Denon 3805 and Yamaha V1600 - Same price, new in box - which would you get?

[Bluesmoke]

In terms of features, I'd love HDMI on the Yamaha, although the Denon might be a better receiver. I've heard the Yamaha and I know I would be happy with it. Never heard the 3805, but I have heard the 3806 and loved it. They are both $799can at a shop, and I have store credit with them so I need to pick one of them up. Which would be the better choice?

 

[Rob Babcock]

I doubt there is a 'better choice' overall. I have the '3805, so to me it's the only choice...but mostly because I've had Denons for years. Do you think I'll ever switch brands, after spending years learning how to use their remotes?

Seriously, the Denon has a few features I'd have a hard time living without. Perhaps other brands have something similar, but the lack of Personal Memory Plus would be a dealbreaker- it remembers the channel settings, etc for every single soundfield and every single input. Say for instance that for the CD input, you like Dolby PLII for music. Say you like the center about +1.0 dB hot vs the other channels. But say you also like to listen to 5CH Stereo when you have friends over, but for that you like the center to match the front and the surrounds a couple dBs lower. Done! And you can do this for every single input as well as each surround mode for each input, individually. I really love that.

Oh, yeah- the sound is good too.

 

[brendy]

Both are excellent,it would come down to which one has the features most useful to me.