The "Official" Denon AVR-3808CI Thread - Page 102

Is there any reason not to get the 3808 and instead get the 4308? Both are getting great prices from 6ave right now, but other than wireless lan and a 2nd HDMI output and HD Radio tuner, is there any benefit to the 4308 over the 3808? I know I wouldnt use the wireless, and I dont believe there are any HD radio stations in my area yet, so the answer seems obvious, but I wanted to get some input in case I am missing something on the 4308!

Thanks all. I ordered mine this morning. David was very nice. I generally hate getting the extended warranty, but the 3808 was even cheaper than I thought it would be so it was painless. I asked how long long it was going to go on but forgot what he said other than they were getting another 200 in very soon. I wouldn't wait to call I I was on the fence.

I have used them and they work flawless. You will have a problem though, if you have a huge house with two electrical panels.(My experience at a clients Palm Beach home!)

Mark

Probably a bit premature to ask this question, since I haven't yet managed to read the whole manual and get my 3808CI fully set up. All I've really done with the receiver is update the firmware. But last night, I wanted to try out something simple: watching a Blu-Ray movie on my PS3. I plugged HDMI from the PS3 to HDMI1 on the receiver, and HDMI from the receiver to the Sony 52XBR4 TV. HDMI from the receiver to the TV seems to work just fine - the onscreen display works flawlessly.

But the receiver seemed to be having trouble making and holding a connection to the PS3. When I first plugged the PS3 to the receiver, it worked fine, but then I turned off the PS3 for a minute, and when I turned it back on, no signal - just the DENON logo on the TV screen. I power cycled stuff in several different orders several times, and finally got a signal again.

I started watching the movie, and a couple of times, it lost the signal for a second or two - black screen, no sound. The third time that happened, about 45 minutes into the movie, the signal never came back - it just dumped out to the DENON logo and I could never get video from the PS3 again.

I tried connecting an XBox 360 to the receiver via HDMI, and never successfully got a signal through the receiver to the TV. Both the PS3 and the XBox work flawlessly when plugged directly to the TV via HDMI. The cables I'm using are Monoprice 6 foot HDMI 1.3a CL2 cables, so they SHOULD be fine.

Obviously, I've got a lot of reading and learning to do, and more debugging (particularly trying different HDMI inputs on the receiver, and different HDMI cables), but any advice on what might be causing this problem, and where I should focus my attention would be really helpful. I'm brand new to the world of HDTV, HDMI, A/V receivers, PS3, everything, so I'm kind of drinking out of the firehose here.

Thanks for any leads you can provide!

JRjr

Do you use the regular line or the more expensive "HD" versions that promote a higher through-put and some built-in QoS? My instinct is all that is marketing BS, because in practice I am unlikely to reach even the top speed of the standard units and wouldn't need it anyway (the Internet connection will be the weak link on speed) and I am dubious of the QoS claim. And they cost a LOT more. But I would hate to be wrong about it if they do matter.

Thanks.

Planning my new setup which is arriving this week (probably)...

I am trying to decide if it is worth it to run all my devices through the 3808 or if some of them should just go to the TV. In particular I have a Wii and a Samsung combo SD DVD / VHS tape (we still have a lot of kids shows on tape) that will get no meaningful benefit from the receiver audio. So the question is will the up-conversion meaningfully improve the video, not be noticable at all or even make it worse (I have seen up-conversion sometimes hurt really bad signals like from a VHS)? Unless it promises to maket better, it seems like I should just route those devices straight to the TV...

Thoughts?

Thank you. Is there a particular make/model wifi bridge you can recommend? I did a search at CC and BB and very few items showed up. Are the two devices I quoted in my earlier post "wifi bridges" or are they something else?

I'm geting my '08 in a few days, and I want to be able to do the firmware upgrade before I do anything else.......Thanks!

