AVR-3806 First Impressions
This was my first lengthy period of time with a Denon receiver. My first impression was that Denon has one of the most configurable receivers at this price point. Their attention to detail is astonishing and should really put other manufacturers with products in this price range on notice. There are a few notable missing features, however, including:
- Video pass-through when unit is off.
- Independent crossover settings for 2CH or SACD/DVD-Audio modes
- Input level trims for each source (allowing you to match reference volume levels for all devices)
- Firewire support (you must purchase a D Link enabled Denon DVD player to benefit from a single direct digital audio connection for SACD and DVD-Audio)
- Zone 2/3 does not allow digital sources to be output on its analogue preamp outputs
Aside from the basic look of the unit, which is attractively simple (ok, they pretty much all look the same), my first impressions focused on sound. What I felt was a mixture of satisfaction and, call me whatever you like, an insatiable appetite to want to cause this receiver to somehow stumble during the first several hours of operation. I tried several of the most bass intensive music tracks to see how the unit would control my 4-ohm RBH Sound speakers in 2-channel mode and failed to hear anything but tight bass and well-controlled midrange at reasonable listening levels. I moved on to aesthetics and noticed the strangely familiar remote control. Where had I seen that type of look before? Then it hit me: Indiglo watches and membrane keyboards. The new Denon remote had truly gone retro in its appeal to find a different way of presenting a typically boorish set of buttons. The resulting remote will land you in one of two camps: Hate It or Love It. When taking such a departure from the norm, there isn't much room left for a middle ground. I personally found the remote to grow on me, however it has the feel of a device which will not age well and has the same "look at me" disadvantages shared by all non-tactile button-based remotes.
Setting Up the Receiver - Overview
Most of the connections on the Denon are unambiguous. The only problem you are likely to have connecting to the AVR-3805 is what surround speaker terminals to utilize. Denon provides 2 sets of surround speakers apart from the optional surround back speakers. The purpose of the dual speakers is for those consumers wanting to configure their rooms with direct radiating speakers for DTS/SACD/DVD-Audio music and a different set of surrounds (usually bipolar) mounted on the sides of the room for home theater use. If you only have one set of speakers, you'll want to default the system to use the A speakers, even if you mount your speakers towards the back of the room and not the sides (like Reference System 3). While the graphical representation of your speakers will be incorrect in the setup OSD, this is the correct and easiest way to set up a system not using a separate "music-only" set of surround speakers. The selection of A or B has nothing at all to do with DSP or surround field settings (including EQ.) It is merely an assignment that can be utilized in the setup menu to designate what speakers should handle which decoding formats. While this is a meritorious feature, it really has a limited market. You would need to either sacrifice 7.1 for 5.1 to reconfigure the additional speakers, or place 9 speakers in your main listening area - a feat not many people can afford, let alone accommodate.
I have to say that it was a pleasure hooking up my Denon DVD-5900 to the AVR-3805 via Denon Link 3rd Edition. One cable, a brief visit to the receiver and DVD menus to enable Denon Link 3 rd and I was on my way to digital audio bliss 蒂 . All bass management and processing/decoding was now being handled by the AVR-3805 and I no longer had to worry about running the spaghetti mess of interconnects behind the rack in order to outfit my system for analogue multi-channel connectivity. This is truly a one-cable audio solution for those possessing a compatible DVD player such as the venerable DVD-5900 (you will require the latest firmware update for Denon 3rd Edition pending SACD approval of Denon's proprietary format).
Of Particular Note:
- Zone 2 video monitor output
- Zone 3 audio outputs
- Powered Zone outputs (configurable for surround back speakers)
- Surround A or B speakers
- 7.1 multi-channel preamp inputs/outputs
Bi-amping the Denon AVR-3805 for 240 Watts for the Front Channels
What? A $1200 receiver that gives you 2 x 120 watts for each front channel
to the main speakers in a bi-amped configuration while still allowing 5.1 surround? Absolutely. Read
on... Using unused "Surround Back" amps to bi-amp the main speakers was mentioned by Gene DellaSala in
his review of the Denon AVR-5803 receiver and the same procedure holds true for the AVR-3805. Why let
those unused surround back amplifiers go to waste if you are not utilizing either them or Zone 2
speakers? Here is the procedure to successfully bi-amp the Denon AVR-3805 and deliver additional power
to your main speakers:
Before telling you HOW to do it, there are some caveats about doing this specifically with the AVR-3805. First, If you set it up to bi-amp, please expect to do your SETUP manually rather than using the mic for the AUTO SETUP procedure. Next, we have seen some complaints of noise (hiss) from some people who have done the bi-amping with specifically the AVR-3805. Accordingly, Denon is not "officially" endorsing this practice on this specific model.
