Ease of use, Clear sound, remote

None

I think this is the easiest receiver ever. After reading the reviews, I thought that I would have to give my wife written instructions followed by a 3 credit hour college course on Denon remote operation and receiver operation. She was using the system even b4 I had it set up. One knob changes the input and the other the volume. She wants to watch a DVD. Step one is select DVD using the selector knob step two is to watch DVD. It is the same with all the inputs. The remote is easy too. Yellow buttons select the input. The white button on the top select what the remote is operating. I am thinking of teaching my dog to use the system so it can turn the volume down when cars or animals go by. As easy as the system is to use, I think teaching the dog the concept of using the bathroom outside was more difficult. As for the sound of the system... Performance comes standard with Denon.

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Marantz sr-13

Lots of feautures, remote control very versatile and really back lit, 7ch stereo

Not enough power.

I dont how does the other guy say that at -15 this is too loud. I have to get it all the way up to -05 to notice something and good at 05+.

For the other things, its great, very versatile and a good music performer and a very low distortion even at high volumes.

I am using a set of paradigm Monitor 7v2 front and monitor 5v2 rear, CC-370 center and titan back.

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Kenwood, Thechnics SA-AX7, Technics SA-DX920

Excellent for home theater applications, Well built

Manual is poorly written, Somewhat weak for two channel listening.

The 3801 is an excellent reciever for home theater but, lacks the power necessary for two channel listening (Can't ask for too much in this price range ). When compared to other recievers in it's class and price range, this reciever blows away the competition.

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Carver, Sony,Yamaha

clean crisp power

No on screen menu with component inputs.
Poor manual button layout.
Poorly written info manual.
Remote initially is confusing but once you figure it out and program your other devices into it works well.

I have used a Denon Class A amp with Klipsch Chorus II speakers for about 10 years and love the combination. Now I have added High Definition TV and AVR 3802 and can't say enough about the sound quality realism it brings to my home theater. In my humble opinion I feel that Denon makes one of the best AV recievers on the market. Truely amazing. I still use my stereo amp for pure audio appreciation however.

My System:
RCA F38310 16:9 High Definition Monitor
Denon AVR 3802
JVC Progressive Scan DVD (Progressive Scan is an absolute must with high Def)
Klipsch RC-3 center speaker
Klipsch Chorus II Front Speakers
Klipsch RS-3 Surround Speakers (4)
Yamaha YST-SW800 10" 1000 watt Subwoofer
Denon DRA 1035R Reciever and CD player

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Sony Prologic Surround AV reciever.

Features for the price

Manual

I purchased this receiver in March after reading the many helpful reviews here. Now that I've used this receiver for 6+ months, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

I've been very happy with the unit overall. I consider it a great bargain (performance vs. price). I can't really add much to the many comprehensive technical reviews below.

The manual is somewhat confusing, and I'm still learning new stuff after 6 months. The set-up was not too difficult, although the non-banana plug speaker wire connections are tight. I am using the multi-zone feature, and I was surprised to find that the multi-zone speakers will only output analog inputs. The control of these speakers is also a little confusing, but it is a useful feature if you would like to use 1 amp to drive speakers in 2 rooms. It is also possible to hook-up a 6 or 7.1 H/T speaker set-up in conjuction with the multi-zone speakers and switch back and forth (although I don't do this).

I purchased online at www.acousticsounddesign.com. While they were not the very lowest price, their reviews were good and I found their service to be excellent. The receiver was shipped double-boxed (as advertised) which was a good thing since UPS managed to seriously mangle the outer box. I spent a considerable amount of time worrying about the "authorized dealer" issue but ultimately decided that the savings was worth the potential risk. I think that most electronics will either fail out of the box (and then could be returned to the internet/mail order guy within the 30-60 return period) or they will last a long time (longer than most factory warranty periods). This is also why I never by the extended warranties offered at chain electronics discounters. Finally, when someone suggested that the savings for purchasing online could easily fund a 3rd party extended warranty (and then some) I decided to buy online. I did try to negotiate with my local Denon dealer, but they lost any future business from me when they employed a series of ridiculous scare tactics to discourage me from purchasing from anyone but an authorized dealer. They would have had a much better shot at the business if they had leveled with me, given me a little discount, and explained that was the best they could do and still cover their overhead.

Overall, I'm very happy with this receiver. I still think it's a great deal even at the price I paid.

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First A/V receiver

Does everythign I could possibly dream of

None as far as I'm concerned

There's very little I can say that hasn't been said before in other reviews. In short, this reeciver is, as far as I'm concerned, perfect. I got a great deal on an open box model right as the 3802 was coming out, and I would recommend this receiver to anyone. I've read some of the other reviews, and the only thing I disagree with is that people seem to be very harsh on the manual/remote/setup. I agree that the manual is poorly written, and gives lousy explanations of many things (i.e various sound modes) but the only way to really determine the worth of those is to listen firsthand, not to read about what it's supposed to sound like. I haven't programmed the remote for my other components yet, but so far see no problems with it, and cannot understand whay people are so dissatisfied with it. As far as setup, this is my first receiver for my first home theater, and I found absolutely nothing complictaed or confusing about using the on screen menus to configure my system. In less that 30 minutes after making all connections I was enjoying the system. I would be happy to answer any more details anyone may have about this receiver or any of my other components, and I think this reeciver is well deserving of its high priase. Thanks!

My System:
Receiver: Denon 3801
DVD Player: JVC XV-SA70BK
CD Player: Yamaha CDC-685
Front Speakers: Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s
Rear/Center Speakers: Ascend Acoustics HTM-200s
Subwoofer: Hsu VTF-2
TV: Toshiba CN36X81

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None, first receiver

Best A/V Receiver for the money...Period

None for my needs

Some of these reviews make me laugh really loud.

The 3801 is the most complete A/V receiver I have ever owned or demo'ed for under $1200. While looking at the 4801 and dreaming about the 5801, the sales rep asked me if I ever looked at the 3801, it was a done deal. Some of the negative sound reviews I have to imagine are due to poor speaker quality or something other than the 3801. Dolby 5.1, Dolby 6.1, DTS, DTS-ES, Matrix kick all forms of a ss. I regularly ahve friends over who comment that "I never heard that on my system before!" Enough said.

Some of the controls are confusing at first, but I only had to set the system up once and never dealt with them again except for the occasional speaker upgrade. Everything is controlled from the remote, the on-board controls are limited, but who cares.

My system:
Denon AVR-3801
Denon CD and DVD
Klipsch KG 3.5 Main L&R
Klipsch KV2 Center
Klipsch KSP-S6 Surround L&R
Klipsch KG .5 Rear Surround L&R
Klipsch LF-10 Reference Sub

Don't buy anything without giving the 3801 or 3802 a chance.

Last note, I think you're crazy not to set up all 7 speakers for a surround system. I have tested my system with di-pole surrounds only, direct radiating only and my prefered set-up of di-pole surrounds with dual direct rear surrounds. It makes a huge difference.

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Yamaha, Earlier Denons, Harmon Kardon, Sony

Sound quality in all stereo and movie modes.

Ergonomics and that !@#@$#$ remote!

A great value for the money. Seven channel stero and DTS es in one box.
Sounded good in all stereo modes and for movie watching.
WHy did i sell it.
Well I was never able to fully learn how to use the remote even after reading the manual and it was pain to have my wife call me up at work complain that she couldn't change the channels on the tuner.
I changed over to the Technics SA-DA10 receiver. Doesn't have half as many features but costs half as much and sounds better in stereo, as a matter fact much better.
Thats right the Technics SA-DA10.
I hear no difference in DTS, they both sound excellent.
So while the Denon 3801 has a plethora of features its just too difficult to get them functioning for me to enjoy.

Overall the build quality was very good and I never had a problem with the unit from the day I brought it.
Five Stars for value.
Two stars overall, if you can't use the features when you want without a whole lot of hassle then that detracts from the enjoyment we seek in buying these toys!

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Technics, Pioneer , Sony, Harman Kardon , Carver, Onkyo etc. etc..

Excellent Sound, Plenty of Guts for My Purposes

Horrible Ergonomics- The Worst I've ever Experienced!!!

I can't add anything to the many reviews on the sound of this product- I used it for nearly a year, and for movies or for music the sound was wonderful. Even pipe organ music blasting others out of the room (but never me!!) remained clean across the audio spectrum.

HOWEVER- the requirement to turn on the TV to adjust the treble or bass is absurd! Good luck to you the first time you try to set your presets for FM!! And then once you do- just try to pick a station using the front panel or the remote!

First, try it without looking in the manual. Then try it after looking in the manual. You be the judge as to which is harder. A couple of times I actually could pick a station from the remote. But other times, trying exactly the same simple button presses would not affect the station selection.

OK- by now you're think I'm the technologically-impaired dork from hell. Not really- I'm not a geek (didn't Nixon say that?), in fact I'm fairly technical in a general sort of way- though I'm not boned up on the vitues of one DSP mode over another. But PULLEEEEEZZZZ- does one have to be a technofile to set an FM preset and then select it? Is it really necessary to turn on the TV to adjust the treble?

I gave up! I sold my unit on E-bay for $400 less than I paid for it. I'm on the market for something usable for $500- because listening to music that isn't reproduced quite as well is a hell of a lot better than wishing you could figure out how to use it!!

