Listening Evaluation
What good is a feature packed receiver (or any A/V gear for that matter) if it cannot deliver the goods in sonic performance? Our viewpoint is sound first, features second. With that, here is my subjective impression of the AVR-5805 for the gamut of playback modes I put it through.
Two-Channel Audio
I always begin my initial listening tests in two-channel since I am a two-channel audioholic at heart. I always tweak my system to get the front soundstage optimized prior to getting into any multi-channel listening sessions. I began my review with some familiar tunes from a CD I picked up in Canada visiting Axiom Audio called "Mediterranean Nights" by Vehkavaara & Piltch. I took note of the smooth and melodic melodies of this CD with an extremely low noise floor. The bass extension was very pronounced both with and without the Audyssey system turned on, though I felt the integration between my satellite speakers and subs was improved with it on. Toggling the Audyssey system on and off I could hear a dramatic improvement in detail and focus with it on. With my initial calibration of the mic placed on the couch, I found the results to be a bit bright, though it wasn't raspy or ear piecing like I experienced with other room correction systems. My second calibration in which I extended far more care and time achieved much more musical and unobtrusive results. Audyssey excelled here nicely. I certainly liked what I was hearing - so much so that I found myself disappointed each time I switched it off. It sounded as if the music was somewhat deflated and dull without MultEQ engaged.
The amplifier section of the AVR-5805 proved to pack what seemed to be much more punch and weight than its published specifications. I was able to really crank this CD for long periods of time in both two-channel and PLIIx M usic modes without the amp even giving indications of being stressed. Switching over to one of my favorite Pat Metheny CDs Off Ramp , I skipped over to track 2 "Are You Going with Me?" and waited for his synthesized guitar solo where he wails for several minutes. It sounded so darn good that I got lost in the moment and just kept pumping the volume up. Here I was with 9 channels (front channels in bi-amp mode) driving me to oblivion in my 28' x 18' living room with vaulted ceilings, showing peaks on my SPL meter in excess of 106dB - yet the AVR-5805 had more power to spare. For those riding the "all channels driven" bus, this should more than satisfy your concerns that the amp section in this receiver is powerful. With this power comes a penalty - heat. The heat build up was rather dramatic after about 1 hour of sustained high power output. This is a potential problem even when the amp sits idle which is why plenty of ventilation and free flowing air is recommended.
Two-Channel SACD
My true fidelity test is how well a product can stand up to some of the well-recorded SACD discs from Premonition Records. Listening to SACD via IEEE 1394 was a luxury afforded only by two other products we have reviewed to date - the Yamaha RX-Z9 and the Integra Research RDC-7.1 (though this was unfortunately problematic with our review unit).
For those worrying about the AVR-5805 passing subwoofer information in two-channel mode - fear not, as it does handle bass management via its IEEE 1394 interface much like when decoding DD/DTS. While some would argue converting DSD to PCM to facilitate this may result in sonic degradation, I would counter with "But can you really hear a difference?" If implemented properly, there shouldn't be any ill effects and, in my opinion, the benefits of having bass management and digital delay compensation in this case far outweigh such concerns.
SACD: Patricia Barber - Café Blue
This, as well as the other three Patricia Barber recordings by Premonition Records, remains one of my benchmark SACDs for good reason - it features lumpy jazz in a smooth jazz environment free from compressive artifacts. You won't find repetitive and annoying saxophone scales, single stroke drumming, and simplistic guitar rifts. Instead you're showered with snappy jazz and provocative lyrics, slamming drums, and memorable instrumental solos. The SACD layer of Track #2, " Morning Grace " sounded phenomenal, especially with Audyssey engaged. Listening to the AVR-5805 via IEEE 1394 for SACD was nothing short of stellar. The noise floor was virtually nonexistent and the system bass integration was worthy of a standing ovation.
Some Notes About IEEE 1394 / Firewire1) IEEE 1394 is a balanced interface. The modern "low voltage differential serial" interfaces are *all* based on the original work done to develop Firewire back in the early '90's. The low level interface is a pair of LVDS signals (2 pair) in addition to very aggressive grounding for those systems that are not galvanically isolated (the "b" form of 1394 supports both copper and optical connections, and the copper connections can be transformer coupled if necessary).
2) The amount of jitter for audio applications is arbitrarily small. The IEC 61883-6 transport method used for IEEE 1394 allows each audio source to provide its own sample clock, and the sync can follow that clock with arbitrary accuracy and stability. It's totally up to the system cost budget how stable the PLL must be. For more information on this, suggestive reading material on this topic can be found at: http://www.1394ta.org/Press/2003Press/january/White_paper.pdf
3) The AES (Audio Engineering Society) has been working with IEEE 1394 specs for some time, and the experts there have no problem with the quality of 1394-based transports. There are a few AES specs based on IEEE 1394 networks.
Note: IEEE-1394 / Firewire / IEEE 1394 / Lynx are all names describing various manufacturers' depictions for cables belonging to the IEEE 1394 standard. IEEE 1394 is the new, extremely fast external serial bus standard that supports data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps (400 million bits per second). It is used primarily for multimedia devices such as camcorders, computers, digital audio recording workstations and, in this case, a digital transport for high resolution audio.
