Denon 3802 vs. 1803 (1 Viewer)

[marc]

Hello All,

I am looking to upgrade from my 3200. What is the major difference between the 3802 & 1803, besides the power rating, 90 watts @8ohm vs 80 watts, 135 vs 110? Which is the better choice. I use mine mainly for home theater. Thanks.

Marc

 

[Yogi]

The only differences worth considering apart from a minor increase in power are

1) No preouts for all channels in the 1803 vs. 7.1 preouts in the 3802. This would be very important in case you ever decide to add a separate amp in the future to improve the sound.

2) Only 5.1 inputs in the 1803 vs. 7.1 inputs in the 3802 for future surround formats.

These are the only two I can think of that are worth considering. If I were in your shoes I would wait a couple of months (until the 3803 comes out) and get a 3802 NIB for a little over the 1803's MSRP.

My 2 cents.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

The 3802 has 32 bit SHARCs, does the 1803? (I know the 2802 uses a 24 bit DSP engine.)

I would 2nd the vote to maybe wait a short little bit for the 3803.

I am *hopeful* that the CES/CEDIA at the end of Sept will bring some new receiver announcments.

 

[Greg Haynes]

If you have the funds for the 3802 then definitely pick it up over the 1803. If you can wait until Sept/Oct then news about the release for the 3803 should be out. However, I'm guessing that it will be a little more expensive than the 3802.

 

[Zacha R]

I think the 1803 has 32-bit cirrus logic chips.

 

[Yogi]

dont pay much attention to 32 vs 24 bit processing. The B&K 307 has 24 bit processing and yet sounds superior (atleast to my ears) to even the 5803 with dual 32 bit processing. There are other top prepros that use 24 bit or atleast did untill now and sound way better. The only differences worth considering are the 7.1 preouts and the 7.1 inputs on the 3802. Dont dwell too much on DSPs and DACs.

My 2 cents.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Yogi- I would agree, except for the following:

In the same product line, Denon's 2802 uses 24 bit DSP, but the 3802 uses 32 bit. I would kind of doubt Denon would use an inferior processor for a more expensive receiver.

Different products *and* chip makers/designers, I would agree, but if you really are comparing apples to apples, then I think it does matter.

 

[Yogi]

Kevin, actually Denon's site does mention a 32 bit processor for the 1803. And if I were to guess I would say that the 2803 would also use a 32 bit processor although they havent posted any specs on the 2803. For the current models though, you are right: everything below the 3802 uses 24 bit processor.

 

[marc]

Thanks for the info guys, I think that I am going to wait to see if the price drops when the 3803 comes out.

 

[Willem Vos]

The 3802 has a SHARC processor, which is supposed to be pretty good and has a cool ring to it.
A lot of it is marketing, I suppose.
But I wouldn't say the processors of the 3802 and the 1803 are equal just because they're both 32-bit.

BTW, a 24-bit processor could be as fast or faster than a 32 bit processor if it runs at a higher speed.

 

[matthew_rm]

What do processor's do? Surround? So they would play movies right? What kind of DAC's are there in the 2802?

 

[Yogi]

BTW, a 24-bit processor could be as fast or faster than a 32 bit processor if it runs at a higher speed.

Agreed, but what about resolution/precision?

 

[Willem Vos]

I think the resolution and precision (of the overall sound) would be dependant on the DAC's used.
The processor decodes the digital (DTS or AC3) streams, so that would mean speed is most important in that case.

I'm not certain though.

 

[Yogi]

The processor decodes the digital (DTS or AC3) streams, so that would mean speed is most important in that case.

By resolution I meant the precision in the number of significant digits. So in theory the bit stream coming out of a 32 bit processor is more precise (mathematically that is) than the data coming out of a 24 bit processor. That would make a perfect argument for someone arguing against a 24 bit processor even though me and you, we both know that it doesn't matter how many significat bits are there in the data at that point. I agree with you that the overall sound would be more dependant on the DACs used and even more on the quality of components used. If I were making a quality product like some of the high end separates makers, I would pay attention to good design and high quality components first, to the DACs next and lastly to the processors. While most of the receiver makers do the exact opposite. They get the fastest processors (some even use two in parallel), and then the best DACs in an exotic configuration and lastly they skimp out on the materials quality to produce a poor sounding product that looks fabulous on paper. But then thats what marketing is for, right

 

[Oscar_R]

for a minute i thought this was a video game console debate.

 

[Yogi]

for a minute i thought this was a video game console debate

Nah..if it were, you would be seeing the number '64' being thrown around instead of '24' and '32'

 

[matthew_rm]

128

 

[Yogi]

128

I am behind my times when it comes to video gaming.