Denon AVR-A1H High-end AVR Review

[JDS]

I'm thinking along the same lines. I think the key element is to separate D to A conversion from audio and video DSP, and from the power amps.
One option is to get a JBL SDP-55 with Dante output and connect it to a Dante-enabled multi-channel audio interface like the RME M-1620 Pro D or Antelope Galaxy 32.
They are recording-studio quality, and have relatively high level analogue outputs that can drive some interesting Hypex and Purifi power amps without buffers.
There are lots of other interesting options.

Interestng. This is the first time I haver heard of the Dante interface. Will have to investigate.

 

[Acerun]

X8500H with outboard Purifi amps and $200 worth every penny multi eqx app... I'm not missing anything. But I do understand for those seeking 23.2 channel systems...

 

[beeface]

Please pardon the low quality mobile phone picture. At 70+ pounds, the AVR was too heavy for me to carry upstairs to my lab.

Gotta start doing some deadlifts and squats!!

 

[Chrispy]

Then again it seems not long ago if a two ch amp weighed under 100 lbs then it might be suspect (LOL)

 

[milosz]

That is a LOT of channels! I suppose someone with a big room for home theater could use something like that, but it boggles my mind more than a little. Wow.

 

[Moravid]

Hoping to see much better amplifier performance by using class D for next generation AVRs

 

[dsd4life]

Interestng. This is the first time I haver heard of the Dante interface. Will have to investigate.

Um yeah Dante ethernet pre-out is the future. The notion to buy this hunk of xxx and use pre-amp mode with separates is preposterous not just price but purpose.

Gene from Audioholics promises to review a lower cost processor. 15 years ago we had Onkyo, Integra and Yamaha making mid-fi processors. In addition to the best of the best like Classe SSP-800 Surround Sound Processor. Just ridiculous the state of the industry selling back breaking AVR(s). And in the last decade the lower cost and higher quality multichannel amplifier offerings has just exploded while the processor offering has dwindled. And Emotiva has a new platform of processors being introduced. I welcome all the maniacs on here to buy 8 x toppings or SIML 2 x channel DACs and adjust the volume controls while sitting in your chair using Dante pre-out.

 

[Acerun]

Market is begging for SOTA pre pro

 

[restorer-john]

I wonder how it could still make sense to produce a variant with FM tuner onboard. See difference between AVR-A1H and AVC-A1H backsides:

View attachment 427095

Seems like retailers also get confused. The "R" in AVR is "receiver" and they have always had a tuner of some sort. With all this network connected internet "radio" stations, it's all a bit blurry as to the definition.

The "C" designation was traditionally "controller", but they usually had no amplifier stages. It seems descriptions are all going out the window.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Definitely.

I don't think that’s the case in most situations.

Have you, for example, tried the Klippel Distortion Test?
Most people detect distortion between -27 to -15 dB of attenuated distortion with music.
This aligns with my own experiences across a wide range of PA and residential amplifiers with varying distortion and noise figures.

A THD+N of 0.06 correctly corresponds to a SINAD of 64. At nominal power (250W, 4 ohms), this translates to a SINAD of 47 at 5W output (assuming noise dominance).

I agree that relying on a single frequency measurement isn't ideal.
However, since these guys specify the amplifier's THD+N with A-weighting, I’d assume the measurement spans a reasonable frequency range rather than a single point -otherwise, applying A-weighting would be pointless.

That said, the power vs. distortion graph you shared looks terrible and may indicate audible issues. I see no reason to believe that what appears to be a robust modular Class A/B amplifier would perform anything like the atrocious non-linear Class D example you provided.

 

[375HP2482]

Black is okay for an amp but not a great background to read controls off of, especially with tiny printing like this piece.

Possibly use engraved UV-colored letters with an external UV lamp. Would be quite bright/legible without radiating excess visible light during use.

 

[GXAlan]

That is a LOT of channels! I suppose someone with a big room for home theater could use something like that, but it boggles my mind more than a little. Wow.

I am sure some of the applications for this would be a multi zone home where HEOS is OK. I like Sonos the most, but you can imagine an average customer just using something like Spotify Connect.

Um yeah Dante ethernet pre-out is the future.

