Denon 3808 Is It Worth Buying?

[jarraman]

Can anyone who has this machine give an opinion as to the sound quality and reliability of their purchase.

I f you had the opportunity would you buy it again or do you wish you had gone for the onyko 875 or perhaps a Yamaha.

Its getting close to buying time for me.

Thanks for your time.

 

[mossym]

have the 3808. heard the onkyo, wasn't impressed,then bought the 3808 blind as i had the 3803.

happy out with the purchase

 

[NI-AVGUY]

I'm with moss on that 1. I setup a 875 and a 605 they sounded nice but as soon as i got the denon i was well chuffed, no going back even with the cost difference.

 

[Blu4KHD]

Luckily i have had all 3 but stuck with the denon, First had the 875 sent back due to major incompatibility issues with HDMI on a plus note sounded good but lacked that certain something. Decided on the yammy 3800 next and i lioved it until it got robbed, Since then i managed a demo between the 3808 and 3800 and all i can say is it was very close infact soundwise on movies i could not seperate the 2, The only reason i chose the denon is probably because of the online firmware updates something the onkyo and yammy so not have and with the latest HD audio codecs is probabaly something you should consider.

 

[lazarusr]

My local Hi-Fi dealer let me have an 875 on home demo for a week. It had a "big bang" sound if you understand what I mean, but it lacked a sense of realism on movie soundtracks - it was very impressive for the first half hour but soon became tiring. It was very good with music though.

I then tried an A/B comparison of the 3808 and the 1800 in another dealers demo room. Of that the 3808 was the clear winner. Never looked at the 3800 as it was outside of my budget.

Finally went back to the original dealer and did an A/B of the 875 and the 3808. The 875 was again very impressive and "in yer face" but the 3800 had a more natural laid back sound.

I therefore rated as follows:

1. Denon AVR-3808
2. Onkyo SR-875
3. Yamaha RX-V1800

I think the Yamaha was a clear loser for me. The distinction between the Denon and the Onkyo was more a matter of taste and I would advise that they are carefull auditioned.

 

[Curry Monster]

Had a 875 on demo - it stank,ran hot and popped alot and sounded no better than my old denon 3805.

3808 sounds totally different. open and poweful and manages to sound 'big' when needed

Wouldnt have an onkyo in the house thankyou verymuch

 

[jarraman]

Thanks guys,looks like the 3808 for meafter a demo ofcourse

 

[BruceA]

I compared mine to the Onkyo and Pioneer offerings. . 3808 Sound slightly more to my taste in showrrom, bet the firmware updates would prove useful (vs 2808) (they have).

Audessy good for a quick fix but results using Audessy inspired manual setup sound better to me (which is what I care about most)

Sound via decent 5.1 speakers and parametrically equalised sub is fabulous . . menus / remote take some learning but you get there eventually.

Now concentrating on music and movies which is a very GOOD sign

 

[DeadEye]

I had an 875 about 5 months ago for a week. I then bought a load of 2nd hand Parasound Halo kit.

After my HTPC annoying me so much (even though I had HD 7.1 audio from it), I now have the Pioneer VX70 - one of the reasons for even getting it on home demo was some reports of rubbish stereo playback.

I spent a week trying to find a reason why the Parasound stuff sounded better and in the end I gave up. Buying the PMC speakers made it even worse.

Needless to say the Parasound stuff has gone, I listen to more stereo music than ever before and the movie playback is truly awsome.