Official Denon AVP-A1HD/AVP-A1HDCI and POA-A1HD/POA-A1HDCI owners thread. - Page 741

You are only showing your age if you feel its still the best music ever made and they never make anything good these days damn kids !!

Daniel.

My Little GPO? No wait, wrong band........

This is hard to answer for someone else as it depends on your priorities and budget. IMO the minimum bar for performance starts with features; it must have XT32, and be Pro-capable. DenonLink is pretty much a must-have for me as well as I have a DenonLink player and that connection improves digital music SQ significantly.

In this thread you find folks willing to pay WAY more than the average bear to assure very high, possibly the highest, performance available in almost any processor available. The value of that is obviously very high to AVPA1 owners, but they are exceptional HT enthusiasts indeed. Some other folks might call that kinda nuts. And to get the full benefit of this flagship, all other links in the HT chain, such as your speakers, need to be very good indeed.

You can get almost-as-good performance for considerably less $. The Onk 80.2 and 80.3 pre/pros are nice units with high performance (and cost far less than an AVPA1), but have no DenonLink. The Marantz 7005 is a poor contender as it lacks the essential XT32 and lacks DenonLink. IMO the best audiophile value (best bang for the buck) for performance/cost is the 4311. That's why I got one, and have to this point successfully fended off the temptation to travel to the far ends of the diminishing returns curve of SQ improvements/$spent, with a flagship upgraded AVR 5308 or upgraded AVPA1. No offense to those already at the far end of the curve.

We resent that, we do everything to a high level including being nuts. Kinda just doesn't cut it.

Wheeee i am a airplane !,

Daniel.

That's a rational response. I certainly agree on XT32, I don't know if "Pro" is a critical component because I haven't used the on-board version, but it's certainly a valid consideration.

I know you're big fan of Denon Link, and me too, but I can't discern any difference between using it with CD's and streaming lossless rips to the the AVP, so I'd think streaming should be similar with other pre-pros. It might not be as high on a wish-list for someone doing that.

If I was buying today and had no amps the 4311 would be my first, choice and with amps the Onkyo/Integra's.

BUT, I'd really like to see how Emotiva's pre-pro with TaCT's room correction fares. TaCT's been doing RC before Audyssey was even a thought. It doesn't look like a complex unit, missing a lot of bells and whistles but as a simple audio first unit, it might be seriously in play.

If I was starting from scratch I couldn't afford the gear I have now, it's been a buy-sell my way up the food chain thing that's taken decades. I envy those that can just walk in and lay down their Amex Black card and get whatever they want whenever they want. But that ain't me.
No matter how you slice it, when you compare the AVP to units above its price point, you're taking an even bigger leap than the 4311 to AVP and getting less if any difference in SQ in the bargain. To me that represents excellent value.

Very good points all.

XT32 is a serious advance for Audyssey and Pro brings XT32 up yet another notch in accuracy and polish, resulting in current state-of-the-art Audyssey. Per the many posts and few more formal reports I've seen (like Kal Rubinson's), I am confidant that this particular dynamic duo can comfortably compete with any of the best DSPRC systems currently commercially available.

IMO Emo has a lot to prove irt producing a MC processor.

There is a new firmware update for the AVP-A1HDCI. I downloaded and installed it but have no idea what it does.

Does anyone have any info about this new update.

I will not be upgrading my machine to include 3D pass through and the newer Audyssey features. Mainly because I do not want to pull it from my rack, and ship it back. I also have no interest in 3D as it currently exists.

However, I hope that Denon keeps adding features and functionality to their base unit. It is still the most expensive AVP on the market. However, in my opinion I think it is the best, sounds great with great video features.

Anyway, if anyone knows what this firmware does. Please let the forum know.

Thanks

Well, I finally got my AVP back from the upgrade. It took the shop 1 day shy of 4 weeks to get the kit. In fact, I was ready to pull the plug on the whole thing a week ago Friday. I had planned on calling the shop when I got home from work that day since it had been 4 weeks with no word and wouldn't you know when I got home they had left a message saying the kit had come in. I never found out what the delay was.

I took in in a week ago Saturday and they had it done the last Friday so I picked up last Saturday. They didn't put the front sticker on as I requested which made me happy.

Setting it back up seemed to go faster than I remember going the first time a couple of years ago. Knowing where everything is in the GUI and what to set it to helps I guess. Audyssey setup goes a lot faster. Must be because of the added horsepower. No issues at all.

So far, I am quite pleased with the upgrade. I primarily did it to get rid of the EQ1 and have the AVP handle everything. I wasn't expecting much sound improvement but was pleasantly surprised to find it did make an improvement. I have concert DVD that I know like the back of my hand that I use for comparison when I make changes to the system. I have never been 100% satisfied with the Audyssey solution in the past but found it acceptable. On the dvd there are dual drummers and in the past I always found the frequency around kick drums to be forward in the mix making them almost obnoxious. Now, with Audyssey XT32 the kick drums have faded back into the mix where they should be. Much more balanced in the lower octaves.

The only downer in the whole operation was I found I had a rattle in one of my sub drivers when I was doing the level matching prior to running Audyssey. No big deal but will need to swap drivers when I get the replacement from the mfg.

An added benefit which I also like is the reference offset for dynamic EQ. I like to listen to background music at lower volume sometimes where dynamic EQ does a nice job bringing some low end back in that is normally lost at lower frequencies. But with the on/off like it was before it made it unlistenable on many sources with the huge bass boost. Now I can set the ref. level to -5 or -10 dB and it brings in some added bass without being overbearing.

All-in-all, I'm happy with the upgrade and plan to keep the AVP for many years as it is one rock solid piece of gear.

Oh, we're complete agreement there too. You couldn't read a thread on it that discussed anything but bugs.
However the concept of the new one seems predominantly audio-centric, a lot simpler with no analog video conversion and it'll no doubt have a new HDMI board and processing. Since I don't think they make their own guts it should stand to reason the stuff they buy from their suppliers will be more stable this time around.. but the proof is in the pudding.

I think it is unlikely to expect any new features/improvements on the non-upgraded unit. While I understand your apprehension about pulling your AVP out for an update, and upgraded unit stands the best chance of long-term support by Denon.

Even if you don't care about 3D, it's WELL worth the hassle of going through the upgrade process. A lot of us have found Audyssey XT32 to be a pretty significant upgrade.


Just to name a few, the Anthem D2V, Lexicon MC12HD, Theta Casablanca III, Meridian 861, and at least some of Krell's options are either a bit more or a LOT more expensive than the Denon AVP-A1HDCI. It's never been the most expensive AVP on the market (not even close as some of the options go for >$30k), but IMHO price is largely irrelevant anyway.


Agreed that it's the best overall option currently available.

+1. Don't even use the 3D capability of the AVP at this time as I still route everything to my DVDO Duo. It's all the rest of the upgrade (especially XT32 and height channels) that we are enjoying. Well worth the price for my setup. SJ

Thanks for the input. Does anyone know what this new firmware update to the base AVP does?

It creates chatter on this forum. Sorry but I couldn't resist.

I don't recall seeing any discussion of it. I noticed the update available too, right before I pulled mine out for the 3D upgrade. I didn't bother with it, because I knew my unit would be updated at the service center.

You might be the guinea pig!

My local service center says that there is an update dated March 12, that is supposed to fix a bass problem when playing SACDs via the Denon link.

An update to my AVP's no output problem: the service center says that it is probably due to a dirty/oxidized headphone jack that mutes the main outputs when the jack's contacts fail leading the AVP to act as though headphones have been plugged in. They cleaned the jack and the AVP seems to be working normally once again (fingers crossed because the symptoms had been intermittent).

Well that's no good. Glad they worked it out in the end. When I called over there a couple weeks back to feel them out, the guy on the phone stated that they had done plenty of these and were old hands at it - sales spiel maybe?

I had heard this was coming out. As reported on the Audioholics forum, some folks noticed a lack of bass when playing SACD after one of the updates that came out in 2010 or 2011. The problem was never acknowledged by Denon and it wasn't a widely reported problem. In fact, I only saw a few posts about it on Audioholics by only 1 or 2 people.

It would appear that Denon confirmed the problem and issued a fix.

I just did the update and there is a lot more bass for SACD, I am using Denon Link 3. This update also enabled Rhapsody.

So after trying the above I was still stuck. Firmware update couldn't get past a certain point for the receiver.

Denon Support wasn't much help at this point, unfortunately (may have just been the support rep I spoke to). So I tried a local authorized service center. Spoke to them and they recommended I bring it in for them to look at, which I did.

I got a call from them yesterday letting me know that my DSP board was bad and that it would need to be replaced. $700 - ouch, but that explains the speaker issues I had run into recently.

I asked him if that could have affected the firmware update and he thought it may have. They'll be updating the firmware for me after they get the new DSP board in (they said it would take about a week to come in).

Hopefully, this will address the firmware problem as well or it may mean I've got more unidentified issues?

After getting the upgrade, anyone else seeing any strange things happening when powering on the AVP? (Actually, bringing it up from standby.) I've seen a couple things:

- Video HDMI apparently doesn't sync, display isn't seeing a signal. Never had this pre-upgrade. Not completely surprising, since there are probably changes to the video path due to 3D. Has happened a couple times in the last week or so. Have to do a full power off/on to fix it

- Switched power outlet turning off a minute or so after powering on. Kept doing it until did a full power off/on. Have only seen this once

eric

I haven't noticed any issues like this. You might want to try a microprocessor reset. Save your config.dat file first!

I have noticed that post-upgrade, I have to reset the avp every once in a while for it to communicate with my computer and various iPad aps via IP Wi-Fi. Frustrating.

^^
Rather than a full microprocessor reset, simply cycle the AVP OFF for a few minutes then ON again or reboot the router and/or iPad.

What iPad apps are you using to control the AVP? I've been meaning to try DeRemote. But I don't want something buggy. I'd just stick with IR if it was frustrating.

DeRemote is great, but it is only for the AVP. Im using Roomie and it is great. Has two way communication via ip, but you can also purchase a WiFi to infrared adapter. Truly a great iPad app for controlling your home theater. It takes a while to figure things out (via trial and error) but well worth it.

I"ve been hearing so many problems with the 3d upgrade, that make me completely relactant . Probably won"t do it.

I second that.
The bass problem is solved, on mch sacd.
Just did the fw update . Worked like a charm.It was a 3min update.

My AVP starts the upgrade showing 65 minutes, then goes to 64 minutes and locks. Cutting the LAN connection didn't do anything, so all I could do was unplug it. I tried it again and it did the same thing. While all my settings are OK and it works fine, when I turn it back on it now it goes straight to trying to complete the update. While cutting the internet connection allows me to use the unit, my display says something like update unsuccessful, please retry.

I've given up on the update. But, I'd like to get my display back to normal. Any ideas?