What number are you guys calling to get 6th Ave on the phone? I looked at the Denon site and found a 6th Ave listed but when I called I was basically hung up on. I asked for David but was told he is not in at the moment. I have no idea who I actually talked with after being bounced around 5 different times. When I got someone on the phone from the Audio department I was told they will NOT quote Denon prices over the phone. No authorized Denon location is allowed to quote over the phone and I must use their web site to see the prices. I was also told they will NOT ship anything out of state. This is a retail store only and they don't ship out of state, especially for free. Then the call ended (on their end, not mine). Am I calling the right place?

Tim

6 Ave is set up with a totally indepedent group of "online" sales guys on commission that have nothing to do with the stores or the general online customer service #'s. They operate out of a different location.

Call: 1-877-684-2831

I spoke to Scott again just now and got him right away. His extension is Scott x 8632

The stores know nothing about these guys special pricing and their online site doesn'tacknowledge them either. But they do have the power topull inventory from the stores as well as their warehouse.

(I haven't read the rules lately. If passing on the phone # is against the rules in the public forum let me know and Iwill edit it out of the message. I have answered about 2 dozen PM's since Friday and am happy to keep doing so.)

Good luck.

That worked!! Fantastic deal too. I'm talking it over with the "boss" right now. Thanks for the contact info.

Hi,

I know this is a bit confusing... routers, bridges, WAPs ... grrr!!

I'm not a network genius, but I know that most Wi-Fi routers will act as a "bridge". All that means is that you have to go into a setting menu and tell it to be a "bridge" which means it will not act as a DHCP server, that it will join your existing wi-fi network, and that it will generally not interfere with your existing wifi network in any way. However, some of the cheaper wifi routers conveniently leave this feature off the table, assuming that the average person will not want to do this kind of "advanced" configuration. Welcome to the bleeding edge as they say.

Currently I have a Netgear WPN824 which I like a lot and which will act as a bridge. However the form factor may not look good in an audio cabinet and it has too many blinky lights for my taste. I've also had a Linksys router in the past which supported this feature. You're just going to have to look at the owners manual of which ever unit you want, find out if it will be a bridge, then make the call.

Or, go with one of the router/bridges that bfdtv listed above ... that first Buffalo has a nice form factor and if he says it will do bridging, there you go.

Good luck!
-K

Ran the audessy on my dennon for 8 positions
It Set these crossovers for my klipsch speakers:

Front 40hz changed em to large (epic C3 250watt klipsch)
Center60 hz
Rears 80HZ
LFE 80Hz

My 15 inch monster sub is barely audible now. Was I supposed to have volume turned down on back of sub prior to calculations? I had it set in middle. When it asks for sub distance does that mean from where you sit on couch?

Not sure what I should do?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! thanks

try this.
In the GUI go to Manual setup, Speaker setup, Channel level, Mode, Start.
That will give you white noise on each speaker so do not have the volume cranked up!!
Go to the Sub level, I set mine to 0db & I have lots of bass!

Just bought my 3808ci from David for $1167.99. This price included a 3-year extended warranty. Great great price. The deal is still going on. David's extension is 8474.

Depends on your TV. My Panasonic plasma does upconversion better than the Denon does, especially when motion is involved. Static images look fine, but pixellation is bad. Also the Denon conversion often seems to make some images darker than otherwise.

Is a router necessary to update the Denon AVR-3808CI? Is there a way you can just plug it into the modem or the computer?

just bought mine from 6ave BM store for the same price. they had it in stock so i didn't have to wait for it to be shipped. my firmware is updating as i type.

can't wait to hook it up. its replacing my 10yr old yammy rxv-995, which was a good receiver to me over the years.

question, how can i tell what the manufacture date is?

Do you have to buy the extended warranty to get their special price of $1,099.00?

Thanks. I think I'll just stop into Beast Buy tomorrow on my way home and see what they got. I have a 10% off coupon anyway.

no.

I asked this a couple days ago... Has to be on. The HDMI needs tobe powered to pass-through. It's a bummer because sometimes I don't need the receiver on for TV viewing and my TV has only 1 HDMI in...

