I just got it and will update soon.

There is no place to review the Marantz so i put it with the DENON 3802 which I just replaced the Marantz with. I did not follow others warnings about the new CHINA manafactured Marantz 6200 that smoked and burned the first time I turned it on. I have yet to see a good review. I will post my results on the DENON ASAP. Trust the reviews, and stay away from the new Marantz models!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz sr6200

Plenty of inputs/sound is right on/clear sound at both low and high volumes

Owners manual(big surprise there)/tuner functions/the fact that my wife can barely use it(I guess thats more of a strength than a weakness)/

My system includes:
Sony DVD C650D
Sony VCR SLVN51
Pioneer Laserdisk Player LD870

Speakers:
Mains: MTX P215h
Center: Kenwood CFS200
Surround: Kenwood CFS200
Rear Surround: Kenwood RS05
Sub: SW200

I test listened any number of receivers in its price range and was most impressed with its ability to reproduce both Classical and Hard Rock genres of music faithfully. I wasn't impressed that you cant tune the radio manually without the Remote(thanks to the wonderfull Instruction Manual that only took a week to figure that out). That is the only problem I had with it.As for the Owners manual it needed to be more clear on the Remote functions and less space used on hooking up components(after all if You spend 1000+ on a receiver and have no clue on setting it up, you really have no business doing it at all).

A tip this is like most receivers it will sound alright thru poor sounding speakers but it really shines thru better more efficeint speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Sony(dont know model #'s)

Overall sound

remote

For the money, the this receiver smokes the Onkyo 787
Better, more even sounding amp section (not overly tinny). It's not THX certified, but that's just marketing. Their engineering standard for processing and power starts at minimum 2000 sq. feet. Most people don't have that kinda setup.
I do home theaters for a living, trust me on this one, buy the Denon.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 787, Yamaha, Pioneer

Phenomenal sound, power and clarity.

Remote is annoying, should have a quicker way to switch between inputs...

This is one great piece of equipment. 7-channel stereo with 9 speakers and the sub hooked up sounds great. For the money, you really can't beat it. Lots of options for the tweakers out there and the DTS-ES puts you in the center of the action... I love bragging about my ten speaker theater setup... Previously used the Onkyo 656. This smokes it with the DTS(-ES) and the continuous power. I laugh when I realize its too loud at -15 volume. The Onkyo wouldn't even kick out sound until you turned it up to 1/4. The Denon unit performs smoothly in all aspects of operation. Couldn't be happier for the money...
If you are looking for a centerpiece for a home theater that doesn't break the bank, don't look any further. Go out and haggle your local salesman for a $900 AVR-3801...

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, HK

Dolby Digital, DTS, Stereo mimaging, Clean power

None I can think of.

I have this for 2+ months now. I wanted to give this update.

I don't know if it's my speakers (Atlantic Technology 170)or the receiver, but the stereo seperation and enhancement just keeps getting better.

It's excellent now.

My Atlantic Technology 170's, though they are rated at 8OHMs and 87db sensitivity, they actually run under 5 most of the time. MY 3801 has never gotten hot, or had the need for the fan to run. Kool! (considering it runs warm most of the time [but not hot]). It drives these speakers cleanly without incident.

This thing is so clear and powerful. Visitors, are always shocked at the clarity and loudness it puts out.

Good job Denon.

ML

Similar Products Used:

Similar Harmon Kardons, Onkyo's

Power, 6.1 surround, remote and everything else

Nothing

I think this reciever is fantastic, it lived up to all my expectations, and more. First of all I would like to say that the remote is very handy, you can program it to every brand, and I got rid of four other remotes. And the makro function i amazing just one push an it turns everything on.

In surround mode, this reciever is one of the best. I really enjoy dts-es movies its really cool. The amplifier has more than enough power. With its enormous power-transformer it is also capable of delivering enough current, what-so-ever.(the reciever have ben measured to deliver about 100w pr. channel in a swedish hifi magazine.

The 7channel stereo is also a very satisfying mode, as you can use all your speakers when you listen to music. (Something the better half thinks is nice when seven huge spakers is placed in the livingroom)

I am glad Denon didn't put 40 dsp modes in it since it is a useless feature that I never use, and would have pushed the price up!

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood krf-w7030d

Very God DD,DTS & DTS ES. Even CDs sound nice if taken through the analog output

It will take some time to learn the remote.

A upgrade from the HK was like night and day. The Denon is a very god reciever and could easy cost a lot more.
Like the way it produce the digital sources from movies, VERY NICE.
Its nice when a lot of components are the same as in the big brother Denon AVC A1 SE.
A lot of my friends are surprised what it has done to my speakers , some think that i bought new speakers to.
For the DTS-ES sound i just tried with T2-Sp ED
and The sound was just awesome..But still waiting for new realeses to try with.


I could strongly recomend to give it a try.If you by from a HIFI specalist you pay a bit more but at least you know what you get.

