Exclusive Denon AVR-3805 First Look!

[Jason Coleman]

I was having problems with my 3805 remote. I called Denon and the rep said there was a new version of the remote out. This new version of the 3805 remote is now replacing the old black touch pad with a blue touch pad. It works perfecly so far and seems to be a little more readable in bright conditions.

Would you mind posting a name and number of the person you dealt with? I'm getting some runaround trying to get through.

Thanks,

Jason

 

[barend]

Amp

Yes good idea, if you look in Ebay or someplace else you see several 100W finals, like Rotel or Harman Kardon that are not too expensive.
Bought the coming PA4000 for 450 and the PA2400 for 260 Euro.
cheers
Barend

PS
I wouldn't be surprised if the slight hum / bleeding is caused by the same flaky internal switching that causes my Zone Preout being dead as a doornail...

 

[Unregistered]

My 3805 bi-amped is still working like a charm. No hum. Very quiet with no source playing. FL/FR preouts to VDP, reversed l/r-r/l. Plays so much louder and clearer with all sources. What a tweak!!!

 

[Jason Coleman]

My 3805 bi-amped is still working like a charm. No hum. Very quiet with no source playing. FL/FR preouts to VDP, reversed l/r-r/l. Plays so much louder and clearer with all sources. What a tweak!!!

I'm confused as why to some would have a hum and others wouldn't. What volume level do you have Zone 2 set to? I agree that it's a great tweak, but the hum concerns me.

Jason

 

[gene]

Sounds like an induced ground loop somewhere.
Try connecting all components to one outlet. If that doesn't work, check cabling. Try shielded twister pair on interconnects between preamp outs to Zone2 source for biamping. If your still having hum, try to isolate if a cable box, or 3 prong device can be causing it. As far as I know, Clint didn't have any of these problems in his setup. So lets try to isolate setup differences.

Update: I just spoke to Denon Tech support. They have reviewed our Biamp procedure and said it should work fine. They did inform me several people were doing line level connections from MultiZone2 Out which is incorrect. Please make sure you are connecting from the Main Channel Preamp Outs to the unused source as per our procedure.

 

[Access Denied]

Jason, I emailed Denon contactservice@denon.com I told them the problem I was having with the remote. (it was locking up on me some times) They imediately sent back an email. Here it is.


Please call us at the number below for a return authorization. Have the serial number from the receiver ready when you call.

Thank you,
Technical Support
Denon Electronics
1100 Maplewood Dr.
Itasca, IL 60143
1-630-741-0660 phone
1-630-735-1959 fax
www.usa.denon.com

For authorized service centers and parts distributors:
www.usa.denon.com/support/network.asp

 

[Jason Coleman]

Thanks...I'll give them a call tomorrow. It's a bit irritating that they don't supply an 800 number. I sat on the phone today navigating idiot menus for about 20 minutes just to find myself back where I started (at their 800 location in Illinois). Customer service ain't what it used to be.

Thanks again,

Jason

 

[Unregistered]

I agree with Gene. Sounds like a ground loop somewhere. My zone 2 volume is set to +2. Even if I raise it higher still no hum.

 

[Jason Coleman]

I tried disconnecting components, changing outlets, standing on my head...and the hum is still there. I know that the ground loop issue is a giant can of worms, but can someone let me know where I'd start to isolate things to see if that's the issue? Is there some simple sure-fire test to see if that's the humming culprit?

Geez, I feel like a noob all over again!

Thanks,

Jason

 

[Unregistered]

I would check if you have any 3 prong devices. That is the only time when I did have some hum. My subwoofer is 3 prong and when I had it hooked to a three prong extension cord there was a noticable hum. I was able to correct it by connecting it to a 2 prong adaptor and a 2 prong extension. If you have no 3 prong components then I am at a loss and feel your pain. After doing this bi-amping thing I really would not want to go back to the way it was before.

 

[Jason Coleman]

WOW...So I think I was just mentally raped of any common sense.

Take your FRICKIN' advertisement (or however you pronounce it in your country) and stick it. Why are you posting/trolling here? Get the hell out with you disinformation and bargains. What a load of crap.

Jason

Clint and Gene- Can posts like this be omitted or blocked for everybody else's sake?

 

[keenan]

I tried disconnecting components, changing outlets, standing on my head...and the hum is still there. I know that the ground loop issue is a giant can of worms, but can someone let me know where I'd start to isolate things to see if that's the issue? Is there some simple sure-fire test to see if that's the humming culprit?

Geez, I feel like a noob all over again!

