Denon AVR-3808ci vs Yamaha RX-v3900 vs Onkyo TX-NR906 - Page 2

I think I have. As nice as it seems, and as pretty as it looks versus the sterile Denon, it sure runs hot and seems to burn a lot of power in standby. The one I saw at a magnolia's was too hot to touch on top in a cabinet that wasn't too constricting. I kind of get the sense that the 3900 is the inefficient, kludged-together model waiting to be replaced by something more modern with more integrated, lower power parts and smarter design. It gets the job done but I just have this eerie sense that Yamaha knows it can do better and indeed plans to with a future model.

I own the 3900 and I wouldn't say it runs overly hot myself (in fact no where near as hot as the Onkyo 805 I tried breifly last year). But then I have it on top of my rack so it gets the maximun amount of ventilation possible. As far as the power consumption in standy, it depends on whether you have HDMI passthrough activated or not. I personally leave it activated as it speeds up power up time.

I think the 3900 is pretty well designed and runs cooler than my RX-V2700 did. Yes, it's warm. But that seems to happen when you include as many ASICs as it includes.

It's amp design is pretty standard, so I don't think that's the reason for it running warm.

As for more integrated, I am not sure how. Short of being able to use a single DSP, eliminating some chips needed to support the way it's zones work, and replacing the discrete amps with chips, I don't see how it could integrate too much more when compared to other designs I have seen.

Ok, they could use a single HDMI receiver chip, but I think they are a pretty recent thing, and the new Yamaha models do use a single four channel HDMI receiver chip. Perhaps Yamaha did not have a source for them they liked when working on the 3900 design.

AVS indeed is competitive and now I am torn.

Dont forget to tack on $100 for the Denon upgrade if you go the 3808 route. Or am I mistaken?

I talked with Denon about this very recently. You do have to pay the $100 for the upgrade is what I was told. There is the hack that some are using by stating they purchased before April 30 and getting away with it. I don't know how if Denon questions you for the receipt. The 3808 is still a very good bargain even with the extra upgrade cost.