Denon 3806 Owners Thread - Page 2

Oh, the remote control is not bad for an RC that comes with a component, but I taught the commands to my old MX-500 remote and tossed the Denon into the pile inside my coffee table.

It just seems flimsy and unfriendly. I like what seems to be discrete individual input and on/off commands that my main remote could learn without my having to go hunt down hidden codes and whatnot.

As far as I know, MultEQ XT requires digital input data for most of its processing, except the channel level control (and maybe phase control) which is (can be) done in analog domain. Delay, bass management and 512-tap FIR processing (NOT IIR-based PEQ like other less advanced room EQs) works only on digital/digitized input data. Look at the Audyssey MultEQ XT indicator on the front panel, and it must be off when you are playing SACD through Multichannel input. You cannot use EQ button on the remote when using EXT. IN.

Level correction plays a great role, but that's not all. Try CD or other DVD and you may experience even bigger improvement than SACD.

Played a good reference DVD with DTS (Twister) with an optical connection and the sound was incredible. My dog was running for shelter!

I run DVI from my Hi Def box and DVD directly to my plasma TV, so I'm not using the 3806 for video switching. Strictly for audio.

I've only done auto set up. But so far audio rates an A+.

All positive, except for the manual.

Yeah, but what if your TV only has one digital input and you want to connect both a DVD player with HDMI out and a STB digitally for optimum PQ? Isn't that the whole point of HDMI switching? Denon should have fixed this problem before marketing this receiver as capable of HDMI switching.

Because my 'TV' is a projector and would require an additional $130 for some decent 30' component cables.

I understand your point and Denon should have fixed this.

I use a 2X DVI switch for DVD and cable into my Display and PQ is excellent. $1300 for excellent sound and $150 for a DVI switch is a good solution for me.

/George

OK, I'm lost. I was playing a DVD Audio when I read your message, and the Audyssey light was off. So I replaced the DVD Audio with a regular CD. The Audyssey light is still off (not red, not green, just off). I pressed the Room EQ button, and it switches between "manual" and "off". It looks like the Audyssey settings never registered.

This may be a great piece of electronics, but I feel like finding the guys who wrote the manual and having them eat it ... page by page.

it looks like the 3806 has independent crossovers for each channel group....can someone who owns one confirm this....also, how much does it weight

You could make you own for about $30.

Shipping weight was 49 lbs. So take away a couple for the box, remote etc and you are looking at around 46 lbs. Its heavy.

And it still sitting in its box because the place it is going is not ready and I still can't decide if I want to return it for the 4306.

I'm a bit confused. Please clarify for me. How does the yamaha that supposedly do upconversion to HDMI differ? My understanding is that the 3806 will take xbox/xbox360 and dvd through hdmi and SAT cable through component because of the HDCP issue and only one HDMI cable to the display will be necessary. This whole scaling, upconversion, transcoding thing is confusing.

I assume that transcoding is the ability to input a device through composite, s-video, or component to an HDMI output.

I assume that scaling is the ability for a receiver to take a lower res input (ie composite, s-video, component at 480i, 480p) and output a a higher res image (ie HD 720p or 1080i).

Where does upconversion relate to this? Is it the same thing as transcoding?

Finally, where does the 3806 fall short regarding these features? And what does the yamaha rx-v2600 do in reference to these features that the 3806 does not.
Thanks for the clarification.
Rob

The 3806 is already starting to show up on ebay. Lowest price I found was a Buy it Now" for $949 + $40 shipping.

I'm not sure $1000 with no warranty is better than $1300 with a 2 year warranty.
I paid $1275 at an authorized dealer out the door.


The ONLY authorized online Denon retailers are Abt, ListenUp, Crutchfield and Tweeter.

One can decide either way, but be aware, unless it's an authorized seller, no warranty.

I agree. Got mine at Crutchfield for $1170 with the 10% discount for buying 2 things. So for an extra $170 it is worth it for the warranty.

But I got my 2805 for $650 from a non-authorized dealer vs. $999, so in that case it was worth it.

I also agree. I got mine at Crutchfield for $1170 with free shipping and no payments for 6 months. I also bought the Denon 1920 and got 10% off on that too.

I got mine from yesterday from one of the retail stores that sells them. My brother works there and got his employee discount. Total cost for the 3806 was $790. Also got the DVD-2910 for $467.

Hey, did you copy my order? That's the same thing I got.

I almost went with the 2910, but with HD-DVD of some variety around the corner, I went with the 1920. I will recycle it to the MBR after the HD players are available.

You all are smart shoppers!

I bought the 3910 a year ago, so I couldn't take advange of Crutchfield's 10% discount for the 3806.