In contrast- the Denon 1802 is far easier to use (and lower powered)- but I may buy one of those- except that I'm so ticked off at Denon that I don't really want to reward them with my business. I'm also looking at Yamaha in the $500 price range.

My recommendation? Don't buy this unit until (in the store) you've actually figured out every setting you'll ever want to use. You just won't believe how unusable it is in many respects. I've been in technical product management for many years, and this baby is ergonomically appalling.

While this product is wonderful in many respects, just like Consumer Reports would do, I rate it "Not Acceptable."

Adequate power, phono input

Terrible control design, missing critical functions from front panel, CAN'T RECORD DIGITAL SOURCES!

Unfortunately, most of the positive reviews simply regurgitate what you could get from the specs (no offense to the reviewers). They fail to reveal what you will deal with once you set this receiver up and use it day to day.

This product is so hampered by design blunders that it can't even perform as a decent receiver. The features that do work are incredibly cumbersome to use. I'm not talking about complexity; I'm talking about astoundingly poor design decisions. It's almost as if Denon has never used a receiver before.

Let me list the gaffes:
1. There's no straightforward way to select a source. Let's say you're done listening to a CD and now you're going to watch a videotape. You can't just press a button to select the VCR as the source.

Instead of having a separate button for each source (like CD, VCR, tape), Denon forces you to turn a dial and watch the display for your choice to come up. So you regularly end up hunting through every input to find the one you want. Dials are for wide-ranging adjustments, like volume or frequency. They are not for choosing from six or seven possible options. When you have a small, constant set of options, you use BUTTONS, Denon.

Denon actually makes its bad decision worse by not showing the list of inputs anywhere. The knob would be more tolerable if it moved an LED indicator from one source to another on some kind of list. At least you'd know which way to turn the knob. Jeez, Denon, I've seen gear from the '50s that had selector knobs with five LABELED positions on them. You're telling us you can't figure that out in 2000?

2. There's no way to change radio stations on the receiver. Unbelievable. Again, instead of having a row of buttons for your favorite stations, Denon has...NOTHING. Not even an up/down pair of buttons for scanning. You have to walk back to your remote control, change its mode, and then use its keypad to select your stations.

3. There's no way to turn off speakers at the receiver. Think about it: To plug in headphones, you must be standing at the receiver. But to turn off the speakers (which you undoubtedly will do for headphone listening), you have to walk back to your REMOTE CONTROL and switch the speakers off. Why would you even have this control on the remote? This isn't just pointless; it's inventively stupid.

But it gets better: You can't turn the speakers on and off from the front panel, but you CAN independently adjust CHANNEL LEVELS. This is the one thing that it's IMPOSSIBLE to do properly while you're standing at the receiver. You must be seated in the listening area to properly set your channel levels, don't you think? But Denon puts this feature on its mostly non-functional front panel. Incredible.

4. This may be the worst one: Let's say you have a CD or DVD player connected to the receiver digitally (very likely, and certain if you have a DVD player without built-in surround decoding). Now let's say you want to make a tape from a CD, to use in the car or your Walkman. YOU CAN'T. If you connect a source to the receiver digitally, you can't record audio from it. The receiver sends nothing to the analog outputs that go to your tape deck or VCR, so you can't tape music from a disc onto cassette or copy a DVD to videotape. A Denon rep verified that this flaw exists with almost all the receivers in their line, and is only corrected in the 4800 series. It makes the switching and I/O capabilities of this receiver a SHAM. Disgusting.

And this has nothing to do with copyguarding. Copy restrictions only apply to digital copying.

5. The remote simply stops issuing a command at random points. This comes up when you're scanning through a videotape (or disc too, probably): You'll be holding the fast-forward button down, the remote display will say "FF", but it will eventually just stop sending the command. Your VCR will drop back into Play, and you'll have to re-press the button and wait for the VCR transport to go back into fast-scan. This is incredibly irritating when you have to press FF 10 times to get through four minutes of footage. Of course, it could be a defect in my control, but somehow I doubt it.

The remote also follows the ignorant trend of being fatter at the back and getting thinner toward the front. Ever try holding a cone upside-down? This remote design fails for the same reason, folks. Hand-held controls should taper into the palm, or not at all.

And, like many so-called "universal" remotes, this one lacks critical buttons. Come on, Denon, where is the Enter button? Where are the Menu and Setup buttons? So many VCRs and other devices need these buttons that it's a fraud to call your remote "universal." Hell, I wouldn't even call it "flexible." I think "unwieldy" would be best.

Just about any entry in this class of receiver is going to sound fine. The prices are pretty competitive. So you're left with two major criteria: inputs and outputs, and usability. The only extra thing Denon gives you is a phono input, which Yamaha irritatingly does not. But do yourselves a favor: buy the Yamaha and a phono preamp if you need it. Because Denon's products are a pain in the a s s.

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