So I got a new toy, the Denon 3808 A/V receiver, and I'm proud to report very happy with it. I thought I would write some quick impressions for those trying to make a similar decision.
I'll start by saying that CNET's review is spot on. I happened to buy this Wednesday of last week and their review was released on Friday, so I had a little time to play with it prior to reading their impressions.
The Bad:
Complicated: This receiver is much much much more complicated to operate than my previous Denon 2800. I thought setting up everything on the 2800 was very easy and intuitive, at least for those who had prior A/V experience. This one has menu upon menu, and its not always clear how your change will effect other settings on the receiver. Bear in mind, I'm still learning it, and I'm picking up knew things every day. It's just frustrating at times. Not so much that I'd even consider returning it, I was just very surprised.
Front Panel Layout: Granted most people will use the remote to make changes, but there are plenty of times when I want to make a quick change on the fly from the front panel. Unfortunately, the only prominent buttons/switches are as follows: power, source, and volume. The panel on my 2800 was pretty spartan too, but it had a major feature the 3808 doesn't have. A scroll wheel to select the surround mode. I know this doesn't sound like much, but I listen to 2 channel music in direct and TV programing in DPL II or DTS Neo. And I listen to music from the TV. Very inconvenient to change from the panel. Granted there are buttons to do it, but they are tiny and you really can't read the labels.
Remote Control: I normally hear this as a knock against most products and roll my eyes. Most remotes, while not perfect, are fine for their intended usage. The 2800 remote, while boxy, sporting terrible ergonomics, and not a very good universal remote, controlled the unit fairly well. This Denon remote with the gel screen is just plain bad. So bad in fact I find myself using the second zone remote the unit came with. I will probably buy a harmony in the future so no big deal, but it's worth mentioning.
The Good:
Sound performance: In one word, phenomenal! Bear in mind I'm only using the amplification for rear channels, so this is mostly a processor and preamp upgrade for me. Wow!!! I wasn't expecting this kind of jump in performance. I was at a place where all the extra features made it worth while to upgrade, e.g. HDMI switching, up conversion, new surround formats, the list goes on. Any performance upgrade was just a bonus. What I noticed is that the bass management and implementation was light years ahead of my old processor. As a result, my sub has never sounded this good and never integrated into my system this good. Channel separation is also much much better. I noticing all kinds of rear effects that I didn't get before. Bear in mind that I'm upgrading from a 7 year old receiver. Some of you who have a 3806 or 3805 I'm sure won't come to the same conclusions, as you already have a great machine. But for me, it was a big improvement.
Up conversion: DVD's do look significantly better. I do not have an up converting player, so for those of you who have an Oppo or something similar, I'm sure this isn't a big deal for you. But if you didn't buy a new DVD player like myself, it was a very nice feature to have. I don't have a 1080p display and as such haven't tried to use the unit's deinterlacing, which CNET says is poor.
Audessy: A breeze to set up and I really think it does help when playing movies decoded with DD or DTS. I don't use it when listening to 2 channel sources.
HDMI switching: I'm happy to report I plugged everything in and it worked from the get go. No handshake issues of any kind. It works perfectly with my satellite box which is hooked up with a DVI-D to HDMI cable. Additionally no issues with the Xbox 360.
Well that about wraps it up. If you have any questions, I'm happy to respond. Please note I haven't networked it yet, but I'm sure I will soon.
Sincerely,
Bru