It’s a real consideration but the unsolved challenge is handling the active speakers powering on and off. Power of Ethernet works for many home environments though since you won’t need that much power with efficient active speakers.

The other hurdle is that Dante has a fixed sample rate. I am not sure if Milan/AVB/AES67 is any different.

The notion to buy this hunk of xxx and use pre-amp mode with separates is preposterous not just price but purpose.

Agreed. The AV10 is a much better option, but it’s also silly that the AV10 is so expensive.

15 years ago we had Onkyo, Integra and Yamaha making mid-fi processors.

Sony is your best bet here, and the STR-AN1000 is pretty reasonable at $899 new, $600 refurbished. Accounting for inflation that’s $630 (2010 dollars new) and $415.

I am more disappointed that Yamaha pulled out of the premium AV processor market. They have the expertise to do things like 128 channels of audio, and the professional expertise for modeling audio both in house and through acquisitions like Nexo. It used to be that the Yamaha was a true competitor to that Classe if you went with actual performance and usability. Their mainstream Atmos setups also work great because CinemaDSP can work magic with poorly placed speakers.

The other problem, of course, is that many people who would have gone with a mid fi setup in the past are using soundbars.

Imagine having space for a 37-42” TV and then having speakers flanking them on the left and right. Now that you have 85” TVs being affordable, there is less room for speakers.

Market is begging for SOTA pre pro

The Monolith HTP-1 is a pretty convincing processor with reliable software and eARC solved the 8K problem. Unless you need more than 16 channels, it’s probably the best option for a SOTA AV processor when you factor in the budget you can apply toward a subwoofer or better speakers.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

View attachment 427141
I am sure some of the applications for this would be a multi zone home where HEOS is OK. I like Sonos the most, but you can imagine an average customer just using something like Spotify Connect.




It’s a real consideration but the unsolved challenge is handling the active speakers powering on and off. Power of Ethernet works for many home environments though since you won’t need that much power with efficient active speakers.

The other hurdle is that Dante has a fixed sample rate. I am not sure if Milan/AVB/AES67 is any different.


Agreed. The AV10 is a much better option, but it’s also silly that the AV10 is so expensive.



Sony is your best bet here, and the STR-AN1000 is pretty reasonable at $899 new, $600 refurbished. Accounting for inflation that’s $630 (2010 dollars new) and $415.

I am more disappointed that Yamaha pulled out of the premium AV processor market. They have the expertise to do things like 128 channels of audio, and the professional expertise for modeling audio both in house and through acquisitions like Nexo. It used to be that the Yamaha was a true competitor to that Classe if you went with actual performance and usability. Their mainstream Atmos setups also work great because CinemaDSP can work magic with poorly placed speakers.

The other problem, of course, is that many people who would have gone with a mid fi setup in the past are using soundbars.

Imagine having space for a 37-42” TV and then having speakers flanking them on the left and right. Now that you have 85” TVs being affordable, there is less room for speakers.
View attachment 427147




The Monolith HTP-1 is a pretty convincing processor with reliable software and eARC solved the 8K problem. Unless you need more than 16 channels, it’s probably the best option for a SOTA AV processor when you factor in the budget you can apply toward a subwoofer or better speakers.

Ha! I got stuck at 46, but I was there nearly a decade before it became mainstream. I see no reason to go bigger in our room.

 

[dsd4life]

The Monolith HTP-1 is a pretty convincing processor with reliable software and eARC solved the 8K problem. Unless you need more than 16 channels, it’s probably the best option for a SOTA AV processor when you factor in the budget you can apply toward a subwoofer or better speakers.

Huh? it can't do HDMI 2.1 8K. Not buying a processor that can't do modern HDMI or

 

[pogo]

To all: whoever thinks that separates combined together are automatically doing their best,specially so much gear in a chain like this one has clearly not measure stuff.
Chain a source,a pre,a DSP,an active x-over and a power amp together,measure them end to end and results may be surprising.

