Performance.

Build Quality. S-Video swtiching problems.

Solid performance from a unit under $1000. A strong recommendation in my book anytime. Flawless in every aspect- except watch out for faulty S-Video monitor out plugs.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha DSPA-1
Sony STRDA-555-ES

Great Dolby Digital, DTS decoding

Remote and DSP modes (why bother)

Looking for a new receiver to replace my Sony ES and trying to spend less than $1000, my two final candidates were the 3300 and NAD T760. Both have a MSRP of $999. Both have analog inputs and outputs which are important for future upgrades. I actually brought both home to audition and finally decided to keep the 3300. For home theater, both produce great sound. For two channel stereo, the NAD somewhat outperforms the Denon with better imaging and soundstage. However, Denon has a clear advantage in power output(105watts compared to 65) and I enjoy the OSD of the Denon more. I like to be able to adjust things. The 5 channel stereo is nice but I find the DSP modes useless, then again who cares what some churches somewhere sounds like (ahem Yamaha) I only use it for home theater so I went with the Denon. My other equipments include:
Paradigm Studio 40 (Fronts)
Paradigm Active CC 450
Paradigm Studio 20 (Rears)
and a small Klipsch KSW 50 sub.

Similar Products Used:

NAD T760

5 channel stereo, 105wattsx5

dsp modes..thats it!

Great receiver!!MSRP is 999, got mine from a local dealer for 700. Price was so good because two were purchased along with a sony big screen. I went to this receiver because the Yamaha was a bit too bright for me and its remote stunk. The avr-3300 remote is a bit better, and I love the 5 channel stereo option. Sounds great with plently of power. The best receiver out there in the 1000 price range!!

Similar Products Used:

harmon Kardon avr 65, Yamaha rxv-995

Clean amp, Warm musical sound, 5 Channel Stereo mode, 8 channel inputs for future formats

This Denon is an upgrade from my previous Yamaha RXV-870 receiver. I was searching for a receiver that would provide better audio quality along with Dolby Digital and DTS decoding. I got what I was looking for, plus some.

THE UNIT

This is one beefy unit at 33 lbs. It is also very deep at 16.4", so make sure it will fit if you are planning on placing it in a cabinet! Superior build-quality is clearly evident by the look and also the feel of the unit. Knobs and buttons have a heavy mechanical precision to them, unlike most of the gear that you'll find at today's retailers.

The Denon is rated at 105 watts to each five channels. I am not too fond of the power rating system used today. There are 40w per channel receivers that deliver better and more dynamic sound reproduction than those rated at 120w per channel. There is so much more than a simple power rating to determine how a receiver will sound, and way too many people get caught up with these numbers. Forget about the numbers, and "listen" to the receiver.

THE FEATURES

The AVR-3300 has many of the features you'd normally find on a receiver in this price range; however, there is one real gem that stood out from the rest. That is the "5 Channel Stereo" mode. More on that in a bit.

From a features standpoint, I like the fact that the Denon has a high-quality DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter). Digital audio can sound a bit "harsh", and a good DAC helps create a warmer, more musical sound.

Component video switching is also nice to have these days. While most VCR's and Satellite boxes use composite or S-video, many of the mid-range and high-end DVD's include component video outputs (the highest quality video connection available). The new HDTV receivers and higher-end Satellite receivers also use component video. So to have the ability to switch video sources using the component video connections is a nice feature to have. The downside is that the AVR-3300 component video switching may not be quite up to spec for HDTV signals. In other words, with HD signals, there could be some degradation. Therefore, it is probably best to connect an HD box directly to the TV.

An important feature which somewhat "future proofs" the unit is the 8 channel input. First we had Dolby Prologic, then 5.1, and now 6.1 has arrived on the scene. While the Denon AVR-3300 supports the 5.1 format (as do most receivers in this price range currently) internally, one can upgrade to the new formats down the road with the 8 channel inputs provided on the back of the unit. The full 8 channels may be utilized for emerging formats, such as DVD audio. The downside is that most people, myself included, don't really care to have EIGHT speakers littered about the room!

Multi-room, multi-source capability is a feature not often found on units in this price range. This capability allows the receiver to send different sources to different rooms. So the kids could watch 'Toy Soldiers' on DVD in the family room while Beethoven is piped into the kitchen. Kind of neat.

