Denon AVR-X3600H AV Receiver Review

[ririt]

I’ve had the 3600 for about five months now. Will answer a few lingering questions for you

1) Eco mode on auto is great. When you get over 50 the receiver goes into full power mode, below that unit operates almost completely cool. If you leave it off the thing will get hot, but nothing concerning to me. I’ve never heard the fan before in all my listening, and I sit about 14’ away from it in front of me.

2) It can drive even semi efficient speakers very well. However, it will become apparent it’s an AVR when trying to drive inefficient speakers to reference levels. For instance, my Monitor Audio RS6s really did improve when I used an external power amplifier, but they love lots of juice. Only at high volumes mind you, so if you listen to music “responsibly” then you likely wouldn’t notice a difference.

3) Audyssey is dark magic and I will never own a receiver without it (or Dirac or whatever). Using 2 $250 subs I was able to get absolutely jaw dropping bass response perfectly blended with many pairs of speakers. Even on my current full range floorstanders it does an amazing job cleaning up bass. I use it limited below 200-300Hz with the app. Do not use it above 400 unless you don’t like how your speakers sound. It dramatically effects the sound.

Also, Audyssey is bass shy, so I actually do a straight 3.5db bump trailing off around 100Hz in the curve editor. This lets me avoid using Dynamic EQ, which does a lot more compression and altering of the sound then just standard Audyssey. Your tastes may differ, and you may be fine with the more accurate setting.

Thanks for these advices. They are very valuable since my new 4700h is on the way. I am curious to know what is your sub. And how did you set your R and L speakers? Small or large?

 

[Lattiboy]

Thanks for these advices. They are very valuable since my new 4700h is on the way. I am curious to know what is your sub. And how did you set your R and L speakers? Small or large?

If you have any sub, you want to set your mains as small. Crossover at 80 to start and go from there. I had 2x 12 inch Infinity SUBR12s in my system. They go for around $150-200. I honestly think I almost any competent subwoofer would perform great with Audyssey. I didn’t notice a big difference for music when swapping out a more powerful, expensive HSU sub. That’s for music, home theater will be greatly improved with better subs.

 

[Promit]

The 3600 is currently discounted to $799.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RR6WQBW
Crutchfield: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-WN0lVYLwadf/p_033AVX3600/Denon-AVR-X3600H-2019-model.html

 

[Timbo2]

The 3600 is currently discounted to $799.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RR6WQBW
Crutchfield: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-W N0lVYLwadf/p_033AVX3600/Denon-AVR-X3600H-2019-model.html

You also aren’t buying Gen 1 problematic hardware as compared to the new 8k series.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnar...eportedly-hit-by-major-hdmi-bug/#1ca295b0597e

 

[hawk01]

XT32 and Sub Eq HT work extremely well. As mentioned, get the app in order to limit the frequency range of correction, and customize if desired. I've ran XT32 a couple different ways and measured results have been nearly flawless in either case:

- I have run Audyseey to get the best average response over a large, 10' wide seating area. The result was that all seats were pretty good, none were perfect, but when averaging measurements over all seats, the resulting response was perfect.

- I have also run Audyseey to get the best response at a single location i.e. MLP only. This results in a flawless response at the MLP but the average response across all seating is not quite as good. In the end, I prefer to have a good response everywhere rather than a perfect response in one spot.

This is accomplished by simply altering where you place the mic for the multiple measurements. Results verified by REW.

Looks like the X3600 is currently available, and priced around $799 new. Pretty good deal for excellent objective performance and sound quality that will be sonically indistinguishable in real life from gear with SOTA measured performance. If I were in the market for an AVR, this is the one I'd be after. Fortunately, my 3300 is still chugging along just fine and sounds the same. Yay science.

just curious, if you do not download the app, what does xt32 do by default insofar as bass equalization?

 

[hawk01]

You also aren’t buying Gen 1 problematic hardware as compared to the new 8k series.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnar...eportedly-hit-by-major-hdmi-bug/#1ca295b0597e

all of my material is limited to ancient 1080p and i am very happy with it viewed in a 100” screen. i never entertained 4K more so 8K, although all of my hardware are 4K capable. at my age i’ll be dead by the time material in these formats become available in my side of the pacific. i also do not do gaming ever. guess i am immune to these unfortunate glitches.

sadly though you guys never had it so good. the X3600H here will cost me US$1200++ whether its gen1 or genX or whatever! local customs does murder to consumer electronics here!

 

[hawk01]

You also aren’t buying Gen 1 problematic hardware as compared to the new 8k series.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnar...eportedly-hit-by-major-hdmi-bug/#1ca295b0597e

hmm, i see alarm bells here! can you lead me into some info regarding gen1 problematic hardware issues?? most likely the units in stock here may be early releases. how would i be able to identify gen1?

 

[Timbo2]

hmm, i see alarm bells here! can you lead me into some info regarding gen1 problematic hardware issues?? most likely the units in stock here may be early releases. how would i be able to identify gen1?

By Gen 1 I mean Gen 1 8K chips. In this case the current Denon AVRs all use a Panasonic chip that may have a hardware issue that is not fixable in firmware.

This series is from last year so it doesn’t use this chip. It also doesn’t have the multi channel bug Amir discovered.

 

[Bear123]

just curious, if you do not download the app, what does xt32 do by default insofar as bass equalization?

It does a great job with bass...I didn't manually change anything Sub EQ HT does to the subs. I do manually limit correction to the speakers to below 500 Hz or so. Otherwise it will make the response ruler flat out to 20 KHz, boosting the snot out of the top end into a shrill ear piercing train wreck.

Here is what Audyssey/Sub Eq HT did for my Revel F36 tower along with dual FV15HP subs, no tweaking:

I'm guessing SBIR dip around 120 Hz...I haven't bothered to work out that dip but probably should. The low end shown is with my 2525^3 ft room opened up to the rest of the downstairs via a pair of 5' wide doorways to adjacent rooms, a regular doorway to a third room, and an open stairwell. When I close the French doors on the two 5' openings, response is elevated above flat to below 10 Hz.

I also did some sweeps comparing the F36 full range without subs, with Audysey and without Audysey. It did a great job on the response down to the mid 20 Hz range but of course would never run them without subs as the sound quality is so much better with subs:

 

[hawk01]

It does a great job with bass...I didn't manually change anything Sub EQ HT does to the subs. I do manually limit correction to the speakers to below 500 Hz or so. Otherwise it will make the response ruler flat out to 20 KHz, boosting the snot out of the top end into a shrill ear piercing train wreck.

Here is what Audyssey/Sub Eq HT did for my Revel F36 tower along with dual FV15HP subs, no tweaking:
View attachment 89538
I'm guessing SBIR dip around 120 Hz...I haven't bothered to work out that dip but probably should. The low end shown is with my 2525^3 ft room opened up to the rest of the downstairs via a pair of 5' wide doorways to adjacent rooms, a regular doorway to a third room, and an open stairwell. When I close the French doors on the two 5' openings, response is elevated above flat to below 10 Hz.

so this is what Sub EQ HT does by default without any user intervention? your action of manually limiting correction to the speakers to 500hZ i suppose is a feature of the app, am i right? does it mean you are stuck with the ruler flat ear gouging treble if you do not have the app?? if this is so, is it like Sub EQ HT is equalizing the entire audio freq spectrum by default? pardon the cave man response as this is something totally alien to me and i have not yet done a thorough read up on the Audyssey XT32 with Sub EQ HT feature set. so your utmost patience will be hugely appreciated sir!

 

[Bear123]

so this is what Sub EQ HT does by default without any user intervention? your action of manually limiting correction to the speakers to 500hZ i suppose is a feature of the app, am i right? does it mean you are stuck with the ruler flat ear gouging treble if you do not have the app?? if this is so, is it like Sub EQ HT is equalizing the entire audio freq spectrum by default? pardon the cave man response as this is something totally alien to me and i have not yet done a thorough read up on the Audyssey XT32 with Sub EQ HT feature set. so your utmost patience will be hugely appreciated sir!

Audysey XT32 and Sub Eq HT are two different features. Audysey XT32 applies correction to speakers only..usually full range unless you have the app to limit correction. Sub EQ HT is what eq's the sub or subwoofers. The app is definitely worth the $20 charge or whatever. You can remove the BBC dip it applies, manually tweak the response anyway you want. But yes, if you don't limit correction, it will apply eq all the way out to 20 KHz. Since well designed speakers will typically have a downward sloping response out to 20 KHz, yes, Audysey will make things "too" flat out to 20 KHz imo. It is generally accepted that the in room response of well designed speakers should not be eq'd above the 3-500ish Hz range.

I prefer to use DEQ as it makes listening at lower levels more enjoyable imo. The downfall of DEQ is that I feel like it does tend to boost the surround speakers too much, so I simply turn the surround levels down a few dB.

 

[hawk01]

@Bear123 oh got it! is it possible to run Sub EQ HT independently of Audyssey XT32? other than addressing the most essential bass related room modes, i see little significance in room equalization based on mixed user feedback. with Sub EQ HT doing its thing, i would be content manually setting all speakers to small at 80hZ crossover and not mess with its in-room freq response anymore. although i would not know what i am missing unless i take a sip of the Audyssey XT32 kool-aid!

1. will Sub EQ HT work its magic to follow a default curve minus the app?
2. what is your subjective opinion tweaking the BBC dip via the app?

 

[Bear123]

Although they are two separate things(XT32 and Sub Eq HT), one does not function without the other AFAIK. I can't give you my subjective impression or opinion about the BBC or midrange dip that Audysey enables by default, as I have not done any listening with this enabled. I trusted that my speakers were well designed and did not want their response altered so never tried it.

I would definitely suggest just getting the app...unless you are just really lucky or have gone to great lengths with obtrusive speaker placement way out into the room and careful posting of MLP, your response below 300 Hz is likely to be a train wreck and would be greatly improved by allowing XT32 to apply correction. If high fidelity is the goal, the response below Schroeder should be fixed. Beware relying on user feedback.....there are sure a huge number of audiophiles who do not believe in eq or subwoofers. Baffling really. A neutral, accurate response is one of the foundations of high fidelity.....

Sub EQ HT will indeed work perfectly fine without the app....I didn't adjust the target at all. But it is necessary to prevent full range correction and to turn off the BBC dip/mid range compensation....which I think is what they call it.

Look at the before and after response on my F36 with and without Audysey.....compare the 80 Hz-300 Hz response.......which would you rather have?

 

[hawk01]

@Bear123 needless to say the graphs you presented are indeed impressive. i guess utilizing the app alongside the X3600H has its benefits and convenience features.

 

[Gislon]

I've had the X3600H for a month now. Very happy with the sound. Good upgrade sonically from Marantax 1509. Using with a Linn AV5125 external for the front speakers (with Linn AKTIV cards for Katan speakers). I'm using the internal amps for surrounds and have a single powered sub.

I've tried the setting to decouple the power amps for the front 2 channels by setting the amp assign to 11.1 etc. It works at first, but it keeps losing the pre-out selection from day to day. It's fine while the amp is on, but the next day when I turn it on I only get sound out of the surrounds not the fronts, as if the pre-outs have switched off. Changing the amp assign back to 9 brings them back. I can then change it back to 11.1 and it works fine.

I understand the decoupling is only really useful at high volumes which I don't often use, so I'm tempted to stop trying it. But just wondered if anyone else has hit the same problem? It might be caused by switching between HEOS (i.e. streaming) and physical input from HDMI or coax, but hard to tell.

 

[peng]

I've had the X3600H for a month now. Very happy with the sound. Good upgrade sonically from Marantax 1509. Using with a Linn AV5125 external for the front speakers (with Linn AKTIV cards for Katan speakers). I'm using the internal amps for surrounds and have a single powered sub.

I've tried the setting to decouple the power amps for the front 2 channels by setting the amp assign to 11.1 etc. It works at first, but it keeps losing the pre-out selection from day to day. It's fine while the amp is on, but the next day when I turn it on I only get sound out of the surrounds not the fronts, as if the pre-outs have switched off. Changing the amp assign back to 9 brings them back. I can then change it back to 11.1 and it works fine.

I understand the decoupling is only really useful at high volumes which I don't often use, so I'm tempted to stop trying it. But just wondered if anyone else has hit the same problem? It might be caused by switching between HEOS (i.e. streaming) and physical input from HDMI or coax, but hard to tell.

I have never experienced that with my 4400. If still under warranty, you probably should get it looked at, or try a factory reset incase somehow the FW got corrupted during an update or something. Have you tried unplugging the power cord and re-plugging it and see if that would bring it back, without switching to 9?

You are right about the degradation should only have impact at higher output. At or below 1.4 V there really was no difference in Amir's measurements.

 

[Lattiboy]

I've had the X3600H for a month now. Very happy with the sound. Good upgrade sonically from Marantax 1509. Using with a Linn AV5125 external for the front speakers (with Linn AKTIV cards for Katan speakers). I'm using the internal amps for surrounds and have a single powered sub.

I've tried the setting to decouple the power amps for the front 2 channels by setting the amp assign to 11.1 etc. It works at first, but it keeps losing the pre-out selection from day to day. It's fine while the amp is on, but the next day when I turn it on I only get sound out of the surrounds not the fronts, as if the pre-outs have switched off. Changing the amp assign back to 9 brings them back. I can then change it back to 11.1 and it works fine.

I understand the decoupling is only really useful at high volumes which I don't often use, so I'm tempted to stop trying it. But just wondered if anyone else has hit the same problem? It might be caused by switching between HEOS (i.e. streaming) and physical input from HDMI or coax, but hard to tell.

Yeah, that pre out setting shouldn’t be “slipping”. I’ve had mine for many months and it’s kept the pre out setting to front LR. I would do a full reset if you have time or call Denon tech support.

 

[Bear123]

I have never experienced that with my 4400. If still under warranty, you probably should get it looked at, or try a factory reset incase somehow the FW got corrupted during an update or something. Have you tried unplugging the power cord and re-plugging it and see if that would bring it back, without switching to 9?

You are right about the degradation should only have impact at higher output. At or below 1.4 V there really was no difference in Amir's measurements.

I'd love to see Amir test one of the Monolith 3/5/7 channel amps. Since they achieve full power with only around 1.4 volts, they would be a great match for the Denon AVR's even without amp disconnect. As well as they seem to perform for the price, I'm a little surprised one hasn't been sent to him for testing yet. Little on the heavy side which might make shipping a bit pricey.

 

[tpeter]

Hey Guys,. trying to upgrade my receiver... I have an old B&K Audio receiver that was one of the best in the early 2000s.. it powered my Polk Lsi 5.1 speakers that were 4ohm.... So i still love my speakers but the 4ohm part i never know what unit to buy that isn't to expensive that will work with them... Would this receiver run them?

thanks so much

 

[Bear123]

Hey Guys,. trying to upgrade my receiver... I have an old B&K Audio receiver that was one of the best in the early 2000s.. it powered my Polk Lsi 5.1 speakers that were 4ohm.... So i still love my speakers but the 4ohm part i never know what unit to buy that isn't to expensive that will work with them... Would this receiver run them?

thanks so much

The first post in this thread shows exactly how much power this AVR produces into 4 ohms, including distortion numbers, continuous power, and burst power. It's likely to be more power than your speakers can handle without being driven into horrible distortion and compression.