Denon 3805 Zone 2 & 3 questions

[Eric Apple]

For the 3805 owners out there, I have 2 questions to which I've not been able to find an answer. I don't own one of these. I am trying to get my short list down to one and get the darn thing.

1) For zone 2 & 3 operation, how independent are these zones from the main zone.... Can you power on zone 2 or 3 without zone 1 jumping to life and playing whatever input happens to be selected ?

I don't know if the answer depends upon internal amp assignments or not. If it does, please let me know your experience. I could go internal or external on the subzone amps - I'd really like to be able to use the internal amps as much as possible.

2) I read that sub zone analog line level outputs do not output digital sources. But, I am wondering if this is the case when the main zone is playing the same digital souce you would like to output on the sub zone(s). Does this happen to work somehow by maybe a subzone tracking whatevers playing on zone 1 digital or not ?

3) I assume when using the internal amps to power a subzone, you can play digital sources on the sub zone(s) powered by the internal amp. Is this correct ?



Thanks

 

[Duffinator]

For the 3805 owners out there, I have 2 questions to which I've not been able to find an answer. I don't own one of these. I am trying to get my short list down to one and get the darn thing.

1) For zone 2 & 3 operation, how independent are these zones from the main zone.... Can you power on zone 2 or 3 without zone 1 jumping to life and playing whatever input happens to be selected ?

I don't know if the answer depends upon internal amp assignments or not. If it does, please let me know your experience. I could go internal or external on the subzone amps - I'd really like to be able to use the internal amps as much as possible.

2) I read that sub zone analog line level outputs do not output digital sources. But, I am wondering if this is the case when the main zone is playing the same digital souce you would like to output on the sub zone(s). Does this happen to work somehow by maybe a subzone tracking whatevers playing on zone 1 digital or not ?

3) I assume when using the internal amps to power a subzone, you can play digital sources on the sub zone(s) powered by the internal amp. Is this correct ?



Thanks

1 All three zones are independent, but only two are powered. I use zone 3 for bi-amping and 2 as a line level output to an external amp that powers two other zones. You can turn them on without turning on the main room but I don't ever do that because the power from the receiver triggers all my other equipment to turn on. I could use the extra internal amps to power my two other rooms but don't at this time.

2. You cannot distribute a digital input to zones 2 or 3. You must connect analog inputs for the multizone distribution. This is the same as all other receivers in this price range. You need to make a big step up in order to gain digital distribution.

3. No, digital inputs may only be listened to in the main zone.

All of the above apply to all the receivers in the price range, Yamaha 2500 et. all. The 3805 is a terrific receiver and you could do a lot worse. I highly recommend it.

 

[Jason Coleman]

Yup! Sweet AVR...no doubt about it. I've had mine for 14 months and I still find myself impressed with its features and flexibility.

Jason

 

[AVRat]

Other Area Control?

Duffinator,

Do you have other controls for your other zone 2 areas, like IR, Volume Controls, etc. If so, do you use Flash Emitters or can the Denon remote control input use input from Niles or Xantech IR units? The reason I ask is because many other receiver/preamps actually specify that they can.

I myself am running 7.1 with an external amp powering the second zone. The second zone runs 3 pair of speakers each through an in-wall impedance matching volume control with IR sensor. The sources are triggered via flash emitters.

This may help Eric & others as well.

 

[Duffinator]

Duffinator,

Do you have other controls for your other zone 2 areas, like IR, Volume Controls, etc. If so, do you use Flash Emitters or can the Denon remote control input use input from Niles or Xantech IR units? The reason I ask is because many other receiver/preamps actually specify that they can.

I myself am running 7.1 with an external amp powering the second zone. The second zone runs 3 pair of speakers each through an in-wall impedance matching volume control with IR sensor. The sources are triggered via flash emitters.

This may help Eric & others as well.

I have Niles wall mounted IM volume controls in each room but no IR. I have no experience using the 3805 with Niles or Xantech IR repeater units. Each zone on the 3805 remote emits discrete codes so I think it should work. I have my MX 500 programmed with a screen for my multiroom setup. It has on/off and input controls taken from the Denon remote, there's no need to select which zone as they are all programmed with zone 2 codes. I hope that helps.