Not to be the forum cop, but for some who may not be aware we are not allowed to discuss specific pricing in the public forum. You can private message people with them as I have been (many times now). I don't care personally and have never really understood the reason. But I would hate to see this thread get shut down...

What does mean exactly?

What if some sources(audio) were linked to specific inputs(video) and the tv was off?

Am I missing the boat completely?

I had to get a router to get it to work Gold. I tried hooking it up straight from modem but i never got it to work. So I broke down got a 65 dollar wireless broadband router from Linksys and ran a second ethernet cable from that to my dennon. Did a factory reset and two tries it finally connected and updated.

Hi everyone, newbie here -

I just received my 3808 and will be setting up new theater system in my (small) apartment, i dont have the TV (XBR4) yet but will before too long.

Anyway, I've been reading up on the 3808 user manual to try and figure out wiring situation before i start the actual setup. I find some of the manual isn't written too clearly, and hence I am somewhat unsure of the connection specifics. I hope I can get some help here.

My system will have:

- 3808
- XBR4 LCD TV
- Xbox 360
- Tivo S2 (the first S2)
- Cable Box (Sierra Atlanta Explorer 3250HD)
- speakers

My goal is to have as few cables as possible, and as few going to the TV as possible. I am most unsure about the cable box/Tivo/3808/TV circuit. Page 15 of the manual is stumping me, i.e., the part about connecting a DVR and needing the same cable type from DVR source as to 3808 output.

First, I dont really understand how the above mentioned circuit works. It appears that the cable box gets connected to the 3808 input, which then and then a cable OUT from the 3808 to the DVR and a cable from the DVR out back IN to the 3808. I am a bit perplexed by this loop. It appears (??) that to get signal from the cable box, to the 3808, and then to the DVR to record a program on Tivo, the 3808 has to be powered on. Can that be?

If someone could clarify how a Tivo fits into the setup that would be great, and also try to clarify that note on page 15 re: requiring the same type of cable.

Ultimately I would like each piece of the system to connect to the 3808 and then have one HDMI out from the 3808 to the TV. I dont know if this is realistic - and can't really find answers to my questions on previous forum postings.

I look forward to hearing from others since I am not an expert by any means and will need assistance getting this thing together.

PS my current system has cable box out to TV and out to Tivo, and then Tivo out to TV (no receiver in current system) and IR blasters from Tivo to cable box to change the channels; dunno if the blasters will be needed in new system.

I look forward to hearing from you,

obmot

I'm not sure I understand the question. I thought your first question was whether the receiver needed to beon to pass-through the HDMI signal through it to the TV. That was what I was addressing. It does have to be turned on, though presumably you could have the volume off on the receiver and use the TV speakers if you wanted. Your question above seems to be the opposite -- can you get audio even from a video HDMI input with the TV off. I can't say for sure, but I wouldbe the answer is yes. I don't think the receiver specifically perceives the HDMI inputs as uniquely "video" or "audio" sources. The arejust sources, which you can name whatever you'd like and use for audio or video or both or just pass-through if the receiver is on.

I used this product from Netgear:
NETGEAR XE102G Wall-Plugged Ethernet Extender Kit

nothing HD or fancy!

Hello,

This actually depends on your service provider. There are several standards used out there, such as Dynamic IP, PPPoE, PPTP, Static IP. There is no reason you couldn't just plug your 3808 into your service provider's modem if they are utilizing either Dynamic IP (aka DHCP) or Static IP. In the latter case you would need to manually configure the 3808 network connection, in the former just turn DHCP on.

If your provider uses PPPoE, you will need a router as a login/password is required to gain access to the network. Having said this ... 90% of service providers out there use Dynamic IP.

Who is your service provider? Is your current PC (connected to the modem) set to use DHCP?

-K

Just installed my 3808, small problems such as HDMI audio but slugged through it. I will attempt auto setup in a few days. I can not seem to get the GUI to appear on my Pioneer 5070 plasma, any ideas? Thanks