Thanks,

Jason

Did the hum start when you setup the bi-amping, with no other changes?
If so, I don't know what to tell you, but as others have suggested try using an isolation transformer on the cable tv feed and check devices with 3-prong plugs by using a ground lift adapter on the power cable. If you find that the hum goes away with the adapter do not just leave it in place. It can create a potentially hazardous situation if there is a fault in that particular device. Not to mention that a ground fault could run back through your interconnects causing other problems with other equipment. People use those adapters all the time and typically nothing happens, but it could. I guess the best advice I could give is if you have a ground loop problem to search it down and find what is causing it, not to just band-aid(adapter) it. I had a similar problem when I added 2 Parasound amps to drive my fronts. It turned out that the original electrician had bonded the earth ground and the neutral wire at the sub-panel feeding my equipment. I fixed that and the hum went away.

My 0.02 anyways,

Jim

 

[Audiosouse]

Bi-Amping and Power Filtering Experiences

I experienced an audible hum and the L and R channels were reversed when I biamped my 3805 (I was first to post these issues a while back). Correct me if I'm wrong Gene, but if you biamping noise issues were caused by some kind of ground fault, would this not affect performance regardless of biamping? Although excited by the idea of 240 watts per main channel, I felt the elevated noise floor outweighed any performance benefits.

However, this is not to dismiss the importance of AC. I though this was a snake oil pandora's box, but as it turns out, there's something to it. I previously posted about my Sony KV34HS510 HDTV having green discolourations when on the same electrical circuit as the 3805, which is exactly what it was (someone please tell me how or why?) . When I used an extension cord to plug the 3805 into a different circuit from the TV, the discolourations dissappeared. I tried a few surge suppressor/power filters but none worked (bear in mind I tried a limited number and wasn't prepared to spend more than what the 3805 was worth, which is surprisingly easy to do!).

The product that finally did the trick was a Tripp Lite Isolation Transformer. It improved the picture so much that my wife turned on the TV and said "Wow! What did you do to the TV?" You'll be astounded by the heft of these things! As the name suggests, they isolate your component from the circuit and includes surge suppression and AC filtering. The models are rated by power output in watts (IS 1000 is 1000 watts), so match up the power required with the model and away you go.

However, they don't stock these in your local audio shop so you may have to order direct or have a store special order as I did (which was cheaper than ordering direct as I avoided shipping costs). This is the ONLY product that worked and won't break the bank (from $110 CDN). I can't wait to get a larger one for my audio components, I'll have my own little power station running my A/V rack!

 

[Audioholics]

That's cool that it solved your hum/TV problem. What did you find out about the L/R reversed Denon issue?

 

[Audiosouse]

L/R Reversed Denon Issue

Nothing yet, I've got some quality time scheduled with technical support scheduled for this week. They're taking a unit out of stock and we're going to go over some issues I'm having:
- No LFE to sub from DPL II
- biamping
- L/R reversal
When and if I have any answers I'll be sure to post 'em.

 

[Attila]

Bi-amping

Does anybody know if it is possible to bi-amp the Denon AVR-3803?

 

[Unregistered]

reversed zone 2

Question... I've read through and noticed that Audiosouse has (had?) the same issue that I have with my reversed L/R on the zone 2 posts. I have also noticed others talking about reversing their preout cables to reduce bleedover etc. Is this the same issue? If the bleedover is totally different, then do you switch your L/R on the zone 2 speaker posts as well?

Does everyone have incorrect L/R mapping to zone 2? I can't imagine that being true - I am assuming I have a bad 3805. I have verified this w/o bi-amping and listening to 2 sets of speakers mimicking a second room listening to the same cd source, which is the intended purpose of it. Primary zone is in phase and correct while the second is backwards. I triple checked all of my connections and even tried different inputs. Any thoughts/comments? I am a little frustrated after dropping >$1000 needless to say. Thanks,

 

[oogjen]

Isn' t the L/R reversed on the multi zone posts because they are primarily for surround back speakers, which means when sitting in the listening position with the speakers behind you the L/R would be correct?

 

[Jason Coleman]

Actually, if that were the case, they would still be out of phase. Left is left, and right is right, despite whether the speakers are in front of you or behind you. Now if you turn around and face backwards, that's a totally different story.

That's an interesting test...I wonder what Denon's take on this will be.

Jason

 

[Unregistered]

Remember, the whole design of zone 2 is not for biamping, but for playing multi-room. I just works out you can use it for that. One scenario: watching tv in the main room and then playing a cd in another room. In my case, the music from the cd playing in the other room is not the correct L/R matching.