Denon AVR-X3700H AVR Review

[BullBuchanan]

None of this is normal. I wouldn't miss the window to return it because you are hoping the Refurb A4L Denon receiver will magically heal it's self. Refurb means you are buying something that someone else didn't want and with the issues you are having it certainly sounds defective.

My Denon receiver doesn't display any of these issues. It plays when I turn it on with absolutely no pops in the speakers or lack of audio during movie playback. If it did any of these things, I would dump it in a heart beat.

The problem is that I can't prove it's the Denon. I could very well return it and end up with the exact same issue on whatever I replace it with, losing the Denon in the process. It also doesn't help that A4L has been trying to blame me for using what their rep is suggesting are incompatible speakers.

 

[amper42]

The problem is that I can't prove it's the Denon. I could very well return it and end up with the exact same issue on whatever I replace it with, losing the Denon in the process. It also doesn't help that A4L has been trying to blame me for using what their rep is suggesting are incompatible speakers.

If A4L is already trying to give you a hard time... that's even more reason to dump this refurb NOW. I won't buy any refurb Denon receiver from them ever again. Denon doesn't do any significant testing of these units before they send them out. Mostly, they simply repackage with a nice looking outside.

Denon makes a great receiver, but once they break they are almost impossible to fix. Mine came back from PanurgyOEM in much worse condition than I sent it in for repair - it had scratches everywhere after they took 2 months to fix it - and it came back totally busted up. lol

A4L should take this back without argument.

 

[Chrispy]

Don't know why another unit would act so strangely as the one you've got from what you describe. The customer service rep asked about the speakers or did that come from you? Sounds like they're not sure of what you're doing....but be firm and straightforward and don't take no for an answer but keep it polite.

I didn't get treated like that after I explained what misbehavior each of mine had, and while they did question all my steps but after describing them they didn't doubt me in the end as there was nothing further that I could do as a consumer nor could they suggest anything to remedy the problem other than issuing an RMA.

 

[BullBuchanan]

If A4L is already trying to give you a hard time... that's even more reason to dump this refurb NOW. I won't buy any refurb Denon receiver from them ever again. Denon doesn't do any significant testing of these units before they send them out. Mostly, they simply repackage with a nice looking outside.

Denon makes a great receiver, but once they break they are almost impossible to fix. Mine came back from PanurgyOEM in much worse condition than I sent it in for repair - it had scratches everywhere after they took 2 months to fix it - and it came back totally busted up. lol

A4L should take this back without argument.

I'm not at all saying you're wrong, but you're kind of asking me to take all of this on faith. Mine came in what appeared to be completely brand new condition with all packaging and materials and everything smelled liek brand new electronics. Electronics for the most part are infinitely repairable. Yea you may have to get completely new parts, but you seem to be suggesting there's some catastrophic failure here without telling me what it is. Are there bad HDMI ports, flaws in the eARC log, potentially a transistor out of tolerance causing problems?

If I return it, what exactly did I learn here? As far as I've been able to find there's no real competition for this in the market with this performance at this price. So if I return it my only option is to pay more or accept a worse quality product. I'm very reluctant to do that when the only solution is to return the unit for reasons unknown and probably take a restocking fee and shipping hit in the process.

 

[BullBuchanan]

Don't know why another unit would act so strangely as the one you've got from what you describe. The customer service rep asked about the speakers or did that come from you? Sounds like they're not sure of what you're doing....but be firm and straightforward and don't take no for an answer but keep it polite.

I didn't get treated like that after I explained what misbehavior each of mine had, and while they did question all my steps but after describing them they didn't doubt me in the end as there was nothing further that I could do as a consumer nor could they suggest anything to remedy the problem other than issuing an RMA.

They asked me what speakers I was using and then told me the Denon wasn't anwhere near powerful enough to power them (it is) and then told me it was causing the unit to overheat as a result (it wasn't).

 

[amper42]

If you return the refurb Denon 3700 and get a new unit (not another refurb) you will see the amazing differences having a fully working unit without intermittent issues offers. If your speakers do need an external amp - you can certainly get an amp to accommodate. But you have to start with a fully working unit.

I am currently listening to my Denon 4700 with Revel F328Be speakers using preamp mode and a stereo Purifi amp. It sounds great. The Denon receiver can do much more than most expect.