I saved the best feature for last. The 5 Channel Stereo mode simply blew me away. I have had much experience with my old Yamaha's various DSP modes, such as "Hall", "Church", "Jazz Club", "Rock", etc. After the first week, when the novelty wore off, I never listened to music on any of these DSP modes again. They introduced a "reverb" effect and "muddied" up the music. So you can imagine that I was a bit skeptical of the Denon's ability to create a wonderful listening experience using all 5 speakers (the Yamaha used 4 speakers in their DSP modes). Boy was I wrong! The 5 Channel Stereo mode, which I thought I would never use, turned out to be the best feature on the unit in my epinion! The music is reproduced beautifully in this mode. Smooth, warm, clear and immersed in sound is the only way to describe it. None of the ugly effects that the Yamaha DSP modes created are present. I now listen to music solely in 5 Channel Stereo mode.

REMOTE CONTROL

I find the remote that comes with the Denon to be horrific. It does have learning capabilities and can handle macros. That is where the positives end. The "glow in the dark" buttons are useless at night. Only some of them glow, and not for too long, and not very brightly. The many similar shaped buttons are difficult to distinguish from one another in a dark room. And worst of all are the two slide switches that allow this universal remote to switch to other components. The switches have a number of "stops" which relate to the different components in your system, and even during the day it is a pain to stop the switch at the component you want to control. The tactile indication that you have come to a stop is weak, nevermind actually knowing "which" stop you have come to. At night, it is nearly impossible. My advice is to scrap it and buy an inexpensive remote such as the backlit One For All Producer 8 (at least until you feel the need to buy something like the Phillips Pronto - which is simply amazing).

PERFORMANCE (SOUND)

When I initially bought this receiver, the salesperson I dealt with at a local retail shop told me that there would be a HUGE difference between Dolby Prologic and Doly 5.1 (or DTS). I was skeptical that there would be that big a difference. Well, after hooking the Denon up and throwing in 'The Matrix', I quickly decided that the salesperson was right. Amazing sound! The Denon reproduced the Dolby 5.1 track flawlessly. I felt like I was in a theater, no, even better! Now, most of the Dolby Digital receivers out there for lots less money than this Denon would also perform admirably on Dolby Digital DVD's and blow away those used to Prologic. The true test for this receiver would be music.

After listening to 'The Matrix', I collected a bunch of CD's. Some classical, some alternative, some Jazz...you get the picture. What struck me immediately in listening to the music was how much warmer it sounded than my previous Yamaha. The Yamaha sounded edgy, very bright. In contrast, the Denon sounded smooth and warm. I was extremely happy with the Denon's performance. Music sounded great.

MANUAL & SETUP

I found the manual to be well laid out, as far as manuals go. These components are quite complex, and to put everything in a format that the average consumer can understand clearly is a job I'd rather not have. With that in mind, I found the manual relatively easy to follow. By following the manual, which guided me through the on-screen Denon setup utility, I was able to get the unit up and running in about 30 minutes. The speaker delays are set automatically by inputting the distance between the main listening position and each of the speakers. Very cool!

The last item was mapping the digital input of the Denon to the DVD input, which was a snap. Overall one of the easiest setup procedures I have experienced for such a sophisticated piece of gear. I should mention that I am the type of guy that is always asked by friends "hey Mike, can you come by and hep me hook this up?" So, for someone with no experience, it would probably take at least twice as long.

PROBLEM

Things were going so, so well with this receiver that I should have known there would be a bump in the road. After about 4 months, I started to notice a very high-pitched "whine" coming from somewhere when listening to music, or especially when watching a DVD at quiet points during a movie. I had no idea where it was coming from, so I got up close to the component rack and started randomly turning things off. Sure enough, when I hit the power button on the Denon, the "whine" ceased. I started listening for it more intently and learned that it usually happened when the receiver was hot. I jumped on the internet and found out that the AVR-3300 has an internal fan (although you couldn't tell by looking at the outside of the unit). I found that a number of people had fan bearings that were failing on the AVR-3300's, creating a high-pitched "whine". Apparently, Denon has since fixed the problem. So if the unit is one of the early AVR-3300's, it could be susceptible. I will be bringing my unit in for service to have this corrected. Fortunately, the Denon's come with a generous (these days) 2 year warranty.

SUMMARY

Other than the issue mentioned in the above paragraph, I am elated with my purchase of the Denon AVR-3300. I realize that some folks would make a big stink about the "whine", but I feel confident that the unit will be repaired and will be fine thereafter. I am consistently blown away by its performance, and the units build-quality is exceptional. I would recommend this receiver to anyone looking for an A/V Receiver that excels at Home Theater AND music. As I clearly stated, the 5 Channel Stereo mode is phenomenal.

Future readiness, sound, power, and price are all excellent.

Manual isn't great, but it works. Remote could be better, but I really don't find it confusing.

