Denon 3806 + Audyssey = WOW

[avliner]

Hi guys,

yesterday I started setting up my new baby and so far, so good.

One thing that really impressed me was the Audissey Eq.; it simply sounds paramount in my HT room. Perhaps due to the fact that my room is pretty much reflective (literally brick & mortar walls all the way around, + ceramic tiles on the floor), the Audissey chip is doing a fantastic job in what it's supposed to perform at it's best (adjusting/correcting room acoustic issues).
The only thing I've changed from original readings was the speakers size (all 7from large to small) & their individual x'overs (all set back to 80Hz).
Have been reading a lot about Audissey (either from Denon & Chris, over at Audissey Labs) and the least I can say is:

congrats Denon / congrats Audissey!

I would really appreciate to hear someone else's comments about this & other interesting points on the 3806.

Cheers / Avliner.

 

[gene]

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/AudysseyMultEQDenonAVR3806.php

http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/audysseylabsonlocation.php

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/AudysseyMultEQ.php

 

[avliner]

Hi Gene,

thanks a lot for the extra data regarding Audissey.

Just 1 question for your evaluation/comments:

when I had the 3805, the best bet in terms of equalizing was the MANUAL set up (where I could tweak up freq. to my taste). I recall that both, MANUAL & OFF were the best options. Now with the 3806, I've adjusted quite similarly the MANUAL EQ and it's still better than all other options (except for AUDISSEY).

By then (3805), FLAT used to sound so "metallic, or digital", if you want.

Now, with the 3806, when I set the eq. to OFF, the sound is somehow compressed/muddy & the FLAT became much more natural though.
That sounds kind of weird to me, as I believe both has similar eq. devices.
It's somehow strange how mileage varies, from room to room, as several people prefers the AUDISSEY OFF...

Even though, I have to say that the AUDISSEY setting is by far, the best bet for me and turned out to be my standard eq. option. Very happy with it.

Cheers / Avliner.

 

[gene]

The 3805 did NOT have Audyssey and was based on a conventional PEQ implementation.

The best settings for the 3806 are FLAT and Audyssey. The only difference between the 2 settings is the Audyssey mode rolls off the highs a bit to compenstate for the mixing process with most recordings. Personally I use FLAT on my 5805 but depending on your speakers and room, you may prefer Audyssey mode.

Don't use Manual mode as it doesnt support the Audyssey filters.

 

[B5I8]

The biggest difference I noticed was when using the 7ch stereo function. All 7 speakers seemed to sound much more uniform.

 

[Nick250]

Read this thread with special attention to post 145. After running Audyssey Auto EQ, go into settings and set all speakers to small and crossovers to 80Hz in most cases. Audyssey does not usually get this part right IMO.

Nick

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7969145#post7969145

 

[avliner]

Gene & Nick,

thanks for both comments on the 3806.

Gene -

think I wasn't clear on my second thread, but I knew the 3805 don't have the Audyssey circuitry. I'm now using the Audyssey option, which suits best at my HT room. It's also easy to recognize that the MANUAL option doesn't support the Audyssey filters, as the front red led doesn't light when such an option is on.

Just for reference purposes, I have a 7.1 system, being all JBL's ( E-50's at front, + EC-35 at center + 04 E-30's as surr./surr. back. The woofer is an SVS PB-10-ISD though). It's incredible how this new combination have improved the overall soundstage on my system ( Audyssey + SVS ).

Nick -

good advice yours, specially the one you've mentioned in another thread saying to set the XO @ 120Hz. Was watching the new Madonna Show yesterday and tell you what, with that confirguration ( all 7 speakers @ 80Hz + SW @ 120Hz), I almost brought the house down. Interesting thing is that sically you can not localize the LFE coming from the sub ( which is now at the back right corner, besides a sofa).

Believe there ain't no problems with that XO confirguration, though.
Anyway would like to hear your comments on such.

Cheers / Avliner.

 

[Nick250]

Gene & Nick,

thanks for both comments on the 3806.

Gene -

think I wasn't clear on my second thread, but I knew the 3805 don't have the Audyssey circuitry. I'm now using the Audyssey option, which suits best at my HT room. It's also easy to recognize that the MANUAL option doesn't support the Audyssey filters, as the front red led doesn't light when such an option is on.

Just for reference purposes, I have a 7.1 system, being all JBL's ( E-50's at front, + EC-35 at center + 04 E-30's as surr./surr. back. The woofer is an SVS PB-10-ISD though). It's incredible how this new combination have improved the overall soundstage on my system ( Audyssey + SVS ).

Nick -

good advice yours, specially the one you've mentioned in another thread saying to set the XO @ 120Hz. Was watching the new Madonna Show yesterday and tell you what, with that confirguration ( all 7 speakers @ 80Hz + SW @ 120Hz), I almost brought the house down. Interesting thing is that sically you can not localize the LFE coming from the sub ( which is now at the back right corner, besides a sofa).

Believe there ain't no problems with that XO confirguration, though.
Anyway would like to hear your comments on such.

Cheers / Avliner.

Sounds like you have things well in hand! Not sure if you were asking or not, but with a correctly setup you should not be able to localize it. Others have posted different experiences with the sub setting, but Audyssey set my sub a few db hot. I had to turn it down a bit. That may have something to do with my sub being near field, about 4 feet from the sweet spot.

Nick

 

[largdiag]

can you view the 3806 info superimposed on the currently viewed video when using HDMI? Or at least some of the basic info like volume, input selected, decoding?
thx

 

[avliner]

Nick,


that's what I tought either. Furthermore, my SW is also located at 4ft from the sweet spot. In other hand, the Audyssey set the SW pretty much lower than in your case (hotter). What I have done was to readjust the SW volume in the AVR settings to 0db and boost the XO to 120Hz instead.

Well, to be honest, when you got a real strong/deep bass effect, you can somehow localize from where it comes from, but only in those cases, otherwise it's a no-brainer at all (for movies, shows & red book CD's).


Largdiag,

so far I don't have anything connected thru HDMI; only component.
The only thing I can not see is the volume control thru the OSD and all the other info is easely displayed after pressing the setup button.
My tv set has HDMI, but I still need to upgrade the DVD and have no plans for doing so in the meantime; instead I'll grab one with a friend of mine just to cross-check that everything will run smooth thru HDMI connections though.

Cheers / Avliner.

 

[kenhoeve]

I found setting up my 4306 that Audyssey had the XO's all over the board (90-110hz). I went to manual and used all of the audyssey settings but changed the speakers all to 80 hz XO. Am I losing some of the benefits of Audyssey using the manual mode that I can't control? Gene mentioned something about filters? The biggest problem I had was that Audyssey set my fronts to 110 hz and the mids of the front soundstage were weak. Manually setting it back to 80hz gave me the presence I was missing.

 

[avliner]

Bear in mind that if you go the MANUAL route, Audyssey filters are not applied at all. In order to get advantage out of those filters, you must either engage the system on Audyssey, Fronts, or Flat.

For instance, after running the auto setup, the Audyssey LED at front panel will be GREEN color. If you manually adjust the settings to your taste, color will turn to ORANGE, meaning that Audissey circuitry is applied, but not as the original readings though.

Hope this helps. In my specific case, Audyssey did improve a lot the overall results, so I'm skipping from Audyssey to Flat options, with excellent results.

Cheers / Avliner.

 

[Nick250]

I found setting up my 4306 that Audyssey had the XO's all over the board (90-110hz). I went to manual and used all of the audyssey settings but changed the speakers all to 80 hz XO. Am I losing some of the benefits of Audyssey using the manual mode that I can't control? Gene mentioned something about filters? The biggest problem I had was that Audyssey set my fronts to 110 hz and the mids of the front soundstage were weak. Manually setting it back to 80hz gave me the presence I was missing.

When you manually change the crossovers and the small/large settings after running Audyssey, those settings remain in place whether or not you have one of the Audyssey modes engaged. They are fixed for all modes until you change them or you were to re run Audyssey. They are Audyssey *independent* at this point.

Nick

 

[kenhoeve]

When you manually change the crossovers and the small/large settings after running Audyssey, those settings remain in place whether or not you have one of the Audyssey modes engaged. They are fixed for all modes until you change them or you were to re run Audyssey. They are Audyssey *independent* at this point.

Nick

hey nick,

thanks for sending me over to that AVS thread. that filled in a lot of blanks. the denon manual is complete crap! the problem now is I have to re-do my entire setup. but in my case it will really only apply to movies. most of the time listening to music I am doing other things at the same time out of the listening area. If I really want to listen to a track and be amazed, I throw the 4306 in pure direct (fronts only) and get the goosebumps I'm looking for.

 

[mike c]

I noticed that the 3806 had two pairs of surround speakers posts ... (plus surround backs)

can this receiver run 6 surround speakers?

 

[James Elvick]

I noticed that the 3806 had two pairs of surround speakers posts ... (plus surround backs)

can this receiver run 6 surround speakers?

Yes it can. It is designed with two surround speaker options, surround A(Movies)and surround B(music) speakers. In the setup menu you determine in what sound mode which surround speaker is to be used, either A or B, or even including A + B

 

[mike c]

Yes it can. It is designed with two surround speaker options, surround A(Movies)and surround B(music) speakers. In the setup menu you determine in what sound mode which surround speaker is to be used, either A or B, or even including A + B

thanks James. will add Denon to my demo list when the new receivers come out.