Plays music very nice, great with movies, look good, very powerfull, easy to use

there is no weakness

This beauty is the best amp. I've ever had. The first suround reciver that can play music. The other suround recivers I've got play music real bad. This is everything I have been looking for. With my PSB-Image speakers 5T in front 9C center and 2b back, I've got what I need. I don't understad why so may complain about remote ect. I think it's fantastic. When I got it I first only listen to music on it for about 5 days, I just could not stop. It play music like I never experienced before. You hear all the instruments perfect, even at a very lound level. I will never buy a cheap reciver again, I have learned at lot after changing reciver every 6 months. If you want nice suround reciver to a very nice price, this is the one. recivers that cost less that this reciver is mostely crap. This is the best reciver you will ever get to this fantastic price. Just buy it, and you will be happy for many years.
Thank you Denon you saved my ears =)

Similar Products Used:

sony, nad, denon, nikko, yamaha

Enough power for most people (including me), DTS-ES, 7-channel powered output, build quality

Only one coaxial input, remote makes annoying buzzing sound when backlit, c***py maual, dimming out the display doesn't turn it off (like on my Marantz DV-7010)

Originally, I was going to buy the Marantz SR-7000, but delivery-problems fram Marantz made me choose to pay $200 more and get this unit instead.

I have heard that Denon used to sound bad (loud, mushy bass and too bright treble), but I can't complain about the sound comming from this reciever.

The sound is great in stereo, and even greater in 5-/7-channel stereo. DTS rules over DD (I had no idea DD sucked this much until I get this reciever), and DTS-ES is nice too (I don't have room for those two extra speakers yet:( ).
I tried to play the THX-intro at "full blast" (0dB), and my speakers (B&W 602 S2) couldn't cope (NOT the reciever).

My setup:

Reciever: Denon AVR-3801
DVD: Marantz DV-7010
TV: Philips 32" Widescreen
Center: B&W LCR6 S2
Front: B&W 602 S2
Rear: B&W 602 S2
Sub: Dali SWA-15 (15" 350W powered sub)

7.1 Channels

Power, Remote, fixed 80Hz crossover.

The 3801 is an excellent reciever for someone who is just getting into home theater. This is an entry level piece. It has DTS-ES/EX, can do Dolby Digital EX, and sounds fairly good on two channel music through the Direct mode. At moderate listening levels its not too bad with DVD's. I have to stress that this is a feature packed entry level reciever. Someone who knows what to listen for will pick up on its weaknesses fairly quickly. It mainly has to do with the lack of power and low quality amps. As a pre/pro with a seperate amp, this unit could pass quite nicely. The reason this reciever is priced low is for this reason. Why do you think most upscale recievers (Denon 5801) & seperate multi-channel amps cost so much more.
In a small room with efficient speakers this is a very nice reciever. But for serious home theater add a seperate amp or look elsewhere.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon

Great Receiver, the better sound that i've heard !!!

Denon build quality.
Future proof for DVD audio etc, DTS-ES and Surround EX.
Excellent sound quality, escpecially two channel mode.

Remote and Manual.
Runs hot, needs real good ventilation.
One co-ax digital input.
Speaker binding posts are real close together.
Heat sink design. Should be bigger and mounted with fins vertical. If the fan dies....the reciever will overheat.

Ok, here's my two cents worth. Like many of you, I hummed and hawed over which receiver to buy. Having already owned a Denon receiver before, I am a little biased. Furthermore, I spent 5 years doing authorized warranty repair on several high end units including Denon, Adcom, Counterpoint, Carver, Luxman, Studer-Revox etc. So when I look at a piece of audio equipment, I look inside too. The thing that I like about the Denon is the build quality, sound quality and price point. You get the best of everything at the right price. I could go on and on using all kinds of audiophile buzz words like timbre and staging etc etc. I won't.

I listened to all kinds of receivers using different sources and different modes. I must admit, in the 3801's price range, there is some stiff competition. The Marantz and Arcam sound good. However, the Marantz of today is no where near as good as the build quality of the old Marantz. The Arcam is a bare bones A/V receiver. That is it. The 3801 sounds incredible. I never truly beleived that you can hear a huge difference from one good receiver to the next. You most definately can. I pulled out all of my cds and listened to them for hours. I can't beleive how nice it sounds in two channel direct mode. WOW is all I can say. I starting hearing flaws in some of the CD's I have...lots actually. I never heard that on my old system. The DTS-ES and Dolby Digital processing is fantastic. Gladiator is ground shaking. I don't know what else to say about the digital processing then Denon has done their homework. The 3801 has almost all the features of their flagship,the 5800, minus the power output and the $$$.

NOTE: spend as much time as you can learning about speaker placement. You can have the best speakers on the planet and amp to go with it. If your speakers aren't placed right, you loose half of the imaging and tonal depth. Another point I wanted to make was about the power of this unit. I have read many reports on this unit that say it doesn't have enough power. My response is, if you have high efficeincy, quality speakers, and you have them properly placed, power should be no problem. Remember, it takes twice the power output to raise the spl by 3db. If it is JBL concert bins or Cerwin Vega that you have at home, you may need that 1000 Watts RMS per side.

