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Denon AVR-X3800H issue

topdownsound

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Jan 1, 2025
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New here, so I don't know if this is the correct forum. Apologies ahead of time if not.

I just bought an X3800H and have an issue with playing records. From a cold start, I'll change to the Phono input (I'm using the AVR phono stage), put the record on my new Technics SL-100C deck, drop the needle and get a few seconds of playback. Then I hear a click from the AVR, the sound cuts out for a second, then another click, and then the sound cuts back in and there are no further issues. This happens no matter what analog input I choose (I have an external preamp as well for trying the other analog inputs). Subsequent records in the same listening session do not exhibit this behavior. Just the first one. If I go watch some TV, the AVR will dutifully switch to the TV audio input automagically via the eARC and no drop out of sound happens. If I then switch back to playing records, I get that same click/silence/click/music behavior.

I've done the following to suss this out:

Different RCA cables for the deck
Checked grounding
Checked different analog inputs
Changed preamp
Reset to factory
Reset and download new firmware
Unplugged from surge protector and connected directly to wall outlet

I am running Audyssey, if that makes any difference. This behavior did not happen on my old Yamaha RX-V371, using the same deck and cables and ART preamp. I also had no room correction software on that older AVR.

If I had to guess, it acts like a relay is operating, hence the click. The momentary sound cutout might be switching from an amplifier that serves digital sources to the one that is serving the analog sources, maybe? That might account for why I only get this behavior for the first record and not subsequent ones - the default amp hasn't switched back to a different one. I'm grasping at straws here. Having that momentary cutout of sound in the first track is annoying and I don't know enough about the internal workings of the AVR to be able to say if this is normal (if irritating) behavior by AVRs these days or Denons specifically, or if something is wrong with the unit.

Any thoughts? If any group knows about the internals of these AVRs, it is this one.

Thanks!!!
 
I think I have figured this out. Sound mode on my unit is set to auto, and when I start to play a record from a cold start, or when switching from watching a movie, the unit is activating different amps and changing processing modes. That's the click. The sound cuts out as sound mode is changed. Then, when the mode is correct, there is the second click as the sound returns.

I think this is actually normal behavior for the unit. I need to play around with it to determine if I can preset the sound mode to 2.1 channel or even "Direct" and avoid the drama but I think that in the end, this is just how the Denon does its thing. In the beginning of a movie, for example, there is the same clicking and activity as it hunts around for the sound mode appropriate and sometimes, certain parts of the opening credits are in PCM, sometimes in Dolby, and the unit will click through each of these. I think that's what is happening when I play a record, especially from a cold start or coming from watching a movie, but NOT with subsequent records played consecutively.
 
IIRC - You should be able to select the desired sound mode (toggle through Movie or Music buttons to get to the desired mode), and it should "Stick" when selecting that input.
 
I'm going to give this a try and I appreciate the reply very much. Interestingly, no one at Denon, including the two "product specialists" I talked to, was able to recognize this as operational and not malfunctional. Thank you for replying!!!
 
Hope it worked - Any results yet?
 
As to the automatic switching using ARC to the "tv" input, that's a "feature". One reason I don't use it.
 
I'll know by Saturday. Because not even Denon customer service could tell me whether this was a defect or normal, I returned the unit for another one of the same. It will arrive by Saturday.

This is what sort of frosts me a bit. It took time to set up the original, go through room correction for the first time I'd ever done something like that, make sure the subwoofer was not hobbled by the process, get my hookups all working. Watch a movie and presto! Sounds fantastic. Then I drop the needle on a record and the sound cuts out momentarily. Well, I didn't pay this sort of money for a product that can't play a record as good as a $200 stereo receiver can, so I'm motivated to track down what's happening. I go through first tier help desk, then two product specialists (one of whom tells me it is my turntable malfunctioning) and in the end, Denon recommends replacement.

So I do that, only to keep reading and reading on the Internet about the internal operation of the unit and conclude that maybe this is just the unit hunting for a sound mode. And people here, who actually use the unit or one similar, confirm that yes, indeed, this is normal operating character for the unit and that by choosing a sound mode (stereo) ahead of time, I can avoid the clicking and muting as it figures out that music is playing and activates the appropriate amps and processing. I didn't need to send the original back at all. But Denon's people are so bad at their jobs, I wasted a week futzing around and stepping on my own feet.

Maddening.
 
We feel ya! I had similar confusion over how to flip through the different sound modes until realizing you simply press the Music/Movie/Game buttons to toggle through the multiple modes grouped with each button. Also visible in the "Options" on-screen pop-up menu.

If you have any other oddities with your replacement - I'd start looking here at ASR before reaching out to Denon again. You will be up and running in no time.
 
Worked like a charm.

New unit came in, set up the deck, changed input to phono and sound mode to stereo - no clicks, no cut out of sound. Watched a movie, switched back to LP. Smooth as buttah.

I appreciate the assistance very much!!!!
 
I'll know by Saturday. Because not even Denon customer service could tell me whether this was a defect or normal, I returned the unit for another one of the same. It will arrive by Saturday.

This is what sort of frosts me a bit. It took time to set up the original, go through room correction for the first time I'd ever done something like that, make sure the subwoofer was not hobbled by the process, get my hookups all working. Watch a movie and presto! Sounds fantastic. Then I drop the needle on a record and the sound cuts out momentarily. Well, I didn't pay this sort of money for a product that can't play a record as good as a $200 stereo receiver can, so I'm motivated to track down what's happening. I go through first tier help desk, then two product specialists (one of whom tells me it is my turntable malfunctioning) and in the end, Denon recommends replacement.

