Denon AVR-X4800H AVR Review

[PGAMiami]

I’ve got my 4800h as a prepro running Dirac ART with bridged Benchmark AHBs on the LCR and VTV NC252MPs on the surround and heights. It all sound great, extremely quiet. Bass has never been better in my room. Using two Perlisten 210s on the front wall and two Rythmik F12SEs on the rear wall. It’s hard to imagine you can get anything noticeably better for TV and movies. Two channel stereo also sounds great with Dirac ART teaming up all the speakers to provide a smooth, tight bass response. This convinced me Dirac ART can produce some exceptional results and I boxed up my two channel DAC. Will be upgrading to a higher end Dirac ART product when we have more information on the AV20, Tide16 and APR-16.

BTW, the 4800 has worked flawlessly for a couple years now. Being more of a 2 channel high end audio person, I’m drawn to a simpler, maybe more elegantly engineered product like the Tide16. That said, D&M really has developed some very compelling products.

 

[Rockman2]

Looking for some set up help and or advice. Denon Tech Support was clear as mud. One Tech Support agent told me to hook it up completely different than another. The last one told me to set up my Atmos speakers as Dolby and not as height speakers. There is also an option to select top. The 4 atmost speakers are in the ceiling, two behind my head and too closer to the TV. The 4 surround speakers are also in the ceiling in the correct location based on seating position. I have attached a photo.

Thanks for any help!

 

[ban25]

Looking for some set up help and or advice. Denon Tech Support was clear as mud. One Tech Support agent told me to hook it up completely different than another. The last one told me to set up my Atmos speakers as Dolby and not as height speakers. There is also an option to select top. The 4 atmost speakers are in the ceiling, two behind my head and too closer to the TV. The 4 surround speakers are also in the ceiling in the correct location based on seating position. I have attached a photo.

Thanks for any help!

If they are in-ceiling or ceiling mounted speakers, do not set them up as Dolby Heights. That setting is only for "bouncy house" upfiring speakers.

 

[PGAMiami]

If they are in-ceiling or ceiling mounted speakers, do not set them up as Dolby Heights. That setting is only for "bouncy house" upfiring speakers.

Mine are set as Top Middle, KEF R8 Meta wall mounted on side walls. I believe there should be a Top Front and Top Back setting which is what you should use if the are on “top” facing towards the listeners.

 

[Rockman2]

So Denon had me set them to Dolby. The auto sent me a link to the manual. This says for the height speakers, you can label them as top middle top rear surround height, rear height, surround Dolby back Dolby top rear rear height, surround Dolby. The photo of the GUI interface now shows my speakers as a firing like the previous poster said a bouncy house. There is obviously a number of ways to list these speakers in the interface, and I don’t know what it changes in the amplifier, and in the possible separation and timing of the information coming out of these speakers. Oddly, you cannot get a straight answer out of Denon Tech Support on which way to set the speakers to get the best experience with an Atmos enabled DVD streaming. Very sad that this amplifier seems to have an awful lot of technology, but they cannot tell you how to set it up properly.

 

[PGAMiami]

So Denon had me set them to Dolby. The auto sent me a link to the manual. This says for the height speakers, you can label them as top middle top rear surround height, rear height, surround Dolby back Dolby top rear rear height, surround Dolby. The photo of the GUI interface now shows my speakers as a firing like the previous poster said a bouncy house. There is obviously a number of ways to list these speakers in the interface, and I don’t know what it changes in the amplifier, and in the possible separation and timing of the information coming out of these speakers. Oddly, you cannot get a straight answer out of Denon Tech Support on which way to set the speakers to get the best experience with an Atmos enabled DVD streaming. Very sad that this amplifier seems to have an awful lot of technology, but they cannot tell you how to set it up properly.

Looks wrong to me if your speakers are in the ceiling pointing down. Don’t you have a setting for “Top” speakers? I would use those.

 

[Tre2023]

Looking for some set up help and or advice. Denon Tech Support was clear as mud. One Tech Support agent told me to hook it up completely different than another. The last one told me to set up my Atmos speakers as Dolby and not as height speakers. There is also an option to select top. The 4 atmost speakers are in the ceiling, two behind my head and too closer to the TV. The 4 surround speakers are also in the ceiling in the correct location based on seating position. I have attached a photo.

Thanks for any help!

If you your Surround and Surround Back speakers are in the ceiling with your Height speakers, you aren’t going to get an acceptable Atmos presentation as the Surround and Surround Back speakers should be at ear level like the Front and Center channel speakers.

 

[PGAMiami]

If you your Surround and Surround Back speakers are in the ceiling with your Height speakers, you aren’t going to get an acceptable Atmos presentation as the Surround and Surround Back speakers should be at ear level like the Front and Center channel speakers.

View attachment 515468

It’s not optimal to have surround in ceiling but it may certainly be acceptable to many. Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.

 

[ban25]

So Denon had me set them to Dolby. The auto sent me a link to the manual. This says for the height speakers, you can label them as top middle top rear surround height, rear height, surround Dolby back Dolby top rear rear height, surround Dolby. The photo of the GUI interface now shows my speakers as a firing like the previous poster said a bouncy house. There is obviously a number of ways to list these speakers in the interface, and I don’t know what it changes in the amplifier, and in the possible separation and timing of the information coming out of these speakers. Oddly, you cannot get a straight answer out of Denon Tech Support on which way to set the speakers to get the best experience with an Atmos enabled DVD streaming. Very sad that this amplifier seems to have an awful lot of technology, but they cannot tell you how to set it up properly.

