Denon AVR-X3700H AVR Review

[ban25]

I use Dirac on my MiniDSP Flex, and had it on my RZ50 that I sold. I didn’t love the subjective result of Dirac on the RZ50, but do with the MiniDSP.

I switched to a 3700 and currently have it set up with the Audyssey iPhone app with custom curve, basically Harman with the treble dip removed and subjectively think it sounds great.

Wondering if I’d gain anything by getting the new software and calibrated mic..

The main MQX exclusive advantage is increased headroom, since it takes over some of the channel trim range. This could theoretically lead to a better result, though I never A/B'd the feature when I was using MQX. Obviously, it's easier to use on a big screen with a mouse and it also has the ability to import filters from REW. It won't change things for you substantially. Whether that's worth the price of admission is up to you.

 

[john11]

In my opinion, your dealer is an honest individual who probably is not selling as much as the less honest ones lol. He could have told you the 3700 would sound similar to the highest separates such as the likes of McIntosh's lol... Serious I do agree with him to a large extent, it just depends on many things.

I've read tons of reviews and comments on all of the afore mentioned models so my head is swimming in a sea of conflicting opinons. All the other websites are heaping praise on the 8500, saying things like it the best amp that denon has ever made, it is their new reference amp, so much better than the AVR-X7200WA which is denon's previous flagship, etc etc. Then i come on this website and i am told that actually in this series they all sound the same

 

[peng]

I've read tons of reviews and comments on all of the afore mentioned models so my head is swimming in a sea of conflicting opinons. All the other websites are heaping praise on the 8500, saying things like it the best amp that denon has ever made, it is their new reference amp, so much better than the AVR-X7200WA which is denon's previous flagship, etc etc. Then i come on this website and i am told that actually in this series they all sound the same

That's human nature, if given info that seems believable, and if told the same thing multiple times, the will believe it.

It is so good to have Amir/ASR, making decision making so much easier for a lot of us who don't want to rely on hearsay.

 

[dlaloum]

The 3700 and higher has Audyssey XT32 which is the most important difference and allows much improved room correction and EQing including the use of the additional MultiEQX software.

The X2700 has only Audyssey Multi EQ XT which is very much outdated and I wouldn’t bother with.

Yes the remaining differences are smaller features such as power and ATMOS I believe. Here it depends on what you want.

XT has fewer filters than XT32 - but if you limit correction to below 500Hz (as is oft recommended) - through the use of the optional apps that can control Audyssey, then the effective capabilities of XT are more than ample.

If you let it do the entire frequency range, as it does by default, XT may have insufficient filters to do what it is trying to achieve....

So with the use of the optional apps, XT should be plenty

 

[dlaloum]

I've read tons of reviews and comments on all of the afore mentioned models so my head is swimming in a sea of conflicting opinons. All the other websites are heaping praise on the 8500, saying things like it the best amp that denon has ever made, it is their new reference amp, so much better than the AVR-X7200WA which is denon's previous flagship, etc etc. Then i come on this website and i am told that actually in this series they all sound the same

Yeah, watch out for the difference between "measurable" and "audible"...

 

[antcollinet]

If this post isn't appropriate, please delete or move it. If anyone is interested, I have an 18-month-old AVR-x4700h for sale. (I just purchased a 4800). It is in essentially perfect condition. Please PM me if you are interested

The for sale section is this way -------> https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?forums/audio-equipment-for-sale-or-to-buy.29/

 

[Chromatischism]

The increased filter resolution XT32 has is huge for bass.

 

[john11]

I have seen a b-stock denon avr x1700h, for sale at £400. Can't find a review for it on this site, so am unsure if to purchase.
Any thoughts? It is the denon entry level: will it be more prone to breakdowns, of lower build quality. How does the price look
From searching around the denons seem work well for about 5 years, then faults start to appear, breakdowns. is this correct or is it exceptions

 

[antcollinet]

I have seen a b-stock denon avr x1700h, for sale at £400. Can't find a review for it on this site, so am unsure if to purchase.
Any thoughts? It is the denon entry level: will it be more prone to breakdowns, of lower build quality. How does the price look
From searching around the denons seem work well for about 5 years, then faults start to appear, breakdowns. is this correct or is it exceptions

If that is from Hyperfi - just be aware they have 19% 1 star reviews on trustpilot:

hyperfi.co.uk is rated "Excellent" with 4.3 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with hyperfi.co.uk's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 55 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

 

[john11]

If that is from Hyperfi - just be aware they have 19% 1 star reviews on trustpilot:

hyperfi.co.uk is rated "Excellent" with 4.3 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with hyperfi.co.uk's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 55 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

Thanks, i'll bear that in mind.
What do think of the model itself, the one above the 2200 didn't do well on amir's review, only got 79 points

 

[Chromatischism]

In my experience, these AVRs last a long time. Have one running for 9 years, one going on 15, one turning 5, and as far as I know, one turning 10, assuming the new owner is still rocking it. Half of them were bought refurbished.

