Denon AVR-X3700H AVR Review

[rvsixer]

These devices are meant to be disposable, it's not like vintage amps. Nobody is keeping an AVR for 5 years, let alone 10.
Every year the industry comes up with a new gizmo and you are compelled to upgrade because hey, I can't live without the new Atmos Turbo codec and 16 more channels embedded in the sofa. So even if it fails after a couple of years who cares.

So counter to all my experience. All my AVR's were/are over five years old. My current AVR is going on eight years old (Yamaha RX-A1020). My two year old smart TV extended its life, watching 4K in 5.2 via ARC (my small room won't support 16 sofa channels lol).

Not everyone shares the readily disposable/wasteful model, instead adopting to make things last (and then, passing it on to someone whose needs can still be met with it).

 

[Darvis]

Sorry about the translator.
I'm usually aware of all the innovations and I'm also an audio enthusiast and very active in the audio forums, the proof is that I'm here.

Same here! And that's exactly why I read audio fora: if an AVR must last for 5-7 years better for it to be reaaaaally carefully chosen.

 

[Urgo]

After many months of studying and waiting, I bought one of the first Denon AVC x6700h, and it came out froggy. I had to return it because the protection relay jumped when I connected it.

After so many years satisfied with my Denon, which is still in perfect working order, I am now very hesitant about the brand. What I do will depend on D-M's response to the shortcomings that @amirm has revealed. If I had waited a little while for the results, I wouldn't have bought the 6700. Now at least we know that this 3700, and the 4700, also have their problems, but for regular use they are worth it, especially compared to other brands for price and specifications. I am looking forward to Amirm testing the x8500h and the new Marantz if possible.

That's why it's so important to donate to this forum and to be able to continue with the independent testing.

 

[Bello]

If you are going to have a fan on a device, then you best think of these things in your design. And I don't agree that accumulated dust over time is the same as heat generated all the time relative to reliability. AVRs have ton of electrolytic capacitors that have far shorter life when heated up. Dust doesn't impact them one bit. Even tiniest amount of active air movement has amazing cooling effect compared to just relying on convection.

After much thought, as far as to some of the mid ~higher end AVR's packed w/ electronics. As we both have experienced the heat concern (hot) top front right side area 4700H/6700H. The heat everyone had been concerned about is normal. The system itself is doing its job (heat sinks) eradicating heat / cooling. My recommendation to Denon concerning this heat issue is to better disbursed, manage the heat (evenly) across the chassis. Not just one (spot) area of the chassis as in the 6700H, w/ one long heat sink w/ 11 amps sitting on it. Great example, Emotiva chassis or the 8500H for that matter. If the foot print, chassis of the these mid- systems were to be a bit larger, width, height. We wouldn't be having this conversation. It would be a none issue, concerning burning heat in one spot. There would be no need for fans or filters or fan controls as you noted which could all become problematic. Another example, as I mentioned, I have a 7 channel Emotiva with all channels @ full power. I configured / cabled my amp having LCR physically separated (chassis) to disburse heat better. My left channel is at one end (left side of the unit slot 7) my Rt channel (right side of unit, slot 1) center channel (dead middle slot 4) remaining amp slots (overall, less power required) surround, Hieght wide, Atmos ect...

There are methods to far better eradicate / disburse heat then to use problematic mechanical devices in an audio system.

 

[John Galt]

I didn't like the heat my old 2312 receiver generated in a 2.1 config at high volume levels. Now I'm running a 3500 in 3.2 with all outboard amps and not a single component gets more than warm to the touch, even at the highest sustained volume levels.

 

[Obiden]

This unit sure beats the overpriced fatiguing sound of the soundbars. I sold my LG soundbar to buy the X3700 because I had some speakers laying around and boy I am glad I sold that garbage.
Denon X3700 is just simply is awesome sounding according to my ears I don't know about the capacitor issues when this guy reviewed the X6700 and his motives, he has too many useless graphs and charts

 

[valerianf]

My 10 years old AVR is hdmi 1.4 and I will buy a new AVR (3700h?) because I want to switch to hdmi2.1
I do have plan to keep it 10 years because hdmi standards are not so volatile.
TVs have a shorter life time because of the evolution of the display technology.
Audio is audio: stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos.
In my case what is important is having a good quality of sound, not a list of stickers on the front panel.

 

[bigguyca]

You could say the same thing about Sony but I blew up my brand new one with a stress power test. It got so hot I could smell the burned enamel of the transformer winding.

The comment was:

"The thermal and current protection systems in the Denon's, especially the higher level models, are quite extensive and clearly have been the subject of extensive engineering by Denon."

I know essentially nothing about Sony audio equipment. The comment above came from reviewing the design of numerous pieces of Denon equipment. It isn't clear how a failure in a piece of Sony equipment reflects on Denon.

 

[Bello]

Well, it seems that an additional fan+durst filter is a solution for Denon users.
I live in California and have a 10 years old Yamaha.
There is no fan inside it but I always can place my hand at the top of the amplifier.
The top cover is warm but not hot, even in summer time.
This temperature issue and the down-mixing bug are the 2 points that stop me for placing a 3700h order.
It would have been my first Denon.

