The "Official" Denon AVR-2808CI Owners Thread - Page 114

Hi. Did you press the STD button on the remote?

The AVR can only play what it receives. Most likely you have your BDP decoding the DD/DTS to PCM so the 2808 reads "Mult Ch In" on the front panel display and then plays the 5.1 surround audio. You also apparently have 2 CH stereo audio being played by the 2808 as 5 CH Stereo rather than simulated to 5.1 audio using DD PLII. The DirecTV audio will either be PCM 2.0 or DD 5.1. As SOM notes, if you press the STD button on your remote (when a movie is playing DD 5.1) until you see Dolby Digital on the front panel display, you should be good to go.

^^ Thanks SoM & jdsmoothie. Will try that.

Hey everyone. I have a question that may be in the wrong forum. But I have finally replaced my trusty 2808 for 3d simplicity sake. My question is more for the old faithful, where do you think I would have more success selling it, bay or the for sale columns here?

Michael

I sold my 988 quickly on Craigslist, but that was probably 2 yrs ago. Oh, it was still under warranty which was a good selling point. IMO the key is reasonable price, be flexible (let them bargain you down some) and to close the deal offer to throw in some cables (ex: HDMI are good & cheap from monoprice). Good luck.

Thaks sound of mind. I may still consider Craig's list, just had a couple bad deals on there so I am hesitant.

Michael

Why not do both? Using Craigs list is good in that the average Craig's list buyer will be less informed about how out of date the 2808 is compared to the newer models and especially the new XX12 line. And using AVS classified will target the informed buyer that is looking for either EXT IN or preouts on an older HDMI 1.3 AVR as they are no longer offered on the lower level Denon AVRs below the 43XX series.

I think I just might. It is already up on the bay and while no bids, I have an amazing number of watchers.

It's funny you mention out of date. I am a young man, but still old to remember when you could buy a receiver/pre amp and expect for them to last 30+ years since the only real technology change most would care about would be the music delivery transport.

Michael

i never see any discussion on the equalizer settings on the 2808 am i the only one using it?

Most likely because Audyssey can do a much better job for the vast majority of owners ...

I purchased a 2808CI new back in 2007 for quite a pretty penny. It's been working fine and I've been running movies, music and cable through it since then with very few issues. On Friday, I turned everything off as usual and left for the weekend. Come home Sunday night, and no audio. Worse, I can't get audio from any source. In fact, I can't even get audio from the Test menu when it's supposed to test the volume levels of each speaker in my 7.1 setup. And no, I don't even get audio from the power sub. I have tried to reset the microprocessor, but it had no impact, nor did leaving the 2808 unplugged for 15 minutes.

Question 1: Any other ideas before I resort to calling service?

Question 2: If, as I suspect, the unit is now garbage, what would you do? Buy another 2808 or similar unit, or upgrade to some of the newer receivers? I'd rather keep the cost of this unscheduled replacement down to under $1,000 if at all possible, but at that price point would there be any significant upgrades if going to new equipment? FYI, I'm running a 7.1 system with one HDMI input (cable box) and one composite video and optical audio input (my XBMC). Output is to Pioneer Elite plasma TV and Definitive speakers. I don't anticipate needing multiple zones, so all of those features are useless to me, and I can't imagine ever needing more than 4 HDMI inputs. 3D television is not important to me either.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

1. Pop the top of the unit and see if you can detect any blown fuses that can be replaced. Service repair will likely cost about $200 at least.

2. With your limited inputs and if you don't want a networking AVR, consider the new 1712 (MSRP $399) which has the same Audyssey MultEQ XT as your 2808. It should be available within the next few weeks.

Having run autosetup, I use "base curve copy" for the Manual EQ setting. This "copies" a very crude version of the Audyssey settings, as can be applied within the limitations of the GEQ irt crude freq cuts and boosts only. Then Manual EQ becomes quite useful to A/B with the Audyssey std curve, as it allows one to get a better idea of how much better Audyssey sounds than what most folks could do with their manual EQ. This is a fairer comparison than Audyssey vs no EQ at all.

Thanks jdsmoothie. I will give that a shot, as at this point it seems I have little to lose.
Also, as an update, although I still cannot get the Test function to work nor the cable or XBMC, last night after much experimenting and a few resets I was able to get some output by setting the Input to Tuner and putting the output in Pure or Direct mode (no other mode would produce any output whatsoever).

I've been thinking about adding a DacMagic for my AppleTV (pretty much all 256 kbps or 256 kbps VBR) but am a bit skeptical about any difference over just using the RESTORER HQ setting on my 988. I would probably run the second input to my OPPO 93 for 2-ch CD listening.

Anyone with a DacMagic prefer it? The salesman says I will notice a significant difference, but that's his job. From what I've read on here, it's not $500 better sound.

Not familiar with Dacmagic, however, you might try going to the main Amps, Receivers, and Processors forum and then using the "Search This Forum" button with the keyword "dacmagic." Otherwise if no responses in this thread, try creating a separate thread on the topic.