The 3910 is really superb, IMHO. I'm doubtful about the new Hi-Def/Blu Ray DVDs producing a better picture than the 3910 does at 1090i with a good PQ DVD. I guess the idea is that all hi def DVD's will be good PQ.

The new Toy Story DVD with DTS and an excellent reference DVD for picture and sound.

For sound, LAGQ's Guitar Hero's is an excellent SACD for SQ recorded in multichannel.

Sorry to get off the 3806 thread.

/George

Guys please do not post street pricing. MSRP only. Thank you.

After the second time running the auto setup, I managed to get the Audyssey settings to stick. Now I can confirm that Audyssey MultEQ XT is only available with digital sources. It does not kick in for external analog inputs (e.g., SACD).

Now that the Audyssey problem is out of the way, I am having difficulties with Dolby Digital material. Watching a DVD movie or a TV show encoded with DD 5.1 (and input via optical in), the music passages sound awesome. Dialog, on the other hand, is terrible. All dialog appears to come from the center speaker, and it's very muddy as if the actors are all calling out from inside a deep well. The dialog level is OK, so I don't think the problem is the DD dialog normalization. The difference between dialog and non-dialog on the same soundtrack is startling. Turning Audyssey processing off and going with Flat or Front settings do not make a difference. Using Denon's proprietary DSP modes instead (such as Widescreen) did not make a difference. Last night, I resorted to watching DD 5.1 material using the 5-channel stereo mode, which kills the discrete surround channels but at least makes dialog tolerable.

My previous receiver was a Sony DA30ES, which had pretty decent DD 5.1 processing. With the 3806, I am currently at a loss. Any advice will be appreciated.

Had any of you the chance to compare the 3806 to 3805 yet? I mean a really A/B comparison. The 3806 looks like a very promising device espacially when I take a look at its feature list.

However: I had a 3805 which i recently sold because I couldtn't stand the sound. It soundend soft, with no crisp, weak bass and bad dialog intelligibly to my ears. Currently I own a pioneer 1015 which is half the price of the 3805 and sounds WAY better (at least to me). I bought the 3805 *blind* with never listening to it and I surely won't make the same mistake twice.

I heard rumors, the new denon (06) product line should have changed the sound quite dramactically to a more crisped und focused way. Can some confirm that and if so, maybe give a little description of his impressions?

Any comments are highly appreciated.


Regards,
Holger

Well, dialog is supposed to come from the center speaker. So it sounds like your center channel is broken.

Have you tried the obvious, like making sure it is not out of phase with the others? Or unplug the other speakers and make sure that the speaker itself has not been fried, or you have a short on one end of the wires, or your center channel amp has a problem.....

I am jealous, I have the AVR-3806 and DVD-1920 combo on order too.

Has anyone tried to see if a digital input can be sent to Zone 2? The 3805 had a restriction that made this not work. I would to have some things (EQ) only work with digital inputs, and others (Zone 2) only work with analog! Good thing I ordered a boatload of cables, sigh.

Thanks. I too have reached the conclusion that the center channel is broken. I'll play with it tomorrow and find out whether it's the cabling, the speaker itself, or the center channel of the receiver. The reason 5-channel stereo sounds good is because it distributes the dialog to the front L/R and center channels.

If a speaker is out of phase, the Audyssey setup tells you. Hell, it tells you it's out of phase even if it's not, which is the case with my surround backs, which are fine AFAIK.

Yeah, my center sounds normal to me, so I think this is more mooney's issue than the 3806 in general. Though you can't rule out some kind of screwup with his particular 3806.

AVR-3806-AF Back



AF stand for 'April Fools'

Don't cha wish it had all those digital/HD inputs???????


Photoshop creation of "dream" 3806....

Where did you get this picture? It looks fabricated... 10+ HDMI terminals and 3 DL ports???

I wonder if your surround backs are dipolar or bipolar (what's the difference anyway??). I heard that it's difficult to check phase/distance of those kinds of speakers.

Mystery solved! My center speaker is a 4-ohm speaker whereas the rest are 8-ohm speakers (all are Monitor Audio speakers, bought at different times over the last 12 years). My previous Sony ES receiver had a 4/8 ohm selector and I had set it on 4 ohms (which made it easier for the receiver to handle the higher impedance of the L/R/surround speakers). The Denon 3806 is only capable of driving 8-ohm speakers and it advises against using speakers of lower impedance. There is a protection circuit that kicks in in case of an overload, so I don't think I damaged anything (and the front speakers sound fine connected to the center speaker output). However, the inability of the 3806 to handle 4-ohm loads means that I either have to return it or go shop for an 8-ohm center speaker. I'll probably do the latter. Sigh.