I also have an older higher end Yamaha 15 yrs. The heat distribution is fine, no hot spots That said- The heat sinks are huge, wide and long. Heat displacement is evenly matched with a large area to extract the heat through the louvers.

The newer x Denon system has a limited area to extract heat with little to no space between components. Without compromising (cooking) internal components. The area above the amplifier heat sinks should be clear of any obstruction not to have heat re-enter, bounce back into the system.

 

[GeorgeBynum]

50 years ago, I was involved in the forced air cooling of 3CX500 vacuum tubes ... that is forced air cooling. What I suspect, and many here seem to agree, is that a slight breeze of ambient air is sufficient if design clearances are maintained. Natural convection, given that, is SUPPOSED to be sufficient. A small fan to circulate air and PERHAPS direct it towards the inlets should be good. IN GENERAL, blowing from the top wouldn't be the best approach; hot air rises.

 

[Anterantz]

it is very difficult to put together 11 channels, hdmi video section etc .. in a box that is not intrusive for the domestic home!

Some demand that it not be heated and we spend thousands of euros in our rooms and what is the problem with investing in external cooling?

I understand that the Urgo colleague is disappointed with his purchase of the 6700 but no electronic device is absent to suffer a failure ... and I do not think it is due to that post covid capacitor since the 4700/3700 would also be smaller.

We are giving too much thought to sinad that few of us auditory would notice it since we have to exceed the reference threshold that few users rarely exceed.

I have an 8500h and if the amir test detects a low sinad it will not change my appreciation of this great avr, because it sounds fantastic.

 

[Bello]

50 years ago, I was involved in the forced air cooling of 3CX500 vacuum tubes ... that is forced air cooling. What I suspect, and many here seem to agree, is that a slight breeze of ambient air is sufficient if design clearances are maintained. Natural convection, given that, is SUPPOSED to be sufficient. A small fan to circulate air and PERHAPS direct it towards the inlets should be good. IN GENERAL, blowing from the top wouldn't be the best approach; hot air rises.

Talk about CRT's? I stared a tube (CRT) for most of my young age, lol

Air movement should be across the top. Removing hot stagnant air away from the top. For hot air Not to enter back down into the system. Systems that are enclosed in a cabinet, low ceiling. I would not recommend air flow pushed or pulled through the system unless absolutely necessary. If heat becomes excessively critical to the amplifiers. The bottom internal fans will turn on. That all said, wouldn't you think the Japanese engineers would have thought of a better method of cooling? Seriously...

The fans mounted on the bottom of the system are facing down. You ask why? To pull down / remove hot air from the top of the system. Make sense?

My theory, reasons why you see no internal fan spin (only at very high temps) is as follow's:

1) Dust contamination
2) Electrical interference from internal spinning fans (Pure Direct goes out the window)
3) Warranty issue $ / increased failure rate.

Component failure rate will go up as internal dust builds up over time from a fan sucking in dust. Do-not expect to see the dual internal fans to ever turn on unless your system is hot enough to poach an egg. For reasons stated above, maybe not in that exact order but in line with ligament reasons not to have a fan cooling an AUDIO system. Unless the amplifiers enter a critical state.

As for the 3700H, I believe the temp levels might be at Par? Not as hot as the hotter 4700H / 6700H.

 

[Dswasserman]

Been following these threads for a while now. Trying to decide between the 3600, 3700, and 4500 (which I can get for $1099). Slight feature differences aside, would the 4500 be worth the slight up charge over the other two models (presuming I can find the 3600/3700 in the $800-$900 range). Running a 5.2.4 system (Klipsch in-walls / in-ceilings for Atmos). Would it be safe to presume that the 4500 will have measure similarly to the 3600 and 3700?

 

[Mayers]

It keeps working so no failures or issues observed. We are just concerned about long term reliability. If you don't need a lot of power, turn on the ECO mode. It is on the remote so you can turn it off if you are watching something loud. Or put in Auto where it turns on by itself if you increase the volume.

Hello amirm,
As a result of the Denon X3700H review you have an article like this.

`` Other 2020 Denon AVRs we tested performed worse ''

Looking at the chart below, there is a 1dB difference between the X3700H and the X4700H.

Is this difference serious enough to be called "worse performance"?
You used such an expression.

greetings..

 

[Anterantz]

Hello friend, for those of you who continue to think that sinad influences to a certain extent to return an avr, I will tell you an experience of a friend who understands this a lot!

He had a denon 4300 and he is one of those who understand a lot about calibration, he has gone to arcam avr20 (here an avr10 / avr390 is half) giving a regrettable sinad .. because he has literally told me that his room had never sounded so good!

So for those of you who keep saying that audyseey is up to dirac, this friend has tried everything rapstbudy or whatever that application is called hehe the multeq editor app and the same boxes and rooms the change is not a little better, if not much better .

So my question is, how important is the sinad in the final sound?

 

[Castortroy3]

Replace an AVR every 3 years... Laughable most people don't even own an AVR. I bought my last AVR in the early 2000s and just replaced it and found my way to this website. Frankly, I think most people will say I'm way more into home theater than your average bear. Clearly compared to this crowd I'm no where near an enthusiast. But to the average american I am way more in tune. Iphones are barely on a 18 month (and that was when phone were free with contract) and you think an AVR is replaced every 3 years.