Hi Everyone,
I ran across this thread while doing research on the 2808. I have an opportunity to purchase one for $325 and was wondering if that's a good deal? Amazon has a seller who's asking $543.81 for an open box. The one I can purchase is just the unit itself and power cord. I downloaded the manual, but there is no remote. I have a Harmony 880 and was guessing/hoping the missing remote wouldn't be that big of a deal. And I'd imagine I could purchase a replacement remote if I really wanted an original.

I'm not much of an audiophile, so any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. I know Denon manufactures high quality audio gear, which is why this deal caught my eye. It would be replacing my Sony STR-DE995 that I bought several years ago.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

^Hi. The 2808 was the lowest of Denon's models that could be considered "audiophile" at the time and is now several generations old. It is a fine old unit and is a big step up from the Sony SQ-wise, featuring Audyssey MultEQXT room EQ which improves the sound of any speakers. That's an OK (not super) price sans remote, IMO. As you have a Harmony you would be fine. It is out of warranty, but a reliable model.

But the question is what features might you want that a brand new, warrantied, newer model would provide for similar, or slightly more, $. There have been several advances, like AudysseyDynamic EQ/Dynamic Volume, DSX wides, networking, 3D, etc. The xx11 models are going on clearance, so there's a lot of discussion on the xx12 thread comparing values, and you could post there as well.

ATinymouse -
You would also need to spend about $25-$35 (avail from US dealers only on ebay) to get the correct Audyssey DM-A405 mic which is required in order to use the AUTO SETUP program to EQ your speakers.

Thanks for the responses. After looking at the xx12 Denons, I'd have to agree, $325 seems a bit steep. I wasn't really in the market for a receiver, but if I picked one up I am interested in network connectivity. Shoutcast support would be awesome, but I'm mostly interested in a receiver that would let me "remote control" it through some kind of a web interface.

Thanks again!

i've had my 2808 for about two years and i'm still not using auto set-up.i ran it once and it removed what little bass i had from the mains so i went back to manual settings.my room has some problems that's why my mains have no bass.my ? is what do i do with all the settings on the denon before running it or does audyssey override all of the previous settings? also,is it likely that audyssey will add bass to my mains? (klipsch rf-83s)

Add? No, the whole point of Audyssey is to smooth out the frequency curve. A subwoofer is used to take the load off of the front mains. So after running AUTO SETUP, set them to SMALL with a 80hz crossover. If you want the bass to come from both the front mains and the sub, then set the front mains to LARGE with a 80hz crossover and set the sub to LFE+Main. Also, AUTO SETUP overrides any settings you may have made.

what if my lack of bass is due to cancellation? in that case wouldn't audyssey add bass? if not where's the bass? right now i have x-over at 110hz and lfe+main it sounds great but why do i have to set the x-over so high?

You may simply prefer more bass than what the Audyssey filters can offer. Why 110hz? Does the AVR set it to that via AUTO SETUP or is that where you just set it yourself as 60hz or 80hz should be more than sufficient? Do you just have the two front mains and a sub? Have you tried the sub crawl for better placement of your sub?

So I'm having a hard time finding some features to adjust. Right now the receiver is running B&W CM8 and the CM Centre 2 and the center is sounding a bit to direct (like I feel like I can hear sound coming out of the center speaker) so I'd like to spread out the center channel to the from two channels a little bit. In the manual it says there is a "width" setting where you can adjust this, as well as a "panorama" and "Depth setting. I have gone through every menu a million times but cannot find ANY of these settings. Can somebody direct me where in the menu to adjust these? Also, are these adjustments only available in certain sound modes and not others? Is that why I can't find it?

FYI, the center being overly direct isn't an issue of the specific center channel, it's just something I've noticed with every center I've owned/heard.

^^
In addition to simply knocking the center channel audio down a few db (via the CH Select/ENTER button on the remote), you can also adjust the Center Width (DD PLII - Music mode only) and Center Image (NEO:6 Music mode only) as noted on p. 65 in your Owner's manual.

ok that's what I was thinking. So, say I'm watching tv or movie on HBO, those signals always come through the receiver as Dolby Digital. Does that mean I can't adjust adjust the center width? Same question applies to Blu Ray movies which are coming through as Dolby Tru HD. I cannot adjust the width in those either?

Hardly anything I watch is DDPLII, pretty much everything on tv comes through as 5.1 DD.

DD PLII is simply a "simulation" mode that takes 2.0/2.1 stereo input and simulates 5.1 surround sound so if you're already getting either a DD or DTS 5.1 signal there is nothing to simulate. Have you run AUTO SETUP to properly set the sound level for all speakers? Regardless, you can always simply turn the center channel audio down using the remote as I indicated previously.

Thanks JDSMOOTHIE, that's kinda what I assumed. I sent the demo speaker back to the store and waiting on the purchased speaker to arrive, so I'll mess with this a bit more once it comes in.

One more question I have about a setting, which I can't find...For music through the DVD input I am using Manual EQ instead of Audessy, but for TV I want to use Audessy. Is there a way to make the EQ swap between modes based on what input I'm using? I feel like before the setting would only affect whatever input I was on when I set them, although now whenever I change something it makes the changes to all the inputs. Did I accidentally change a setting to make it act like this?

I'm curious why you would EVER turn Audyssey off for any input? Although yes, you can use a Quick Select button to store various settings, including MultEQ XT ON/OFF for a specific input.