 

[Chrispy]

They asked me what speakers I was using and then told me the Denon wasn't anwhere near powerful enough to power them (it is) and then told me it was causing the unit to overheat as a result (it wasn't).

Yeah that makes no sense so the guy is obviously full of sh*t. Ask for his supervisor.

 

[BullBuchanan]

Yeah that makes no sense so the guy is obviously full of sh*t. Ask for his supervisor.

And tell him what? Once a day my speaker makes a crackle sound and yesterday I was watching a movie and the sound stopped and then I turned it off and on again and it was fine? What if the Hulu app just crapped out. What if my speakers are popping because they're damaged? what if it's some hidden power saving feature misbehaving, a cable problem, an android OS problem, an input problem, a processing problem?

Their return policy states that if they don't find anything wrong I have to cover shipping and pay a restocking fee, which I'm guessing is gonna be somewhere around 25% total of what I paid. If I knew something was for sure wrong it would probably be worth it to not get stuck with a lemon, but that's not really where we're at here. I was kind of hoping that posting here might get my a more scientific approach to reproducing and rootcausing my issues.

With the one year warranty on it, I still have insurance in case something actually fails. At this point it's more of an annoyance/mild concern that I was hoping to understand better.

 

[Chrispy]

Maybe its not the Denon, we don't know, we're not there hearing what you do. Earlier you described more aberrant behavior than in the last post above. Once a day a speaker making an odd sound....not much to go on, might be something else. Sound stopped on a bluray or streaming? If the latter, is it the app/isp/etc? Hard to know. Since its odd behavior, you might not concentrate on reproducing it but rather eliminating other possibilities? Try other sources, use other inputs and methods of input....see if you can get more odd behavior.

Did you do a microprocessor/factory reset since the less aberrant behavior settled in after making sure it was firmly plugged in?

 

[amper42]

If you want to test the Denon only then connect a CD player to it or a USB thumb drive (using HEOS app) then play the music at moderate levels using only the receiver and speakers. If you have some other basic speakers try those too. Don't use anything but the receiver. If the issues still exist it's the receiver.

I would never buy from Accessories4Less if they quote you a 20% restocking fee on a refurb return that doesn't work for you. They don't have the time or the skill to test for intermittent receiver defects. If they tried to pull this on me, I would call my credit card company and ask what to do. They will usually back you and make sure the full amount is refunded. The vendor can't sell broken gear and expect zero disputes.

The other thing you should realize is the 1 year warranty on Denon refurb receivers is worth less than ZERO. When you try to get it fixed you find most local dealers can no longer service them and Denon requires you ship it to PanurgyOEM which can't fix anything. You spend 3 months finding that out and keep calling them to get your unit back. Once you get it back it may be in worse shape than it is now. After another month, Denon may replace it if you keep calling them. The Denon warranty isn't worth much if your time without a receiver is worth anything. I'm sure this sounds crazy - but's it's exactly what happened to me.

 

[Chrispy]

If you want to test the Denon only then connect a CD player to it or a USB thumb drive (using HEOS app) then play the music at moderate levels using only the receiver and speakers. If you have some other basic speakers try those too. Don't use anything but the receiver. If the issues still exist it's the receiver.

I would never buy from Accessories4Less if they quote you a 20% restocking fee on a refurb return that doesn't work for you. They don't have the time or the skill to test for intermittent receiver defects. If they tried to pull this on me, I would call my credit card company and ask what to do. They will usually back you and make sure the full amount is refunded. The vendor can't sell broken gear and expect zero disputes.

The other thing you should realize is the 1 year warranty on Denon refurb receivers is worth less than ZERO. When you try to get it fixed you find most local dealers can no longer service them and Denon requires you ship it to PanurgyOEM which can't fix anything. You spend 3 months finding that out and keep calling them to get your unit back. Once you get it back it may be in worse shape than it is now. After another month, Denon may replace it if you keep calling them. The Denon warranty isn't worth much if your time without a receiver is worth anything. I'm sure this sounds crazy - but's it's exactly what happened to me.

Yours was during covid, tho....

 

[patoulol]

I am currently listening to my Denon 4700 with Revel F328Be speakers using preamp mode and a stereo Purifi amp. It sounds great. The Denon receiver can do much more than most expect.

