If you want to try biamping with your old Denon 3805, not 3806...
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If you still have your 3805, you can try to bi amp your mains using the 6th and 7th channels. Some owners have found it to work, but others have had problems (some hiss noise) in this set up. Also, the auto eq set up would have to be done manually in a biamped configuration (again everybody this is if your trying to biamp your mains with your 3805 not 3806 Denon receiver) as the receiver wasn't made with this feature in mind. With that considered, if you want to try it, see below for how.
1. Connect a SHORT stereo cable pair from [PRE OUT LEFT & RIGHT] and run it into the Red and White jacks labeled [VDP].
2. DISCONNECT the SHORTING STRAPS from your bi-ampable speaker's terminals! Of course you know I'm sure that failing to do this can quickly damage the amplifiers!
3. Connect the HIGH FREQUENCY terminals of the speakers to the receiver's FRONT LEFT and RIGHT speaker terminals.
4. Connect the speakers' LOW FREQUENCY terminals to the receiver's speaker terminals marked: [SURR BACK / MULTI ZONE]. These are to the far right, viewed from the back.
5. Via step # 5.1 in OPTION SETUP, set P.AMP ASSIGN to ZONE 3. See page 43 of your 3805 owner's manual for detail.
6. Via REMOTE (the RC-969) press button that says [ZONE 2] until it changes to read [ZONE 3] with the bright bar above the ZONE 3 indication.
7. Press [SOURCE ON] to turn on the ZONE 3 amplifiers.
8. Select [VDP] as the SOURCE for Zone 3. This is done by pressing the letters [VDP] which are directly under the CD indication, NOT the VDP which is directly under the MD indication. Note that this step is what causes the "ZONE 3" to always play the VDP input, which is in turn, the signal from the Left and Right FRONT PRE OUTS of the main zone. Voila!
9. With the remote still in the ZONE 3 mode, press the VOL ^ up button while watching the front panel of the AVR-3805. Bring it up to read 00 as a starting point. Later in the process you will come back to this and adjust to your own taste for spectral balance of the front speakers. (More, later).
Next, put the remote back to the AMP mode, so the word AMP is underlined by the bright bar. You can now do any other setup steps you need and use the receiver as you normally would.
Anything you select to listen to will have its output for the front L&R go directly to the speaker terminals marked Front L&R and ALSO go out the L&R PRE OUT jacks which ultimately get to the SURR BACK / MULTI speaker terminals. Therefore, the CONTENT of the FRONT L&R speaker terminals is identical to the content of the SURR BACK / MULTI speaker terminals.
Once setup this way, you never touch the ZONE 3 again since the main zone is in control of everything.....one exception...
The ZONE 3 volume will adjust ONLY the level to the LOW FREQUENCY part of the speaker, whereas the MASTER VOLUME (main zone) will control ALL channels INCLUDING the LOW FREQUENCY part of the speaker. Therefore the ZONE 3 Volume, step number 9 in the list above, actually adjusts the RATIO of Lows to Highs in the speaker. If you want a bit heaver sound, bring Z3 vol up a bit. If you want a bit brighter sound, take Z3 vol down a bit. Some "Audiophiles" worry they won't know what setting is "Correct", but "REAL" audiophiles trust their own ears above all! One of the very powerful ADVANTAGES of the Bi-Amp setup this way is your ability to control the spectral balance of the speaker with this specific adjustment.
