Exclusive Denon AVR-3805 First Look!

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Well, I got the Denon AVR-3805 and hooked it up (replaced my Denon AVR-3802). &nbsp;SOOOO many new features. I now have DD EX, DTS96K/24K, 120Wx7 , PIIx, video up convert, new DSP modes, Denon link, HDCD, and the best darn remote I have seen. &nbsp;I'm glad I didn't upgrade to the Denon AVR-3803 before the Denon AVR-3805 came out because I feel the Denon AVR-3805 is what the Denon AVR-3803 should of been (hence the upgrade to 3803 to 3805 in so little time). &nbsp;Didn't buy the seperate mic yet but will try it in the future if I feel the need for it. &nbsp;I loved the new electronic smell. I wish the smell came in a bottle

I'll let the experts do the &quot;in-depth&quot; reviews but in my own opinion, this is the absolute best receiver ever made. Now, I'm just waiting for Denon to get their act together with their DVD players and make more DVD players with Denon link and more affordable. Right now the Denon 5900 (the most expensive) is the only DVD player that has Denon link and the all important DVI output. Come on Denon! YOU CAN DO IT!

</font>

 

[Sounds Simple]

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Guest : <font color='#000000'>I'll let the experts do the &quot;in-depth&quot; reviews but in my own opinion, this is the absolute best receiver ever made.</font>

<font color='#000000'>Come on, Gary. At least tell us more about the remote.

Bob</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>It only took me about 10mins to figure out the remote and how it worked with the receiver's screen display. Granted I had the Denon 3802 before, so I was a little familiar with denon's set up already. &nbsp;The remote was a lot bigger than I thought when I saw the pics. &nbsp;It's about as big as to my elbow to my wrist and I'm 6ft tall. It's definately the biggest remote that I have seen for the 3800 AVR series receivers. &nbsp;The remote has a cool feature that is sensitive to touch and movement. It turns on when you pick it up and automaticlly turns off after a while of it sitting. I don't know what else to say about the remote except I hate putting it down &nbsp;

</font>

 

[Sounds Simple]

<font color='#000000'>At 9 3/8&quot;. it is a large remote.</font>

 

[jbliz]

<font color='#000000'>That Denon 3805 does look like a really nice unit. I'm trying to decide between the Denon and the Pioneer 55TXi. They both have their pros and cons, but I'm leaning toward the Denon at this point.

On one hand, the Denon has PLIIx, 3 Component inputs with 100Mhz bandwidth (vs 40Mhz on the Pioneer), and more optical inputs.

On the other hand, the Pioneer has gold plated connectors, THX certification, more power, cheaper street price, USB port for playing MP3's from computer, and an i.link that will work with other manufacturer's players, and an autocalibration system (MCACC) that's not in it's first generation.

From what i've listed, it looks like I should buy the Pioneer. However, I'm setting up a 7.1 system, so PLIIx is really important to me, and 3 component inputs is a huge plus. I'll likely wait until the price comes down a bit to buy the Denon if I go that route.

Oh, and hello everyone, this is my first post here.

John</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I really hope audioholics bench tests the power ratings of the new Denon 3805. I would like to know how much real power I can expect when running all 7 channels.</font>

 

[Ross]

<font color='#000000'>I'd guess between 35 and 65.

best,</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I got my 3805 today and then I immediatly had to go into work. &nbsp;I got to take it out of the box and look at it but that is it. &nbsp;The quality of the receiver is very nice. &nbsp;The front door pannel is a nice solid steel, not plastic. &nbsp;The nobs also feel much nicer than the 3803. &nbsp;It also looks better in person than it does in pictures. &nbsp;I will let everyone know how I like it after I get it hooked up and listen to it for a while.

What does everyone else think of the 3805 so far?</font>

 

[Martin_S]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Guest : What does everyone else think of the 3805 so far?

I think I want one.

I have cash in hand and I'm fixin' to buy one. But I promised myself I'd wait for a thorough review on it. (Gene, howz things comin'?)

Also, I'd like some opinions here: I'm trying to do the right thing--I want to buy from my local retailer after all the trips to their store to talk about gear without purchasing anything.

They have hundreds of black 3805 units in stock for $1089, but silver would be a &quot;special order&quot;. My sales guy thinks the warehouse will want to charge full retail ($1199) for silver. He may be able to get around that, but he may not.

Do y'all think a premium for silver is unfair since Denon's MSRP is the same for either color? If my guy can't get around the surcharge, I wonder if I can go elsewhere (mail order?) with a clear concience.</font>

 

[jbliz]

<font color='#000000'>Ross,

I think your estimated power output for the 3805 is pretty close. I did a little research and found the the 3805 has the same power supply as the 3803. The 3803's measured power output @ 1kHz (5ch): 50W (8ohms, 0.6%THD). I can't imagine how low the output will be through 7 channels. That is unfortunate. I have a large room and I just don't think this unit will have enough power to drive all 7 channels to nice volumes. Someone please tell me that I'm wrong. I really thought I finally found my receiver. Why do some manufacturers exaggerate their power ratings so bad? It's so annoying.

Martin_S,
That's not good news. I really wanted the Denon 3805 in gunmetal silver, but it looks like I'll have to pay for it. dang supply and demand gets me everytime.

Thanks,

John</font>

 

[aarond]

<font color='#000000'>John
I own the 3802 and have it in a very large room (6000 cubic feet). I run it for music sometimes in 7 ch &quot;stereo&quot; &nbsp;the extreme torture test for all seven amps at about -4 db on the volume( wife says that this is way to loud) and i have never had it clip or overcurrent protection shut it down. The 3802 is on the top of a shelf with nothing impeding air flow. So enclosing it may cause it to shut down

aaron</font>

 

[Ross]

<font color='#000000'>jbliz,
How efficient are your speakers? &nbsp;How will you have the bass management setup?

best,</font>

 

[jbliz]

<font color='#000000'>aarond,

You've set my mind at ease a little. I'm in a townhouse with a room smaller than yours, so I think the 3805 will be plently loud. After all, I don't want to piss off the neighbors.

Ross,

I'll be running Ascend acoustic speakers.

The new 340's for the center and fronts, and the 170 for the surrounds and rears. These are all 8 ohm speakers. The 340's have a sensitivity of 92db (i think) and the 170's have a sensitivity of 89db.

Thanks for the help,

John</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I just grabbed the 3805 5 days ago. My salesguy at Ultimate Electronics let me swap my Yamaha RX-V2400 strait across for it. (my salesguy cut me a great deal on the 2400, I paid $850 with tax, so I really got the 3805 for $850) This is my first Denon product, I have always owned Yamaha's in the past.

First impressions: I prefer the 2400's back panel over the 3805, the Denon is no where as clean as the Yamaha IMO. I also prefer the front panel of the 2400 better (the 3805's front panel is growing on me) I do however like being able to do all of my &quot;tweaking&quot; on the front panel of the 3805 rather than always relying on the remote like the 2400. Speaking of remotes, the Denon's is flat out cool, the touch panel is a very nice touch (no pun intended) and quite large.

when I pulled it out of the box, you cant help but notice the massive power supply that is in the left front corner, MUCH bigger than the Yamaha's.

I like the speaker input posts on the Yamaha MUCH better than the Denon, the 3805's posts are really small and dont like my 12GA. wire to much (i guess i need to invest in some banana plugs)

Now for the sound: Since I have only had this product for 5 days now, and I have to say the sound is GREAT. I find it more deep sounding than the 2400 and much more powerful all around. it pushes my Polk's to sound even better than before, so now I enjoy my speakers just that much more. With my 2400 I was looking to grab a separate amp to power my fronts and center, with the 3805, I no longer feel I need one, its just that much more powerful.

Before I swapped out the 2400 I played a good DTS soundtrack, Saving Private Ryan, in particular the scene towards the end where the &quot;half track&quot; gets waxed. It starts off quiet one of the soldier singing then gets loud with the bazooka going off, to Capt. Millers Thompson letting loose. All settings were the same with both the 2400 and the 3805, the 2400 sounded very weak and very flat compared to the 3805, it was night and day I could not belive it. It was so much more powerful sounding and much richer sounding than the 2400.

I then put in my reference disk for Dolby Digital EX (star wars II) come to find out the Denon did not want to decode the EX track (One cool feature the Denon has is on the front display, where it lights up a graphic to tell you what channels are being detected and another graphic tells you what is actually being output) going through all the setups did nothing to help, so I put in Harry Potter the sorcerer stone to see if it was my hardware or a software problem, started up just fine and it finally read &quot;Dolby D EX&quot; on the display with the corresponding graphics lit up.
I took my Star Wars II DVD to UE and played it in there 3805 to see if it did the same thing and sure enough it did not pick up the EX track for Star Wars. (since then I have found it only decodes 2 of my EX DVD's, &quot;LOTR Towers&quot; and &quot;Harry Potter sorcerer stone&quot; all of my other EX disks will just not work.