That said, we encourage you to TRY the bi-amp setup and judge for yourself if you hear any objectionable increase in noise that negates the many advantages of bi-amping in general. The procedure below specifically connects the speakers LOW frequency to the Zone 3, while having the HIGH frequency connected to the FRONT speaker terminals. This may help to reduce any extra noise from the use of multi-zone from getting to the tweeters. The reason for choosing Zone 3 rather than Zone 2 is simply to still permit the use of a volume controlled zone 2 for genuine multi zone use, so long as an additional stereo amplifier is used. Additionally, because of details on the remote, it makes it slightly more difficult to accidentally alter some of the settings.
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Connect a SHORT stereo cable pair from [PRE OUT LEFT & RIGHT] and run it into the Red and White jacks labeled [VDP].
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DISCONNECT the SHORTING STRAPS from your bi-ampable speaker's terminals! This is whatever device the speaker manufacture has used to connect the two black terminals to each other, and the similar one used for the two red terminals. Failure to do this can quickly damage the amplifiers!
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Connect the HIGH FREQUENCY terminals of the speakers to the receiver's FRONT LEFT and RIGHT speaker terminals.
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Connect the speakers' LOW FREQUENCY terminals to the receiver's speaker terminals marked: [SURR BACK / MULTI ZONE]. These are to the far right, viewed from the back.
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Via step # 5.1 in OPTION SETUP, set P.AMP ASSIGN to ZONE 3. See page 43 of the owner's manual for detail.
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Via REMOTE (RC-969) press button that says [ZONE 2] until it changes to read [ZONE 3] with the bright bar above the ZONE 3 indication.
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Press [SOURCE ON] to turn on the ZONE 3 amplifiers.
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Select [VDP] as the SOURCE for Zone 3. This is done by pressing the letters [VDP] which are directly under the CD indication, NOT the VDP which is directly under the MD indication. Note that this step is what causes the "ZONE 3" to always play the VDP input, which is in turn, the signal from the Left and Right FRONT PRE OUTS of the main zone. Voila!
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With the remote still in the ZONE 3 mode, press the VOL ^ up button while watching the front panel of the AVR-3805. Bring it up to read 00 as a starting point. Later in the process you will come back to this and adjust to your own taste for spectral balance of the front speakers. (More, later).
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Next, put the remote back to the AMP mode, so the word AMP is underlined by the bright bar. You can now do any other setup steps you need and use the receiver as you normally would.
Anything you select to listen to will have its output for the front L & R go directly to the speaker terminals marked Front L & R and ALSO go out the L & R PRE OUT jacks which ultimately get to the SURR BACK / MULTI speaker terminals. Therefore, the CONTENT of the FRONT L & R speaker terminals is identical to the content of the SURR BACK / MULTI speaker terminals.
Once setup this way, you never touch the ZONE 3 again since the main zone is in control of everything.....one exception...
The ZONE 3 volume will adjust ONLY the level to the LOW FREQUENCY part of the speaker, whereas the MASTER VOLUME (main zone) will control ALL channels INCLUDING the LOW FREQUENCY part of the speaker. Therefore the ZONE 3 Volume, step number 9 in the list above, actually adjusts the RATIO of Lows to Highs in the speaker. If you want a bit heaver sound, bring ZONE 3 volume up a bit. If you want a bit brighter sound, take ZONE 3 volume down a bit. Some "Audiophiles" worry they won't know what setting is "Correct", but "REAL" audiophiles trust their own ears above all! One of the very powerful ADVANTAGES of the Bi-Amp setup this way is your ability to control the spectral balance of the speaker with this specific adjustment.
Notes: It would have been nice if the channel trim for the Zone 2/3 level control had +/-0.5dB precision as did all of the other channel trims of this receiver. However, we found +2dB adjustment to provide near unity gain with the main amplifiers. During this configuration I also wondered what would happen if the CD input were accidentally selected by mistake, causing the main channel preamp outputs to be suddenly routed to themselves (feedback). Not to worry, Zone 2/3 does not allow the same source to be sent simultaneously to the main speaker outputs so feedback is impossible - at least with regards to this configuration method.
Be sure to remove the jumpers on the back of the main speakers and then connect a set of wires from the "Front" channels of the receiver to the highs section of each of your front speakers and a set of wires from the "Multi Zone 2" channels of the receiver to the lows of your front speakers. Voila! You now paid only $1200 for a receiver that gives you 3dB of additional headroom in the form of 2 x 120watts per channel to your main speakers where you need it the most.
