Superb 2 channel music reproduction. Pure Direct mode is the best. Excellent surround capabilities, and PLENTY of power. Check reviews at www.homecinemachoice.com if you think this thing is underpowered and Pioneer isn't. They actually test that.

The remote is good but it did not learn my DVD players controls very well and is lacking a few buttons that would help in controlling the TV. The manual is also not layed out real well. A FAQ in the back would be nice.

Ok, I now think that I can give a decent review of my new HT receiver. I've tested it with some favorite CDs, a couple new DVD Audio discs, and a number of different DVDs. I have to say that this thing is incredible. After about three months of researching this website and others I had narrowed my choices down to the Pioneer Elite 45TX and this Denon. I ruled out Onkyo because of the numerous problems that owners were reporting, Yamaha because of reviews I had read comparing it to Denon, and HK because the comparable model lacked the rear surround amp. The Pioneer and Denon went head to head at Soundtrack in Colorado Springs for two days. We listened to the HT settings first and it was a wash. The Pioneer sounded just as good as the Denon. Then came the 2 channel music tests. I listened to about 7 or 8 different CDs switching back and forth between the two, using the same CD player and speakers and it took some time but the Denon began to show its strength. The mid-range was stronger, as was the bass, and the highs were extremely clear. The Pioneer just lacked something. Even my wife could tell as we sat there listening to the two. She actually helped me get over my initial leaning toward the Pioneer. I thought I wanted the THX certification, but the difference in the stereo fidelity between the two changed my mind. Since I have had this home I've just been blown away. Listening to the DVD Audio recording of Stone Temple Pilots' Core album was the closest thing I have heard to actually being there seeing them play live. You could hear Dean actually plucking away at his bass strings. It wasn't just a base note, it was the action of the string and everything. Very impressive. On to Disturbed's new album on DVD-A. The base and the vocals were exceptional, with every other aspect of the songs falling right into place. Pearl Jam's Vitalogy and numerous other CDs followed and each and every one sounded better than I could have expected. The next step was to check out the HT capability how that I had it hooked up to my new DVD player and my speakers. The two test DVDs I decided on were Blackhawk Down and Lord of the Rings. Blackhawk Down won the emmy for best sound so I figured it was a good choice and wow did the Denon perform. Bullets whizzed around my head from every angle and I remember one shot fired from the gunner to the left that made me feel like I was back on the range for M-16 training. The Dolby sounded flawless. Next, the DTS mode on Lord of The Rings took my admiration of my new baby to a new level. I am a big fan of DTS and this receiver made me an even bigger fan. The battle with the cave troll was superb. The bass was tight and deep, the clang of the swords all around and the zip of the arrows were both very engrossing. Overall I have to say that I'm very happy with my choice and anyone who isn't needs to reevaluate their options at this price level. The Pioneer is close but doesn't sound as good musically, you can take your chances with Onkyo(the dealer I bought this from used to sell Onkyo but quit because of numerous problems with the amps giving out), HK's lack of a rear surround amp, and I just wasn't as impressed with the Yamahas. This is the best receive in the price range. The salesman that helped me had one on hold himself and another of the salesmen had one as well. For a salesmen who sells Denon, Sony, Pioneer, and Yamaha everyday to choose the Denon says something as well. I had a few issues with the remote which you can read below in the weaknesses, but other than that I love this receiver. Here's my set up: DVD Player: Pioneer dv-656a Front Speakers: Klipsch SP-1s (awesome) Surrounds: Klipsch KSB-1s Center: Cheap Pioneer (Klipsch SC-1 on the way) TV: JVC 36" D-Series Hooked with Monster XP speaker wire, Moster Digital Coax, Moster Inerlink 250 Audio Cables for the multichanell audio, and Phillips Magnavox Component Video connections. PS2 - hooked up via an S-video

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Extensively demoed the Pioneer VSX-45TX head to head with this product.

Powerful output sufficient for most HT or stereo applications. A very high grade AL24 DAC as a option of upgrade for a cd with digital output. The purist approach for music listening (DDSC mode)

Fancy remote with small print and a manual that is meant for engineers to read and leaves the average man lost in the technical jargon

Current Set up Main spkrs : Mordaunt Short MS 40s Centre spkr : Wharfedale Diamond 8 Center Surround : Wharfedale Diamond DFS (yes the funny looking triangular spkrs) Sub : KLH (sorry don know the model) DVD : Pioneer DV 656A (asian cousin to the 655) CTV : 29 Philips Monitor Flat I just had the 3803 for coming to a month and boy I was suprised at its seemingly never ending features. Everytime when I flip through the manual I find there's something I had missed in my earlier rounds. It has just about all the known HT formats and it's decoding capacity is quite impressive quite close to that of the Yamaha AZ1 only the concept is different in terms of the front effects speaker (Yamaha's proprietary design). What I was most impressed was its ability in plain old 2 ch arena. The soundstaging was very impressive as though I had changed my speakers setup as now the soundstaging had alot of spatial width n depth. In some audio phile recordings you can feel that the artist is right there behind the speakers n very live like presence and the musical details n layering was startling at times that u would think that someone else was in the room with you. (something which I have never experinced with integrated AV amp). Of course at its given price it has its limitations with a fancy back lit remote which I could only operate with my reading glass on otherwise it appears to be nothing more than a mess of buttons. To be fair I would say that design of the layout of the buttons were quite well done in the sense that they were grouped for certain functions ie input selection , decoding format etc hence enabling a blind bat like me to know which button to use after a period of getting used to. The power output of the amp is very impressive both in stereo and HT mode. It never seem to run out of steam even at very high levels (where u will be expecting yr neighbours to knock on yr door type levels) and the sound remains as it was on normal listening levels with no trace of hardening or harshness. For those out there who would want a sub 2K AV amp both for music and HT I would definitely recommend this unit as it would be able to serve in this two diverse areas of audio enjoyment. Finally, I must say to those reviewers out there who felt that the amp was not performing to the standards which most owners have experinced I would sugguest that you should read the manual again n again and to check on the status of your set up as in this machine almost every useable parameter can be adjusted and a maladjustment might be just be the cause of your displeasure.

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Yamaha RX 393 Rotel RB /RC 971

Excellent Sound Excellent Build Easy To Use Very Nice Remote

Worst Techniical Support For a Large Company. Worst manual ever seen.

I did a side by side sound testing of the Denon AVR 3803 and the Onkyo TX SR 800 for 30 days. Music The Denon sounded incredibile on music sources. The sound stage was wide and apparent. I have never heard music sound so good. The bass output was awesome, much more than the Onkyo at the same levels. The Onkyo sounded very flat and 1 dimensional, the sound stage was also 1 dimensional. I was surprised the Onkyo did not sound better. Also with the Denon, even on the pure mode, the sub worked, on the Onkyo, it was turned off by the mode settings. Another nice feature of the Denon is that it lets you send the bass to both the sub and the main speakers, for those speakers that have built in subs. Digital Movies Both receivers sounded very good on movies. I used Dolby Digital EX, THX Surround EX and DTS ES sources. Here both receivers were about the same. You may ask about the THX the Onkyo has. THX Surround EX is one of three 6.1 surround modes available and is just a variation of the Dolby Digital EX. The available surrounds are THX Surround EX, Dolby Digital EX, both of which have a matrixed back channel, and DTS ES, which depending on the source could be matrixed or discrete. On some scenes the THX was better, on other scenes the Dolby Digital sounded better and on other scenes the DTS ES was the best sounding. there was never an instance where one sounded better than the others on an entire movie. Analog Movies For analog sources both receivers had Dolby Pro Logic 2 which is optimized for 5.1 channels but can be used with 6.1 channels and DTS neo which is optimized for 6.1 channels. The Denon also has a Wide Screen 7.1 and the Onkyo a Enhanced 7.1 The DTS Neo and Dolby Pro Logic 2 sounded almost exactly the same, The Enhanced 7.1 sounded slightly better. But the Denon Wide Screen 7.1 was by far the best sounding on movies with analog sound. Remotes The Denon remote had a nice feel to it. While the Onkyo remote felt like cheap plastic. It was very easy to program the Denon remote, because of its LCD and the fact that it learned every command on the first try. The Onkyo took several tries on almost every key to learn the commands from the other remotes. It took several hours longer to program the Onkyo remote than the Denon remote. But in actual usage after programming the Onkyo remote was much easier to use, as the keys were in much more logical positions and the keys matched the original remote better. Manuals The Denon manual is a joke, they built an excellent receiver but didnt want to spend to write a decent manual. The Onkyo manual is excellent. Technical Support Onkyo has very good technical support. Denon technical support is a joke. They have no toll free numbers, and it is almost impossible to get any one to speak to. In fact Denon has only 1 person for technical support for its receivers in the US. I was able to speak to him for five minutes then he rudely hung up, because he had 5 other calls waiting. Rating Well its obvious the Denon is a better built and sounding receiver. But because of its manual and technical support, they are rated a tie at 3 stars. Also please dont buy the Onkyo because cnet gave it the highest rating, they are a technical company not an audio company. It like buying a house because a car salesperson told you to.

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Onkyo TX SR800

BEST NEW 1K CAN GET, PERIOD.

it has a strange effect on the tin eared.

If you combine the 3803 with good speakers its the best in its class period.You can't hook it to crappy speakers and not expect crappy sound.Very detailed sound,lotsa power,compare features/sound with any 1k and you'll see.

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yamaha,onkyo,marantz,

can process just about everything available,well! very good remote,I actually like it compared to my touch screen.beefed up pre/pro

small display,Denon please fix that and its as close to perfect as you can get for 1k.

Hey,this may just be the most sophisticated AVR available today for about 1k u.s.It has features/sound unmatched by any company at its price range.Check em' all out,feature for feature,spec for spec,you'll see.It don't matter to me what you buy,I just want you to try it because if you find something better JUMP ON IT.The ins/out,processing capabilities alone are worth 1k.I owned a 3802 for the last year and was very happy,but when I had a chance to upgrade for 250.00 I could'nt resist.The 3803 is much superior in sound/processing,the amps are about the same as the 3802.I tried 2k pre/pros,too little features for minor improvement in sound and no amps.It is a true giant killer,look at the 5803 specs at 4k. This avr actually rates a good strong 4.5

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I have heard most all between 500.00 and 2k.

Power Channel processing Learning remote

Remote could use another 2 macro buttons (only has 2) Denon will not honor warranty unless bought from official source which is almost always at full retail price. It was still $300 cheaper for me to buy at another etailer and buy an extended warranty.

For the price, this is definitely the best receiver in it's category. Field processing was superb, and the power output was a definite improvement over my old Sony receiver. Setup was not a problem, but I must admit the manual was lacking in explaining what certain features did and didn't do. I had no problem programming the remote - the inital codes got me 75% of all remote functions and it was a snap to learn the other features. Video up-conversion is also a big plus as I can now have a single input source to my TV. Only function I can't comment on is the 6.1 processing - I still have to hook up back-channel speakers. I would highly recommend the pure stereo mode for listening to music.

Stereo music reproduction and home theater production. Excellent resolution and dynamics. Upsampling to 96/24 bit for all digital PCM resolutions. Effortless power output. Flexibilty with video up-conversion, personal memory Plus, speaker arrangement, amplifier assignment, and numerous other performance features.

LFE subwoofer option allows the front loudspeakers to play full frequency while not routing the same bass signals to the subwoofer so that boosting does not occur. This feature is limited to Dolby and DTS sources only. While in stereo or other DSPs, even when large speakers are selected, the subwoofer will output the 'same' bass signals as long as subwoofer is set to "ON". Going into the individual sound modes, and then selected 'off' in the subwoofer level is the only way to shut off the subwoofer with stereo or DSP sources. Direct modes bypass(as they should) bass management on the front speakers and play full range regardless of speaker size. However the subwoofer again is reproducing the same bass frequencies and creating bass doubling. The direct mode independant subwoofer level can once again be turned off. With older Denon models, the only mode that had the subwoofer off feature was Direct. On stereo modes, the subwoofer level could only be turned down, not off with the older models. The AVR-3803 allows the subwoofer to be independantly turned off on all sound modes now.