I go one step further and assume that some separate setups are not well matched.
A good matching of the components gains is important for a good end result, see also here as an example for the M33:
NAD has added a gain stage to increase its headroom so that it works better with the DSP circuits of its room-correction software and tone controls. NAD concedes that this slightly decreases the M33’s signal/noise ratio, but with careful design and premium parts, and because the Eigentakt’s S/N is so low to begin with, the noise is still inaudible.
Source: soundstagehifi.com

 

[welwynnick]

If AVRs being in the video signal path is substantially adding to cost, weight, and SNR, then perhaps its time to rethink if they belong there.

Audio manufacturers want the AVR to be the hub that handles all the connections, conversions and switching (and they do seem to struggle with this!).
Television manufacturers want the TV to be the hub that handles all the connections, conversions and switching.
If both are trying to do the same thing, that must mean there's a lot of wasteful redundancy in a typical system.
Maybe there's something to be said for having the TV do it all, and just have a single multi-channel digital audio feed to the amplifier?
That seemed to be what HDMI had in mind when they introduced eARC.
The problem is that the TV now has to do all the Dolby, DTS(-X) and Atmos decoding and rendering, and I don't think they're all there yet ;-)
I ignored ARC for many years, thinking it was a frivolous convenience feature.
Then Amir published a DAC test with HDMI eARC results for the first time, and it performed as well as SPDIF & USB.

Using HDMI to carry both audio and video seems to degrade every AVR to some extent, but using eARC might be a way to keep AVRs clean & unpolluted by digital video.
In addition, eARC doesn't use the HDMI video clock to generate the audio clock.
Therefore using a TV as the hub might just be a way to unlock better audio performance.

 

[famasfilms]

I have the a1h, bought an open box unit after spending a month trying to love the anthem 1140, but just couldn't keep it any longer

The a1h instantly put a smile back on my face and sparks joy every time I use it

 

[soerenssen]

I recently started using HEOS instead of the Toslink input from my WiiM Pro streamer, on my way towards a purely one-box solution.

I'm streaming via Tidal Connect and found the following two issues:
- When I turn the A1h on from the Tidal app, after establishing the initial connection, the volume of the A1h is set to about 40-45% by the Tidal app and I have to be quick to turn it down before the music starts playing (while the A1h is doing its self-checks). If I turn the A1h on via the remote or the remote app, the volume will be set to the minimum (as configured in the AVR settings).
- I have frequent Tidal disconnects. The easiest way to reproduce this is to either start playing a new album or playing very short tracks (like few seconds long bass test tones).

I noticed that Amir measured the A1h using Toslink IN. Does using the internal streaming capabilities improve the performance of the AVR?

Are you aware of a solution maybe, to any of the above mentioned issues?

 

[welwynnick]

Interesting. This is the first time I haver heard of the Dante interface. Will have to investigate.

It doesn't have to be Dante (which is burdened by expensive licensing by Audinate), there are several options for an immersive system:

Alternatively, convert Dante to AES/EBU with a Sonifex AVN-AESIO8R or CTP Systems DIO816AES allowing the use of the best DACs or interface, which is what I've done.

 

[welwynnick]

SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - BHK Labs Measurements: Parasound Halo A 23+ Stereo/Mono Amplifier

www.soundstagenetwork.com

View attachment 427088
Stereo mode
(8-ohm loading)
Red line = 1W
Magenta line = 10W
Blue line = 30W
Cyan line = 160W

(BTW, I used to own a Parasound power amp. I've owned lots of amps, and hoped and expected the Parasound would be great, but it sounded poor)

That doesn't look great, but here are some examples of what good looks like.

Denon A1H , JBL SDR-35 , Lyngdorf MXA-8400:

MXA-8400:

The chart above shows THD ratios at the output into 8 ohms as a function of frequency for a sinewave stimulus at the analog line-level input in stereo mode. The blue and red plots are for left and right channels at 1W output into 8 ohms, purple/green at 10W, and pink/orange at the rated 200W. The 10W data yielded the lowest THD figures, ranging from 0.00004% from 20Hz to 200Hz, then up to 0.0005% at 6kHz. These are extraordinarily low THD ratios, nearing the limits of the APx555 analyzer. At 1W, THD ratios were more constant, from 0.0001% from 20Hz to 1kHz, then up to 0.0003% at 6kHz. A 200W, THD ratios ranged from 0.00006% from 20Hz to 200Hz, then up to 0.0005% at 6kHz.