I then put in my DTS ES reference disk (gladiator) that picked up the ES track right away. wow..... what a BIG differance compared to the 2400.

I always have wondered what the heck people were talking about when they always referred to their receiver as either &quot;bright&quot; or &quot;warm&quot; and now I know. The denon is
&quot;warmer&quot; and much more full sounding to me.

Overall I am very happy with my recent swap, I do like the look overall of the Yamaha better, but the sound is what counts and the Denon clearly wins, so its a keeper.

Cant wait for the professional review for the 3805.....

Hope this helps,
Brent.

Center: Polk CSi5
Fronts: Polk RTi10's
Surrounds: Polk FXi3's
Rear Center: Polk RM2600
Subs: Polk PSW404 x2


My Home Theater (I have not updated my pictures with the new AVR-3805 yet)</font>

 

[jbliz]

<font color='#000000'>Brent,

Thanks for the input, of course, now i won't buy the 3805 until I find out more about the DD EX problem. I wonder if this is a widespread problem. I will have a 7.1 setup, so I definitely want DD EX to work correctly. Has anyone else experienced this problem.

John</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Jbliz, I should have mentioned the 3805 did not pick up the &quot;flag&quot; on the disk. Now, I have heard that Dolby had some problems with the first couple of EX disks that were on the market with the receiver not picking up the extra info. I dont know if this is just a carry over problem with Dolby.
With that being said, I have just manually selected the Denon to default &quot;matrix&quot; for all Dolby disks, that works just fine but I dont get the &quot;Dolby D EX&quot; on the display. It just reads &quot;Dolby Digital&quot;

I really do think you would be very pleased with this receiver as I am, and it was not my intention to steer you away from it! I dont think the problem has anything to do with the receiver IMO, because it did the same exact thing on the demo 3805 at my local Ultimate Electronics.

I would be very interested if someone has ran into this problem as well, and if so, what receiver has it been, and what media you were using?

Brent.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I own the Denon 3805 and there is a setting if you want &quot;auto detect&quot; 6.1 or 7.1 or to have your rear speaker(s) to receiver the same signal as your side speakers. &nbsp;DD EX is NOT discrete. It is only Dolby's version of a DSP mode for 6.1 or 7.1. &nbsp;To my knowledge you can activative, &quot;at anytime during DD playback,&quot; DD EX even if it is not DD EX on the DVD. Not logical, but you can. On the remote, pressing the surround button then surround back button you can toggle what you want. Surround back off, surround back on w/ EX or back channels receiver the same signal as the side speakers (called NON matrix) and others. But I do agree that there are some DVD's out there that CLAIM they have DD EX on the audio but with the cool new feature of showing you what signal is going through for imput and what speakers are actually being used for output on the LCD diplay, it lets me know that not all DD EX is EX and even (SOME) DTS ES signals really are not disctete but matrixed. Pretty much, if you can see on the receiver that the denon 3805 is detecting a back channel, then use EX for DD.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Brent,

I know you're not trying to steer me away from the receiver. It was just funny that as soon as I thought I had my mind made up on the Denon, I heard about a problem with it. Man, I just need to stop researching and buy a receiver. It will either be a Pioneer 55TXi or a Denon 3805. Sounds like the EX issue is easily worked around.

John</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I just got a Denon 3805 and a Denon 2200 DVD player.

I can play DVDs just fine. &nbsp;I have my 6 cables hooked up properly.

But my SaCD will not play over the 6 Surround sound cables.
It will play over the Left and Right CD cables.

I feel like I don't have the right Inputs in the Denon 3805 turned on for SaCD. &nbsp;I'm pulling my Hair out here.

Can some one with the Denon 3805 tell me What my screen shold say when playing SaCDs?

And the Denon Remote Control is so Cool! &nbsp;That's what pushed me over the edge, between this and a Yamaha.

&nbsp;Don</font>

 

[Ross]

<font color='#000000'>I've heard varying opinions on the new denon remote. &nbsp;Over at AVS there seem to be quite a few new 3805 owners that are not too happy about the remote, between returns and malfunctions. &nbsp;Some of my local dealers admited to having swapped out roughly 10 remotes between two stores over the past few weeks.

best,</font>