After about a month of owning this unit I really couldn't have asked for more without paying for one of the numerous $3000 receivers that are out now. I haven't had any trouble AT ALL with the unit overheating or with fan noise. In fact, I'm not even positive my 3300 has a fan in it because it is soo quiet!!! Just to set the record straight, I'm running NHT Super 2s in front, the LARGE HDP-2 surrounds, and a Super Center, and an AR sub: I'm sure many of you are aware that NHTs are not the most sensitive or efficient speakers around, but the Denon has no trouble pushing them. I haven't even turned the volume past -14 either, and that seems plenty loud to me. Plenty of power. The sound is GREAT too! It has the warmth and richness of a Nakamichi I used to own, plus it has more detail. I am very happy with my purchase. Before buying I asked one of the salesmen at Kief's if they have had any trouble with any of the AVR-3300s they have sold, and the answer was, "No." Still wanting to make sure to make the right choice I decided to demo a similar unit: The Onkyo Integra DTR-7. I looked at the Pioneer Elites, but the front panels are soo incredibly cheap it turned me away immediately. Anyways, the Integra DTR-7 they had left was a demo unit. After about a half an hour of trying to get the unit to work we decided the Onkyo was dead. So that was it. I told the salesman that'd I'd take the 3300 with the latest serial number on it. He had me follow him to the back, we found the latest one, and I was ready to go. It's really too bad that there have been problems plaguing the quality control of this unit. I suggest to anyone thinking about getting the Denon to buy locally. It seems that the units that are giving people the most problems are one's bought off of the internet. I have to give the unit 5 stars for value because there isn't another unit on the market in the Denon's price range that has the future readiness. The sound is really good and seems to be a good match with NHT speakers. Overall, I'll give the 3300 4 stars because the Denon 5800 is out now. That's the definition of a cost no object 5 star unit. My thanks to Kief's in Lawrence.

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi, Sony, Onkyo, NAD, Pioneer Elite etc.

Effertless Sound quality, build quality!

Remote is pretty bad!

Let me start by saying good speakers will make the biggest differance in home theaters sound quality. With that being said I set out to see if a $1000 receiver would make a differance in the performance of my mid level home theater. The answer was HELL YES! I tried all the above products and own the Sony STR-DE925 for about a year now. None of the other products could match the sound qaulity for BOTH home theater, music and features as the Denon AVR-3300. I love this receiver! It has a effertless power and smooth sound you would not expect from a product in this price range. After hooking this up to my system I am hearing things from my 45 DVD collection that I have never heard with the Sony. Dont get me wrong I loved my Sony but it just cant compete with the Denon. I love the DACs so much that I use my Sony DVP-S530 DVD player via digtal coax to listen to CDs. Leaving my 5 disk CD player just for beer filled party listening. This receiver seems to make the walls melt away in my living room, putting me in the movie rather then just watching it! I never got that feeling with my Sony with the same speaker set up. Unlike others I do use the DSP modes. I have Cox Cable unfortunatley not all channels come in stereo, well Mono Movie mode really helps. I also love the wonderful on screen displays. Five channel stereo is realy cool but I prefer Direct mode for serious CD listenig making stereo mode unused. A word of caution use a sound meter to set your channel levels as this made a huge differance in performance. The only thing negitive about this product is the remote. I hate the slider switches, and you cant learn any commands for VCR-1 or VCR-2. This means I cant learn the number keys I have to push + or - until I find the TV program I want. The manual sucks and Micro command programming is hit and miss until you figure out the remote after trial and error programing. When learning commands from other remotes tap the button on the componets remote you are learnig from trust me it makes all the differance in how fast the remote sends out IR comands to your none Denon components. I bought mine for $940 including tax. I know that the Denon AVR-4800 is coming out soon but the Dolby EX uses a matrixed mono center channel. This reminds me of the old Pro-logic days! No thank you I will stick with totaly descreate 5.1! And if they ever come out with Descreate 7.1 I can always add this to my Denon. Oh I forgot to mention this thing has HDTV capable video inputes! Now that's looking ahead. I never will use the dual surround speaker function as I think mono-pole surround speakers are the best type of speaker for music and home theater. I recommend this product very highly! My system includes the following.

Toshiba 36" TV
Sony DVP-S530 (DVD player)
Sony 5 disk CD player
Sony CF-940 (VCR)
Denon AVR-3300
All Definitive Technology Speakers
Pro Center C-2 (center)
Pro Tower 400s (Front)
Pro Monitor 200s (rear, but might upgrade to Pro Tower 400s)
Power Feild 15TL (LFE only Sub)
All Monster Cables
Terk Pi AM/FM anntena

Happy Listenig Gary Bitters

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE925, Yamaha 995,2095,DSP-A1

5 channel stereo, value, sound quality, lots of inputs

dodgy remote, flimsy binding posts, tiny volume indicator, overrated power

My first 3300 ended up having a bad amp (it took 10-15 minutes for any signal to come out of it), which was a bit of a letdown. No problems with my second unit so far...i am very impressed overall with this unit for the price ($795 shipped from AVI electronics, an authorized Denon dealer) the sound is great, very smooth, if lacking a bit of punch. the 105*5 watts is overrated imho, as i really have to crank this baby up to get decent sound out of my b&ws.

however, the 5 channel stereo is worth the price of the unit alone, its hard to listen to just 2 channel stereo anymore. this was the major selling point for me over the yamaha, which had better performance for movies. (i use my receiver 80% for music) not to say the denon doesnt perform well for movies, it just doesnt immerse you as good as the yammy. the 3300 has 5 svideo inputs which is superb, i have my dvd, vcr, psx, and n64 all hooked up to it. i plan to add a dreamcast also. making the digital inputs assignable allows for great flexibility.

the weaknesses of this unit are its remote, which isnt very user friendly (whats with those slide switches to change sources). still better than the silver yammy remotes tho...the binding posts are flimsy and the volume indicator is microscopic. the unit is heavy but build quality not as good as the yammy. the dsps are pretty bad, but i never use them anyway.

im very nitpicky, but for the money this unit is superb. far from perfect, but you cant ask for perfection for 800 bucks!

Similar Products Used:

HK avr65 (total junk)
yamaha 995

Sound quality, ease of use

Front panel volume display is too small to read across a room easily.

What can I say? This receiver simply sounds incredible. The dolby digital decoding is amazing and it's DAC's produce a significant improvement in sound quality over what I was used to. I'm going to have to listen to all of my cd's and movies again. :-) The 5 channel stereo surround mode is very nice. I feed the second zone outputs to my old receiver and can watch a movie in the main room while a cd (or other source) is playing in the second zone. The build quality is quite nice, but the most important thing to me is the quality of the sound which is wonderful.

For the money, this receiver is an outstanding value. Highly recommended

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX870 (1991)

Sound quality, Value for money

Cheap speaker binding posts
Only 1 coax. digital input (has 3 optical ins but consumer grade Toslink is not recommended in comparison to coax.)

After waiting for what seemed eternity, I received my 3300. For the past week, I have used it only for stereo (was waiting for my surround spkrs) and it sounds good. I have PSB 500s for mains. No subs as the 500s can go pretty low. I really like the NAD sound and was worried if the Denon could match up, but I wasn't disappointed.
Now comes the bad part. After I hooked up the surrounds yesterday (PSB 1Bs - fine speakers in their own right), I discovered that the left surround channel was DOA. No sound. I tried everything, but failed. Test tones or any other audio was absent on the left surround speaker whether I used the A surround outputs or the B surround outputs. Needless to say, this has pissed me off a bit. I must now pack up this thing and send it back to California and again wait for ever to get a replacement.
I was expecting better things from Denon. My ratings reflect the DOA status of the receiver as potential buyers should be aware of lax quality control.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 7240PE
The Denon is my first 5 channel receiver

Surround sound and especialy two channel music (CD) sound.
Direct acces to direct, stereo and surround mode.
Fan/cooling system I did not hear it.
Settings can be memorized in each input and sound mode.
Subwoofer can be turned off in direct mode.

One AC outlet in the European model.
Rather one coax extra instead of a optical digital input.
Volume level on display difficult to read from 3-3,5 meters (11-12 feet).
On screen menu not compatibel with the PAL system.
Manual.
It seems that it will not play loud enough.

I have this receiver now for two weeks and a DENON 2500 dvd player for one week both on a trial basis and this is my first impression (quick review).

Made in Korea. So what. The Analog Devices SHARC processor is made in.....Hong Kong.

This receiver sound very good especialy with the DENON 2500 dvd player and in two channel CD sound (Direct mode, with the subwoofer turned off). Front loudspeakers B&W CDM 1.

One big problem i have was to get the on screen menu properly on my 9 year old tv. I had, via the TV menu, the input set on NTSC instead of the PAL system. A answer was not found in the manual.

It seems that i can get this receiver play loud enough. The volume level can be set from -60dB to +18dB. Listening to CD' s it is set on about -25 to -20dB which is 9 o' clock on a analog scale. Dolby Digital on a DVD i play round about -10dB. A video tape for example "Bad Boys" i played round -5 to 0 dB which is about 11 o' clock on a analog scale. When i raise the volume the sound stays clear but my impression was that the Onkyo 656 and my own NAD 716 could play louder. I am very curious if anybody has the same experience.
Distance to the front speakers is about 3,3 meters (10 feet). Room size (L-form) 40 square meters.

I give this receiver the benefit of the doubt, so 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 656