I just ordered a Denon DVD-3800 DVD-Audio player! (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Michael, Doug is correct. I sold my Ah! last week to a fellow member of this site. Obviously, I haven't updated my upgrade page yet. The Ah! is a nice player (I was using Siemens 7308 tubes), but I found it was not as good as my Sony SCD-C555ES or SCD-777ES in the same system. That's just my opinion. Since I was very happy with the two Sony players, I found I was not using the Ah! much. I thought for a long time about getting the upsampling board, but again, I was (and still am) very pleased with the Sony players. The Ah! was expendable.

 

[Michael_T]

Well, like Keith I just purchased a Denon 3800 as an "upgrade" from my Technics DVD-A10 (Ah! the power of suggestion via the Internet).

I would like to report that the Denon 3800 beats the DVD-A10 in every which way, except for some ergonomic features. But I can live with those "shortcomings".

First of all, DVD-Audio discs (of which I have over 80) sound phenomenal. I could almost swear that some DVD-A discs that I previously listened to on my Technics now sounded as close as possible to SACD than ever. (I also own a few Sony SACD players - the XA777ES, C333ES and CE775.) I was absolutely blown away by what kind of sound the Denon could produce with DVD-Audio discs. Warm and clear - with great dynamics and detail. While the Technics tended to have an "etched" sound quality to the high frequencies, the Denon was smooth as silk.

The minor ergonomics were that you couldn't change "groups" on the fly like you could with the Technics, but you could easily change "groups" when the Denon was in full stop mode with the Search button, even with the TV off. With a hit of the Search Mode button on the Denon remote the front panel display toggled between the "GROUP" and "TRACK" tags so you knew what you were affecting by entering a number from the remote keypad. No need for the TV at all. With the Denon you can't tell what bit depth and sampling rate you were listening to in either stereo or surround, like you could from the front panel display with the Technics. Minor point. When you set the Pure Direct modes and toggle them with a switch on the front of the player while the music is playing it mutes for about 1 to 2 seconds, so you really have to set the Pure Direct mode before you begin to play a disc. Another minor point. In addition, with the Technics you could turn off the video circuits in the player on the fly with the remote. With the Denon you cannot, you must use the switch on the front of the player. Again minor.

Video quality with the Denon is superb. I do not have a progressive scan TV so it was a little hard to set the player to interlaced, since the factory default on the 3800 is progressive through the component outs, and that is how I hook up the player to my Sony Wega TV. I was able to intuitively use the manual to get into the menus to set the player to interlace mode and all was fine. I used Video Essentials to set up the TV and player for best video response, and WOW is all I can say. This player kicks the Technics "butt" in the video department - and I mean kicks!

Don't get me wrong - the Technics is a very good player, and was really the only game in town if you wanted to adopt DVD-A early as I did. I really stressed over whether I should upgrade, as I was very happy with the DVD-A10. I am glad I did. 6th Avenue Electronics in Livingston, NJ had two new Denon 3800s in stock with serial numbers starting with 302 and a build date of February 2003 - so my player should be bug free. And if the player does need repair I happen to live in the same township in NJ where Denon's USA headquarters are located (they are in Pine Brook, NJ and I am in Montville, NJ; Pine Brook is part of Montville Township, so if anything goes wrong with the player it is a 5 - 10 minute drive to the national service center).

Buying the Denon 3800 was money well spent, IMHO.

 

[KeithH]

Michael, again, I am glad to hear that you too are so happy with the '3800. It continues to impress me. I agree that it was money well spent. I feel as though I have leveled the playing field in my home, so to speak, with DVD-Audio and SACD. The '3800, while I would say is not as good a CD player as the '777ES, is in the same league as the 'C555ES. The 'A10 didn't come close. As I have said, the '3800 definitely beats the 'A10 with DVD-Audio. I am enjoying the format much more now and will have to start adding discs to my collection. I have my eye on Donald Fagen The Nightfly and possibly the AIX sampler.