I failed to get the purifi to work at home with denon x3700. Already because I have trouble adjusting the ground loop, as amirm
had done. Secondly, because I did not hear any difference with the Denon alone.
I returned it to my dealer this morning

 

[amper42]

I failed to get the purifi to work at home with denon x3700. Already because I have trouble adjusting the ground loop, as amirm
had done. Secondly, because I did not hear any difference with the Denon alone.
I returned it to my dealer this morning

I don't have any ground loop issues with the Denon 4700 and the Purifi amp. The Revel F328Be reaches down to 3 ohms in the 80Hz to 500Hz range - right where the kick and slam take place. lol

I wouldn't even consider trying to use the Denon receiver to power the F328Be impedance load. I tried my trusty Hegel H90 integrated amp with the F328Be. While the Hegel sounds wonderful with my BMR monitors it was weak and complaining with the Revel F328Be. I was surprised how poorly it sounded. Once I placed the Purifi back on the F328.Be it was smooth and crystal clear. Much, much better than my Hegel H90.

I'm not sure what speakers you're using with the Denon 3700 but if they dip down into 3 ohm territory the Purifi is a great choice. At least it was for me!

 

[oupee]

My center has this impedance and avr can handle it

 

[schpuns]

It vary with the input signal level and the volume setting. At a given/fixed volume setting, example: -10, the output voltage will then only vary with the input signal level. That is, during a quiet scene in the movie, the pre out voltage could be 0 or near 0 and during a loud explosion, it could be 0.5 V or higher. I just picked some random numbers as an example.

Thank you Peng, you seem to be very technical

Now I'm wondering which one of those 2 power amps would perform best with this Denon, assuming I won't listen to LOUD music in most of the time:
- Advance Paris X-A160 : input sensitivity 1.2V for 155W output
- ROTEL 1582 MkII : input sensitivity 1.9V for 220W output

(I'm giving here the output measured by some test, it occurs that Rotel output more power than the 200W announced.)

 

[peng]

Thank you Peng, you seem to be very technical

Now I'm wondering which one of those 2 power amps would perform best with this Denon, assuming I won't listen to LOUD music in most of the time:
- Advance Paris X-A160 : input sensitivity 1.2V for 155W output
- ROTEL 1582 MkII : input sensitivity 1.9V for 220W output

(I'm giving here the output measured by some test, it occurs that Rotel output more power than the 200W announced.)

Sorry, I don't know anything about the Advance Paris amp except what is available on their website so I can't say anything other than the specs look good.

The Rotel should perform well with the Denon that has no trouble outputting 2 V and beyond especially if you use the preamp mode. Please note that the Rotel's input sensitivity spec is 1.9 V for rated output, that is 200 W.

At 220 W that you said was measured by some test would not change that fact (1.9 V input sensitivity, or 26.5 dB gain) at all. For it to reach 220 W in that test, if the reviewer had measured the input voltage, it would have been at almost 2.0 V, again that's a very little minor detail.

 

[Xcel]

New firmware update bricked my unit, yeah!!!!

 

[amper42]

New firmware update bricked my unit, yeah!!!!

What version were you updating too? Thanks!

 

[Xcel]

Don't know, had the update a few weeks ago with no problem. Did a firmware reset (hold dimmer and Tuner Preset Ch -, power on) FW Restoring..... on the display for an hour now.

 

[Xcel]

This is the 2nd Denon unit I have had this issue with. I originally bought a refurbished 3600 from Accessories 4 Less, out of the box the network was DOA. This is a known problem https://support-uk.denon.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7253/kw/Network. 1st tried to network reset, then factory reset, then FW reset. The FW reset does not work. Just sits on Restoring FW ... for hours.

Sent the unit back for a refund and bought a brand new 3700 in Oct. 2020. No problems until today when they pushed a FW update. During the update, got stuck on "Please Wait ......." for hours. Then tried the reset routine again, now in the exact same place I was with the 3600.

This could explain why it is stuck trying to restore original FW, According to the manual: "This operation takes time because it requires reconnecting to the network, restoring and updating the firmware." https://manuals.denon.com/AVRX3700H/NA/EN/RQIFSYfmmhttob.php WTF? If the network on the unit is effed, why would you suggest trying to reset to the original FW when it needs a network connection to do so?