Now the nitty gritty. The receiver gives you a plethera of inputs and outputs. The digital input assignment is nice. Could use more co-ax digital inputs though. The remote isn't that bad. It could be better. Let's face it, this is a very complex piece of equipment, you will go through the usual learning curve. The manual is not very good either. It doesn't go through the whole setup in a very logical manner. I have read it over and over again. I think I have almost got it totally figured out. Advice - if you are planning on buying this unit, go to denon.com and print out the manual. Study it. It is time well spent.

My setup (so far)

Electronics

KP53HS10 Sony 53" Hi-Scan RPTV
Denon AVR-3801
Sony DVD S-360
Carver CD player
Sharp VCR

Speakers

Peerless 2-way mains
PSB Image 9C center
PSB Image 1B x 4 for surrounds and rear surrounds
PSB Subsonic 6 for LFE
Ultralink interconnects

Question/Advice to Denon: Why not make an instructional DVD to include with this receiver? Having a guided walk through tutorial would be a huge help. Especially for beginners. I picture some older people trying to set this up, like my parents....forget-about-it!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz
Onkyo
Yamaha

6.1 and 7.1 discrete, dts-es, 7 channels of power, 5 & 7 channel stereo

Remote, instruction manual, 1 year warranty

I am really impressed by the Denon avr-3801. It does everything I ask of it and doesn't complain. I upgraded to the 3801 from a Yamaha rxv-793 and the difference is huge. The sound from the Denon is much crisper and more powerful than the Yamaha. The Yamaha had a hard time driving my JBL L5s but the Denon can push them hard without distortion. With the 5 channel stereo I can also enjoy my B&W DM12 rears at full volume without the annoying delay. Although the Denon's stereo behavior can never be compared to quality seperates or a quality integrated, I believe it does an admirable job at stereo(5 channel being superior). The true firepower, however, lies in the way it handles Dolby Digital and DTS. This is an incredible receiver for movies, it really shines at any volume. So all in all, I would say the Denon is a quality all around performer at a very quality price.


System
Denon avr-3801
Sony DVD-7000
JBL L5
B&W DM12
JBL SC305
Sony XBR 32" television
MIT interconnects and speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

onkyo 787, pioneer 36tx, yamaha rxv-1000, yamaha rxv-793

Quality, power, looks

With out remote is not as easy to control it.

This is my first good AV receiver and the main reason that I have chosen this receiver is the quality as a preamp. It’s clean.

Denon 3801 runs NHT VT 1.4 (Midrange and tweeters) and Center NHT
Adcom 545 MK II runs NHT VT 1-4 (Woofers)
Adcom 545 MK II runs NHT SuperZero (surround)
RCA Satellite model (cheapest one) waiting for the HDTV converter to come down on price.
Fisher CD player (cheap one)
Klipsh woofer 12” ( it sacks) thinking to downgrade to 10 to get tighter base

7.1 ch, DTS-ES

Weak power

First of all, my sincere thanks to Andy and Tyler for their helpful hints. I finally hooked up the cables to listen to my DVD-Audio. Now, I'm enjoying DVD-Audio with Denon 3801. The sound is even more crisp and thrilling!
I'm correcting my review below especially about the lack of 5.1 ch input on the Denon 3801.

However, I still feel the power and punch of the Denon 3801 when playing DVD music and movies are a little bit weaker than I expect this receiver can produce. The music from my speakers using Denon 3801 is weaker than the one I used to hear from the same speakers using my old Pioneer 608 receiver($300). So, I'll keep four stars for overall rating but five stars for value.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics separates, Pioneer 608

Home Theater. Good Power to drive large speaker set-up. Best A/V receiver in this price range.

None found yet.

First off its really hard to get a good deal on these recievers from Tweeter & Good Guys. Shopping around saved me a little. I paid 1018.00 with a 5 year warranty from Good Guys (ouch).

The Home Theater rocks! My fiancee was even impressed (that says a lot) The movies have come alive in my listening center. Still not as good as a 14K seperate system, but I cant justify the extra 13K to hear background noises.

This is absolutely the best in its class...and forget about spending and extra 1K to get the Denon 4801 (I have yet to see a THX encoded DVD)

Still the price hits hard...hence the -1 star

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

Home Theater. Good Power to drive large speaker set-up. Best A/V receiver in this price range.

None found yet.

First off its really hard to get a good deal on these recievers from Tweeter & Good Guys. Shopping around saved me a little. I paid 1018.00 with a 5 year warranty from Good Guys (ouch).

The Home Theater rocks! My fiancee was even impressed (that says a lot) The movies have come alive in my listening center. Still not as good as a 14K seperate system, but I cant justify the extra 13K to hear background noises.

This is absolutely the best in its class...and forget about spending and extra 1K to get the Denon 4801 (I have yet to see a THX encoded DVD)

Still the price hits hard...hence the -1 star

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha