Denon AVR-3808CI First Look

[Seth=L]

If I was one of these companies I would just use thicker metal on the case and put lead in the feet of the receivers. I can't believe so many people keep saying one receiver is better than another due to weight without knowing where the weight is actually coming from. How do you know Onkyo didn't use copper heat sinks that weigh a ton?

Now if the weight came from quality components than yes I would probably agree with the weight having some meaning. But, to compare weight on paper is laughable.

Do you think that people don't look at these things? Also, I am pretty sure that putting a copper heatsink inside a receiver would be more expensive that just getting a bigger power supply.

I got a chance to look at the TX-SR805 this weekend, up close and personal at the showroom in Circuit City. The bugger weighs a ton because it has a big power supply. The case is not to different from the case to the TX-SR804, it is a tad taller and the face plate is different. The heatsink is aluminum believe it or not, and the feet are not filled with lead. It is a heavy weight contender and it deserves the THX Ultra II certification. Onkyo is not a white van scam company or a fancy pants audiophile piece of equipment. It has what it needs to get the job done, it would be a horrible mistake for them to suddenly add dead weight to the receiver.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Ha, I learned that the hard way once. Darn duct tape residue wouldn't come of the old Fisher stereo system, goof-off got the residue, and some plastic from the tape deck as well.

If you guys want to take stickers off plastic without damaging it, use WD-40 or Avon Skin-So Soft. Both work great, and won't damage the plastic!

 

[aarond]

i plan on replacing my 3802 this year and was waiting on the new denons. i will be putting the onkyo through its paces first. that would leave an extra $600 towards a new dvd player

 

[BabelFish]

If you guys want to take stickers off plastic without damaging it, use WD-40 or Avon Skin-So Soft. Both work great, and won't damage the plastic!

or just soak the whole thing in water.. stickers never last long in water lol

 

[BabelFish]

any new info on when it is to be released?

 

[Onac]

Do you think that people don't look at these things? Also, I am pretty sure that putting a copper heatsink inside a receiver would be more expensive that just getting a bigger power supply.

I got a chance to look at the TX-SR805 this weekend, up close and personal at the showroom in Circuit City. The bugger weighs a ton because it has a big power supply. The case is not to different from the case to the TX-SR804, it is a tad taller and the face plate is different. The heatsink is aluminum believe it or not, and the feet are not filled with lead. It is a heavy weight contender and it deserves the THX Ultra II certification. Onkyo is not a white van scam company or a fancy pants audiophile piece of equipment. It has what it needs to get the job done, it would be a horrible mistake for them to suddenly add dead weight to the receiver.

My post wasn't meant to be serious (copper heatsinks and lead in the feet). I was just pointing out that some of the posts I have seen say one receiver must be better than another because of how much it weighs. This is before any pictures are even released.

 

[Seth=L]

My post wasn't meant to be serious (copper heatsinks and lead in the feet). I was just pointing out that some of the posts I have seen say one receiver must be better than another because of how much it weighs. This is before any pictures are even released.

The pictures had been released nearly two months ago. I understand what you meant, and I agree. Without seeing it or hearing it you really can't make a solid conclusion. But as it is, the Onkyo is my personal favorite "buy" at the moment.

 

[Noob-in-Trainin]

If they are actual stickers rather than being engraved into the faceplate (so they don't wear off), I would agree that it sucks. I wouldn't want stickers all over the face of the receiver.

I'm concerned about that very thing with TVs as I've seen a lot of them with stickers for the acronyms of all the technology they support. I hope it's just on the floor models because there is no way those stickers are coming off without leaving a big gummy residue or scratching the crap out of the bezel.

I don't think it would be a good idea to use Goof-Off to remove them either because although that stuff works extremely well it eats plastic.

Seriously? All you smart people and you don't know how to remove a sticker? After you pull the sticker off, use the smallest amount of olive oil to remove the residue.

Thanks for the great dialog on the Denon however. I'm trying to learn as much as I can, as I'm torn between the Onkyo and this unit for my new HT.

 

[qhp310]

Hello

New to this forum. Hope to find most of the answers I am looking for.

QHP310

 

[chenyk]

Denon site now has all the details info about 3808
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3510.asp

Manuals:
http://www.usa.denon.com/AVR-3808CI-OM-E_006.pdf

 

[ironvigor]

...my wife has said it could have been bigger!

My wife said something similar the first night.

