Suggestions for replacing Denon x3400h

[-Jim-]

Hi Drunkpenguin,

Welcome to the family. Like Peng, I too recently migrated to the X4400H (see Denon AVR-X4400H - Initial Setup ) , and although I keep getting pulled away from my new toy => by work and family issues (like an urgent bathroom renovation), the more I play with it, the better I like it.

I too couldn't find anywhere nearby to really listen to a decent immersive sound setup. So being a little crazy, I just went for it. (I was also a 3D TV early adopter, and we all know haw that's going... )

I have gone full out on speakers => 7 at ear level, 4 in ceiling, and 2 subs. (Although the current plan is to replace my aged front 3 with HSU CCB-8s). But of course without an extra two channel amplifier hooked into the system, I can't drive them all simultaneously. My room is about 20' x 16.5' (see first post in link above as it's somewhat "irregular"). So far I have it set up as a 5.2.4 (the Rear Surrounds aren't being driven) and it seems fine.

I wonder if adding the last 2 channels will be very noticable. In my room, I'm thinking they may not, as so far the rear Atmos speakers are hardly noticeable, although my sample size is too small to make that judgment yet.

I look forward to reading about your X4400H install and experiences. So keep on Posting.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

For those of you with Denon receivers, do you run with ECO on or off?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Also, I'm planning a full 7.2.4 setup. I don't know how to not over do things. Whether its better or not who knows. Thats the bad thing about in ceilings, hard to know until you do it. I ordered 4 polk MC80s for over heads to go with this receiver. I have some of them in another part of the house and I like the sound enough to know they should satisfy me. I was too nervous about trying an unknown brand. In ceilings are a bit more permanent as not all have the same cut out hole. So now I've got a real mix of speakers in my room, but I think itll be ok. My room is perfectly rectangular and was built to be a home theater so I think the 4 over heads should work out pretty well.

And to whoever said theres not a lot of atmos content, I agree with that. I'm hoping the upmix makes it worth while. I actually have been anti atmos for a long time and never planned to go this route initially. But one thing leads to another and here we go again lol.

 

[-Jim-]

For those of you with Denon receivers, do you run with ECO on or off?

Always Off!

 

[Auditor55]

Pretty sure there’s like 350ish titles with atmos already. Not to mention DSU...

Understood. However, that's an infinitesimal amount in comparison to the overall amount of movies that's already been released on disc. We are still early in the process so to speak.

 

[Auditor55]

Also, I'm planning a full 7.2.4 setup. I don't know how to not over do things. Whether its better or not who knows. Thats the bad thing about in ceilings, hard to know until you do it. I ordered 4 polk MC80s for over heads to go with this receiver. I have some of them in another part of the house and I like the sound enough to know they should satisfy me. I was too nervous about trying an unknown brand. In ceilings are a bit more permanent as not all have the same cut out hole. So now I've got a real mix of speakers in my room, but I think itll be ok. My room is perfectly rectangular and was built to be a home theater so I think the 4 over heads should work out pretty well.

And to whoever said theres not a lot of atmos content, I agree with that. I'm hoping the upmix makes it worth while. I actually have been anti atmos for a long time and never planned to go this route initially. But one thing leads to another and here we go again lol.

Dolby recommends that your speakers be timbre matched, so be careful with that. Make sure you have purchased from a place with a good return policy.

I'm not a big fan of up-mixers, kind of matrixy to me, kind of mucks up the pure signal from the recording.

 

[Auditor55]

Hi Drunkpenguin,

Welcome to the family. Like Peng, I too recently migrated to the X4400H (see Denon AVR-X4400H - Initial Setup ) , and although I keep getting pulled away from my new toy => by work and family issues (like an urgent bathroom renovation),the more I play with it, the better I like it.

I too couldn't find anywhere nearby to really listen to a decent immersive sound setup. So being a little crazy, I just went for it. (I was also a 3D TV early adopter, and we all know haw that's going... )

I have gone full out on speakers => 7 at ear level, 4 in ceiling, and 2 subs. (Although the current plan is to replace my aged front 3 with HSU CCB-8s). But of course without an extra two channel amplifier hooked into the system, I can't drive them all simultaneously. My room is about 20' x 16.5' (see first post in link above as it's somewhat "irregular"). So far I have it set up as a 5.2.4 (the Rear Surrounds aren't being driven) and it seems fine.

I wonder if adding the last 2 channels will be very noticable. In my room, I'm thinking they may not, as so far the rear Atmos speakers are hardly noticeable, although my sample size is too small to make that judgment yet.

I look forward to reading about your X4400H install and experiences. So keep on Posting.

X4400 is a nice receiver, but lacks power to me. Although it would probably work well speakers like Klipsch.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I have a 5 channel Emotiva amp thats 200 watts per channel so I don't need much power from the receiver. My front 3 are also PSA's so they don't requirement much power anyways.

I'm not spending 2K+ on PSA surround speakers to match. I can live with a timbr match problem. The PSAs and my old infinity surrounds have played well together for the last couple years, hopefully the polks will play nice as well.

 

[Auditor55]

I have a 5 channel Emotiva amp thats 200 watts per channel so I don't need much power from the receiver. My front 3 are also PSA's so they don't requirement much power anyways.

I'm not spending 2K+ on PSA surround speakers to match. I can live with a timbr match problem. The PSAs and my old infinity surrounds have played well together for the last couple years, hopefully the polks will play nice as well.