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR-65

DTS-ES, Neo; Built quality, Sound (Direct mode and multichannel)

Manual

Despite being a beginner in HT gear, I do belive people listen not in the same way (we do have different voices, don't we?). And after some listening with a friend's DSP A1 and running around a lot trying others receivers, I could feel how Denon has superior sound. Does not matter 40s DSP modes, if the machine can't give you a good stereo music, and Denon means to me warm sound.
I do not agree with Sound and Vision report about DTS Neo: It is indeed a stereo to multichannel device, specially with Baroque music (all Corelli concerto Grosso, for instance) and the way Mozart did his n. 40. Also, Pink Floyd worked well with DTS Neo.
I'd like to see a GOOD manual, with more tech talk about DD, DTS and SHARC processors. Anyone worth to spend $1000 on a receiver deserves it.

System:
Denon AVR 3801
Marantz CC 3000 Changer
Sony DVP s 7700 DVD
Mirage FRx 7 front
Mirage FRx C center
Mirage FRx 5 rear A
Cambridge Soundworks Dipolar rear B
Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble back s.
Cambridge Soundworks Bass Cube 8 LFE.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha DSP A1

Great sound quality. Good home theater features. Easy to set up

Remote is awkward. Display on unit hard to read. Manual is very confusing if you have never used another DENON componant before.

I just got my new receiver today and it is a big difference from Dolby Pro Logic. As an initial review this will just go over my first thoughts on the unit. Plugging things in was straight forward enough, but I would recomend banana plugs because the binding posts are VERY cramped. Once everything was plugged in, the initial set-up was pretty easy. You just follow the on screen menus.Once everything was set-up I popped in a DVD and heard an immediate difference from my old DPL receiver. DTS and Dolby Digital are great and they make watching the movies a much better experience.
Once I had the initial set-up down, I got into the manual to see how to do things like program the remote and save radio stations. This is where it gets confusing. The manual is written very poorly and the remote doesn't make things any easier. I was even able to get the remote stuck in learning mode and had to yank a battery out to reset the remote. It seems that DENON doesn't really think when they design remotes because this one while it looks kind of cool, is very cumbersome to use. Overall there are not that many features different from my old receiver except the better surround sound and more power. Overall I am happy so far and can't wait to watch more movies.

My system:
DENON AVR 3801
DENON DCM 260 CD Player
Sony DVP S360 DVD Player
Sony SLV 678HF VCR
Toshiba TV
B&W 602 fronts bi-wired
B&W CC# center
B&W 302 rears
Velodyne CT 80 Sub
Tara Labs cable for fronts
Tara Labs Coaxial for DVD

Similar Products Used:

DENON AVR 2500

Sounds great, lots of inputs, future proof, DTS-ES

remote, manual, needs more digital inputs/outputs

Well I am back. I might have returned this unit to get a Marantz sr-8000 instead because I went to someone's house to see theirs. There is not that much of a difference in sound quality between the two receivers that I could tell and my friend had much larger speakers.
The differences that I noted were more digital inputs and outputs and a remote that is more programable. The extra inputs are nice if you need tham but I only have a DVD player for now anyway. The remote is what would have swayed me to get the Marantz because I had heard that it was a great remote and the Denon remote is pretty crappy. Once I saw the remote, I knew that it was too big and would eat batteries for breakfast with the backlighting turning on avarytime a button is pressed. The Marantz remote can learn almost all of the buttons on all of your other remotes, but how often do you really need that angle change button? The Denon remote knows the basic control buttons for most remotes and that is all you really need. One nice thing about the Marantz remote is that the receiver and remote can be told what to control with only one button instead of multiple buttons like on the Denon. One press of the DVD button tells the remote to control the DVD player. But if it is pressed twice quickly, the receiver switches to the DVD input and the remote is ready to control the player. This is a nice feature because with the Denon remote, the remote needs to be in AMP mode to change the inputs and than changed to DVD mode to control the player. I know it is just a few more buttons to hit, but the feature is nice. Also the Marantz remote has four macro buttons while the denon only has two.
The reason that I am staying with the Denon is because it has more expandability compared to the Marantz. The denon has an eight channel external input while the Marantz only has a six channel ext. input. Also the Denon has the surround back capability while the Marantz does not. The display on the Marantz is a bit nicer but I don't really need to see which speakers are in use at one time. The layout of inputs on the back of both receivers are pretty much the same and I would reccomend banana plugs for either receiver. The speaker binding posts are cramped.
Both of these receivers are around the same price and it really depends which little features you like best. Both units sound great and either is a great buy. I chose the Denon because I had previously owned a Denon receiver and I liked how it sounded with my speakers. I have noticed that the Denon runs pretty hot but that is not a problem for me at the moment because it is open to the air.

My system:
Receiver DENON AVR 3801
CD Player DENON DCM 260
DVD Player SONY DVP S360
VCR SONY ???
TV Toshiba ?????
Fronts B&W 602 biwired
Center B&W CC3
Surrounds B&W 302
Subwoofer Velodyne CT-80

Similar Products Used:

DENON AVR 2500, Marantz sr-8000