The **OFFICIAL** Denon AVR-XX12 Model Owner's Thread - Page 583

So I'm in a bit of a dilemma.....

As some of you have been following this thread for some time, I had previously reported my trials and tribulations with trying to get my firmware updated on my 3312 (updated to the "Pandora" fix). Since getting this unit in November '12 from Best Buy, I've tried a now uncountable amount of times to get my firmware updated from right out of the box, and never have been successful. Now some 4 months later, I'm wanting to act on it since I have not been successful, and it's one of those things that lingers in the back of my mind. Maybe not a big deal to some, but my OCD takes it on a spin.

I just called the local Best Buy I purchased this unit from and explained that I purchased the unit in November '12, and have never been able to update the firmware to this day. I asked if there was anything they could do to help. The Geek Squad member I spoke with said to bring in the unit with its receipt, and they will attempt to perform the upgrade. If they are unsuccessful like my many efforts, he said they can look to switch the unit out for another. I asked if they had any 3312's in stock (which I HIGHLY doubt), for which he could not locate any in inventory. He said that they would most likely be able to swap out with a comparable model. With wanting to stick with the Denon, I'm assuming it may be a 3313, but with the price I paid (a nice closeout discounted price) versus the current price of a 3313, I'm unsure of what they consider comparable...the next year's model?....price point?...etc

My question is:

What are the differences in models? I've looked around for specifics, and noted some of the tech specs, but what type of nuances would be also traded? What am I giving up and what would I be gaining?

If I remember correctly (and I don't know if I want to comb through 17,460 posts again ), there are some features that I may be losing by moving from a 12 to a 13, like some sort of optical audio switching feature in a zone (sorry if I can't remember).

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,

DtF

go to page 1 of the XX13 thread, where batpig compares the models

post number 57: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1409431/the-official-denon-avr-xx13-model-owners-thread-faq/0_100#post_22030287

Just what I was looking for..thank you kind sir

thank batpig and jdsmoothie...

My question is:

If I remember correctly (and I don't know if I want to comb through 17,460 posts again ), there are some features that I may be losing by moving from a 12 to a 13, like some sort of optical audio switching feature in a zone (sorry if I can't remember).

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,

DtF[/quote]

The lost of digital Opt/Coax to Zones on the 3313 is not a big deal, as Airplay will not hi-jack the Main zone. You will simply play your apple tv or what ever in the main zone which will probably have a better interface, and use Analog, Net/Usb or Airplay in your other zones. There will be some products out there that you wish had Opt/Coax for Zones but not many and remember you can always send analog red/white as well.

I for one am returning a 3313 for a 3312... not being able to pipe PCM2.0 to zones 2/3 is a deal killer for my client (I should have researched more, of course).
...and no, I'm not buying some contraption to convert the optical out of the Apple TV to analog just to make it work.... that's Busch League.
sorry, but this is a step back IMHO.

on a personal note, I'll keep my 3808 a little longer because of this as well.

Does Airplay not hi-jacking the main zone not alleviate your zone issues. I think having the Apple tv in the main zone and using Airplay for zones should work for you.

Well, it looks as if I were bamboozled by Best Buy (regarding my previous post 17461). I took off 3 hours early from work, drove 40 minutes to my house to unhook my receiver, then another 30 to Best Buy.....only to be told there is nothing they can do. I tried pleading with them that the Geek Squad member I spoke to told me to come in, they'd try to update the firmware, then if unsuccessful, would most likely swap it out for a comparable unit. Their answer was that "he didn't realize that you purchased it and it's now out of the return window of 30 days." To my reply: " I told him specifically, twice over the phone, that I purchased this unit in early November 2012. They did absolutely nothing. "Let's look online on the manufacture's website if the firmware is on there." My thought without speaking out loud and being rude: "Don't you think I would of tried that if I've already described ALL of the steps I've taken to get to this point?" And when I mentioned about my taking off of work and distance time of drive, I got some dumb look from the guy like I was speaking a foreign language. Best Buy, thanks for the experience, I will now shop elsewhere, message received.

/rant

After Best Buy, I stopped by my dad's' house, owner of a 1912 I recommended, and has already completed two firmware updates since buying it less than a month ago. So I'm figuring it should work there if it's going to work at all. Nope, same "Connection Failed 25" and infinite "Authenticating" , messages.

