Denon AVR-X4700 AVR Review (Updated)

[peng]

And the issue is back! Kind of.

It doesn't trigger Audyssey any more, but just randomly goes to protect mode a couple of times a week. It can trigger after two minutes of listening to stereo music or two hours in to a movie. When this happens the power light is blinking rapidly and protection history shows "DC". Low or high volume, cool or warm device, doesn't matter.

Of course I've gone through all the wires, added a fan for cooling etc. It's hard to troubleshoot because the problem comes up so randomly.

Frustrating. The earlier owner only used this amp in a stereo setup and had no problems. And my problems started a few months after purchasing this amp second hand.

Sounds like the amp section has developed a fault causing excessive dc at the output. Have you checked the dc offset with a multimeter yet?

One thing to try is to see if the preouts are working, using preamp mode. If the power amp section is in fact failing, you would have to send it out for troubleshooting/repair, or just use the unit as a preamp/processor if you don't want to go through the trouble of going through the repair process and/or avoid the cost if it is out of warranty. Or, if you have the knowledge/skill yourself to troubleshoot/repair then go for it.

 

[Brambo67]

And the issue is back! Kind of.

It doesn't trigger Audyssey any more, but just randomly goes to protect mode a couple of times a week. It can trigger after two minutes of listening to stereo music or two hours in to a movie. When this happens the power light is blinking rapidly and protection history shows "DC". Low or high volume, cool or warm device, doesn't matter.

Of course I've gone through all the wires, added a fan for cooling etc. It's hard to troubleshoot because the problem comes up so randomly.

Frustrating. The earlier owner only used this amp in a stereo setup and had no problems. And my problems started a few months after purchasing this amp second hand.

Exactly had the same issue with my 3700. Had to take it in to the LBS for repair, can't exactly remember what it was. I got an offer on a 4700 with the 'upgraded' HDMI board and 'degraded' DAC-board. I decided to take it and it has been playing faultlessly ever since. The 3700 later appeared online as 'refurbished' item without mentioning what had been refurbished. Also took time before it gradually deteriorated. Initially going into protection mode once a month until it wasn't possible to use it any longer.

 

[Uixelas]

And the issue is back! Kind of.

It doesn't trigger Audyssey any more, but just randomly goes to protect mode a couple of times a week. It can trigger after two minutes of listening to stereo music or two hours in to a movie. When this happens the power light is blinking rapidly and protection history shows "DC". Low or high volume, cool or warm device, doesn't matter.

Of course I've gone through all the wires, added a fan for cooling etc. It's hard to troubleshoot because the problem comes up so randomly.

Frustrating. The earlier owner only used this amp in a stereo setup and had no problems. And my problems started a few months after purchasing this amp second hand.

A week ago I decided to open the amplifier to see if I can spot something wrong inside. Only thing I spotted was fair amount of dust, so I cleaned the insides thoroughly with compressed air. After that I performed factory/logic reset and setup the ampflier from the scratch. Ever since it has been working perfectly. I have been watching movies and playing music daily.

I really hope the issue is now gone, but I probably cursed it by writing this message.

 

[peng]

A week ago I decided to open the amplifier to see if I can spot something wrong inside. Only thing I spotted was fair amount of dust, so I cleaned the insides thoroughly with compressed air. After that I performed factory/logic reset and setup the ampflier from the scratch. Ever since it has been working perfectly. I have been watching movies and playing music daily.

I really hope the issue is now gone, but I probably cursed it by writing this message.

I hope so too, but I think it will be back and not because of any curse obviously. The thing is, too much dust wouldn't likely cause a DC fault, but then again, anything is possible.

 

[Sal1950]

I hope so too, but I think it will be back and not because of any curse obviously.

That was mean. JK

I really hope the issue is now gone, but I probably cursed it by writing this message.

Uixelas, I'm sending you my 2 finger Sicilian curse buster (the horns) and your Denon will now give you 20 years of trouble free operation.
I hope. Good luck.

 

[Uixelas]

That was mean. JK

Uixelas, I'm sending you my 2 finger Sicilian curse buster (the horns) and your Denon will now give you 20 years of trouble free operation.
I hope. Good luck.

Hahaha, thanks man. I will report back if the device is cursed or not. Time will tell.

 

[Deleted member 79113]

Would it still be worth getting this Denon 4700 (1500€) on account of the better measurements than the 3800 (1000€) and 4800 (1500€)?
Or is the surround technology changing so fast that this model has been rendered obsolete?
In my case it would be used for music, the source being Spotify and cd's (so I would use an upmixing option)
Thank you very much for reading

 

[Deleted member 79113]

In my opinion, the Denon 4700 is a fine choice if you find one in good shape at a reasonable price. Up mixing really hasn't changed with the 4800. Mostly what you get is support for 4 subs and optional Dirac support with the 4800. To be honest, the 4800 doesn't offer enough changes to make it worth updating from a 4700 to a 4800. For most users, Audyssey is a great option and I never needed more than two subs.