 

[Hi Ho]

Wow, I still can't believe that the talk about stickers has gone on this long. When was the last time any of you bought an A/V component? They ALL have stickers and they always come off without leaving the slightest bit of residue. I do it every day.

Anyway, I had a chance to play around with a Denon 3808CI today after a meeting with a Denon rep. The GUI is very impressive. The reciever is very solid and though it wasn't hooked up to any speakers I can only assume that it sounds superb. Hopefully we'll get some in for stock soon and I can really test it out. I'm looking forward to seeing the Yamaha Z11 too!

 

[Duffinator]

My wife said something similar the first night.

Yeah but my wife was talking about our LCD TV!

 

[gabrizio]

Yeah but my wife was talking about our LCD TV!

At least that's what you think she was talking about.

Anyways, I've just bough the 3808, although it's not installed yet as I was called away for work for a couple of weeks.

I'll let you know how I get on when I do.

 

[gabrizio]

Anyways, I've just bough the 3808, although it's not installed yet as I was called away for work for a couple of weeks.

I'll let you know how I get on when I do.

Well that's it installed and I'm well impressed. Sound quality is superb and set-up was pretty easy.

My main concern was temperature. Initially I had it on top of a unit, put a small DVD player on top of it to try out and despite there still being plenty of ventilation available it cooked the DVD player which subsequently refused to work.

Final installation is into a closed wooden cabinet with glass door and the temperature in there was very high. The actual casing on the amp was not too hot to touch, but I would guess 120 - 130° F or so.

Ended up installing 2 x 12 volt computer cooling fans in the back of the cabinet and hooking them up to the 12 volt trigger socket supplied on the amp. Now, as soon as I turn on the amp, the fans automatically start up. Probably one fan would have been enough, but I wanted backup should one fail.

 

[macdow]

just bought the Denon 3808. The master remote small tinted lcd screen is very dimly lit, cannot see it in daylight, only visible at night time. what a stupid design, a complete piece of waste gear, which should have multi user remote.
sound is very clean, and i also got heat problem, had to buy a mains small fan to
place at side to cool down.
when using the hdmi output to upconvert signals sometimes find some fine shade of lines appearing on the lcd tv screen. will try to get some finer grade of componet input wires to connect the dvd (no hdmi outut) to the av to see if improve the matter.
anybody experience such problem?

 

[Duffinator]

just bought the Denon 3808. The master remote small tinted lcd screen is very dimly lit, cannot see it in daylight, only visible at night time. what a stupid design, a complete piece of waste gear, which should have multi user remote.
sound is very clean, and i also got heat problem, had to buy a mains small fan to
place at side to cool down.
when using the hdmi output to upconvert signals sometimes find some fine shade of lines appearing on the lcd tv screen. will try to get some finer grade of componet input wires to connect the dvd (no hdmi outut) to the av to see if improve the matter.
anybody experience such problem?

Welcome to AH.

If you think that remote is bad you should see the POS that came with the 3805. They updated it and replaced the original ones for free but there wasn't much of an improvement. But I use a universal remote anyway and only use original remotes for programming the universal.

Not sure changing the cables is going to help unless you have really cheesy beat up existing cables but I guess it's worth a try.

 

[mike c]

was reading the manual of the 3808 regarding crossover frequency ... didnt see settings for different cx settings for different speaker sets e.g. front LR, center, surrounds, backs ...

can anyone verify if the 3808 can set different crossovers for EACH speaker set?

 

[BabelFish]

was reading the manual of the 3808 regarding crossover frequency ... didnt see settings for different cx settings for different speaker sets e.g. front LR, center, surrounds, backs ...

can anyone verify if the 3808 can set different crossovers for EACH speaker set?

I have the 4308 and it does cross overs for each speaker... As far as I know it is there for the 3808 also... I believe you get there by 'Manual Setup' > 'Speaker Setup' > "Crossover Frequency" > "Advance" and then set the individual settings.. I am doing this from memory.. so I might be wrong.. let me know if you can't find it..

Found it.. Page 29 of manual.. center section...

 

[magicpio]

Interpreting zone2 correctly?

Hi all,

I´m planning to get a 3808, but there are still a few things I cannot wrap my head around properly digging through the users manual.

1) When having a 7.1 setup in the main zone it is possible to have a completely independent zone 2 by using the video output and audio pre-out with external amp (with all input and output limitations).
Correct?

2) This so called video out is composite video (not component video)?

Could you enlighten me?

Thanks a lot!
Pio