Denon 3800 (1 Viewer)

[Arron H]

Is $800 a good price for the 3800? Would the 3800 be a huge upgrade from my current Toshiba SD5700? I am using redbook CDs and DVDs (I do not own any DVDAs or SACDs). I do have a HDTV monitor (a 32" Panasonic).

 

[Sach]

Denon 3800 would definitely be a huge upgrade from 5700. However, you need to buy one, which is built from Oct 2002 onwards (from serial nos. 210 and up)but then you should also consider the new 2900 - probably around $100 more.

 

[Arron H]

Ahhh, glad I checked this out. The 3800s that I looked at have stickers on the back indicating that they were manufactured in Feb 2002 with 202 series serial numbers. It sounds like this is probably bad and I should steer clear?

 

[Phil Nichols]

Arron,

"It sounds like this is probably bad and I should steer clear?"

It depends:

My Feb 2002 build 3800 is serial number 194, which of course implies that it may have been only the 194th production 3800 built! I've owned it since last August. Flawless performance so far. I even eliminated it's Y/C Delay for around $30, plus it does not have the chroma bug because I patched it's firmware with a CD. The audio output is spectacular and you probably are well aware of what it can do in a HT regarding DVD images. I have never seen a DVD layer change up to this point in time. It even plays scratched CD's and scratched DVD disks and I hope to get at least 5 years use from it.

 

[Bob Jr.]

Arron, I had two 3800's that had the freezing/lock-up problems. Both with September 2002 build dates. A great machine if you get one that doesn't freeze or lock up. For another $200 looks like you can get a 2900 that also plays SACD's. Should be released in May. Something that you may want to consider.