Denon AVR-X4800H AVR Review

[NIN]

If you look at AmirM's review - although the wording is "clips" it maintain SINAD above 75db at 2V+

The tech review is not clear as to how much more V it can put out beyond that while maintaining acceptable SINAD (ie at what point does it truly "clip" and SINAD drop off dramatically - at 75db the SINAD is till within the acceptable audibility range!)

Denon AVR-X3800H Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Denon AVR-X3800H 9.4 Home Theater Audio/Video Receiver. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $1,699. Not much to say about the look of the unit as it is pretty much similar/same as last generations. Here is the back panel...

www.audiosciencereview.com

What amp are you using?

A small swedish company, Sybarite audio No1200.

 

[dlaloum]

A small swedish company, Sybarite audio No1200.

Nice looking amp, but hard to find specifications!! - can you point me to specifications references?

 

[NIN]

Nice looking amp, but hard to find specifications!! - can you point me to specifications references?

I will ask him (I know the guy making them) what he recommend. Swedish amazon had X4700 for as much as X3800 cost, but it only have 1,4 volt out.

 

[dlaloum]

425W @ 8ohm is around 58V

Given a 26db gain, the input V required for an output of 58V is around 3V
so yes... before buying an AVR it's best to check the power amp matching...

 

[PGAMiami]

I will ask him (I know the guy making them) what he recommend. Swedish amazon had X4700 for as much as X3800 cost, but it only have 1,4 volt out.

View attachment 296866

The 4800 has no trouble driving the balanced input on bridged AHB2s on the lowest gain setting that’s about 15 db

 

[dlaloum]

The 4800 has no trouble driving the balanced input on bridged AHB2s on the lowest gain setting that’s about 15 db

But the question remains - is it capable of driving the amp to its peak output of 425W @ 8ohm (58.3V)?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

The 4800 has no trouble driving the balanced input on bridged AHB2s on the lowest gain setting that’s about 15 db

Yes but only to

1.5 Vrms in from AVR x 15dB gain = 8.4 Vrms out of AHB2.
Which equals ca 8.9WattsRms out from the AHB into 8ohm nominal speakers.

So not much in my book plus you are underutilizing that nice AHB. But if that works for you.

I’d set the gain higher.

 

[siggen]

Is the multitone test at 13 bits not concerning? SOTA is 18 or more bits, but shouldn't 16 bits to at least resolve CD quality be the minimum? There are a lot of positives to the x4800h, but this keeps tripping me up.

 

[pogo]

It’s unimaginable that the 4800 would struggle driving 2 surround speakers in any real world setting

The electronics do not care whether a front, surround, ... speaker leads to overload. According to Denon, the impedance must not fall below 3.2ohms. And this is not unusual for a normal 4ohms speaker, if you include the phase. The least that happens is a deterioration of the MTBF. Pre-damage is also not excluded up to an premature failure.

 

[PGAMiami]

Yes but only to

1.5 Vrms in from AVR x 15dB gain = 8.4 Vrms out of AHB2.
Which equals ca 8.9WattsRms out from the AHB into 8ohm nominal speakers.

So not much in my book plus you are underutilizing that nice AHB. But if that works for you.

I’d set the gain higher.

Respectfully disagree. The question is not whether the 4800 can drive the AHB2 to full output. Instead it’s whether the 4800 can drive the 4800 to volume levels that are slightly louder than what I could possibly need with my speakers in my room.

 

[PGAMiami]

The electronics do not care whether a front, surround, ... speaker leads to overload. According to Denon, the impedance must not fall below 3.2ohms. And this is not unusual for a normal 4ohms speaker, if you include the phase. The least that happens is a deterioration of the MTBF. Pre-damage is also not excluded up to an premature failure.

It goes without saying that the electronics don’t care whether the speakers are front or surround. The point I’m making is that there is not much coming out of the surround speakers as compared to the front. And even less if they are set as small with the crossover at 80 or 100 hz. Turn off your fronts and take a listen.

 

[PGAMiami]

Respectfully disagree. The question is not whether the 4800 can drive the AHB2 to full output. Instead it’s whether the 4800 can drive the 4800 to volume levels that are slightly louder than what I could possibly need with my speakers in my room.

But reading between the lines of your calculations, I surely don’t need 4 AHB2s in mono. 100 watts should be more than enough. I should try runing my system with just two AHB2s, not bridged, with the gain in the middle setting.

 

[pogo]

The point I’m making is that there is not much coming out of the surround speakers as compared to the front. And even less if they are set as small with the crossover at 80 or 100 hz.

The problem areas are mostly above 100Hz, see also my example nuLine 34!
When Co-Optimization (DLART) comes soon, more will happen here as well. I run a 4.0 setup with recordings that also demands the rears properly.

 

[PGAMiami]

The problem areas are mostly above 100Hz, see also my example nuLine 34!
When Co-Optimization (DLART) comes soon, more will happen here as well. I run a 4.0 setup with recordings that also demands the rears properly.

We will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[siggen]

Is the multitone test at 13 bits not concerning? SOTA is 18 or more bits, but shouldn't 16 bits to at least resolve CD quality be the minimum? There are a lot of positives to the x4800h, but this keeps tripping me up.

This is the test I am referring to -

 

[PeteXian]

I am setting up with 4800 and External amps for 5 to 7 Channels for a 5.3.4 or a 7.4.4 HT

I am upgrading my Denon AVR-5600 configured 5.2 HT that uses External Amps on the 5 Kef Reference Speakers and Main L&R Paired REL S-Series Subs are the 500W S510's

How do you like it with the external amps

 

[PeteXian]

I am setting up with 4800 and External amps for 5 to 7 Channels for a 5.3.4 or a 7.4.4 HT

I am upgrading my Denon AVR-5600 configured 5.2 HT that uses External Amps on the 5 Kef Reference Speakers and Main L&R Paired REL S-Series Subs are the 500W S510's

Do you think the external amps made a noticeable difference? What amps are you using?

 

[PeteXian]

I find that I'm using AURO-3D (upmix) with my Atmos movies. The channels are much more active than with Atmos and I'm hearing more detail in the movies. Is there a way to quantify how much more activity there is in the channels and how much power is being used when playing back the upmix?

 

[tesseractASR]

This is the test I am referring to -

That's Analog In. If you are not using that, as most of us are not, it will not matter. If you need it, I'd look elsewhere.

 

[tesseractASR]

If someone who owns the x4800h wouldn't mind doing a quick dimension check with a tape measure, I would greatly appreciate it. I'd like to know the exact depth measured from the front of the large volume knob all the way to the back edge of the speaker terminals. (i.e., if you had to put this thing inside a cabinet with nothing plugged in and close the door, how much depth would you need?) (don't worry I won't be doing that)

I understand there are some plugs (and wifi antenna) that would project even beyond the speaker terminals (like the power cord), but just getting this dimension would be super helpful. It's hard to know exactly how they measure it in the specifications.

As a side note, if they could shave an inch or two off the depth of these things it would sure be nice. They do not fit in many tv stands.

Sorry it took this long, but I had abdominal surgery when you posted. Just feeling good enough now to have tried.

17" with a sharp bend in the power cord. I'd want at least 17.5-18".