Denon AVR-X3800H Review

[FrantzM]

Hi

Please! Stop tying yourself in knots about DAC chips on those receivers; either the 3800 or the 4800 DAC shall sound the same , i-e audibly transparent, same as most DAC with a SINAD over 80 dB...
I may get the 3800 as a precautionary measure, since my X-3400H is at least 7 years old (Purchased, refurbished in 2017 at Accessories4less.com)...

 

[GM23]

Are people with 4ohm speakers running their X3800H in 4ohm or 8ohm mode? I had been using the 4ohm mode for my KEF Q Meta speakers but have now read in a few places online that this is a glorified Eco mode and is actually limiting AVR performance. A few people even believe this mode could damage the speakers?

 

[EWL5]

Are people with 4ohm speakers running their X3800H in 4ohm or 8ohm mode? I had been using the 4ohm mode for my KEF Q Meta speakers but have now read in a few places online that this is a glorified Eco mode and is actually limiting AVR performance. A few people even believe this mode could damage the speakers?

Do yourself a favor and run in 8 ohm mode. And yes, you're starving your 4 ohm speakers of power (the 3800 did fine under the 4 ohm benchmark by Amir).

PSA from Audioholics:

Connecting 4-ohm Speakers to an 8-ohm Receiver

This article discusses 8 ohm vs 4 ohm speakers and how the typical AV Receiver will handle them. We discuss how to set the impedance switch to get the most power from your receiver.

www.audioholics.com

 

[peng]

4 ohm vs 8 ohm is a question that get asked a lot but people don’t seem to realize in many cases they need to consider their seating distance, speaker sensitivity and listening habit such as what is the highest spl they need. Depending on those numbers, some people can drive their so called 4 ohm speakers with the likes of the avr-x380h while others may struggle with even so called 8 ohm speakers. Yes that sounds a little more complicated but that’s the way it is.

 

[GM23]

Do yourself a favor and run in 8 ohm mode. And yes, you're starving your 4 ohm speakers of power (the 3800 did fine under the 4 ohm benchmark by Amir).

PSA from Audioholics:

Connecting 4-ohm Speakers to an 8-ohm Receiver

This article discusses 8 ohm vs 4 ohm speakers and how the typical AV Receiver will handle them. We discuss how to set the impedance switch to get the most power from your receiver.

www.audioholics.com

I've switched to 8ohm mode.

Now that I can adjust the ECO settings, is OFF or Auto the recommended setting?

 

[Everett T]

Are people with 4ohm speakers running their X3800H in 4ohm or 8ohm mode? I had been using the 4ohm mode for my KEF Q Meta speakers but have now read in a few places online that this is a glorified Eco mode and is actually limiting AVR performance. A few people even believe this mode could damage the speakers?

Everyone needs to ignore that setting, and as others have mentioned and linked articles, you're robbing your speakers of current they may need at times.

 

[EWL5]

I've switched to 8ohm mode.

Now that I can adjust the ECO settings, is OFF or Auto the recommended setting?

I prefer ECO in the "off" position as I only want pure performance. If you want to be enviro-friendly, then AUTO is probably the option you want.

 

[amira]

The 3800h is also on sale currently in the US. I'm tempted to upgrade from my lowly S740H, mainly for the better version of Audyssey, but also for pre-outs.

Are there any talks of Denon releasing new models yet? It seems like the current models have been around for a number of years now...

If you're talking about the current $1440 price, it's been lower within the last week and should hopefully get down to $1100ish for Black Friday.

 

[delta76]

If you're talking about the current $1440 price, it's been lower within the last week and should hopefully get down to $1100ish for Black Friday.

I am looking to buy to so I am hopeful, but if I am realistic, then the sudden and sharp rise in price recently will likely follow by a modest discount for BF. We will likely not get the best 52w price this BF

 

[sahil fardeen]

Coming from a yamaha a3080, will i notice a downgrade in sound…? Any idea

 

[popej]

I've switched to 8ohm mode.

Now that I can adjust the ECO settings, is OFF or Auto the recommended setting?

IMHO there is not much reason to use other settings than 8 Ohm, Eco Auto. This way you get full power at high volume and cool device at low volume. AVR switches power rails automatically, when necessary.

 

[delta76]

Coming from a yamaha a3080, will i notice a downgrade in sound…? Any idea

Why would you? As if a3080 is out of this world.
Most decent AVR will sound just the same. The biggest difference you might notice will come from the room correction software, and I think Audyssey on x3800h will do a better job than your YPAO. Even more so if you buy Direc license

 

[EWL5]

Coming from a yamaha a3080, will i notice a downgrade in sound…? Any idea

According to zkelectronics, it appears the 6800 may be more in line w/the power of your A3080:

Side-by-side Comparison

Side-by-side Comparison

www.zkelectronics.com

Depending on how far you sit from the speakers, it may not matter if you get the 6800 or 3800!

 

[delta76]

According to zkelectronics, it appears the 6800 may be more in line w/the power of your A3080:

Side-by-side Comparison

Side-by-side Comparison

www.zkelectronics.com

Depending on how far you sit from the speakers, it may not matter if you get the 6800 or 3800!

