Denon AVR-X6700H Home Theater AVR Review

[DrewMcG]

Pure speculation on my part since the production delay timeframes for both units seemed to align. Nothing more than that. If it's detrimental to the discourse here I can remove my post.

Thanks for the clarification. Did Demon replace your x4700h with another one (what I thought you were saying), or did it replace your x6700h with an x4700h?

 

[theglobalelite]

Thanks for the clarification. Did Demon replace your x4700h with another one (what I thought you were saying), or did it replace your x6700h with an x4700h?

No I did the upgrade exchange program where I sent in a 2016 model for a credit towards a 2020 model. During the process they warned me about production delays and that it would take a few weeks for their US warehouse's stock of the X4700H to be replenished.

 

[Bello]

@amirm

Do you have a time line / schedule as to the re-test of the X6700H? Did Denon ship you the Cap upgrade unit yet?

We're all holding our breaths with fingers crossed!

Thanks!

 

[Keenan]

My apologies if this is the wrong place to ask but has the X6500H been tested(I don't see a review) or is it one that is in the plans to be tested? Being the owner of a 6500 and reading the test results of these latest models has me wondering where the 6500 would stand in comparison.

Thanks

 

[Bello]

Performance update-

Moby Dick - Led Zepplin ll (1994 REMASTER)

John Henry Bonham (My hero) **********Best drummer that ever lived********** And Rock group for that matter*********** Jimmy Page***********

Oh, The Perf update................ Any Denon will do................, Just play Zepplin loud! :+ )

 

[Bello]

I got both. The 3600 arrived and yes, I had requested a 6700 with cap fix and that is what just came.

@amirm

I missed this message... Are you close to complete w / testing on the 6700H?

You're the best!

Thanks!

 

[DrewMcG]

No I did the upgrade exchange program where I sent in a 2016 model for a credit towards a 2020 model. During the process they warned me about production delays and that it would take a few weeks for their US warehouse's stock of the X4700H to be replenished.

Got it. Don't scare me like that!

 

[Bello]

You may want to consider the these measurements when evaluating the XPA Gen 3:

The following are measurements for an XPA-2 Gen 3 from Stereophile. In many cases the XPA-2 didn't meet its specifications with THD+N of over 1% (-40dB) in the high frequencies (Fig. 6), and for noise, as examples. It appears that Emotiva doesn't rate the XPA-2 for IM distortion (Fig's. 9-11), which is a particular unpleasant form of distortion or for channel separation (4th paragraph), but the measurements are also not great. The subjective portion of the review (Via page 1 link at bottom of link below) is unusually negative for Stereophile.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/emotiva-xpa-gen3-two-channel-power-amplifier-measurements

A minor annoyance with the XPA Gen3 series is the wiring of the XLR inputs that is the reverse of adopted, worldwide standards (U.S. EU. Asia, etc.). It's hard to understand this unforced error. On occasion owners still note being tripped-up by this error.

A more interesting question involves the unbalanced (RCA) input impedance of the amplifier at described in paragraph 2 of the measurements. At 9.5k to 14.5k ohms the input impedance to the XPA Gen3 it is unusually low. 30k to 50k ohms would be better and is easily achieved, usually at little added cost, with no increase in noise.

This low RCA input impedance is a potential issue with the RCA outputs from many AVR's. Denon AVR's for example, have what appears to be a less than 30k ohm input impedance to each power amplifier channel in their AVR's. This 30k ohms is the impedance that the output from each channel of the volume control drives, since the output of the volume control directly drives the input to the power amplifier, except for the X4500H (and likely the X4700H) which has an IC opamp buffer (NJM8080) for the L/R channels only. This volume control is a CMOS IC unit with build-in, low power opamp/resister gain circuits that provide the volume control function and drives the output. The specifications are based on the volume control driving 47k ohm impedances, never-the-less this volume control should have no problem driving 30k ohms where the volume control will likely provide rated performance.

When the RCA outputs of the AVR described above are used, the input impedance of the RCA load is effectively in parallel with the input impedance of the power amplifier section, even if the power amplifier section is not connected to a loudspeaker. This means that the volume control output is driving an effective load of much less than 10k ohms. This is approximately 7.2k ohms to 9.8k ohms, which is a heavy load for the outputs of the volume control and will likely not provide optimum performance. Even the basic RCA input impedance of the XPA-3 without the parallel load is lower than desired.

I found a few tid-bits for the notorious Emotiva XPA GEN3 -7 .................. Its No slouch (Combo / 6700H totally insane, clear sound, full 7 channel power package).

I believe above average spec, performance wise = All around a great amp! Internal component Implementation layout, impeccable! Totally satisfied.

