7.1,dts-es,8-ch input

Only one coaxial input,jacks aren't gold plated

I have owned the 3801 for about one month and since day one the unit has not been turned off(talk about burn in).The 3801 gets a little warm to the touch no more so than the Onkyo both have built-in fans.This unit has been a stellar performer on movies and music.Movie soundtracks are clear and intelligible dialogue is precise and the ambient sounds are well ambient like they should be.My complaints are probably more preference than anything else,1)only one coaxial input,2)the jack pack is not gold plated.Anyone who wants a 7-ch dts,5.1,dts-es for less than $2500 large the 3801 will suffice.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo Integra Tx-Ds838

Supports all sound formats including DTS-ES and DD EX
Powers 7 speakers nicely
Sound Clarity
Need I go on
DTS NEO 6 a plus over pro-logic

Only 1 coax input
Remote is good, backlight feature could have been better
Fixed Crossover at 80 hertz
No THX (who cares)

After much debate and auditioning I chose the Denon 3801. For me it was the right choice...price,power,quality,extras,etc. Honestly was not easy though as I had a VERY hard decision between the Denon 3801,Onkyo Integra 7.1,Pioneer Elite,and Marantz. After days of auditioning them I made my choice and have never looked back...and The Haunting in DTS-ES oh WOW! Get additional rears what a difference. The fixed crossover annoyed me being set at 80 hertz, but most new receivers are also set at this grrr. For 2 channel sources DTS-NEO 6 is a improvement over pro-logic, but will it be for Pro-logic 2 who knows. Hopefully Denon will release a firmware upgrade to support that. For music I feel it sounds great not too harsh or bright....and when lows come it sure does drop forget what others said about no bass that is BS.
I agree with the remote, it is good but the backlight feature sucks does not light up the buttons that matter the most. Build quality is great, but heavy and does get a little warm but not unlike most receivers. All in all I am very pleased do not hesitate to purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo integra 7.1
Pioneer Elite

7 channel stereo, DTS ES

Volume display too small
Bass lack of punch

This receiver sound so clear but compare to Kenwood, the bass is weak. I have to increase the bass tone to +8db to get good punch in bass.

I a bit confuse. The AVR-3801 which I have is heat-sinked with fan. I can see the fan wire. But I do not find the fan working even after half an hour of play at high volume (volume at 25db). It this normal? Reviewers said no fan maybe due to different countries voltage. Singapore uses 230V so fan is built in 3801. Denon engineer should certify this.

For break in time, what is the correct method. Do I have to on the 3801 continuous for 20 to 25 hours without any stopping. What type of music and volume?

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood KRF-V8881

Lots of Features, Remote (for that price), Sound

Only one digital coax, it does get quite hot (but no probs so far)

This is really a great Receiver for that price. But saying that it could drive 10 speakers @ 180Watts/channel is ridiculous. Even 7 @ 105 Watts/channel is not the truth: With max. 400 Watts Power consumption?! Figure it out yourself. But it also simply isn't true that it would sound too bright or would be lacking bass - like "jas s" and "steve" mentioned. The opposite is true: It delivers lots of low end energy. Before I was always a little dissatisfied with the sound of my Canton RC-L main speakers. They were just too bright. But now I realized that it was also because of the Onkyo! With my new Denon they sound much more pleasant and relaxed. Certainly pure stereo amps can sound better - but for a surround-receiver at that price there's IMO no competition.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 656

The latest processing (without the THX club logo), great sound, features, doesn't heat up, digital out, ...... can go on and on

none for the price

I got this instead of the 5800 that I was originally considering. Its the same machine without the THX club logo on it, and of course with lower power. I regard THX certification as nothing more than a club membership. It really doesnt make any difference if I am in the club or not. It only makes sense if all your equipment is THX certified (including the the room that its installed in). We all know there is probably nobody in the world that has all the equipment THX certified including his listening room. So I am not the kinda guy that would fall for the THX crap. The receiver has cinema-eq and that about all the THX I need in my HT revceiver. I am going to spend the remaining cost of the 5800 on buying a 200w/ch x 6 B&K7260, and go outboard with the amplification. I think the denon 3801 + B&K 7260 combo can kick the THX-5800's ass out of the room any day. Ok enough THX bashing, and now to the listening tests.

