Denon receivers

Castanza · « **on:** 27 Jan 2003, 08:03 pm »

I noticed on another board where someone was looking at buying a HT receiver. They had narrowed it down to either, Onkyo, Yamaha, Or Denon. The problem was for the person writing the thread was that they were familiar with Onkyo & Yamaha but wasn't with Denon. The folks who returned answers weren't to fond of the lower end for Denon. The person was looking at the avr 1803, the same one I want to buy. I can't say they said anything good about the other 2 brands either. Has there been a lot of problems with Denon's lower end receivers?

I really thought Denon was an excellent product when it comes to receivers. Even on the low end for the mass market product.

Hantra · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Jan 2003, 08:17 pm »

I had an AVR-2500 for a lot of years, and no problems at all. It was a great piece. I upgraded to an Arcam AVR-100, and that was a massive upgrade! It is a much nicer piece.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Jan 2003, 11:57 pm »

I've used several Denon recievers over the years, as have my brother & sister. My sister still uses hers, and never had any probs. My brother sold his to a mutual friend, and he's still using it to this day with no probs (it's about 4 years old.).

Seems to me that the QC of Denons is mostly very good; I had trouble with one unit some time ago, but it was quickly replaced (!) under warranty.

I'd say for the money the 1803 would be tough to top, although the older 1802 is in some ways a more flexible product. The '03 has component inputs which the '02 lacks, but the '02 has preouts for the front 3 channels, a feature dropped for the newer '03. Having the prouts is nice; lets you upgrade power w/o ditching the whole thing. Since processors are very expensive and about as perishable (in the technology sense) as cut flowers, it makes a lot of sense to go with a reciever that has the up to date features and bulk up the power with external amps. Especially for HT use.

Ernest · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Jan 2003, 11:58 pm »

I've tried Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha, Harman Kardon and Marantz receivers in the $1000 range and the HK to my ears was clearly superior. Denon's do sound good though. I didn't like Yamaha or Marantz. Your friend though should listen to the exact model he is interested in with his other equipment in his own home. Most stores now have very generous return policies that make this possible, as do the online stores www.crutchfield.com and www.hifi.com.

John Casler · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 01:06 am »

I might support the Harman Kardon too. I have heard most all the mid to upper receivers and the HK always seem to offer the best "musicality".

Another thing I like is that they don't seem to play games with "power ratings". You can bet whatever they post, is less than it actually outputs.

All brands seem to have QC issues. One Call has been offering incredible deals on the AVR8000 (less than $1300 shipped) at various times. Just call and ask for the "APEX" deal.
www.onecall.com

Only if HDTV switching or up conversion was nessessary would I recomend anything else.

But do be aware of "slight" center channel "hiss" which most say is a non-issue, but it does exist in some.

Regards,

John Casler

VMPS LA CA USA
SUMMIT Audio Video
bioforce.inc@gte.net
http://my.register.com/summitaudiovideo.com/index.html

Bwanagreg · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 02:33 am »

The new HK DPR series (see the Crutchfield site) looks interesting - a full digital implementation using PWM amps.

DTH · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 03:08 am »

I own a Denon AVR 4800, their second to the top of the line model when purchased it. After owning it for several months it died. I sent it back to Denon who kept it for 6 months before returning it.

My father in law owns their progressive scan DVD carousel. It died after 3 months. Denon kept it for 3 months before sending a replacement, which was a refurbished version of the same model.

I like Denon products when they work. God help you though if you have to deal with their warranty/service people.

bob82274 · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 04:04 am »

I have had the 3802 for a year now and have loved it. Not a problem (except for the poorly laid out remote) in the entire time. It replaced a lower end sony receiver and the difference was night and day.

booda · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 02:15 pm »

I had the HK 320 for about a year and it worked very well. Forget if it was rated at 45 or 55 wpc, but they were very clean and efficient. No problems driving speakers for ht or music. onecall is an authorized dealer, and are offering specials. check out deals page at www.hometheaterforum.com.

jbgcpa · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 06:23 pm »

I've had the AVR 3200 for 4 years now. Not a single problem. I only use it to power center and surround speakers. When I bought mono blocks I called tech support to find out if there was any dc blocking cap in the line out. The service rep took the time to get the schematic to be sure of his answer.
Jack

Castanza · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Jan 2003, 08:40 pm »

I just copied the person who was questioning Denon, I thought you might want to see what he was comparing with model #'s listed
I'm looking at purchasing a HT receiver, and I've narrowed it down to the Onkyo TX-SR600, Yamaha RX-V630 and the Denon AVR-1803. I've heard great things about the Onkyo receiver and almost the same reports on the Yamaha, but I haven't heard much about the Denon.
From what I have heard, Denon sometimes has problems with some of their electrical components, and that repairs are costly and some times difficult to have completed. This is due to the availability and cost of replacement parts. Can anyone shed some additional light on the quality of the Denon HT receivers?

I'm also curious as to the quality of their sound. I haven't been able to find many reviews on their quality. Consumer Reports doesn't even have the Denon's on their list, but another receiver, the Harmon Kardon 225, was included. All in all, I want to make the best purchase of a 6.1 receiver, for my $350-$440.

I should have done this to begin with.

:

MaxCast · « **Reply #11 on:** 29 Jan 2003, 01:16 pm »

All in all I don't think you will have a problem with either one. You will surly hear more of a difference with the speakers you have/choose. What speakers will you be using?

I have older models from Yamaha and Denon, but they are in different rooms and with different components. I like them both. I find the feature set more of a difference that anything else. With that said make sure you pick a receiver with all the features you want. And this includes the remote. A back lit remote is very useful. 5 channel stereo is enjoyable for background/party music. Second room out is useful if you want to run a set of speakers for the kitchen or patio. Don't concern yourself with any music DSP's except for DPL II, which I'm sure they all have.

Castanza · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 Jan 2003, 02:17 pm »

Maxcast I have mirage speakers. The pair that are my back speakers are at least 15 yrs old, and sound great. The front are about 4yrs old and they are bookshelve speakers. The center is the newest, it is their omnipolar 360 degreee speaker, and I really like the sound out of the center. Same company, just from Dinosaur to the present.

MaxCast · « **Reply #13 on:** 29 Jan 2003, 07:31 pm »

Unless those speakers have some tough ohm ratings or very inefficient any of the receivers should do well driving them. Especially if you are using a sub and crossing over around 80 or 90 Hz. Power ratings on receivers are very suspect, you never know the loads they are reporting.
You may want to try Sound&Visions and Home Theater Mag's web sites and see if either of them reviewed the receivers in question. They may have performed an "all channels driven" test, as well as others.

bubba966 · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Feb 2003, 03:52 am »

The Denon's I've listened to have sounded pretty good. Though it's mostly been the upper end models. I can't say I'm fond of their remotes though. Denon had some QC problems a year or two ago. But they seemed to have cleared most of that up.

The Yamaha's usually sound pretty good as well. But they're a bit odd to use.

I've also had a lot of exposure to Pioneer's & Pioneer Elite's in the last 4 years. Had no problems with them. Find they're also rather easy to use. And the remotes are fairly friendly as well. I really love the remote than came with my VSX-39TX.

It was actually one of the reasons I chose the 39TX over the 37TX.

Anyway you could find a good Denon or Pioneer for $400 at http://www.soundpros.com I've only ever ordered a CDP from them. But they seem to have some of the lower prices I've yet seen.