The reason I would go with the 4500 instead of the 3500 is 20% more power and a 3 year warranty instead of a one year. In addition, it's a newer revision. The 3500 might be fine but I would prefer the 4500. Here's a detailed comparison:
Compare the Denon AVR-X4500H and Denon AVR-X3500H. Discover the differences in features, specs, performance, and find out which A/V receiver is the best for you.
www.zkelectronics.com
Thanks for the response!
The 3 year warranty is a big factor for many people uncomfortable with reconditioned gear and I over-looked that. I, personally, have had such good luck with refurbs (from A4L) that I never buy the extended warranty. However, I know people for whom warranty is very important!
The three hundred dollar difference between these units is 10% of his budget and I think it is better spent on quality speakers, but us having this discussion in front of
@ariasinger1 helps him better understand the trade-offs and our suggestions.
Others have pointed out how the extra power is not as much as you might think (the "watts to perceived loudness" relationship is not linear - but our minds mostly think in linear terms). However, I generally like to know the speakers before recommending the AVR. In this case I decided to go ahead with the AVR suggestion in wanting to make sure he was not looking at the expensive separates. My belief is if he picks a speaker that needs more power than the 3500, then he needs more power than the 4500 offers. At this point he really needs to find a more efficient speaker (and this is why I am glad when people come here for this type of advice instead of coming after they have a problem), because the cost of power to drive a power-hungry speaker is not really in his budget. But if he absolutely falls in love with such a speaker, the 3500 has pre-amp outputs and is more capable than any stand alone pre-amp he could find for $700.
...but back to the 4500 vs 3500, the added features of the 4500 are are not things which he is likely to miss given his described usage (they are things I would never use in my 5.2 system).
The 3500 is fairly rich with the most commonly desired features and that is for someone planning a full HT system.
But for his needs, I would want the bass management that any typical AVR offers (if he ends up with a sub), Audyssey XT-32 (which can be combined with the app to help deal with room influences below ~250Hz), and DEQ (which keeps the music "lively" at lower listening levels). Those three items are why I stick with Denon and the 3500 is the best value to include these items!
I do most (over 95%) of my listening in stereo (only use 5 channels for the occasional movie). It is ironic that an AVR is better suited, but the above features are not commonly found on a stereo receiver and the economies of scale (mass production) make an AVR cheaper despite all of the added features you get shoveled in with the few you want.
From my standpoint the only reason to get a 4500 is if you need the extra two channels. Otherwise channels 8 & 9 are just extra sources of heat in an already crowded AVR.
I currently have a 4400 and a 3500. If you offered me $50 to swap my 4400 for a 3400 and we had an easy way to establish the 3400 had not been abused (my 4400 has not), it would be a no-brainer for me!