Multi-channel Audio
DTS CD: Steely Dan - Gaucho
I always start off with my base DTS CDs for a quick sanity check. The reason is because I intimately know how these discs should sound, and they usually provide me a clear indication of when I have configuration issues. Steely Dan's Gaucho is one, the Alan Parsons Project On Air is the other.
When I hit play, I immediately heard the classic DTS fizzle sound that has been pretty much absent in most products for the past several years. I was surprised that the AVR-5805 didn't include a muting function during DTS lock on and search. I also found this issue with the Integra Research RDC-7.1 we recently reviewed and wondered if it was somehow attributed to the Texas Instruments chipset. Further investigation is needed here.
Audyssey extracted the detail of multi-channel recordings bringing an elevated sense of realism but didn't offer much assistance with already bright recordings such as Porcupine Tree's In Absentia . Certain tracks of this recording are almost intolerable at high volume levels and Audyssey did not help in this capacity. Thankfully it can be turned off on the fly in situations like these or you can increase the bass levels using the on-the-fly channel adjustments to compensate.
DTS CD: Eric Clapton - One More Car One More Rider
Overlaying PLIIx Music Mode on the wonderfully recorded DTS soundtrack of Eric Clapton's One More Car One More Rider concert DVD was an enthralling musical experience. Audyssey really squeezed out all of the nuances and details of the recording, though the audience clapping after each song became a bit overbearing and I found myself lowering the volume after each song in anticipation. But Eric Clapton's guitar seemed to fill my living room while Steve Gadd's brush strokes on the drums seemed ever so closer and more intimate with Audyssey engaged. I really dug how the tracks "Reptile" and "My Fathers Eyes" sounded with Audyssey engaged and found myself progressively increasing the volume control to ludicrous levels until my wife intervened. I was truly impressed with the dynamic capabilities of the AVR-5805. With my RBH T-2 System biamped off the AVR-5805 I had 9/10 channels of the receiver belting out high SPL levels with no signs of distress, compression, or nasty edginess found on most A/V receivers when pushed beyond their limits. If there were limits to the power capabilities of the AVR-5805, I haven't found them yet.
Listening to DVD-A via IEEE 1394, Audyssey M ultEQ and PLIIx Music mode was simply awesome. The percussions of Blue M an Group were very enveloping, especially with Audyssey engaged. Graham Nash's " Chelsea Hotel " is one of those songs you find yourself continually increasing the volume simply because it sounds so good. I loved watching the screen on my RPTV resonate each time the bass waves slammed in my room. With Audyssey engaged, the splice between the speakers and subs seemed more fluid and natural sounding.
7 CH Stereo
Ever since I married into a Colombian family, the word "Party" took on new meaning. In my experience, nobody parties like them. Lots of people, food, dance, and extremely loud music into the early hours of the morning is their norm. With that, I found the most appropriate mode on the AVR-5805 when entertaining such events was the 7 CH Stereo mode. Whether we were listening to Carlos Vives or a personal friend of our family Larry Duran (master accordion player and vocalist), the Denon rocked the house. Listening to Larry's title track "El Merendon" revealed the true workhorse nature of the AVR-5805. The accordions and vocals filled the room with sound and evoked the 'spirit of the dance' with our family and guests. We were able to hit the insane SPLs that these party goers crave without sensing any loss in headroom or compression from the internal amps. Personally, I feel 7CH Stereo can be a bit overpowering, but thankfully Denon understands this which is why they incorporated a feature for shifting the balance of sound from rear to front and vice versa (essentially a fader control) simply by tapping the enter key on the remote and scrolling through the OSD speaker level adjustments until you reach that adjustment.
Home Theater
My movie watching experience hasn't been this enjoyable since I first discovered discrete surround sound! I felt as if I reached the next evolution in high performance home theater when engaging the Audyssey system. The amount of detail and the realism of the panning from the front to back sound field was stunning to say the least. But Audyssey can't take all the credit. The processing and amp sections of the AVR-5805 are simply phenomenal. It's dead quiet when it should be, bold and dynamic when called for. As with many other modern 7.1 receivers and processors, I loved the fact that I could transform standard 5.1 DD DVD's to 7.1 via PLIIx processing and felt it really added a sense of realism and envelopment to the movie watching experience. If you are contemplating on whether you wish to integrate the extra two back surround channels, just do it! Find a way to make it work as it will be worth your while. Denon actually allows you to add an extra pair of surround speakers and has the amps to power them to boot. This is an awesome advantage for very large rooms that have many rows of seating requiring more coverage.
The action scenes from The Incredibles are simply awesome. This disc has quickly become one of my reference DVDs, not just because of the stellar sound and video quality, but for its awesome story line and fun-factor. Engaged in DD EX mode, I toggled between Audyssey and no Audyssey during the jungle chase scenes with Violet and Dash and with Audyssey engaged, the scenes were far more enveloping. The surrounds seemed to come alive both in realism and in uniform coverage throughout all of the primary listening positions. Dialog intelligibility was also enhanced with Audyssey engaged. I noted similar experiences during the collision scene between the Enterprise and Shimitar in Star Trek Nemesis. Oceans Twelve was a cool DVD to further demo Audyssey's prowess during intensive dialog and music scenes.
I found Audyssey to do well with music, but truly shine with movies. Anyway you look at it, it's a great tool to ad to your bag of tricks for improving system performance and increasing playback enjoyment.