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...the most,frequency balance and low distortion.

 

[bigguyca]

My apologies if this is the wrong place to ask but has the X6500H been tested(I don't see a review) or is it one that is in the plans to be tested? Being the owner of a 6500 and reading the test results of these latest models has me wondering where the 6500 would stand in comparison.

Thanks

Since you own an X6500H you should arrange to send your unit to Amir if you want to see test results. The units you see measured were provided by individual owners of the equipment just like you. .

 

[Keenan]

Since you own an X6500H you should arrange to send your unit to Amir if you want to see test results. The units you see measured were provided by individual owners of the equipment just like you. .

Yes, I'm aware of that and that's part of the reason I asked. I've been thinking about how I can cover my HT needs while the unit is away and haven't come up with a suitable solution yet.

What is the typical time required to perform the testing? I'm in Santa Rosa, CA which is just about 60 mi north of San Francisco so transit time between here and Seattle is probably a few days at most depending on shipping costs.

 

[GXAlan]

Yes, I'm aware of that and that's part of the reason I asked. I've been thinking about how I can cover my HT needs while the unit is away and haven't come up with a suitable solution yet.

What is the typical time required to perform the testing? I'm in Santa Rosa, CA which is just about 60 mi north of San Francisco so transit time between here and Seattle is probably a few days at most depending on shipping costs.

1 month is typical but it can take longer.

 

[Keenan]

1 month is typical but it can take longer.

Okay, that's a bit longer than I thought it would be but still doable. Obviously added data points are usually always useful but I wonder how much interest there is for a 6500 test? I'm actually curious how it compares with 8500.

 

[GXAlan]

Okay, that's a bit longer than I thought it would be but still doable. Obviously added data points are usually always useful but I wonder how much interest there is for a 6500 test? I'm actually curious how it compares with 8500.

It’s interesting since it will add to the understanding of the 8K hdmi to the comparison. @amirm is there a way to have a spot in line for @Keenan and then to have him ship the amp when ready?

 

[amirm]

@amirm

Do you have a time line / schedule as to the re-test of the X6700H? Did Denon ship you the Cap upgrade unit yet?

They did and it is here. I would say earliest would be end of this coming week.

 

[amirm]

@amirm is there a way to have a spot in line for @Keenan and then to have him ship the amp when ready?

Unfortunately not. I don't have a reservation system to keep track of such things.

 

[Bello]

They did and it is here. I would say earliest would be end of this coming week.

Your CSI reporting is much appreciated, and needed for many. After so much discussion as to who's system to re-check Denon vs random customer. From your earlier thoughts, well intended discovery. Are you prepared to preform a 3rd test of a random customer system? We'd like to keep Denon honest at the end. Not a tweaked test system to look like a star.

Last week, I had Denon answer many question I had concerning the 6700H. The person corresponding w/ me was very receptive and very quick to my questioning. As you may already know. As he stated, degraded caps were integrated towards the middle of the first production run. Meaning, beginning integration were correct, middle had the degraded caps, final back to the normal caps. Degraded lot S/N's will not be disclosed to customers. He did verify my system w/ degraded caps. Surprisingly, I've yet to hear someone mention having a Denon 6700H verified as a good grade system on this or other forums? Unless I missed the message somewhere along the way?

That said, can you please post the s/n you're testing? Which could potentially be the base line s/n (early run / late run/ all new production run?) of good units moving forward.

Thanks again!

 

[GXAlan]

Unfortunately not. I don't have a reservation system to keep track of such things.

Would it help for the software engineers amongst us to make a web based reservation system, or would that be adding too much complexity and rigidity to your current system?

 

[amirm]

Your CSI reporting is much appreciated, and needed for many. After so much discussion as to who's system to re-check Denon vs random customer. From your earlier thoughts, well intended discovery. Are you prepared to preform a 3rd test of a random customer system? We'd like to keep Denon honest at the end. Not a tweaked test system to look like a star.

I am having Denon AVR measurement fatigue. Maybe we down the road when there is less to measure than now.

 

[da Choge]

I am having Denon AVR measurement fatigue.

I'm sure you are having fatigue. I appreciate what you are doing greatly. And I await your report whenever you can get it out. It's not like these audio matters are the most important things in the world right now. You're doing us all a service, which we appreciate and can wait for. CARRY ON and be CALM

 

[peng]

I am having Denon AVR measurement fatigue. Maybe we down the road when there is less to measure than now.

I hear you, and am very surprised you didn't stop, refuse, reject temporarily any further Denon testing sooner..., until you have tested a few integrated amps, power amps, preamps, and or a couple Yamaha AVRs. Or, better still take a week vacation at the minimum.