing apples to oranges.

 

[fordiebianco]

First of all, thank you @amirm for the in-depth review. It is much appreciated, and I hope your back will improve again.

I am surprised by the naysayers on this thread: AVRs are quite a niche hardware sector these days, with plenty of brands leaving the sector, hence my delight that Denon continues to produce them. The price for this unit reflects its gazillion of configuration choices and connectivity and the fact that Denon is pretty much able to charge what they want, as its competitors are getting scarcer.

Being a fan of a nice 5.1 setup (don't have the space for more, and the SO doesn't let me have more speakers anyway) I appreciate a well made AVR and have been buying ASR recommended Denons for a few years now. With my limitations being 5.1, this baby isn't for me, but if I had the ability to run the full gamut of available speakers, I'd buy it happily. Nobody raises an eyebrow if you pay 6000 Euros for a pair of wireless KEF LS60s, so I don't understand the criticism for the pricing of this AVR.

And yes, I am very happy with my various SMSL and Topping units, but as long they're not getting into the AVR game, Denon is where it's at (or, if you have the cash, Trinnov).

 

[Tafelberg]

Does anyone know if/when Dirac ART is coming to Denon?
@Flak