AVR-5803 Set-Up
When I unboxed the AVR-5803 and saw its two rather lengthy manuals, I must admit I nearly gasped at the thought of the education I would have to undergo in properly setting this unit up. I suppose one drawback of an ultra-sophisticated piece of hardware is the sometimes associated complexity in setting it up and tweaking it for optimal performance. Many lesser processors tout the claim of operational simplicity, but in reality they often lack many of the key features and configuration options found on the Denon AVR-5803. With regards to the Denon user manual, what really irked me about it was the somewhat vague descriptions of operational modes. After reviewing it, I initially wrongfully concluded that the AVR-5803 had only one set of global channel trim adjustments. I was in complete disarray about this until Denon's fabulous tech support set me straight. In turned out that every mode of operation and input had the ability of independent and storable channel trim adjustments. What a refreshing and remarkable achievement! If only all vendors would follow suit.
Perhaps the most massive back panel on a receiver to date! The AVR-5803 has more than enough INs and OUTs to handle the most sophisticated home theater systems. Despite its complexity, layout was very logical, and making connections was a snap.
Back panel of the Denon AVR-5803
Despite its massive size and complex back panel, I had no beef about making all of my connections. I really liked the separate left and right speaker output connections located at the far end of the unit. This helped to keep my thick speaker cables away from all of my analog/digital interconnects for a more nicely dressed arrangement.
Inside the Denon AVR-5803 Receiver
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Notice the massive 1.2kVA Torroidal Power Transformer.
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With over 66,000uF of power supply capacitance, the Denon AVR-5803 has enough reserves for the most needy power demands.
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All channels employ discrete large high power complimentary BJT's. The power supply is centrally located in the chassis for the best isolation and structural stability.
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It is easy to see that this receiver passes the 3.2 ohm all channels driven high current torture test mandated for THX Ultra2 Certification.
AKTIS RC-8000 Touch Screen Remote Control
Denon's touchscreen powerhouse AKTIS-RC-8000
remote with
recharging base station and RF antenna. The AKTIS-8000 is also equipped with a USB interface for future firmware
upgrades. I was astonished by the battery efficiency of this remote.
I used it
extensively for over 3 months with conventional non rechargeable batteries and at the end of
the review they were still going strong.
Learning to operate the AKTIS RC-8000 was a somewhat slow and painful process. As far as touch screen remotes go, I consider them a mixed bag. They are nice since they have graphical illustrations and usually lots of memory to store all of your hardware codes and configurations. However, they are often slow in operation when switching between operational modes, and cumbersome to handle. The RC-8000 was certainly more than a handful, and in my opinion just too darn bulky for all but the largest hands. I didn't have much of an issue with its mass as much as my wife did. She is petite, and with her small hands I could certainly understand the difficulties she had with operating it. Having previously experienced Yamaha's RAV-2000 touch screen remote, we found the AKTIS remote to be somewhat lacking and antiquated. For one, it didn't have a dedicated power on/off button. In order to power up the AVR-5803, I had to access the touch screen and make sure I was on the right page to do so. I also found many of the user codes to be incomplete while operating my non Denon devices. For example, the Sony user code didn't even include a change disc option for operating my CD player, and the pause button for Denon's own DVD-2900 Universal DVD player was not intuitively labeled. I was told by Denon however that I can upload newer codes via their website at: http://www.usa.denon.com/aktis/. I suppose if time permits, I may give it a try - that is if I have any time before I have to send this review sample back. Weep :(
