The "Official" Denon AVR-2808CI Owners Thread - Page 53

I had the same problem and tried everything including speaker switching. Microprocessor reset fixed it.

Just like with the PC, when all else fails, just reboot!

Thanks jdsmoothie but I am a bit confused. Even 889 shows Speaker A and Speaker B. So I assume I can connect the receiver to a Speakers in a different room for listening to music? Also since I only have 5.1, I assume I can use the power for those to drive these speakers. i am trying to understand the difference between Multi Zone that you say 988 has and 889 does not but I still see that it shows me option to select Speaker A/B and the comparison says that there is preout in 889 as well.

What exactly is preout? What does Multizone actually mean?

What I want to do is to watch 5.1 in my living room and lets say be able to listen to music in my bedroom. Will 988/889 allow me to do that? Only one at a time or both at the same time?

Selecting speaker set A or set B or A+B has to do with bi-amping which in the simplest terms refers to using 2-4 speakers as your MAIN front speakers normally in your MAIN room. The pre-out on the 889 is for the sub and that's it. Unfortunately the Denon website is not always completely accurate in what they display. They show 889 as not being multi-zone and yet if you look at the schematic in the Owner's manual there is clearly a set of Zone 2 outputs!

Pre-outs are generally used when you want to power another set of speakers in Zone 2 and you've already got a 7.1 speaker set up or you just want to increase the wattage to another set of speakers regardless of whether 5.1 or 7.1 setup is being used. In your case, with only a 5.1 setup, you can use the SBR and SBL jacks to power your Zone 2 speakers and will not have to use the Zone 2 pre-outs. The default for the SBR and SBL jacks is already setup for Zone 2 in fact so you've actually got to switch them to 7.1 when using a 7.1 setup. Both the 988 and 889 will do what you want allowing you to listen to independent sources in each room.

Although the 2808 and 988 are very similiar, one of the differences is that the 2808 can output both stereo audio AND video to Zone 2 as well as outputting stereo audio to a Zone 3.

Right. This I kind of knew.

I'm gonna wire it up and hope I can both bi-amp with one source while recording another.

Thanks jdsmoothie. Appreciate the response. Your response confirmed what I was thinking both the receivers can do. Now ofcourse the choice factor. I will try to set up the demo unit I got from Frys and see how it works.

It really does boil down to what ALL your requirements are and whether you can tell a difference between the two AVRs using your own speaker set. Ideally you'll be able to pick up the 889 as well and compare them side by side. As I said, the 988 has the better components and is the better unit of the two, however, the new Audyssey Dynamic Volume (able to keep explosive sounding commercials down to a reasonable level so as not to have to mute the commercials at night) upgrade in the 889 is going to be tough to pass up. I'm trying to get Denon to offer the upgrade ($100-$150)for the 988/2808 as well via a firmware update, but so far that doesn't look good.

Where do you tweak the subs volume at (Up/Down)? At the sub itself or on the menu display. The value displayed on the EXT IN SW Level Menu display is +15 (I believe the options are 0db, +5db, +10db & +15db). Where would one want to turn up the volume of the sub at? I assume it would be the subs volume control at the sub. BTW I have a AVR 2808CI....Thanks in advance for any info.

It Denon does provide the upgrade then the winner is clearning 988. Its just what you said... to pass up the feature on 889. Ofcourse I can always keep the 988 for year and catch on the clearance for 989 next year which should have everything 988 has + Audyssey. Will try both and see... thanks for the input....

One last question. Does the fact that the 988 was a demo unit which means it might have quiet some hours on it a factor that I should be concerned about or these things are built to last for a good time?

anyone know how to tell if a denon receiver is refurb or not?

The EXT IN SW setting is only used when you are running external connections to another amp/AVR. The SW volume can of course be adjusted at the sub itself if your sub comes with a volume control. However, all speakers can be adjusted using the remote by pressing the center CH SEL/ENTER button. Each press will cycle through each speaker which will allow you to adjust +-12db (see page 50).


Denon products are built to last. That said, if there are going to be any problems, they generally crop up in the first year. I would imagine that the Denon 2 year warranty will still apply if you should decide on the 988.


Outwardly no. However, if you bought it from one of the sites listed here under the "Refurbished" header, then most likely it's refurbished.

Reason I ask is my 4308ci has a handwritten upside-down 'R' after the serial number

Hmmm .. does leave one to wonder for sure. Although, even if it were refurbished, does it really matter? As long as your 4308 is working, you're good to go.

Thank you for your quick reply. I must have missed the info in the book (pg50)

-Joe Warner

My first Denon receiver is still running after 15 yrs. Their quality is top notch I believe 988 is MIJ so I won't worry too much.

I recently purchased a REM subwoofer and I am having problems hooking it up to my 2808 receiver. I tried the SW port on the receiver using two different coax cables and neither one worked. I tried the manual setup process to turn the subwoofer on from the receiver. I took the subwoofer over to a friends house and hooked it up to his receiver using his existing coax cable for his subwoofer and it worked with his receiver. Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong?

I am sad to report we will NOT be getting the Audyssey firmware update. I spoke with a Sr. Denon Manager a bit ago who explained that although the upgrade to the 3808, 4308, and 5308 will be accomplished via a firmware update at a cost of $100 (the Audyssey licensing fee) available Oct 1 via the website, the chipset in the 2808 is incompatible with the update and would require a hardware update first which is why the 2808 and lower models all had new model upgrades this year (eg. 2809, 2309, etc.) that incorporated the upgrade into the new hardware.