Setting to Dolby likely applies an HRTF to those channels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function), which you do not want. Try setting to "Top".

 

[Tre2023]

It’s not optimal to have surround in ceiling but it may certainly be acceptable to many. Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.

Sorry, poor choice of words. We work with what we have in a given setup. As others have mentioned, the in ceiling Height speakers should be set to Top.

 

[Rockman2]

If you your Surround and Surround Back speakers are in the ceiling with your Height speakers, you aren’t going to get an acceptable Atmos presentation as the Surround and Surround Back speakers should be at ear level like the Front and Center channel speakers.

View attachment 515468

This would be best but is not possible with my room and my wife! I did set the speakers to a schematic from dolby I used an angle finder laser and aimed the speakers to the sating position as specified by dolby. I would have preferred the surrounds a the ground.I even have a large ceiling fan in the room which is not ideal either but it is a main room in the house.

 

[dlaloum]

@kawauso - based on your comments, and due to curiosity, I got a Kodo drum recording....

OK - clearly this is beyond the capabilities of my system... those drums definitely require SPL's in the bass that my setup cannot reproduce!!!

My Setup tends to max out around 110db (@MLP) which is well beyond cinema reference - but nowhere near what those Kodo Drums require!!

With that being one of your preferred music styles, I can see why you run multiple substantial subs....

An interesting exercise in finding the limits of ones system - howevever, given Kodo Drums are not a desired regular part of my listening diet.... I am not about to rush out to search for Big Subs.

I guess this is to be expected - look at the size of those Drums (!!!) and to expect puny subs to reproduce those sounds....

This is the first time I have heard my subs & woofers straining (I immediately turned it down).

For those who believe that their system is "bass capable" - I suggest getting some Kodo Drum recordings.... they really will test the limits of a systems bass capabilities !! (by that standard, my system is not "bass capable")

 

[B-Flow]

Do we know what Denon is using for bass management slopes? Are they still doing 2nd order HP/4th order LP?

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

@kawauso - based on your comments, and due to curiosity, I got a Kodo drum recording....

OK - clearly this is beyond the capabilities of my system... those drums definitely require SPL's in the bass that my setup cannot reproduce!!!

My Setup tends to max out around 110db (@MLP) which is well beyond cinema reference - but nowhere near what those Kodo Drums require!!

With that being one of your preferred music styles, I can see why you run multiple substantial subs....

An interesting exercise in finding the limits of ones system - howevever, given Kodo Drums are not a desired regular part of my listening diet.... I am not about to rush out to search for Big Subs.

I guess this is to be expected - look at the size of those Drums (!!!) and to expect puny subs to reproduce those sounds....

This is the first time I have heard my subs & woofers straining (I immediately turned it down).

For those who believe that their system is "bass capable" - I suggest getting some Kodo Drum recordings.... they really will test the limits of a systems bass capabilities !! (by that standard, my system is not "bass capable

@kawauso - based on your comments, and due to curiosity, I got a Kodo drum recording....

OK - clearly this is beyond the capabilities of my system... those drums definitely require SPL's in the bass that my setup cannot reproduce!!!

My Setup tends to max out around 110db (@MLP) which is well beyond cinema reference - but nowhere near what those Kodo Drums require!!

With that being one of your preferred music styles, I can see why you run multiple substantial subs....

An interesting exercise in finding the limits of ones system - howevever, given Kodo Drums are not a desired regular part of my listening diet.... I am not about to rush out to search for Big Subs.

I guess this is to be expected - look at the size of those Drums (!!!) and to expect puny subs to reproduce those sounds....

This is the first time I have heard my subs & woofers straining (I immediately turned it down).

For those who believe that their system is "bass capable" - I suggest getting some Kodo Drum recordings.... they really will test the limits of a systems bass capabilities !! (by that standard, my system is not "bass capable")

Cinema reference in a home theater is beyond long term ear damage.

 

[antcollinet]

My Setup tends to max out around 110db (@MLP) which is well beyond cinema reference - but nowhere near what those Kodo Drums require!!

I do hope no-one is listening to 110dB drums for more than a second or two - if they value being able to do so into the future.

Certainly not to "much higher levels"

 

[dlaloum]

I do hope no-one is listening to 110dB drums for more than a second or two - if they value being able to do so into the future.

Certainly not to "much higher levels"

We are less sensitive to bass frequencies - I am not sure what the hearing damage stats are with reference to low frequencies - I don't believe they are the same as for the midrange...

 

[antcollinet]

I am not sure what the hearing damage stats are with reference to low frequencies

Nor am I.

Though you wont find me risking my hearing over that lack of clarity.

Plus:

1 - Bass frequencies travel the full lenght of the cochlear. Subjecting it all to the energy.
2 - Drums are not only bass frequencies (though I have no detailed info of the spectral mix of those particular examples.)
3 - from a brief search most articles suggest bass is just as dangerous. Some suggest more so.

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