Denon 3805 Update

[MarkWC]

Now that the Denon 3805 has been out for a little while, does anyone have any regrets with their purchase? This receiver incorporate everything I am currently looking for in a receiver with 7 highly rated channels, viedo upconversion, room eq and calibration, zone 2 and zone 3 capabilities, DLPIIx, and the Denon sound to name a few while around $1000.

I know that there are some issues with the auto calibration with speaker size and sub distance but that is something easily corrected. I know that Denon had some issues last year with their first upconversion on the 3803 which is now an essential feature to me as I have a s-video fleshtone bug with my Elite.

Any feedback is well appreciated

 

[Jigesh Patel]

Can't comment on this - I don't route video through receiver (my TV has enough video inputs).

 

[Sam>C]

I have no regrets on my purchase either.

The auto configuration made it sound so much better than I had it manually, the sound really came alive after that.

I use the "upconversion" (although it really is just an active pass through) for video from my DVR and my secondary DVD player and it works great. I love only having one source to change and not having to switch TV inputs also.

I even like the remote, I find it very easy to use and now almost all of my controlls are in one place.

I am a very happy Denon owner!

 

[Alan Wise]

I too will contribute a very loud YES!
I am a happy Denon AVR-3805 owner. It has all the latest features, is easy to use, and sounds great. All this at a price that is reasonable. Denon has done a great job all around with this one.

Good Luck, Al. Wise

 

[MarkWC]

I cannot wait to get one of these soon enough, but since I do have time

I might as well make sure it is the right receiver. I bought my Onkyo because of the price and free financing at the time, but originally wanted the 3803 which has evolved into the 3805, to what I believe, is the best receiver on the market - imo - for an integrated receiver with the numerous features it has.

I will still continue to look at the Yammie 2400 and new HK 7300 when available for a comparison.

 

[Mike~Sileck]

I believe that I'm buying one of these later tonight. Hopefully I enjoy it, I did a lot of research between this and the Yamaha 2400. I'm confident this is the receiver for me tho!

Mike

 

[MarkWC]

Let us know how it works out, I would be estatic right now if I knew I was getting one of these tonight!!

 

[Chris]

I am really torn between a 3805 and the upcoming 2805. Seeing the 3805 at less then $1k online makes it attractive. But the 2805 comes with the microphone thingy included, whereas you have to pay extra for it with the 3805(?) Is that right? Anyway, these two are at the top of my choices at the moment.

 

[Mike_Skill]

Yeah, it's give or take $60 retail. I picked up the 3805 last night (which I basically will use as a pre-pro to my Rotel amp although I'll use the 3805 power for the surround back channels) and have yet to calibrate/tweek it. I work from home so it's killing me being a few rooms away and not being able to pull myself away long enough to sit down and go to work on that baby!!

 

[Mike Up]

I have one of the first released 3803s and have never had that issue. The reason why is that issue is related to ground loops. If you followed the guest thread from Denon's US marketing manager at AVS forum, it was concluded that it was ground loop problems with the customer's installation. Since up-conversion is a process that involves grounds, it can show, what was a hidden problem, in the installation. I know, I've had several ground loops I've had to fix. Also, Plasma TVs are known to have the worst conflict with ground loops although rear projections and direct CRTs can also.

Denon did issue a sort of fix by reducing some of the circuit voltage to lessen the sensitivity to the owner's installation problem, but by the words of one Denon Salesman, it did little to help with the ground loop problem.

So I wouldn't take that as a sign of a poor design, just the customer's installation.

It's possible there could be problems, but I've certainly read of far more problems with other brands and the one brand that I've read of having the least problems, Yamaha, I've had more problems with after the RX-V**95 models.

So I believe that Denon is about as good as it goes with reliability, engineering and design. Nothing is perfect, but I feel that they're pretty close.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[Octavio]

Sounds excellent, very easy to use, looks great, has everything one can possibly need. If you have the money, I strongly recommend that you consider this receiver in your short list.

The Remote Control is OK. Looks cool, is relatively easy to use, but its build quality is cheap.

With respect to the microphone, I don't understand why it didn't come with the receiver, as is the case of new Denon AVR 2805 or the competitor, Yamaha RX-V 2400. I hope that the mic could be borrowed from an AV dealer for a day or so.

Regrets? Well, I must report that I can't play Dolby Digital 5.1 sources and use PLIIx Cinema decoder. Only Dolby Digital Ex or PLIIx Music is available for those sources. I'm not sure yet if this can be solved through the set up menu (or some kind of service menu) or definitely my unit is defective. I sent an e-mail to technical support link that is on Denon's web site, but they have not answered.

However, for stereo sources (PCM or DD 2.0) I can choose between PLIIx Music, PLIIx Cinema and PLIIx Game.

I only miss two things from my last receiver (Yamaha RX-V 995). One is the sleep timer, the other is the balance button that allowed me to connect to different speakers to Front Right and Left channels and make a comparison.

Octavio

 

[Mike_Skill]

OK, I just did the auto-calibrate and popped in "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" SACD and I'll tell you this: It kicks the crap out of the my former Denon, the AVR-2803 (which I really loved) Wow! Can't wait to wind up X-Men 2 or something similar when I have time. Double wow!!

 

[MarkWC]

It seems the auto-calibration and auto room eq are anything but gimmicky with all of the positive feedback on sound after it was performed. Did you find any of the settings out of whack??

 

[Alan Wise]

Octavio,
Please refer back to your original thread discussing your problem accessing PLIIx "Cinema". I responded this morning with my findings from last night. I hope this helps you.
Please keep me informed, and I will experiment some more if need be.

Best Regards, Al. Wise

 

[MarkWC]

Al, did you get yours at Tweeter Salem, NH??

 

[Jongyoon Lee]

Can 3805 delay the video signal to address lip sync problem?

 

[Alan Wise]

Mark,
Yes, I did purchase mine at the Tweeter in Salem, NH.
That store is only a couple of miles from my home in Methuen, MA., and I save the sales tax.
A childhood friend of my daughters has been a salesman there for about four years now and they treat me very nicely.
Do you shop there?
It's a great location with Tweeter and Ensemble (high end boutique) beside each other, Best Buy and Comp USA literally across the street (Rte 28), and Barons, Circuit City, and Radio Shack all within spitting distance.

Best Regards, Al. Wise

 

[Alan Wise]

Jongyoon,
Yes, there is compensation (delay) available for lip syncing.

Al. Wise

 

[Octavio]

Hey Alan, that location in Salem coud be heaven or could be hell depending on how loaded are your pockets.

Octavio

 

[Octavio]

Respect to my comment above where I regretted that with Denon AVR 3805 I couldn't use PLIIx Cinema to decode regular DD 5.1 movies I should have been more precise.

I can´t use PLIIx Cinema because I set the system to work with a 6.1 speaker configuration. If I had a 7.1 speaker configuration PLIIx Cinema is an available option and very easy to access by pressing Surr Back button.

As Roger Dressler from Dolby Laboratories pointed out in other thread:

"In the 6.1-speaker mode, the decoder can offer you DD EX (a movie mode) and DD+PLIIx Music. There is no "PLIIX Movie" mode because that is DD EX, and there would be no difference. When there is 7.1-speaker system, then the DD+PLIIx Movie mode is available separate from DD EX (which in this case outputs mono from Lb/Rb speakers)."

After that I concluded that decoding of my AVR 3805 is working fine and all I have to do, if I want to use the PLIIx Cinema decoder of AVR 3805, is to buy another surround back speaker and enjoy a 7.1 configuration.