I understand your cost considerations for timbre matched speakers. However, speakers not timbre matched could be problematic in an immersive, object based audio system. As the sound moves from location in your room to the next. The goal is for the sound to be immersive, to draw you into the movie and not take you out or distract you. It is my belief, I could be wrong, that speakers not timbre could draw attention to themselves, I think the ears would quickly pick up on it. So instead of being immersed in the movie you are being drawn to sounds moving from speaker to speaker instead of a seamless integration of sound.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My front 3 are also PSA's so they don't requirement much power anyways.

I'm not spending 2K+ on PSA surround speakers to match.

I was looking at the PSA website, and I don’t see any ceiling speakers.

So unless you’re changing all your speakers, I think you’ll just have to match the best you can.

I have a good feeling you’ll be okay.

 

[everettT]

Always Off!

Absolutely, even more so for displays. Eco = performance reduction

 

[PENG]

I am trying the "auto" setting, so far so good, heard no effect.

 

[Bookmark]

So...

We have three settings in the Yammy for configuring the speakers. Height, Overhead and Atmos bounce (think its kind of similar in the D&M). The original placement for the speakers was basically just above the front LR pair. It's now a couple of feet higher and could probably do with another few.

Initial impressions were that the Height was largely replicating the fronts, so not really any great change. I did notice improvements switching to the other two options. However this was prior to the speaker move. Which was how we watched the LOTRs, I'll need to recheck these

TLDR: Yes Height is working and it can be quite noticeable. Last night I re-watched FF8 Fate of the Furious and Atomic Blonde. Both are Dts:X and Fate in particular has never sounded so good, not even at the Cinema. Atomic lesser so but still noticeable on occasion. Player One was I think improved in the opening race, Kong opening is very nice, will need to re-watch this, both are Atmos. Along with Cruise's Mummy and Valerian

So Height setting can work for Atmos as well as the Dts:X. Overhead might be better overall final solution however I would need to rig something for that (we'll see).

So depending upon your planned setup, yourself Peng, Penguin and Jim may see something you like. 9 works, can 11 be that much better

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Anybody know how quickly Denon usually replenishes when out of stock? I worked out a Deal with Denon to upgrade my 3400 with a 4400 and sent back my 3400. They originally said they were gonna ship the 4400 as soon as they saw mine shipped, but then they ran out of stock. It's been over a week since I sent mine back in and still don't have the upgrade coming. Are they usually pretty good or should I be prepared for the long haul?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

So now that I have the receiver in hand and hooked up I can finish this story. I didnt want to jinx it before I got it in case Denon changed their minds. I had complained to Denon about their web site being wrong and felt misled in my purchase of the x3400. I was going to return it and buy from another company, but Denon higher ups got a hold of me and offered me the x4400 upgrade for free! So I got a pretty killer deal on it, although I did have to wait a long time to receive it.

Haven't had a chance to watch a full atmos movie yet (lifes been busy) but in my playing around and testing it's pretty awesome! I demoed a little bit of John Wick and whenever it's raining it really does sound like its raining in the room. The atmos trailers are just straight up amazing! I think I'll enjoy this over the years and Denon has earned a life long customer I think!

 

[snakeeyes]

So now that I have the receiver in hand and hooked up I can finish this story. I didnt want to jinx it before I got it in case Denon changed their minds. I had complained to Denon about their web site being wrong and felt misled in my purchase of the x3400. I was going to return it and buy from another company, but Denon higher ups got a hold of me and offered me the x4400 upgrade for free! So I got a pretty killer deal on it, although I did have to wait a long time to receive it.

Haven't had a chance to watch a full atmos movie yet (lifes been busy) but in my playing around and testing it's pretty awesome! I demoed a little bit of John Wick and whenever it's raining it really does sound like its raining in the room. The atmos trailers are just straight up amazing! I think I'll enjoy this over the years and Denon has earned a life long customer I think!

Curious if any of the DSU or DTS upmixers do much with the overheads? Or just certain movies mixed exclusively for atmos/dtsx ? Let us know your thoughts. I’m on the fence on 7.1.2 vs 5.1.4 so running 5.1 currently on my Yamaha 2060. (Yes I can still wire 7.1 and 5.1.4 and flip between 7.1 and to 5.1.4, or just wire 7.1.2).

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I will. So far the only full movie I actually got to watch was a streaming version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Kids really wanted to watch it). I don't think the over heads offered much to that one, but the audio conditions were not ideal being a stream of course. I don't know if I can tell the difference between DSU and DTS yet. I did demo a little bit of a BD Oblivion (non atmos) and it seemed to really add something during the flying around scenes. But I did notice in the beginning when hes flying through rain it kinda sounded the rain was still on the sides of me.

 

[snakeeyes]

I will. So far the only full movie I actually got to watch was a streaming version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Kids really wanted to watch it). I don't think the over heads offered much to that one, but the audio conditions were not ideal being a stream of course. I don't know if I can tell the difference between DSU and DTS yet. I did demo a little bit of a BD Oblivion (non atmos) and it seemed to really add something during the flying around scenes. But I did notice in the beginning when hes flying through rain it kinda sounded the rain was still on the sides of me.

I hear Suicide Squad is a good one. Thinking hacksaw ridge might be cool as well.

 

[Bookmark]

I keep forgetting I have the Hacksaw one. Yes 7.1 was very nice, I'll give it a go tonight. Suicide Squad is good.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

2 hours of a movie at reference level and this receiver gets hot! Almost too hot to touch. Its in an equipment closet with nothing on top of it and an exhaust fan so the closet stays room temperature, but this bad boy heats up. Tomorrow im gonna try eco mode out to see the difference. My external amp runs the main 5 channels anyway so any change in soumd should be minor.

But why is it so hot? My emotiva xpa5 stays cool to the touch. Is the denon just less efficient?