Thanks

 

[Sal1950]

Would it still be worth getting this Denon 4700 (1500€) on account of the better measurements than the 3800 (1000€) and 4800 (1500€)?
Or is the surround technology changing so fast that this model has been rendered obsolete?
In my case it would be used for music, the source being Spotify and cd's (so I would use an upmixing option)
Thank you very much for reading

If your looking at the excellent SINAD numbers obtained from the early 4700H builds (pre AKM factory fire), if you can find one
it would be a nice choice but they actually are fairly rare and hard to find. The fire made the measured DAC's unobtainable later on and most were
built with the same DAC's in the current 4800.
That said, it's highly debateable if the difference between the two DAC's is audible.
I have the later 4700H that doesn't measure as well as the one shown here but sounds just fine to me.
I don't believe you have to worry about getting a bad sounding 4700H period.
But then I may have a Tin instead of Golden ear.
Good luck.

 

[Lbstyling]

In my opinion, the Denon 4700 is a fine choice if you find one in good shape at a reasonable price. Up mixing really hasn't changed with the 4800. Mostly what you get is support for 4 subs and optional Dirac support with the 4800. To be honest, the 4800 doesn't offer enough changes to make it worth updating from a 4700 to a 4800. For most users, Audyssey is a great option and I never needed more than two subs.

Assuming room correction is to be used:

Audessey nexus has major advantages when used with the x800 generation amps that are arguably beyond the capability of DIRAC art for free at this point.

If you are not using room correction, and only need 2 subs, (not my recommendation since Nexus/Evo released even for stereo), the pre 70k serial no 4700 measures slightly better than all 4xxx models currently available.

 

[Deleted member 79113]

If your looking at the excellent SINAD numbers obtained from the early 4700H builds (pre AKM factory fire), if you can find one
it would be a nice choice but they actually are fairly rare and hard to find. The fire made the measured DAC's unobtainable later on and most were
built with the same DAC's in the current 4800.
That said, it's highly debateable if the difference between the two DAC's is audible.
I have the later 4700H that doesn't measure as well as the one shown here but sounds just fine to me.
I don't believe you have to worry about getting a bad sounding 4700H period.
But then I may have a Tin instead of Golden ear.
Good luck.

My criteria (rather than sinad) is how they perform upmixing stereo recordings.
I have tin ears myself , no need for me to invest money on a couple db's difference

 

[Sal1950]

My criteria (rather than sinad) is how they perform upmixing stereo recordings.
I have tin ears myself , no need for me to invest money on a couple db's difference

That's a great position.
The basic 3 upmixers, (Dolby Surround, DTS-X and Auro 3D offer good options and included a number of
configuration options in the menus. There's a lot of room for personal preference there when choosing which one to use.
To me the preferred one can vary with the album being upmixed.
I'm very pleased with my 4700, it offers everything I could ask for at this point and I've been doing this for decades.
Good Luck!
Sal

 

[Deleted member 79113]

That's a great position.
The basic 3 upmixers, (Dolby Surround, DTS-X and Auro 3D offer good options and included a number of
configuration options in the menus. There's a lot of room for personal preference there when choosing which one to use.
To me the preferred one can vary with the album being upmixed.
I'm very pleased with my 4700, it offers everything I could ask for at this point and I've been doing this for decades.
Good Luck!
Sal

Just one last question: How flexibel is this technology with the number of channels you use? In my case I would rather have as few cables as possible in my living roim and I am not a fan of subwoofers, so could I try sth like a 6.0 setup? Or does the immersive effect only work when one goes for standard speaker distribution like 5.1, 7.2 etc?
PS: I want to use it for music

 

[Sal1950]

Just one last question: How flexibel is this technology with the number of channels you use? In my case I would rather have as few cables as possible in my living roim and I am not a fan of subwoofers, so could I try sth like a 6.0 setup? Or does the immersive effect only work when one goes for standard speaker distribution like 5.1, 7.2 etc?
PS: I want to use it for music

Normally the AVR's are very flexible with speaker configurations and most anything is available to you.

That said, when the artists and/or production team work to create a true multich recording experience, they do have a particular speaker
number and placement and playback codec in mind. To listen to optimum effect, certain details should be kept in mind.

 

[Uixelas]

A week ago I decided to open the amplifier to see if I can spot something wrong inside. Only thing I spotted was fair amount of dust, so I cleaned the insides thoroughly with compressed air. After that I performed factory/logic reset and setup the ampflier from the scratch. Ever since it has been working perfectly. I have been watching movies and playing music daily.

I really hope the issue is now gone, but I probably cursed it by writing this message.

Well, this didn’t fix the problem in the long term. After about a month, it went into protection mode again. The AVR-X4800 was on sale, so I decided to upgrade my amplifier.

I actually sold my 4700 at a low price to someone willing to try fixing it. Unlike the previous owner, I fully disclosed all the issues with the amplifier.

 

[fanelul]

Assuming room correction is to be used:

Audessey nexus has major advantages when used with the x800 generation amps that are arguably beyond the capability of DIRAC art for free at this point.

If you are not using room correction, and only need 2 subs, (not my recommendation since Nexus/Evo released even for stereo), the pre 70k serial no 4700 measures slightly better than all 4xxx models currently available.

Hello everyone!
I just got my X4700H and I was wondering if my s/n DBCT05200... is a pre 70k serial? The model is AVC-X4700H, the European version.