So I do that, only to keep reading and reading on the Internet about the internal operation of the unit and conclude that maybe this is just the unit hunting for a sound mode. And people here, who actually use the unit or one similar, confirm that yes, indeed, this is normal operating character for the unit and that by choosing a sound mode (stereo) ahead of time, I can avoid the clicking and muting as it figures out that music is playing and activates the appropriate amps and processing. I didn't need to send the original back at all. But Denon's people are so bad at their jobs, I wasted a week futzing around and stepping on my own feet.

Maddening.
I wouldn't expect Denon CS to be helpful at all.
 
Well, not so fast...

I got it to work but the issue wasn't where I expected it to be. It did it again after changing the input and sound mode to movie, then watching something, then changing back to Phono input and Stereo sound mode. However, I think I have it worked out!!!

I remembered that one of my settings that I played with on the old unit was the Eco Mode setting, which tries to keep power consumption down. I had it turned on. I turned off the Eco Mode on the new unit and VOILA!! No clicking and cutting out at the beginning of the record even when changing from movies to phonograph.

I don't know just what makes the Eco Mode cut in or out. I'm thinking that it is for playing movies - I thought I had it knocked earlier this evening but I had just installed the unit and uploaded my old settings from the last AVR and I'm guessing that the last thing I did before sending that unit back to Best Buy was play a record. I saved the settings from that unit and loaded the settings into the new one so Eco Mode was set for record playing on this first record. And it worked fine. I thought I had it.

Then I played a movie and no one really thinks about the clicking and internal foostering the unit goes through at the beginning of the movie during the title and initial credits, right? And I didn't either. Then I played a record afterwards - click/mute/click/sound. Just like before. I wanted to scream.

But I remembered I had set Eco Mode to On with the previous unit. Trying everything, I turned it off. Lo and behold - it worked. I can switch between movies and records with no problems. My guess is that the Eco Mode is doing its thing when in movie mode and things are all happening with sound on all five speakers but in music mode, with much less to do, it switches off and THAT was what was causing the internal jumping around and the momentary muting of sound. And subsequent records in the same listening session were unaffected because the Eco Mode never switched back to doing its thing until I changed to watching a movie.

So all along, my problems were Eco Mode changing status when changing inputs. I can either leave it off permanently, or just remember to toggle it off when I want to listen to a record.

What a weird thing. But the issue is solved and I thank everyone for helping me figure this out.
 
Well, not so fast...

I got it to work but the issue wasn't where I expected it to be. It did it again after changing the input and sound mode. However, I think I have it worked out!!!

I remembered that one of my settings that I played with was the Eco Mode setting, which tries to keep power consumption down. I turned off the Eco Mode and VOILA!! No clicking and cutting out at the beginning of the record.

I don't know just when the Eco Mode cuts in or out. I'm thinking that it is for playing movies - I thought I had it knocked earlier this evening but I had just installed the unit and uploaded my old settings from the last AVR and I'm guessing that the last thing I did before sending that unit back to Best Buy was play a record. I saved the settings from that unit and loaded the settings into the new one so Eco Mode was set for record playing on this first record. And it worked fine. I thought I had it.

Then I played a movie and no one really thinks about the clicking and internal foostering the unit goes through at the beginning of the movie during the title and initial credits, right? And I didn't either. Then I played a record afterwards - click/mute/click/sound. Just like before.

But I remembered I had set Eco Mode to On with the previous unit. Trying everything, I turned it off. Lo and behold - it worked. I can switch between movies and records with no problems. My guess is that the Eco Mode is doing its thing when in movie mode and things are all happening with sound on all five speakers but in music mode, with much less to do, it switches off and THAT was what was causing the internal jumping around and the momentary muting of sound. And subsequent records in the same listening session were unaffected because the Eco Mode never switched back to doing its thing until I changed to watching a movie.

So all along, my problems were Eco Mode changing status when changing inputs. I can either leave it off permanently, or just remember to toggle it off when I want to listen to a record.

What a weird thing. But the issue is solved and I thank everyone for helping me figure this out.
Glad it was just a power mode. Personally I don't want to limit, like the impedance setting (do you use that?).
 
Glad it was just a power mode. Personally I don't want to limit, like the impedance setting (do you use that?).


Yeah, that was my next question. I did set it to 6 ohms because all my speakers are 6 ohm (well, 6.3 on the HPM-1100s). But I've read where that might not be a good idea insofar as limiting power to them. However, I like to listen to some stuff pretty danged loud. My question on NOT setting the impedance to 6 has always been, am I in danger of blowing my speakers? I use a subwoofer set to cross at 80, by the way, if that means anything.
 
I wouldn't expect Denon CS to be helpful at all.
Allow me to amplify that.

I contacted the product specialist desk by email and submitted two tickets recently. I wanted to know the input capacitance of the phono stage in the AVR and I also wanted to know if the phono stage incorporated a subsonic filter/rumble filter. In both cases, the answer that came back was "we dunno." Someone there knows. Some engineer designed that phono stage and the answer is hanging around someplace. The customer service people just looked into the info they had in front of them - manuals of operation, basic specs - and didn't find the answer so instead of actually finding the answer and adding to the knowledge base for all help desk people to access (something I insisted my own team do when I was managing a computer help desk), they simply bailed.

Having about zero confidence that the cheapo phono stages being put into these AVRs incorporate a subsonic filter and having researched other AVRs where the input capacitance is 500 pF or more, I decided to take the path of least resistance and use my small but mighty Art DJ Pre II, which has a settable input capacitance, a settable rumble filter option, and gain dial complete with clipping indicator. For a budget pre-amp, it does all I need and is a simple solution.

But what a horror show that "help" desk is!! Sheesh.
 
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