I hooked it up with 6 speakers (infinity's) and a velodyne CT120 sub, and fired up my HT. Watched T2 and the toy story2, and was amazed at the sound placement behind my head . The bullets in T2 were hitting right on my head instead of veering to the right or the left with my old receiver (Yammie 795A). The sound was much warmer and laid back than the yammie whichh I have always felt was more of a in the face kinda sound. I like laid back open sound stage (thats why I want to go with the BK7260, cos B&K's are the warmest sounding amps in the industry for the price) In 2 channel music the sound placement was phenomenal. every instument was detailed and locked to a particular location in 3-D space. The vocals esp female vocals very soft and detailed. The 5 channel stereo gave me the feeling of a live performance. All in all this is a great receiver with tons of features, and a price that makes is the best bang for the buck receiver in the whole market out there. Buy it and you wont regret it and won't upgrade it for a long time.

P.S all the folks that havent felt the sound to be very good need to break in the reciever for atleast 20-25 hours, before any listening tests can be performed. Denon's are kinda slow on the break ins. I broke it in for 20 straight hours at loud volume, and the thing was only luke warm to touch, so over heating is not a problem if you have plenty of space on top of the receiver.

Similar Products Used:

none for the price

Versatility

Remote, Owners manual

I must say that I was a bit biased toward Yamaha before this purchased. I loved my RXV-793 which was purchased back when the whole home theatre thing was just getting started. But as more and more DTS titles started appearing, I began to feel left out since the 793 did'nt support DTS. Combining this with emergence of the 6.1 channel formats and I could no longer resist the urge to upgrade.

I looked at the Yamaha RXV-3000 first. But it required an additional external amp to drive the sixth channel and was priced at $2000. The next step up at the time was the Denon 5800. I was very close to plunking down $3000 + for this monster when the 3801 was announced. What a deal ! Basically the same reciever in terms of functionality (With a little less power) as the 5800 without the premium for THX certification and the $500 Atkis remote. I listened to both at my local dealer driving the same speakers. The difference in sound quality was almost non-existant. So I ponied up the $ 1200 for 3801. I was a little unhappy about having to pay manufacturers list price, but after much research had come to the conclusion that I wasn't willing to accept the risks of buying the product on-line.

Connecting the reciever to the my components was relatively easy, but only because I have been through this many times before. God help me, If I had to rely on the instruction manual ! Anyway here is a breakdown of my current system configuration before I get into any details about the 3801 performance:

Reciever: Denon AVR-3801
DVD Changer: Sony DVPC660
Video Games: Sony Playstation 2
Digital Cable: Motorola
Front Spks: Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR950
Center Spk: Boston Acoustics VR910
Surround Spks: Boston Acoustics Micro 90X
Rear Surrounds: Boston Acoustics Micro VRS Dipoles
Subwoofer: Velodyne CT150 (15", 250 Watt)
Television: Mitsubishi VS6042 60" rear projection

For home theatre, the reciever completely kick butt! The sound is crystal clear at all volume levels. I am definitely hearing things that were missed before. The sound is much more natural and warm than with the Yamaha. With this reciever the only parts of movies that seem loud are the parts that are supposed to be. DTS mode is spectacular. I can't believe there are people who can't hear the improvement over straight Dolby Digital ? All functions have worked as advertised. I have had no problem with the reciver selecting the correct sound format when in auto mode including the newer DTS ES format like in Terminator 2 Special Edition: It also correctly picks up digital & DTS signals from the new playstation 2 gaming system. All in all I would give this reciever top rating for performance, value and build quality.

The only real downsides are the remote and the owners manual. The remote just doesn't cut it in my opinion for a complex set up. I will continue to use my Sony programmable touch screen remote. The manual is nothing but confusing. It does a very poor job in distinguishing the purpose of certain functions and when they are relevent, useful, or even available. Only many hours of experimentation helped clear the fog.

I should also mention that I have yet to have an opportunity to connect the additional rear surround speakers for testing of the 6.1 sound effects. That will be this weekend's project. I will post again later.

All in all, I don't think you can beat this reciever when looking at function, quality and value. You can do better with a reciever like the 5800 or by going the separates route, but the noticable performance for dollar spent ratio shrinks rapidly beyond this product.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV-793

Spacious sound quality, sound seperation, and a barrage of inputs. The remote (as far as remotes go that are included w/ receivers).

*NONE*

I have sampled and carefully listed to a list of receivers a mile long that are considered at ther top of the mid/high end receiver ladder. Marantz makes a great receiver with wonderful stereo sound and musicality. Nakamichi also makes a nice receiver ie: AV-10 but it misses out on some features and inputs that should be included ina high performance and high end reciever.

