Stereo & HT Sound ; POWER ; DTS-ES Discrete ;

Manual could be better (what the hell ; I even didn't use it... the OSD is clear enough for me)

I come from a pure stereo environment (Denon PRA-1500 pre-amp + Denon POA-2800 + Denon DCD-2560 + B&W Matrix 803)
(I still have this configuration in my listening room)

For my new living room (I expanded my house) I wanted to integrate Home Theater from in the beginning.

I have chosen the Denon AVR-3802 to stay within budget since I had to buy a DVD player (Denon DVD-1600 Audio/Video player + 5 speakers (B&W 600-series : 2x604 S3 front ; 2x604 S3 back (B) + LCR600 S3 center channel in music configuration).

Later on (since 1 month) I expanded with 2 x B&W 601 S3 for surround position (A) and 2 x B&W 601 S3 for surround back (since all cabling was foreseen).

A sub-woofer will be added if necessary but now I have a very good bass reproduction with my 4 B&W 604.

I have to say that this 3802 is performing as the best to drive 7 (or 9) speakers at once !!!

This is a giant step from stereo to multi-channel. I'm almost never using my pure stereo equipment.

Similar Products Used:

no HT products

7 channels of amplification. Good power with all channels driven. Excelent surround sound field.

Poorly written manual (come on Denon, how about publishing something better on the web site???). Cheap binding post, and not spaced for banana plugs (see review for rant). Remote could be better.

I'm replacing (sniff!) my venerable Outlaw Audio 1050 receiver, which I still like, BTW. But I wanted something with more surround modes, component switching, and 7 channels of amplification. HT is an important hobby to me - I built a dedicated room in my basement for watching movies and I put a lot of thought and research into what goes down there. Here's my setup:

Projector NEC VT540
6.1 Channel Receiver Denon 3802
DVD Player JVC XV-D723 Prog. Scan
VCR JVC HR-S3900U S-VHS
LFE Equalizer Rane PE-17 Parametric EQ
Front L,R&C Ascend CBM-170 (recently replacing Mission 77 series)
Side Surrounds Mission 77ds
Rear Surrounds Mission 77ds
Subwoofers Mission 700as (X2)
Tactile Transducers Aura Bass Shakers (X2)
Amp for TT Bogen C-100
EQ for TT Audio Control Richter Scale
Universal Remote Philips Pronto
Intrcncts & Spkr Wire Monster Cable and AR
Screen “David’s Homemade 7.1’ X 4’ Gray”
UPS APC Smart UPS 600
Power Conditioner APC Line-R 1250

I bought this unit from Tweeter because of their good return policy and because I had a 10% off coupon. I'm in the process of deciding whether or not to keep this unit, or go with a similarly priced Onkyo, or just save the money and stay with my 1050. This is my first impression review.

Movies - very enveloping surround field - better than my 1050. This is the highest priority for me as this unit will be used mostly for watching movies. Also, I like the on-screen speaker set-up, even if I do have to switch over to S-video to use it (do any receivers provide on-screen via component?). I like the individual (and graphical) level adjustments for all 7 speakers as well as the sub. I much prefer this unit's speaker delay settings (setting delay by distance in feet or meters), over setting delay via milliseconds. Dialog seems more clear (VERY subjective) - I'm able to set identical levels for my 3 matching front speakers. I found myself boosting the level for the center speaker when using my 1050.

DVD Audio - good dynamics, good punch and clarity - about the same as my 1050, although the attack on transients seems a little better on the 3802. Again, good sound field.

CD audio - good first impression - need more listening time.

Biggest complaint so far: The binding posts feel cheap and they are not spaced properly for mated banana plugs. This may seem like no big deal, but when I was trying to do an A-B comparison of the 2 receivers, this was a huge hassle. Rather than being able to simply unplug and re-plug 7 sets of banana plugs from old receiver to new, I ended up having to take all the banana plugs off and use bare wire. What should have taken about 1 minute ended up taking about 20, and now I'm left with bare wire if I want to continue A-B testing (I'm heading to RadShack this afternoon to try and locate 7 pairs of individual gold-plated plugs.) This, IMHO, is inexcusable - I can't believe that it would have cost Denon's engineering or manufacturing departments any more money do use standard spacing. OK, that's my rant, I feel better now.

Over-all - Plenty of power in my room - works well with my speakers. VERY happy with the sound. Remote's not great, but I'll be using the Pronto. I am concerned about the 27MHz bandwidth on the component switching, but I haven't got HDTV hooked up yet so I can't comment. I've read that this can soften the HDTV image somewhat. I would love to see this addressed in a review here.

Similar Products Used:

Outlaw Audio 1050

SOUND, POWER, 32-BIT SHARC PROCESSING WHICH ENABLES PERFECT DD, DTS AND DOLBY PL II PROCESSING !!!, DTS-ES (6.1) DISCRETE, DD EX (6.1) PLAYBACK, ...

?

I wanted to buy this a couple of weeks ago but I thought it was to expensive. As a suprise my wife had bought it for me.

The only thing I can say is : WOW !!!

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Marantz EC-500 (only Dolby Prologic first generation)

good and very good for Home theater

Sound

Remote control, Book, no 12v trigger, no internal fans for cooling

I bought this product after a demonstration of the Marantz 7200. I thought now that's great sound. But the Marantz 7200 did not offer a lot what I was looking for in options and power. I tried to moving up to the 8200 but at the time it was not available, and the pricing was just not what I was willing to pay. I also consider the Yamaha 1200, but after a side by side comparison, and the reviews I read here, I chose the Denon 3802. I looked at these studies and comparisons for a month. The room size for the new receiver is 25' by 30' with a 20' ceiling. I have JBL speakers, L7s (are like some reviews say very bright) fronts. I also have JBL ProIII control monitors rears, surrounds and 2 for my center channel, and a 15" JBL subwoofer. After a month of visiting a local vender (which I gave the local sales rep a bonus) and hearing the different, reading the reviews. There was no doubt the Denon 3802 was the way to go. I could not buy it from the local vender he wanted $1199 plus tax. The receiver so far is just great. Some of the learning problems people are having are just unjustified. Sure you do have to read the manual a little but for the most part I found it very easy to setup. The front panel volume adjustments that some say you have to turn too much to here a different, I find better this way than the other way around. I can’t tell you how often since we have moved to the new digital adjustments, you find yourself stuck between two different volume levels and wanting the setting in the middle. I have only had it for 4 days (just before Xmas 2001) now and I am just really getting to know it. But my first review of this product is a big thumbs up. My holiday guess loves sounds from the receiver. I asked my music enthusiast friends to be honest with me and tell what they thought of the Denon 3802 and its sound for the price. All but one said they thought it was great. I do want to buy a better remote. I just don’t have any ideal as to which one as of right now. I am looking at the Denon. In the past I was very happy with my pioneer remote. But times have changed it can no longer support the demands of the new audio arena. DENON 3802 !!!!! GREAT PRODUCT. I rate it 4.4 which is very high for me. If I had the option of recording from digital to analog, and a better remote this would be a grand slam for me.

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Sony ES, Yamaha natural sound (still in use in another room with my Bose 601s)

Great reciever with plenty of power and bells and whistles

Manual could explain more about options

This is a follow up to a previous review that I had done.
Again I think this receiver is great at playing movies
in dolby digital, dts, and dolby pro logic II. As far as
analog stereo I did not like the sound that it produced.
I continued to playing around with the options until one
day I found the sweet sound that I was looking for. I believe the analog stereo has a built-in loudness turned on.
I chose the direct option as the bass is full and deep and
highs are crystal clear. The sound stage that I had hope for
was opened up. Before with analog stereo I noticed distoration on the bass on certain songs and the highs
were dry. There is no loudness buttom on the reciever
but I believe that it invoked automatically when the
analog stereo option is selected. I never noticed the
distoration until analog stereo is choosen. I don't hear
the distoration when listening to digital inputs or direct.

Just to clarify to the last reviewer - in no way did I mean to infer that the Denon sounded flat or more natural than the audio equipment because it was more accurate. More conversely, the Denon lacked musicality and dynamic. There isn't a sense of rhythmic timing that makes music, well, music. The NAD or the Marantz could never be described as being unnatural - and all this equipment to the nth degree is better than Bose!

The Denon's failings are that a) it is hopeless unergonomic. b) boring and unmusical. It is characterless, souless, clinical if you like. Do an A/B comparison with some hi-end audio amplifiers and the differences will immediately jump out at you. Do a comparison with similarly priced AV kit from the likes of NAD and Marantz, and the differences, whilst not as marked, are still there. If you are listening (seriously) for any extended length of time to the Denon, the experience is unfulfilling, and ultimately unsatisfactory. Mine is going - in my (subjective) opinion, it is great as an in your face Home Cinema amplifier. If that's all you need it for, it's great - don't get me wrong. It just isn't quite there in terms of ultimate realism for straightforward musical presentation. As a fellow musician of similar experience, I don't regard my credentials any less than yours I'm afraid. Have a close listen to the dynamics presented by the amplifier for say, cymbal, and snare drum. See how realistic you think they sound compared with a live source. YMMV of course - each of us has different standards and is more or less accepting of audio presentation. My assessment still stands I'm afraid.

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As before

Sound amazing

Remote, No ondash tuner and display, No 3 component video out for setup

It sounds great! It goes amazing with a set of Klipsh speakers. Teh sound is crazy.. and DTS rocks! Watching tv with Dolby ProLogic II made a huge change! youll get sooo spoiled! I love it!

Great Product

None

Ok you guys who want to banter back and forth about your reviews. Stop leaving low marks on your respones. You bring down the rating and once you've left one review and you want to respond to something someone else has left there is no need to leave such low marks. Sheeeesh. It's a great product and it's well worth the money. You leave a 2 as a rating out of 5. It is damn near perfect and a 2 out of 5 does not do it justice. I can see a 4 out of 5 but come on guys.

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This is not a review. Just want to tell everyone where to get a good price. Even better than eBay !

Just go to Yahoo Shopping at

http://shopping.yahoo.com/ and search for the model that you like.

It has the best price for both Denon 2802 ($458) and Denon 3802 ($665).

Actually I just ordered the 3802 from them !!

Don't pay retail unless of couse you have too much in your bank !

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