Denon AVR-4311CI 9.2 Channel Networked AV Receiver First Look

[PENG]

Question does the 4810ci have an advantages over the forthcoming 4311ci -- cause I can't seem to find any and the 4810ci is $1k more at retail?? I mean the 4311 has the better room correction plus the new dedicated SUB EQ, same power rating, and same video processing...am I missing something??

If you go to the Denon website and use the comparison check box to compare them side by side you will see the differences easily. the 4311 has the latest features such as 3D but the 4810 has a little more power and other SQ related gadgets. It is also quite a bit heavier but I am not sure if it is worth 1K more.

 

[ratso]

saw a post on the AVS forums that perfectly describes how i feel about this AVR - he said his heart fell in love with the new marantz SR7005, but when he saw the denon he said sometimes you have to go with your head over your heart...

 

[Patrukas777]

Man...I hate when they come out with new stuff that I want. I'm really diggin the 2 sub eq.

 

[MapleSyrup]

Money

2,000 bucks. I need 2,000 bucks and my parents just left town to return home.

 

[JimmyTango]

Has there been any reports of the XT32 performance?

I currently have an Anthem Statement D1 with ARC. I have upgraded ARC to 3.0(beta). I was wondering how the XT32 now compares to ARC. When i upgraded from the 3808 to the D1, it was a huge improvement for both music and movies, especially in the LFE.

Due to my room, I require room correction software. I do not have the ability to use room treatments in the current home, and because of the room layout, would not really be able to implement them correctly. While the new home I plan to buy middle of next year will have a living or media room that fits a more ideal layout, I currently am stuck with the layout I have.

With the new home I plan on continuing a mixed theater/2 ch set up and I will be adding room treatments, a separate pre-amp with ht bypass for 2 channel audio with either the Anthem or another option for the home theater side.

 

[thrang]

A1 Comparison

Any chance AH will do some type of comparison between the audio quality of the A1 vs the new 4311/A100?

As a current A1 owner, I'm curious what the tradeoffs are - is three year old state-of-the-art similar to 2010 midlevel componentry in terms of sound quallity, and, of course, MultiEQ XT32 seems to hold the greatest promise for sonic improvement.

Now I've been told by someone inside Denon that the A1 will be receiving an upgrade, but its not clear what (HW, SW, or both) or when. Do you have any insight if I should "sit tight", and if the A1 has the processing performance required for XT32?

Thanks

 

[audiokiwi]

New Europe version of 4311?

is this the joke? Denon UK just release their 4311.
http://denon.co.uk/UK/Product/Pages/Product-Detail.aspx?CatId=83742842-dc75-4090-b169-b916700fd158&SubId=43eadffa-05fc-430a-a586-b5137428cc5f&ProductId=24064e33-ce42-478e-b239-ca99e34db225

it is almost 30LB heavier, a few inches higher and deeper. for the same version can it be this much different in weight and demension? the specs is almost identical except THX certified! can it be true? i am right on!

 

[pali gap]

It looks to be the same weight to me, and I didn't see any THX certification. I didn't convert the dimensions, but it looked about the same size to me.

 

[GlocksRock]

It looks to be the same weight to me, and I didn't see any THX certification. I didn't convert the dimensions, but it looked about the same size to me.

I'm sure it meets and/or exceeds THX certification. It's almost hard to put any stock in THX certification nowadays since they will certify almost anything, even a door

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/thx-certification-opens-new-doors

 

[trouling]

how does sound quality stack against the competition

Wow lots of information on features and Denon 4311 really packs all of the latest. Judging from a picture, beefy unit well designed. So far so good. From the little I've read on other forums sound wise Denon trails a little in sound quality to some other products like the Pioneer Elites with the ICE amps (SC-35, SC-37, etc.). My local dealer that indicated the new Marantz sound a little better as well. Is any of this true? Any useful information sound comparisons available?

 

[JimmyTango]

Wow lots of information on features and Denon 4311 really packs all of the latest. Judging from a picture, beefy unit well designed. So far so good. From the little I've read on other forums sound wise Denon trails a little in sound quality to some other products like the Pioneer Elites with the ICE amps (SC-35, SC-37, etc.). My local dealer that indicated the new Marantz sound a little better as well. Is any of this true? Any useful information sound comparisons available?

Buy what sounds good to you, not what someone else says sounds good to them.

 

[trouling]

Is it personal preference

So what you are saying is all receivers in this class offer really good sound quality and the distinguishable differences is down to just personal preference.

From what I've read on other forums, a few comments exist about Denon's sound quality. I've also read 2 comments where people warm up to the sound after listening to them for a while. It appears as if these people are used to their old amps and slowly adjust to the change of a new Denon.

I guess I just have to go to my local electronics shop and listen side-by-side. I have a 10 year old Denon AVR-3300. Technology wise, it's time to upgrade. Sound wise, it still rocks. To me it appears a little sharp at times (paired with M&K's), but very accurate. If someone new is at the house and a phone noise goes off on the TV, they will get up to answer the phone in the back of the room.

 

[golfnut]

Wow lots of information on features and Denon 4311 really packs all of the latest. Judging from a picture, beefy unit well designed. So far so good. From the little I've read on other forums sound wise Denon trails a little in sound quality to some other products like the Pioneer Elites with the ICE amps (SC-35, SC-37, etc.). My local dealer that indicated the new Marantz sound a little better as well. Is any of this true? Any useful information sound comparisons available?

I've yet to be at a dealer where they had run Audyssey. How do you compare two units if neither of them have been installed properly? I'm not sure anything short of a side by side comparison at home is valid.

 

[sycoanalyst]

Trouling - I found your quote on the Pioneer and Marantz relative to the Denon somewhat interesting if not amusing. I just left my local Magnolia store (West Hills Ca) where I sat through a 1 hour + listening comparison of some of the latest receivers, including the the Denon 4311, and a Pioneer and Marantz (I also sampled a McIntosh, but that system is so far outside the parameters price-wise its not valid to make any type of comparison.) Personally, I find the "religious" debates of "this brand" vs "that brand" and the battle for audio supremacy pretty lame. I understand the impulse of wanting to promote ones choices and proselytize the corresponding gospel, but the bottom line is the only way to make a choice is to sit down and actually listen to whatever you are considering buying. Ironically re; your post, I just happened to listen to comparable models the Denon, Pioneer and the Morantz head-to-head on the same set of top line speakers today and I had the exact opposite opinion of your "local dealer." On a stand alone basis, all three sounded great (I am not an audiophile but I am fastidious none the less.) But relative to one another, all things being equal, the Denon had the more balanced and warmer sound. The Pioneer was nice, but not as "rich" sounding. The Marantz, again was nice, but the high notes sounded a bit harsh. Ian, my dealer guy (who btw, is an audiophile and one of the rare capable sales people) had the identical observations. His reasoning being the Denon had a better "amp" system (not sure if technically true, but that's what he said). I'm not a Denon guy (I own a Sony ES) but after today I am now a Denon "believer." No doubt, the 4311 is a top notch AVR. Relative to the other brands, I would would rate it 1st. But ultimately, you have to let your own ears decide the winner, not the sales people or the blogs. You listen to music with your ears, not your ego.

 

[highfigh]

I've yet to be at a dealer where they had run Audyssey. How do you compare two units if neither of them have been installed properly? I'm not sure anything short of a side by side comparison at home is valid.

If both are without changes to the setup, you can compare them on their own sonic merits, not post-processing. That would be the first step in finding one that sounds good, especially if you have the same speakers. Also, you may be surprised to learn that most people don't run or use Audyssey, or any other software like that because A) the people selling/installing it didn't tell them what it is or what it can do, B) if it was run, it wasn't setup properly or C) someone turned it off, if it was left on at all.

With all of the conflicting info about how it's supposed to be run, coming from all sources- not only people on a forum like this but from sales reps, dealers and those who consider themselves to be "experts", it's impossible for a newb to know what's correct. People who have no knowledge of acoustics are extremely unlikely to mess with it. Plus, when you add the fact that many of the independent retail outlets for audio/video are gone, what's left is usually a big box store that has high turnover and little product training. The independents that remain and are struggling to compete and that means they're just pushing boxes out the door or the ones that aren't struggling don't take the time to set it up in a demo space that changes frequently.

 

[highfigh]

Trouling - I found your quote on the Pioneer and Marantz relative to the Denon somewhat interesting if not amusing. I just left my local Magnolia store (West Hills Ca) where I sat through a 1 hour + listening comparison of some of the latest receivers, including the the Denon 4311, and a Pioneer and Marantz (I also sampled a McIntosh, but that system is so far outside the parameters price-wise its not valid to make any type of comparison.) Personally, I find the "religious" debates of "this brand" vs "that brand" and the battle for audio supremacy pretty lame. I understand the impulse of wanting to promote ones choices and proselytize the corresponding gospel, but the bottom line is the only way to make a choice is to sit down and actually listen to whatever you are considering buying. Ironically re; your post, I just happened to listen to comparable models the Denon, Pioneer and the Morantz head-to-head on the same set of top line speakers today and I had the exact opposite opinion of your "local dealer." On a stand alone basis, all three sounded great (I am not an audiophile but I am fastidious none the less.) But relative to one another, all things being equal, the Denon had the more balanced and warmer sound. The Pioneer was nice, but not as "rich" sounding. The Marantz, again was nice, but the high notes sounded a bit harsh. Ian, my dealer guy (who btw, is an audiophile and one of the rare capable sales people) had the identical observations. His reasoning being the Denon had a better "amp" system (not sure if technically true, but that's what he said). I'm not a Denon guy (I own a Sony ES) but after today I am now a Denon "believer." No doubt, the 4311 is a top notch AVR. Relative to the other brands, I would would rate it 1st. But ultimately, you have to let your own ears decide the winner, not the sales people or the blogs. You listen to music with your ears, not your ego.

Did you find the Denon similar in sound to the ES? I had worked for a large Sony ES dealer and used one of the ES integrated amps until I decided to stock a Denon receiver as a demo unit. I didn't hear a pronounced difference and that's one of the reasons I kept this one. I have almost no direct experience with Marantz in the last 20 years and it would seem that there's little to no exchange of technology between Denon and Marantz, even though they're stable-mates in D&M Holdings and Marantz is sometimes portrayed as the up-scale brand. To me, Yamaha tends toward a thinner sound and Pioneer is kind of in-between Denon and Yamaha. IMO, Sony hasn't been putting out the quality of gear they had been, but they seem to be trying to make a push to return to their "glory days" quality.

 

[PENG]

Wow lots of information on features and Denon 4311 really packs all of the latest. Judging from a picture, beefy unit well designed. So far so good. From the little I've read on other forums sound wise Denon trails a little in sound quality to some other products like the Pioneer Elites with the ICE amps (SC-35, SC-37, etc.). My local dealer that indicated the new Marantz sound a little better as well. Is any of this true? Any useful information sound comparisons available?

To me, none of those are true. It may be true to them because of what they chose to believe. I had owned a few Denon from 1705 to 4308, Sony ES, Yamaha RXV, and now Marantz, plus a few amps along the way. To me there isn't a whole lot of things to say about which one is warm, cold, hot, bright or whatever. I think those talks were mainly originated from long time ago and over time, has become popular hearsays.

That being said, I did find the Pioneer SC-XX ICE amps sounding less transparent but it was just my feeling at the time. I don't think there is enough difference for me to identify it the majority of times in a DBT. Likewise, I owned a couple of older (not the oldest) ES AVRs and had the feeling that they were most transparent, perhaps to the point so people thought they were bright. To me transparent is different than bright as I consider bright as something that hurt my ears after a while, and at loud level.

 

[Alex2507]

I consider bright as something that hurts my ears after a while, and at loud level.

I guess that means my girl is a genius.

 

[audio013]

Well, first of all I thanked to you for such kind of the post, I hope this helps others like me searching hours for more info. So far so good, I do not regret. My concern is about its little large bass. But feel 140 watts enough to stream powerful sound, plenty of stores have it, I got my one at Audio Solutions, because it is on my way, and nice to talk to these guys there, but possibly you get it everywhere cheaper now.