Okay, so you know the sub works and is turned ON. Check. And I'm presuming you have the sub set to YES. What happens when you do the AUTO SETUP? Does the AVR detect the sub as being present? Is this the first sub you have ever hooked up to the 2808? What is your LFE signal coming from? DD5.1? Do you have a 2.1, 3.1, or 5.1 setup? Are your Mains/Center set to LARGE? I plugged in the SW, did the Auto Setup and was good to go .. no other SW setting adjustments required. So the issue should be resolved fairly easily. If all else fails do a Master Reset.

jdsmoothie, say it ain't so!

Well, it's time to do some soul searchin' as I've found that I really, really like the new Audyssey features. Now what did I do with that Denon 988 box...

Thanks for the follow-up jdsmoothie, much appreciated!

so this receiver is worth the 587 its going for on amazon?

You've asked twice already ... guess you figure 3rd times a charm? Why not just read through the thread and get all the information you'll need to answer your question?

Okay, so you know the sub works and is turned ON. Check. And I'm presuming you have the sub set to YES. What happens when you do the AUTO SETUP? Does the AVR detect the sub as being present? Is this the first sub you have ever hooked up to the 2808? What is your LFE signal coming from? DD5.1? Do you have a 2.1, 3.1, or 5.1 setup? Are your Mains/Center set to LARGE? I plugged in the SW, did the Auto Setup and was good to go .. no other SW setting adjustments required. So the issue should be resolved fairly easily. If all else fails do a Master Reset.


Thanks JD. I have two mains and sub. I did have the manual setup and not the auto setup. I did have the sub turned to yes and the mains turned to small not large. I will try to auto setup and see what happens.

Here goes my novice question - what does the LFE signal mean? I saw it on the back of the sub but I have no idea what it means.

If I need to do a master reset - how do I do that?

Thanks again for the help.

Thanks for the update. For now, I have plenty of time to decide whether or not this will change my decision about this receiver but if I keep listening to it, I'll probably keep it because it amazes me everyday.

So then, you have a 2.1 setup ... a FL, FR, and SW. The ".1" part is the sub and handles the very low bass (LFE - low frequency effects). With your Mains set to SMALL, the bass signal sent to the Mains (below the crossover frequency which is generally 80hz as well as the LFE signal are all sent to the SW. If after doing an AUTO SETUP your SW is still not detected, then I would suggest doing a Master Reset. The procedure is found on p. 50 (2808) of the manual entitled "Resetting the Microprocessor".

So you are happy with the 988/2808? What type of speakers are you pushing (sensitivity?)

Hmm, unfortunately I have to report that I am not happy with mine. Something fishy is going on with the center channel. with my old 3805 the Center channel (aperion 5C) sounded soo natural and blended in so well it became transparent. The vocals projecting from the TV to my ears.

With the 988 something definately seems odd. It does appear to get louder overall bu the diaglouge coming from my center channel does not seem natural at all. It doesn't blend in very well. It sounds hollow and boxy. What's even more fishy is what audyssey is telling me. I've ran the audyssey twice and it sets the crossover on my rears and fronts around 90, which is right about where they should be. However it has set the crossover frequency on my center channel to 250hz. I know auto setups are weird sometimes but it just seems fishy that it is doing this with my center channel and my center channel sounds off.

For some reason the center just doesn't have that full/lush/natural sound that I was getting with my 3805. It is soo distracting that I can't even enjoy watching a blu ray with uncompressed audio. The center just sticks out. I hear many good things about the 2308 so I'm confused why this 988 (a step up) is making my center channel sound unnatural/nontransparent and weak? I'm wondering if there is a setting I'm missing ? Any advice?

Were talking about a very, very noticeable difference between the 3805 and this 988 in regards to the way the center channel sounds.

For now, just a pair of Polk TSI100s (89db) with a Velodyne DLS-3750 but I plan on moving to 5.1. Sorry I can't be of assistant for the center channel problem you're having. Now I'm curious how the situation would go for me. This is just a bedroom set up for now with HD cable, PS3 (gaming/blu-ray), and PC for FLAC & occasional gaming.

Yeah I'm thinking the extra 8 lbs of powersupply on the 3805 makes a difference. Darn, I should have known not to switch from the 3805 to the 988, so far it seems like a huge mistake. I preferred watching dolby digital movies on the 3805 then uncompressed on the 988 all because of the way the center channel sounds.

Maybe I'll look for a 3806. From my first impression this 988 is no better than a Yamaha RX-V661...

The frequency minimum on your Aperion 5C Center is 60hz. A good crossover frequency starting point is 10hz above the speaker's minimum. Try manually setting your crossover back down from the 250hz to 80hz. My center minimum is 30hz .... Audyssey set the crossover to 40hz which is spot on!

I just received my 2309 shipped today. Hooked it up in 30 minutes, ran audyssey on all 6 test and bingo...I'm never going back to Onkyo again, the settings were to the millimeter and I was amazed at how more vibrant the sound was. Tomorrow I will try to program it to my Harmony....no back lite on remote

Changing the crossover from 250-80 was one of the first things I did after I ran Audyssey. Something is odd here...