So now I'll be keeping my 3312, for which I am more than happy to do, and was my intention all along as I love this device, minus its inability to update firmware. I've opened a new ticket on Denon's website since my previous ticket was closed for some reason and cannot be reopened or updated. I'll also call their Support tomorrow (a non-Toll-Free 210 number from work, uggh, that should be fun in Cubetopia without the device in front of me), and await to walk through the predictable and tedious tech support steps to get to the ultimate resolve: sending into a Deonon repair facility. I'm in the Republic of North California, and from looking on their website, will most likely have to send it to the Los Angeles area. Prior to calling Best Buy today and my visit, I contacted a "certified repair facility" in Redwood City, CA (closest to home) and Portland, OR (an upcoming visit of mine), only to be told that they do not perform firmware updates. Just my luck.

I looked at my firmware version, and it does not bode well for me: "Firm. Package Ver. : 0001", which to me has the original version. Post #6 of this thread reads:

3312CI
6. 2/6/12
- Firmware update is impossible, and the error message of "Connection Fail 25" is displayed.
- Changed the default Internet radio station of PRESET CHANNEL3 from "1.fm Classical Musick" to "98.1 Klassik Radio FM".

...what I dreaded all along

If it was just about the Pandora fix, I could probably live with it since I can AirPlay from my phone. But it's more of the principal of not being able to update the firmware, because what if I need an update in the future? Will this prevent me from upgrading a "new feature" should one come out, and if so, would it occur after my 3 year warranty is expired? These things make me think twice about shipping to a repair facility (I still posses the original box and packaging materials), getting all shifted and bounced around during transport possibly jarring something loose inside and/or screwing something else up...and the possibility of getting a returned refurb.

Well, there went my day, thanks for listening.

You need to work out your dilemma before the manufacturer's warranty expires unless you have an extended warranty from Denon. Personally, I would use it until the last month of Denon warranty, and then I would send it in for repair. I would also insure it.

if im not mistaken the denon 3312ci has a 3 year warranty.
i had the same update problem.
do not call denon ,they are clueless on repairs.go to the panurgy (denon authorized warranty repair )websight and get an online return authorization and send the unit to them in NJ.they will update it to latest and make sure you can update in the future.i just got my denon back this week,they updated it the next day they received it and shipped it fed ex ground back to me.
dont waste time screwing with your network or reseting the avr just send it for repair.good luck

you can always check the serial number on return to make sure you didn't get a refurb

Hmm, I just got off the phone with Panurgy. Looks they can't find anything wrong with my 2312. Left and right speakers cut out constantly accompanied by a relay click. They told they tested it for "several days" and couldn't reproduce the problem and that it is operating at factory specifications. Argh. I guess I'll test it again when I shows up, but I suspect if the problem continues to occur, I'll end up selling it. Argh again.

In the interim, I'm taking advantage of Best Buy's 15 day return policy and I have a Yamaha RX-V673 that has had zero issues during this time. Also as previously mentioned, my Sony ES from my 2nd system worked fine for a week connected to the same equipment before I sent the Denon off.

This stinks since I love the Denon and hate the Yamaha. Oh well, maybe when it returns it will magically work perfectly again.....

Thank you for the suggestions to contact Panurgy. It looks like they are in NJ...Are there any repair sites on the West Coast, or perhaps not as far as the East Coast, as I live in California?

is there a post in this thread where batpig compares the 3311 to the 3312, like in the xx13 thread where he compares the 3312 to the 3313?

Question about my 1912. The 1912 is rated 90w. My house was built with speaker wire run in wall from the second floor living room to the fourth level roof deck. There is a speaker wire plate on the wall in the living room. And there is speaker wire for a pair of speakers coming out of the wall on the roof deck. If I buy a pair of Polk Atrium 4 speakers for the roof deck, which ask for receivers with 10-80 w per channel, and plug them into my Zone 2 on my 1912, then is there potential for the speakers to "blow out" if someone cranks the 1912 up to maximum volume? (Normally I would just buy the Atrium 5's but they are $150- $200 more...) Thanks!

You should be alright since Zones have there own Volume Setup.

Level Lch
Level Rch
Volume Limit
Power On Level
Mute Level

Ok, well good news and bad news.

As I posted earlier, Panurgy found nothing wrong with my 2312. I got home this afternoon and the receiver was here. One week +2 day turnaround including shipping.