 

[kevindd992002]

My memory doesn't go back that far. But fortunately the site does. From my review:

View attachment 76705

FYI I am in discussions with Denon/Marantz folks about thermal issues. They like to investigate what I have reported. I am asking them to lower the threshold for the fans to come on. Will see if they go for it.

Thanks. How's your discussions with them going? It would really help to lower that temp threshold for the fans. I have the same experience with other electronics and it doesn't make sense to put a fan there if most of the time it's not running anyway.

It keeps working so no failures or issues observed. We are just concerned about long term reliability. If you don't need a lot of power, turn on the ECO mode. It is on the remote so you can turn it off if you are watching something loud. Or put in Auto where it turns on by itself if you increase the volume.

That's what I thought. Any other caveats when using ECO mode though?

Heat is the bane to any electronics in the long run (could be shorter if things get super hot). That’s why computers have so many fans going. Same for server racks. People tend to like to get some external cooling when they feel it’s needed.

Yeah, but in reality running at say in the range of 70-80C wouldn't really hurt anything. And when something gets broken, we can't prove that it's due to high temps. But I get you, it's always better to run at lower temps, of course. I'm assuming that for external cooling, they're going for pull exhaust configuration, correct?

 

[Chuchu]

Hello friend, for those of you who continue to think that sinad influences to a certain extent to return an avr, I will tell you an experience of a friend who understands this a lot!

He had a denon 4300 and he is one of those who understand a lot about calibration, he has gone to arcam avr20 (here an avr10 / avr390 is half) giving a regrettable sinad .. because he has literally told me that his room had never sounded so good!

So for those of you who keep saying that audyseey is up to dirac, this friend has tried everything rapstbudy or whatever that application is called hehe the multeq editor app and the same boxes and rooms the change is not a little better, if not much better .

So my question is, how important is the sinad in the final sound?

SINAD is a small factor for the sound and hardly inaudible, however it’s measurable and considering two AVRs without much difference in functions (like X3500H and X3600H), returning the worse is always the best option. I was confused between Denon and Marantz AVRs because many people say Marantz HDAM circuit makes music better and charge more for that hardly audible feature, but ASR proved that’s nonsense.

Now we look at your example, between a denon 4300 and arcam avr20, they have a very different main factor: Audyseey vs Dirac. The difference is totally audible and bad SINAD performance of arcam is outshined by room correction. Denon is not a better AVR, it’s a better engineered AVR with good SINDAD. If you love Dirac, no need to return it for a better SINAD, however if you don’t use Dirac, there is no way we will pay 2k+ for Arcam.

That’s where ASR reviews come to help your AVR choice before buying expensive stuff for people with limited budget (like me). I’d use up all my money and totally pay for Dirac sound, but seeing the bad SINAD here, I’d hold up money and wait until I see a more reasonable dirac AVR because it may be my last purchase.

However if you’re rich, just buy the best AVR with the best technology and best sound to your ear, and replace by another better one later.

Also, ASR reviews is also a drive for manufactures to do better if they see customer returns their products. Maybe someday we will see an Arcam AVR with better SINAD thanks to armir and all the people in this forum.

 

[C19580]

I am between the 3700 and 4700 and having a hard time deciding.

my speakers are 4 ohm Emotiva C2, T2s and E2s and planning to add some height speakers to do a 7.1.2 set up.

initially, I plan to power all the speakers with just the receiver and in the future, might add a 3 channel amp for the LCR speakers, and add 2 more height speakers to take it to 7.1.4

will I notice a significant improvement in sound going to the 4700 while powering all speakers vs the 3700?

how much improvement would I notice when eventually adding an external amp like the emotiva xpa-3 (probably won’t be for a couple of years) for the LCR speakers?

room is 16x12 ft and use mostly for movies and gaming.

 

[theory]

I am between the 3700 and 4700 and having a hard time deciding.

my speakers are 4 ohm Emotiva C2, T2s and E2s and planning to add some height speakers to do a 7.1.2 set up.

initially, I plan to power all the speakers with just the receiver and in the future, might add a 3 channel amp for the LCR speakers, and add 2 more height speakers to take it to 7.1.4

will I notice a significant improvement in sound going to the 4700 while powering all speakers vs the 3700?

how much improvement would I notice when eventually adding an external amp like the emotiva xpa-3 (probably won’t be for a couple of years) for the LCR speakers?

room is 16x12 ft and use mostly for movies and gaming.

I was in the same boat but decided with the 3700. Figured I didn’t need all of the extras the 4700 offered and may upgrade in some years when there is full hdmi 2.1 switching etc. mainly wanted the x32 Audyssey. The rest of the 4700 features are nice to have but I’m not sure if it’s worth an extra 30-40% for me at this time. Planning on getting a better subwoofer with the money I saved between the two.

If you are planning on heights then the 4700 may make a bit more sense if you want that Auro 3D upmix option. For me I’m going with a 5.1 for now.