By the law of logarithmic the difference of that 50w in amp power translates to loudness is pretty ineligible. Also for most reasonably sensitive speakers, you will never draw more than 10w until you play really loud.

 

[peng]

Coming from a yamaha a3080, will i notice a downgrade in sound…? Any idea

The problem is, people would tell you things based on their own experiences, perception, opinions etc., then you would have to choose who to believe? It maybe better to not pay too much attention to other's subjective impressions, and do your own comparison based on specs and measurements. There are detailed measurements online, for both models.

Yamaha RX-A3080 Review (AVR)

This is a review and measurements of the Yamaha RX-A3080 Audio/Video Receiver. It was kindly purchased by a member as a refurbished unit and sent to me. This is last year's model and motivation for testing was that it shares the same amplification as this year's models which have very...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Audioholics measured the RX-A6A, that should be highly comparable to the RX-A3080:

Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K AV Receiver Bench Test Results!

We bench tested the Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K 150watt/ch Atmos/DTS:X Receiver to gauge power output and uncover performance issues we discovered. We discuss the proper settings for best power delivery.

www.audioholics.com

 

[sahil fardeen]

Why would you? As if a3080 is out of this world.
Most decent AVR will sound just the same. The biggest difference you might notice will come from the room correction software, and I think Audyssey on x3800h will do a better job than your YPAO. Even more so if you buy Direc license

I rely on room correction only for distance and level, i have a crown xti for subwoofers which handle all the eq for my subs (with REW). I always prefer to not eq my speakers- I find it always better to leave it off- Be it ypao/audyssey.

I had a 7200w denon in the past which i sold it off due to reliability concerns. Well this sounded superior for me than the 3080 (Subjective reasons - Denon sounds more “thicker” than yamaha. Yamaha is a bit lean and thin sounding).

So i am guessing if the 3800h will serve me better, and the fact that its brand new (whilst being cheap - around $900 in india) with features like individual preouts . Only concern is it should sound similar to my previous denon, which i think it will.

 

[sahil fardeen]

By the law of logarithmic the difference of that 50w in amp power translates to loudness is pretty ineligible. Also for most reasonably sensitive speakers, you will never draw more than 10w until you play really loud.

Exactly. I have high sensitivity speakers as well. LCRs are 98db and rest 92db.

Although i do listen pretty loud, it still shouldn’t be a problem for the 3800h.

 

[sahil fardeen]

The problem is, people would tell you things based on their own experiences, perception, opinions etc., then you would have to choose who to believe? It maybe better to not pay too much attention to other's subjective impressions, and do your own comparison based on specs and measurements. There are detailed measurements online, for both models.

Yamaha RX-A3080 Review (AVR)

This is a review and measurements of the Yamaha RX-A3080 Audio/Video Receiver. It was kindly purchased by a member as a refurbished unit and sent to me. This is last year's model and motivation for testing was that it shares the same amplification as this year's models which have very...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Audioholics measured the RX-A6A, that should be highly comparable to the RX-A3080:

Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K AV Receiver Bench Test Results!

We bench tested the Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K 150watt/ch Atmos/DTS:X Receiver to gauge power output and uncover performance issues we discovered. We discuss the proper settings for best power delivery.

www.audioholics.com

True… great advice.

In the past i have not hopped on between too many recievers with the general concensus and belief that most of them would sound exactly the same - as others here would say. I had sticked with the 7200w denon for a long time. Until recently i started trying out different recievers. First, the marantz 8012, then the denon 8500h, the yamaha 3080.

I could clearly tell all and each of them apart… Particularly since i dont rely on room correction for eq. And i have tested many of them side by side. There were clear differences between them. Tonality, transparency, multichannel separation.

 

[kawauso]

True… great advice.

In the past i have not hopped on between too many recievers with the general concensus and belief that most of them would sound exactly the same - as others here would say. I had sticked with the 7200w denon for a long time. Until recently i started trying out different recievers. First, the marantz 8012, then the denon 8500h, the yamaha 3080.

I could clearly tell all and each of them apart… Particularly since i dont rely on room correction for eq. And i have tested many of them side by side. There were clear differences between them. Tonality, transparency, multichannel separation.

If you’re not using any room EQ, AV receivers will sound the same.
Even with just 2-channel, I recommend asking someone to help you run a blind test so you can make rational decisions.
Make sure the speaker output levels are matched within less than 0.3 dB.

 

[sahil fardeen]

If you’re not using any room EQ, AV receivers will sound the same.
Even with just 2-channel, I recommend asking someone to help you run a blind test so you can make rational decisions.
Make sure the speaker output levels are matched within less than 0.3 dB.

Everything was level matched with spl meter, so that’s not a factor affecting here.

I have a set of (5-10) multichannel demo material that i have heard back to back 1000s of time for years (john wick…etc) so that is what i use to test between receivers. And since i am so used to this material any differences i can clearly make out. And believe me, each receivers do sound different in that regard.

If it was with some unfamiliar/new material, it would be harder to distinguish