Now getting to the unit in review, the Denon AVR-3801. I was expecting this unit to be very similar to the 3300. I was wrong. Although the 3300 had many great qualities to it, it also had downfalls ... heated up rather quickly, and could sound sterile at times although it was very detailed - not to mention the remote was an utter eye sore. The 3801 has built uo from that model and calls it the 3801. It gets warm, but does not get hot, or overheat even after 8 hours of constant play. It has an amazing clarity of detail even more so than the 3300, and it also adds the highly debated 6.1 quasi playback, as well as DTS ES and 7.1 option for future compliance. I had liked the Marantz sr-7000 and 8000 more then the denon 3300 because it was a better sounding receiver in stereo mode in my opinion. But not anymore -- After the break in of the denon AVR-3801 you will find a musical beast that is even more powerful and detailed then the marantz, and is still spacious and full of vibrance.

Denon AVR-3801 is not quite as good as seperates, but it is the closest thing anyone will find.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz sr-7000 and 8000, Denon AVR-2801 and AVR-3300, Rotel 965, Nakamichi AV-8 and AV-10, Pioneer Elite 35tx, and Onkyo tx ds-787.

DTS 6.1 discrete, DTS Neo:6, Sound, flexibility, etc.

Limited digital inputs (1 coax, 3 opticals)

This unit represents one of the BEST bargains TODAY for a powerful, full-featured A/V receiver. To disspell an earlier criticism regarding sound quality. The 3801 will sound a bit sterile until it's broken it. It won't sound its best until its been played for about 80-100 hours. Any evaluations conducted on units with less time will not reflect the 3801's true sonic character.

Though the 3801 does not have a setting for "pure direct" pass through of analog signals (DIRECT setting merely bypasses the tone controls), you can achieve this by routing your analog signals through the external channel inputs. The sonic improvement is substantial.

I've done a brief comparison between the 3801 and the AVR-4800, they sounded so close it was hard to tell them apart. Also, the 3801 came darn close to the Yamaha RX-V1, which cost more than twice the price.

If you're considering an A/V receiver for up to $2,000, the 3801 should be at the top of your short list of units to audition.

Definitely a best buy!

Similar Products Used:

AVR-4800, RX-V1, & others

Many features

none really

I just have a few questions, it would be great if someone could help. Does anyone who owns this, when playing a dvd in dolby digital, does the orange dolby digital word appear on the right of the screen, like the pro logic appears when playing dolby surround. Also how do you play dolby digital surround ex encoded dvds and what mode do you put the receiver in? And are you susposed to initiate the microprossesor when you set it up or when it isn't functioning properly?

Build Quality (Made in Japan), Rich Sound, Features, Bang for the buck, Pre-programmed remote

Not enough digital coax inputs (only 1!)

Researched forever and narrowed down (like so many others..) to Denon’s AVR--3801 and Onkyo’s TX-DS787. An interesting thread posting on http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Forum14/HTML/029142.html questioned the power rating of the Denon when powering 5 and 7 channels, while praising the Onkyo tilted my decision towards the latter.

I have purchased the unit along with a set of Klipsch Reference (see system description below) from Mike at www.acousicsounddesign.com. (Great pricing and excellent service) hookup was easy, the manual straightforward and the remote actually very nice. HT performance is very good. I also loved the feature that allows the user to insert a name to preset radio stations. However, music sounded way too bright for my taste (yes, I know the Klipsch are bright…). It also happens to have a slight cosmetic blemish on its display. I thought of exchanging for the same unit, but Mike suggested that I try the Denon AVR-3801. I jumped at the proposal. BTW, Acoustic Sound Design stood behind the merchandise and never flinched through the process. They arranged for UPS pickup (at their expense) and followed through. These guys make buying through the net a pleasure.

The Denon sounds much richer. The remote is not as nice. However, it is pre-programmed, so I was able to just enter a code for my TV and DVD and Presto! – It is done. The Onkyo has only a learning function. The Denon comes slightly short by not enabling simultaneous, powered hookup of rear surround and zone 2 speakers. You must choose. HT performance is about equal, with a slight edge to the Denon, again.

Overall, you cannot go wrong with either receiver at this price range ($750-1000). It was written countless times before – you really should audition the combination of receiver and speakers of your choice to make a final decision (don’t worry about interconnect cables, speaker wires and digital sources, use a CD or DVD player hooked digitally to test the receiver’s DAC)

My system:

Receiver: Denon AVR-3801
DVD: Toshiba SD-1600
CD: Denon DCM-370
Fronts: Klipsch RF-3
Center: Klipsch RC-3
Surrounds: Klipsch RS-3
Sub: Klipsch KSW-12
Cables: AR’s

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS787