AVR-5308CI Listening Tests

We recently updated Reference System 2's RBH Sound CinemaSITE system with new Signature SI-760/R speakers for the front and center channels. This system has incredible midrange detail and exceptional tweeter response that doesn't distort or sound brittle, even during high volume passages of challenging material. The room is modestly treated with RPG Diffusor Systems Absorbors and Skyline Diffusors to preserve a natural sound but eliminate some problematic areas. For this review we disabled all external Room EQ devices and used only the internal Audyssey MultEQ XT system. The system is connected with analogue cables from Impact Acoustics and all HDMI cables are made by DVI Gear.

Listening Tests: Music

With these listening tests we calibrated the room using Audyssey and confirming the setting using our brains. What that means is that we ensured all speakers were set to Small and that the crossover was set to a correct position (in our case THX/80Hz.) We left Audysseys MultEQ XT engaged since we felt it did a decent job at diminishing the room's effects on the overall sound. Playback levels averaged between 85-89 dB SPL levels, C-weighted. It was rather loud, but intensely enjoyable and never overbearing.

DVD-Audio: Seal IV
"Love's Divine" is a track I use quite frequently when performing listening tests. The decay in Seal's lead vocal was smooth as a baby's toot baffle and there was no perceived truncation. Mid-bass was tight and the dual SI-1010 subwoofers drove this song with an underlying power that I loved experiencing. During the break, a thick piano introduced a reverberant vocal line and the decay seemed to last forever until it was finally overcome by the drum track and resounding bass lick. "Waiting for You" had that funk groove and a brassy ensemble that built to the chorus, yet allowed it to poke through. The brass had a clean top end that I've heard get leveled (compressed) more than once on lesser AV receivers. The AVR-5308CI drove the bass in this song to incredible levels and it tied together the subwoofers and mains extremely well.

DTS (CD): Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
"Love Will Keep Us Alive" is a gentle song that provides some very revealing material which can be problematic for an amplifier or receiver that doesn't provide enough control and dynamic headroom. As I listened to Timothy B. Schmidt's soft vocals, the midrange and treble detail was showed off in spades and I was able to hear the natural breakup of his voice as it lead into the first chorus. Subtle? Yes. Hard to spot? Oh, yeah. Denon handle it OK? You betcha. Backing vocals during the chorus filled the room and really made me want to just close my eyes and enjoy a few moments as Don Felder used a slide to make his rig sound like a steel guitar. Behind the vocals the bass rolled out smooth and clean and the percussion track really put forth loads of detail. The bass in "Wasted Time" revealed the minutia of fingers on the strings of the guitar and the lead vocal had a very live presence. Lead guitar was positioned far left, and the Denon was able to make the soundstage sound extremely wide and totally transparent. One other thing I quickly realized is that my particular system sounded considerably better the more I pushed it. The AVR-5308CI provided more control and certainly more detail at higher levels of output. I was taken aback as I could cleanly envision Don Henley on stage during this song. Don't get me wrong - he sounded good at normal listening levels, but when pushed, the tracks suddenly sounded live. Decays of the cymbals and vocal reverb poured more easily into the room and even overhead as this track played on. "In the City" gave me a chance to hear yet another voice - Joe Walsh's - and his raw performance and the snappy kick/snare combo sounded awesome on the Denon. Elliot Scheiner's wide-panned drums made for a very large soundstage and a solid electric guitar line kept the tune rocking into my theater room.

DVD-Audio: The Brand New Opry - Another Time
The Brand New Opry's Another Time album is a hodgepodge of mostly known classics re-arranged into Bluegrass format and recorded onto the wonderful DVD-Audio format courtesy of AIX Records. The recording is "super clean" with no significant compression or effects boxes to disturb the 96kHz/24-bit recording/mixing process. "Lowlands" remains my favorite track on this album. Jaime Hanna's opening lyric is so gentle and the AVR-5308CI really captured every vocal nuance and played it back for me in pristine detail. The effect was one of hearing Jaime singing about 3 feet into the room in front of my right speaker. When Johnathan McEuen's verse chimed in I almost had to force myself to keep my eyes closed and not check to see if he'd perhaps stopped by for a visit. Violins and a banjo poked into the mic from around the room and I was able to really enjoy the "stage" mix to its fullest. "Grand Ole Opry" was an amazing song that included a very good but imperfect lead vocal that just gave more power to the live feel the AVR-5308CI was rendering for this disc. Again, violin in the left surround blew me away with its clarity (bow and string noise being faithfully reproduced) while an exuberant banjo leapt from the opposite room corner. The Denon AVR-5308CI never had any difficulty putting out this barrage of sound from all channels at once - in fact, it rather seemed to enjoy it.

Perfectly synchronized violins began and continued throughout "Moving Out" and kept up the string of exceptional sound brought to life by the Brand New Opry. I absolutely loved how the AVR-5308CI nailed the attack on the acoustic guitar, even reproducing - with perfect precision - the sub-like hits of the guitar body as it was repeatedly (mercilessly) struck during heavy downbeats.

Listening Tests: Movies

I don't consider movies to be as much of a test as multi-channel music, however there's a good chance you'll spend a lot of your time watching movies and so I decided to include a couple of my favorites for testing. The AVR-5308CI is an excellent receiver for movies in that it provides tons of dynamic power for even the most complex scenes, and the ability to really customize the subwoofer output means you'll never run out of options for getting the best bass-managed sound.

DVD: Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
I decided to pull up the "best" of the new Star Wars movies (which is a lot like choosing the "best" Fast and the Furious movie...) Beginnign with "Rescuing the Chancellor" I loved how well the Denon reproduced the echoey environment of the Star Destroyer's main chamber. Lightsaber hits were exceptionally crisp and powerful, and they flew into the surrounds as the camera kept pace with the on-screen action. When the battle droids fire on the Jedi, the bolts flew seamlessly from the front to the surrounds. I also noted that the AVR-5308CI had no trouble allowing the background noise of the in-space saga that was ensuing outside of the ship to peek in around the crisp dialogue.

In "Confronting Grievous" a series of explosions rocked the theater room and tossed debris in every direction (OK, not really, but that's what the sound was conveying.) The lightsaber battle that followed with Grievous' body guards is one of the coolest-sounding of them all due to their choice of weapons - a sort of lightning stick that would react unusually with the sabers.

DVD: The Matrix
In "Getting the Bug Out" the scene starts with a rather distinct and arresting analogue phone ring. The following outdoor sequence filled the theater with a downpour, complete with rolling and crashing thunder. I live in Central Florida and understand the sound of rolling thunder. This was as lifelike as I've ever heard thanks to the Denon's incredible amplifiers and its ability to handle delicate and dynamic content alongside powerful mid-bass and bass output. Even the most mundane sounds like door closes and foley footsteps were now almost hyper-real in this system. In "Slimy Rebirth," the scene where Neo wakes up from the Matrix and is flushed by the machines, the foley effects and sweeteners used to convey Neo breaking free from his bonds were incredibly real and pronounced. During this sequence the surrounds virtually exploded with the sound of the power plant releasing him from the Matrix and sending him down the shoot.

The martial arts match between Morpheus and Neo was a great experience. The AVR-5308CI pumped out a full throttle mix of music and impacts that had me raising the volume even more to see how incredible it could get. The louder it got, the more excellent the soundtrack became. The Denon simply didn't cave in when pushed - it always seemed to have more reserved and we had to struggle to find new ways to really tax the system.