 

[john11]

In my experience, these AVRs last a long time. Have one running for 9 years, one going on 15, one turning 5, and as far as I know, one turning 10, assuming the new owner is still rocking it. Half of them were bought refurbished.

This particular series came out in 2019, so is about 4 years old. Have seen quite a few of them on ebay being sold as spares/repairs, broken down for some reason. Do you think these cases are exceptions

 

[fieldcar]

denon avr x1700h

The X1700H has the standard MultEQ XT rather than the MultEQ XT32 found in the X3700H. I would avoid it if you wanted useful room correction.

https://www.denon.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-denon_northamerica_shared/default/dwc4919815/downloads/avr-x1700h-info-sheet-en.pdf

 

[peng]

This particular series came out in 2019, so is about 4 years old. Have seen quite a few of them on ebay being sold as spares/repairs, broken down for some reason. Do you think these cases are exceptions

I believe most of those failed for reasons (operator errors, inadequate vent, dirt/dust/moisture, used beyond their limits etc.) other than old age based on typical/normal life span of such kind of products.

 

[patoulol]

Can power amplifiers be turned off individually? Because if I want to put a power amplifier that has inputs at 1.4vrms, it's not going to be a problem with the 1.4v clip of the Denon?

 

[peng]

Can power amplifiers be turned off individually? Because if I want to put a power amplifier that has inputs at 1.4vrms, it's not going to be a problem with the 1.4v clip of the Denon?

No and no...
The 3800 has that flexible option but the 3700's preamp mode is all or none. You could however, disconnect the front left and right channel power amps, using the amp assign trick, the method has been posted a few times on ASR.

1.4 V is where the internal power amps seem to be starting to clip, the pre out won't be clipping until it reaches closer to 4 V so there is no problem for the 3700 to drive most amps to their rated output level.

 

[patoulol]

No and no...
The 3800 has that flexible option but the 3700's preamp mode is all or none. You could however, disconnect the front left and right channel power amps, using the amp assign trick, the method has been posted a few times on ASR.

1.4 V is where the internal power amps seem to be starting to clip, the pre out won't be clipping until it reaches closer to 4 V so there is no problem for the 3700 to drive most amps to their rated output level.

I have a crownDriveCore CT 4150 amp, 1.4v sensitivity Can I power with my L C R without asking myself any questions?

 

[peng]

I have a crownDriveCore CT 4150 amp, 1.4v sensitivity Can I power with my L C R without asking myself any questions?

The problem I have with the CT4150 is the specifications for the gain. If you look at the cut sheet, it is 25 dB, In the manual, page 51, it is 26 dB, and on the website home page, it says 27 dB.

If we assume the gain is 25 dB, then 1.4 V will drive it to output 77.5 W 8 ohms.
assume 26 dB, it will be 97.54 W 8 ohms.
assume 27 dB, it will output 122.8 W 8 ohms.

So the 1.4 V sensitivity will only work out if the gain is 27 dB, I have no idea why they specify 25 dB and 26 dB in different places.

If you want to assume the worse case, then it would be 25 dB gain, and in that case you will need about 1.78 V to drive the amp to its rated output of 125 W 8 ohms.

The Denon pre out can output up to 4 V or a little more before clipping, so no you don't need to ask yourself any questions, not technical questions anyway.

 

[patoulol]

The problem I have with the CT4150 is the specifications for the gain. If you look at the cut sheet, it is 25 dB, In the manual, page 51, it is 26 dB, and on the website home page, it says 27 dB.

If we assume the gain is 25 dB, then 1.4 V will drive it to output 77.5 W 8 ohms.
assume 26 dB, it will be 97.54 W 8 ohms.
assume 27 dB, it will output 122.8 W 8 ohms.

So the 1.4 V sensitivity will only work out if the gain is 27 dB, I have no idea why they specify 25 dB and 26 dB in different places.

If you want to assume the worse case, then it would be 25 dB gain, and in that case you will need about 1.78 V to drive the amp to its rated output of 125 W 8 ohms.

The Denon pre out can output up to 4 V or a little more before clipping, so no you don't need to ask yourself any questions, not technical questions anyway.

Thanks for the explanations Peng !


I added this power amp because I'm afraid my 3700 won't be powerful enough for my 9 speakers! especially since I damaged a Low-mid speaker my Paradigm CC690 with a bad crossover (denon audyssey positioned my cc690 in WIDE instead of 80hz)

 

[gegegege]

have a chance to get my hands on a x3700h, it was not mentioned in the review but can you decouple the amp for the front channels like x3600h? or is clipping a non issue for this model?