Denon 4802 with (more powerful) external amp

Mike Sloan · 10-08-2003, 06:20 PM

Has anyone bypassed the amp section in the 4802 and ran it with a (more powerful) external amp? I have both the 5803 and the 4802 and have found that with power hungry speakers...these receivers show fatigue at moderate to high volumes (in a large room). I am thinking about using the "pre-amp outs" from thee 4802 and hooking them into an Outlaw 770....and ideas on how this will sound? Does the 4802 have a remote 12v trigger? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Steve F M · 10-08-2003, 06:39 PM

What kind of speakers are you running that the 5803 can't handle. That Receiver has about the same power as the Outlaw will give you! If you have any interest in selling the 4802 ever let me know.

Mike Sloan · 10-08-2003, 06:55 PM

I have several different speakers...the ones straining the 5803 are the B&W802's. A friend brought over an Aragon 150W amp (I think) and we noticed a difference at high volumes...seemed to control the 802's a little better and with more punch. I have heard the Pre-amp sections on both the 5803 and the 4802 are extreemly high quality and so I thought I might use them as a preamp.

Jason Brent · 10-08-2003, 07:03 PM

The Rotel's are supposed to match up well with B&W (haven't heard that match myself).

There are 3 used RMB 1090's on audiogon right now, all for around $1200. It's 380 x 2 in 8 ohms!

Steve F M · 10-08-2003, 07:05 PM

What are you going to use 2 pre-amps for? I think as pre-amps they are
pretty much the same.

I had a Acurus 150 watt amp and I could notice a little difference between
my 4802 and when I used the Acurus amp and the 4802 as Pre but not enough to
justify the purchase!

**HTF Ads**

Mike Sloan · 10-13-2003, 03:13 PM

I will only be using the 4802 nas a preamp..the 5803 is in a different room. I was thinking on going with the Outlaw 200W monoblocks with the 4802 as a Pre/Pro. I wonder If there would be a significant improvement in performance? So many testimonials regarding the sonic improvements of going with sepparates.

NickSP · 10-13-2003, 03:22 PM

Quote:

I will only be using the 4802 nas a preamp..

Mike, I am assuming you own the 4802 and cannot return it? Because there are other prepros in the 4802s price range new or used. It is also strange that you pay so much for a receiver like the 4802 which should have robust amps instead of using it as a prepro alone.
$.02.

Mike Sloan · 10-13-2003, 03:55 PM

I have had the Denon 4802 for over a year and am satisfied with it's performance. Secrets of Hometheater did a review on the 4802 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...er-1-2002.html

and they kind of slammed it on it's "amp" section. They did note that it's pre-amp section was top notch. I have always thought I should have originally gone the "separates" route...especially since I paid list ($2500.00) for the 4802. I am curious to see how much better my system will sound with significantly more power. I think the 4802 is rated at 125W...but all channels driven simultaneously into 8-ohms drops it to around 80W/channel. That is the motivation for this enquiry...there seems to be a ton of people on this forum (including the Secrets review'r)that think nothing beats separates!!??

Ricky T · 10-13-2003, 04:14 PM

Mike,

I believe the 4802 tested at least 125x5 into 8 ohms (about 180x5 into 4 ohms); very respectable for a receiver. To this end, why not get three external amp channels for the more important, front 3 speakers and let the Denon drive the four rears? Used amps on audiogon (and ebay) are great values. Lots of 3 channel amps (and some monoblocks) to choose from.

One option is the Denon POA8300 120x3 amp. Basically three monoblocks in one chassis (one power transformer per channel); retail $1500, about $600 used. On lab tests, Denon separate power amps nearly double from 8 to 4 ohms...about a 1.8 ratio (ie, 220 into 4 ohms and 125 into 8 ohms)....an impressive result.

Mike Sloan · 10-13-2003, 04:18 PM

Ricky T,
That's a good suggestion..could save some money that way and the 4802 should be able to handle just the rears easily! thanks,I will look into this as we speak.

Mike S.

NickSP · 10-13-2003, 04:21 PM

Mike, the reason I posted was I too had the 4802 for a while and I thought it did a great job with 2 channel music but suffered from lack of power when using it for 6.1 sources. Now that you own the 4802 it would be a good idea to add an external amp and use it as a prepro. BTW, it certainly would make a damn good prepro.

Ricky T · 10-13-2003, 04:25 PM

The Denon 8300 would be great. Now if you want to spend more, say ~ 1100, there's a mint Aragon 8008x3 that does at least 200x3 (probably closer to 250x3 in lab tests) on ebay right now