When I opened the box, there was a note inside saying the unit had been disassembled and cleaned but that it tested to factory specs and no repair was needed. I'm not convinced it's even the same unit. The serial number is the same, but they are just stickers. The volume and input knobs on the front are worn. There is a ring of silver when the black finish has been rubbed off. I suppose it's possible this happened during shipping/testing, but it wasn't like that before I shipped it out.

The good news is that it works fine so far. (My problem was that the FL and FR speakers were cutting in and out accompanied by a click of a relay). I decided not to reload my settings and just re-run Audyssey and set it up from scratch. Everything seems great.

Now to return the Yamaha to Best Buy and pray everything stays good for a while. I really like this receiver and I hope I have no other problems.

Not at all .... in fact, on average the speakers will only be drawing < 5W/CH on average.

Keep in mind that some credit card issuers may add an additional 4th year to the warranty (AMEX will for sure as will some MC/Visa).

Can you get firmware updates through a repair service provided by a credit card? Denon seems to be a bit tight about how they distribute firmware, or maybe I should have said a bit out of date. I was mainly addressing the fear of shipping damage. Personally, I would just ship it off for repair now if I was absolutely sure it wasn't just my mistake.

^^
Sorry, but no.

That's what I was afraid might be true. I have the same model but had no trouble updating the firmware using the Internet. I've only had two Denon receivers and never needed repair. It's always seemed strange that their only authorized repair center is over 3,000 miles away from Silicon Valley.

Huh? There are generally at least 3-5 or more "authorized" repair centers in every state and 10 centers in California. PanurgyOEM, NJ is the authorized "factory" repair center for Denon and other major brands as well.

http://usa.denon.com/us/support/pages/servicecentersearch.aspx

Adam's Electronics
7128 Edinger Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92647-3505 United States
Tel.: (714) 848-0110 Fax: (714) 842-0671

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
Audio Design & Service Inc.
10764 VanOwen Street
North Hollywood, CA 91605-6403 United States
Tel.: (818) 754-0467 Fax: (818) 754-0495

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
BT Service
11000 East Rush StreetSuite 2
South El Monte, CA 91733-3553 United States
Tel.: (626) 582-1678 Fax: (626) 529-0908

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
Fry's Electronics, Inc.
600 E. Brokaw Road
San Jose, CA 95112 United States
Tel.: 877-688-7678

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Self Servicing Dealer OnlyLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
George Meyer TV
12418 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-2522 United States
Tel.: (310) 820-1113 Fax: (310) 826-9769

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
George Meyer TV & Stereo
4147 Transport Street
Ventura, CA 93003 United States
Tel.: 310-820-1113

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Gold Crown Electronics
129 E. Savarona Way
Carson, CA 90746 United States
Tel.: (310) 538-8282 Fax: (310) 538-8281

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
Super Service Center
HD Electronics, Inc.
12224 La Mirada Boulevard
La Mirada, CA 90638 United States
Tel.: (562) 902-9128 Fax: (562) 902-9628

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Contact Center
Hitechtronic, Inc.
480 East Rosecrans Avenue
Gardena, CA 90248 United States
Tel.: 310-516-0930 Fax: 310-516-0931

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Contact Center
R & B Electronics
1103 Oddstad Drive
Redwood City, CA 94063 United States
Tel.: 650 363 8691 Fax: 650-701-0319Locate on map
Center web site
Contact Center
Scan Audio Services Inc.
8101 Orion AvenueSuite # 5
Van Nuys, CA 91406-1438 United States
Tel.: (818) 786-4240 Fax: (818) 786-4521

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Service CenterLocate on map
Center web site
Contact Center

I sent my 3311 to NEW JERSEY because none anywhere near me...and the good rep they have...

Thanks!

i just noticed the worn ring around the volume and selector knobs.im calling panurgy for replacements.i never touch the knobs and they look worn and old.they need to be more careful on shipping and handling.

Let me know how that turns out. I'm just happy mine works after they didn't do anything.

Adding an amp today to my 3312.

Should I have to rerun Audyssey? Any other issue to look out for?

By the way......I shipped my 3312 in for repair (blown amp) directly to Denon. Had it back in 7 days time including shipping days . Grat service. They even called to check up on the repair. 1st class.