Denon AVR-X3800H Review

[Stiffmeister]

Will this be an audibly different coming from an Arcam AVR850?

 

[Webninja]

I will certainly wait for the firmware update for Dirac before even considering one of these. That would be my only reason to switch from my 3700.

 

[Vovgan]

??? I already showed SINAD up to 2 volts:

Are you asking for something else?

Sorry, my bad! Misread the graph. So with the amps shut off there is no precipitous drop after 1.4v, but the SINAD is truly 10 dB down even for lower volumes! Ahh …
Thank you!

 

[evert]

Marantz Cinema 50 expected to measure the same?

 

[Hobolicious]

Denon had been my "goto" recommendation for AVRs and even AVPs. When anyone asked me about either, I would just say "get a Denon AVR." While subjectively the performance of this new generation may be similar, I can't accept the regression in objective measured performance.

It is with much sadness that I cannot recommend the Denon AVR-X3800H.

Out of curiousty, if you are not recommending the X3800H, what would be your current recommendations in the same price bracket (disregarding the X3700H seeing the last batches of it likely will have the same DACs as the X3800H) that can do upwards of 7.4.4/5.4.6 (with 2ch power amplifier)?

 

[SupremeAV]

And this got a 5 star review on What HiFi

They quote:

"Streaming SBTRKT’s Trials Of The Past, the AVC-X3800H delivers a surprisingly nuanced musical performance with an assured attack at the start of each synth note and the envelope of each reverb tail given space to breathe. The hefty bass is solidly controlled, while at the top end of the spectrum, the shakers are nicely defined and spread wide"

Well I'm pretty sure they dont test to this level. They do audio test in the real world and I'd bet no one on this board can hear the difference. Not to knock on the science aspect of it but if the difference is inaudible who really cares?

 

[Bleib]

A bit sad about the regression in performance, would be very curious to see how the cheapest Denon AVRs measure.

 

[BenchZowner]

And this got a 5 star review on What HiFi

They quote:

"Streaming SBTRKT’s Trials Of The Past, the AVC-X3800H delivers a surprisingly nuanced musical performance with an assured attack at the start of each synth note and the envelope of each reverb tail given space to breathe. The hefty bass is solidly controlled, while at the top end of the spectrum, the shakers are nicely defined and spread wide"

If What Hi-Fi doesn't hand out 5 star reviews they'll cease to exist

 

[Marc v E]

Well, at least they finally removed the component video inputs and output.

I've written on this before, but these products are just too complex for a company to truly test and optimize the designs when they have nearly a dozen new models coming out each year. They have to be taking shortcuts in testing and optimizing design and layout.

They can do it if they automate the testing process ime. (It wouldn't be that difficult either imo and could be set up and maintained by a small team)

It's what I do in software development. The fact that Amir can test the unit by himself tells me it could be done by Denon too.

 

[Vacceo]

They can do it if they automate the testing process ime. (It wouldn't be that difficult either imo and could be set up and maintained by a small team)

I am sure they have a mold. I'm quite confident those words are the same for a Pass Labs or Acuphase stereo amp.

 

[abdo123]

(Barely) inaudible noise performance and just enough distortion performance. eeeeh.

Digitization at 96KHz is a welcomed improvement from AVRs in the last 20 years.

 

[abdo123]

@amirm Did you measure at which voltage the pure pre-amp function clips?

 

[amirm]

@amirm Did you measure at which voltage the pure pre-amp function clips?

I didn't try to go above 2 volts.

 

[Koeitje]

Expected results, just mediocracy. These AVRs are like vanilla: nothing to get excited about, nothing to get angry about. They just "are".

 

[Marc v E]

Expected results, just mediocracy. These AVRs are like vanilla: nothing to get excited about, nothing to get angry about. They just "are".

Agreed. Still makes me wonder, though, why there isn't a avr preprocessor that measures very well. Or a high end branch from Denon or Sony etc that produces a few high performance products like AMG for mercedes.

 

[Vacceo]

Agreed. Still makes me wonder, though, why there isn't a avr preprocessor that measures very well. Or a high end branch from Denon or Sony etc that produces a few high performance products like AMG for mercedes.

Supposedly that what Marantz is to Denon.

On products like these I always wonder how hard is (and how expensive does it get) to create a "cleaner" product. Sure, It cannot reach perfect transparency just yet due to DSP's, but there is ample room for improvement (as Anthem showed).

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

This is a downer from the previous version. No doubt. Price is raised by $500.oo... that's about a 23% increase... What are the gains? Nothing really ... A bummer..
A good way for a company to NOT endear its current and potential customers.
The usual suspects got stale, fat and/or complacent. Market opportunities? Waiting for the people at Topping , SMSL , et al to upend this market segment.

Peace.

 

[Vacceo]

Hi

This is a downer from the previous version. No doubt. Price is raised by $500.oo... that's about a 23% increase... What are the gains? Nothing really ... A bummer..
A good way for a company to NOT endear its current and potential customers.
The usual suspects got stale, fat and/or complacent. Market opportunities? Waiting for the people at Topping , SMSL , et al to upend this market segment.

Peace.

My guess is that manufacturers like Topping may have issues with licenses from Dolby or DTS. Basically because they have the capacity to produce avr's just like they produce amps or DACs.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Denon!! you fool. There's $100 DAC's/Amps that perform better than this. AVR's are seriously becoming a joke and inching closer to snake oil territory for their claims.

 

[dlaloum]

Who knows if X3700H that you can get these days actually perform better? The revised version haven't been measured, to my knowledge.

The updated X3700H (after they ran out of AKM chips) - used the same PCM chipset as the current X3800...

I would expect very very similar performance...