Question Denon AVC-A11SR Still worth the buy???

marcd5123

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Hi guys, I am I big Denon /Marantz fan my self. I have seen this AMP on the Web for sale and wanted to see what was the general consensus on how folks still stand on this amp.

Now I own a Denon X4100W which I'm using now and and an older 3805 which is in almost mint condition as a spare my previous unit from new but I wanted to buy a audiophile grade AMP that I can run in Pure Direct mode just for my music . I don't currently have the money to upgrade yet again and spend ridiculous amounts of money.

These units are now available for a small tidy sum of money that I can afford at the moment well they are just under 20 years old now.

Are they still worth it does it acutally preform seriously good running it as a 2-channal amp in pure direct mode.

So these unit oftern go wrong do I stay well clear of it.. Or what should I look out for and ask before I buy one. Their are a few available for around £150-200.

So all advice would be gratefully appreciated ☺️.
 
I remember at the time really wanting one. All the contemporary reviews at the time praised its ability with music.

I'm also a fan of buying previously top end AVRs for buttons, for example I have an Arcam AVR200 I use only for stereo music, it absolutely spanks budget stereo amps IMO and cost me less than £100 IIRC. Even my old Denon 3808 is better than expected in stereo.

So yes I agree with your thinking, but for me I'd probably look towards old Yamaha or Arcam amps, my father on law still has an old Yamaha A2 which is also awesome for stereo in direct.
 
Hi @Jamie thanks 👍 for your input very much appreciated buddy.

This whole 2nd hand equipment lark is new to me. I'm going to be 40 years old in a few months and most of my life I have saved up brought from brand new and slowly upgraded last 20 years or so and became a avid audiophile scene my teens.

My current Denon X4100W 2015 model is absolutely fantastic and does a pretty decent job when using it via 2-channal pure direct mode.

However iv still got my previous AV amp 2005 Denon 3805 which won awards across the board for its time a was a revolutionary AMP iv even still got the matching Denon 3910 DVD player. Anyhow I gave 3805 a complete overhaul recently cleaned it up inside and out and looks practically mint and I used it swapped over my X4100W over to the 16 year or 3805 and I was still just amazed /astonished how well it still sounded!!. To the extent I was kinda embarrassed 😳 I actually felt that 3805 DACs sounded better via 2-channal pure direct mode. Iv had it sat inside a box for 5 years and everything worked 100% it's so much heavier and bigger than the X4100W. I use HDMI ARC on my X4100W which is very handy however when I switched over for a few days to my 3805 I brought a optical cable and outputted the audio that way and again worked perfectly. So this kinda got me thinking 🤔.


I had far more money to spend back in my 20's living at home with my parents so I spent the money at the time and purchased the best I could and 3805 and 3910 were certainly not cheap.. Then agian nor was the X4100W back in 2015.


I'm now at a point where I would start to have to spend around £1.5k+ realistically on an AV AMP in order to officially "upgrade" what I have and I simply don't have those type of funds anymore.

So now I'm thinking well I can upgrade but instead of buying new how about the 2nd hand previous flagships.

So looking back to the years that most brands Denon, Marantz, Arcam and even Yamaha were at their best.

So what do I do here.. Its a risk. I found one online selling for not touch money and looks almost mint. Their is no remote control is missing however I was wondering as it from period off 2002-2005 I could use the remotes that I have from my Denon 3805 I have 2 of those one as a spare I even have a remote from the 3806.

One owner from new.. Is their something I must look out for with this particular AMP.. That I should ask the seller.

Its way to far for me to go and have a listen normally I would do this but as with covid19 it's not such a good idea.

Also I would love to get some feedback from your self or possible others have have used this very amp on 2-channel pure direct mode is it as good as all the reviews iv seen on line??? Should I just snag it up if its in almsot pristine condition.

I just want to do as much research and home work as possible before I spend the money. Last thing I want to do is grab one and next min after a few months things go wrong left right and centre.
 
Hi @gibbsy thanks for the link. I did see that however I was hoping to get some more reactions from folks in recent years or last few, years does it still stack up.

Also I wanted to see what are the faults that these units tend to have are they just solid units extremely reliable and very rarely go wrong or if they do develop faults are they common faults that I must ask a seller before I part with my cash... Just trying to cover my self as much as possible as they won't carry a warranty. :thumbsdow:thumbsup:
 

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