Receiver has EXCELLENT music reproduction. The gentleman from Singapore must had the Dolby Digital Dynamic compression turned on. This receiver offers unstrained power all the way up to my ears limit of 70% of the volume control. The soundstage is wider than the Yamaha RX-V2300 I was comparing in my home. Also, the imaging is much more focused than the competeing Yamaha RX-V2300 while using both receivers in my home system. The Denon's sound offered more air and resolution in the high mids and trebles while not being quite as harsh and compressed as the RX-V2300. When volumes were pushed to very loud volumes, the Denon's character was effortless and unstrained displaying no difference in sonics. With the Yamaha, the sound becames conjested, the soundstage compressed, the bass thinned, and the sounded became shouty. The sound of the Yamaha became shouty, strained, harsh, and forward at very loud volume. This characteristic could be considered bright and fatiguing. The Denon's characteric didn't change at very loud levels and maintained it's neutral sonics. This is the best receiver I have ever heard. Better than even the Denon AVR-4800 receiver!

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Yamaha RX-V2300 and Yamaha RX-V2095.

Remote. Sound quality.Ease of set up. Options. Connections

None!!

I have had the Denon 3200 for 4 years. I have to say it has been the best receiver I have owned and have had many.It was hard to sell it to the neighbor!! I bought and installed the 3808 and was emediatly impressed. The sound stage is incredible and very dinamic. I noticed an increase in clarity on all fronts, and clean as a whistle.The Burr Browns reall are an upgrade with PURE sounding music.Movies are again without exception fabulous. Set up was a snap with an array of options the 3200 did not have. One nice point is the remote. Although more complex it can be easily set to the codes for all my equipment and prforms almost every task the same as five remotes all in one.You cannot go wrong with this one! You won't believe how good this sounds! Get it

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Denon AVR3200

-Enough power to drive your speakers -AL 24 pure direct decoding for 2 channel -component video conversion first of its kind -DTS 96/24 decoding -32 bit DSP

non-THX but it doesn't mind me for I have only a small theater room.

A mid-range priced receiver that works like a high-end reciever. The first reciever to provide component video conversion for your convenience. Enough digital inputs and output (2 opticals) for convenient use of your CD and MD recorders. The AL 24 processing ads more optimal resolution for 2 channel source. Stylish look especially the gold ones looks like an expensive receiver. HDTV ready component ins/out 100MHZ frequency. You must see and hear it to believe. A must buy for those who want to start a home theater.

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Pioneer, Onkyo

Great 2 channel Audio Great HT Good power Video up conversion More than enough inputs adjustable crossover frequency - 5 settings Straight forward setup

If anything it would be that the remote is hard to read. I'm sure there are other things, but in this price range there is nothing really to complain about.

The AVR-3803 is a superb A/V receiver in it's price range. It has ample power for my needs, the 2 channel audio is very, very good. It is actually why I picked up this receiver on a recomendation by the sales person - thanks Daniel. This is my first Denon product and I am impressed, went to the store with Yamaha being my choice. Although Yamaha is great with home theater they have never really appealed to me when it comes to music, hence me trying the Denon. Have not regretted it. Although it takes a bit to figure how everything works the setup is straight forward. The OSD is simple and does what it needs to, nothing fancy. The unit sounds great out of the box, however it gets better with about 100 hours of burn in. I noticed that the amount of volume needed has lessened. Like I said earlier the 2 channel audio is great and HT is great as well. DVD-Audio is , well unbelieveable. If you are looking for an A/V receiver in this price range - $2000 Canadian $1000 US take a listen to this unit.

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