Denon AVR2807 vs AVR3806 - thoughts?

[unclelonghair]

I'm off to audition these two tomorrow, and was wondering if anyone had any views on whether the 3806 is worth the extra £200?
Looking at the specs, the main difference seems to be in the multi room capability, which is not something I am interested in, and a bit more power for the 3806. Both have more than enough analogue/digital connections for what I need.
Will be used for about 80/20 movies/music, and paired with the Castle speakers in my sig.
If I go down the 2807 route the £200 difference will probably be put towards a sub.
Any thoughts?

 

[12 promises]

ihave the 3806 and find it superb,but i do not have any knowledge of the 2807.
you may have done so already but you can do a side by side comparisson on the denon web site.
good luck with your choice i am sure you will enjoy either one.

 

[Deleted member 30535]

Do a comparison on the Denon UK site. Try this link

Differences I notice other than what you have said:

Cannot Biamp fronts on the 2807
No Denon link on 2807 (and therefore no ability to decode streaming encypted SACD material)
No A/B surround switching if you have dedicated rear/surrounds for music and movies.
2807 has iPod capabilities, 3806 does not.

Looking at your comments/needs, I'd probably stick with the 2807 and invest the difference towards a sub.

 

[unclelonghair]

Thanks for that - I'd already checked out the denon website to compare the specs, and can't see I'd need any of the extra features of the 3806. Just wondering if the basic sound is £200 better than the 2807?
I'm leaning towards the 2807 at the moment as I think a 2807/sub would be a bigger improvement on my current system than a 3806 alone. I guess I'll find out for certain tomorrow.
Got to dig out some CD's to test them with now...

 

[viper330]

Do a comparison on the Denon UK site. Try this link

Differences I notice other than what you have said:


No Denon link on 2807 (and therefore no ability to decode streaming encypted SACD material)
No A/B surround switching if you have dedicated rear/surrounds for music and movies.
2807 has iPod capabilities, 3806 does not.

Looking at your comments/needs, I'd probably stick with the 2807 and invest the difference towards a sub.

1. <Cannot Biamp fronts on the 2807> This is wrong. You can.
2. SACD is dead.
3. Multizone capabilities = yes
3. Go for the 2807 and save your extra money for a sub.

 

[Knyght_byte]

1. <Cannot Biamp fronts on the 2807> This is wrong. You can.
2. SACD is dead.
3. Multizone capabilities = yes
3. Go for the 2807 and save your extra money for a sub.

SACD isnt dead, material is still released for it, just happens the majority is classical/jazz/acoustic based for the most part..........the format is a good one, like DVD-A, it brings something new to the table, and on a decent sound system in stereo mode is a nice improvement over CD, and with multichannel is definitely far superior to DVD-Video music discs.....

I think SACD and DVD-A will go on untill the DTS and DD HD sound formats become established, then i'd imagine SACD and DVD-A will be discontinued......

i must admit tho, the UK contigency for SACD/DVD-A is a lot smaller than other parts of the world....

 

[Deleted member 30535]

1. <Cannot Biamp fronts on the 2807> This is wrong. You can.

In what way do you interpret the Denon comparison tables between the two? First item. Biamping front is specifically mentioned for the 3806 and not for the 2807.

My 3805 is biamped using the well documented work around of using one of the Zones to power A or B surrounds and feeding analogue pre-amp out to an analogue in. The 3806 achieves this "internally" using menus, but if the 2807 is unable to use the power amps on Zone 2 or Zone 3 (see the table section "Enhanced Multi Room functionality ", then I cannot see how Biamping is possible.

 

[jhkuo]

You can biamp on models as low as 2106, it's documented in the manual. Biamp is done via the back surround channels.

 

[Deleted member 30535]

I just downloaded the manual and read Page 54 which has the setup procedure. Reading this is at odds with the specification table on the Denon UK site because it is stated in the table that Power Amp is not usable in Zone2. The manual says the opposite. Denon have never had a good reputation for solid documentation.

 

[PTjak]

Any thoughts?

From experience uncle...I bot the Denon 3806 and 3910 for HT. After about two days of listening, I was totally disappointed in the 3806 due to amp clipping at volume (the 3910 is great btw). So where was the bottleneck? Long story short and many auditions later, it's in the 3806 itself. Would this also be the same problem inherent in the 2807? Probably. Best option is to forget either of the Denon AVR's and go buy a decent Arcam AVR or the like for a bit more dollars, better performance.

 

[unclelonghair]

Much as I would like to go Arcam, the cheapest Arcam receiver is more than I can afford/justify. My room isn't that big, so I don't tend to listen at very high volumes - my current Marantz SR500 goes more than loud enough, and I'm sure the Denon's will be able to cope with the volumes I need.

 

[PTjak]

Ok, all the best mate.

 

[Badger0-0]

From experience uncle...I bot the Denon 3806 and 3910 for HT. After about two days of listening, I was totally disappointed in the 3806 due to amp clipping at volume (the 3910 is great btw). So where was the bottleneck? Long story short and many auditions later, it's in the 3806 itself. Would this also be the same problem inherent in the 2807? Probably. Best option is to forget either of the Denon AVR's and go buy a decent Arcam AVR or the like for a bit more dollars, better performance.

I'm shocked !
Whilst not doubting what you say, I have to ask what speakers you were driving and at what volume ?

I have a 3803 that easily drives my SVS 5.0 setup as loud as my ears will stand.
A Yamaha 557 was not up to the same job at high volume, though.

 

[unclelonghair]

Well, in the end I went for the 2807. The 3806 was undoubtedly better, but I wasn't sure it was £200 better, so decided to save the money towards some more kit.
Any advice on how to get the little plugs out of the speaker terminals so I can get my banana plugs in?

 

[Badger0-0]

It's been done before.

Brute force basically, jab something sharp in them and lever them out.

If you hurt yourself, I never told you this, right?

 

[unclelonghair]

I was hoping there might be some dark art to it ..

Hopefully my next post won't be from casualty...

 

[Crustyloafer]

From experience uncle...I bot the Denon 3806 and 3910 for HT. After about two days of listening, I was totally disappointed in the 3806 due to amp clipping at volume (the 3910 is great btw). So where was the bottleneck? Long story short and many auditions later, it's in the 3806 itself. Would this also be the same problem inherent in the 2807? Probably. Best option is to forget either of the Denon AVR's and go buy a decent Arcam AVR or the like for a bit more dollars, better performance.

I agree with everything he said. The amplification onboard the Denon units is extemely liably to clipping and is not stable into multiple channels at even moderately high volumes. The Arcam units are by comparison very conservative with regards to their power ratings and as such do not exhibit such extreme deficiencies with regards to power output with all channels driven.

 

[Knyght_byte]

I agree with everything he said. The amplification onboard the Denon units is extemely liably to clipping and is not stable into multiple channels at even moderately high volumes. The Arcam units are by comparison very conservative with regards to their power ratings and as such do not exhibit such extreme deficiencies with regards to power output with all channels driven.

shame really, my 3803 has no problem driving all channels at thumping volumes.....guess after the 3803 they decided to downgrade the power quality...lol

 

[MarkNorton1]

I've got the 2807 and with regard to the small black bits, i just used a small screw, pushed it in a small way then used some grips to pull it back out, should do the trick.

Had mine for a few months now and am very impressed, still waiting for the sub though, was originally lookings at the BK XLS200 but now feel that the Monolith is the way to go!

Either way I dont think you'll be disappointed, especially for movies.

Good Luck

Mark.

 

[Smurfin]

From experience uncle...I bot the Denon 3806 and 3910 for HT. After about two days of listening, I was totally disappointed in the 3806 due to amp clipping at volume (the 3910 is great btw). So where was the bottleneck? Long story short and many auditions later, it's in the 3806 itself. Would this also be the same problem inherent in the 2807? Probably. Best option is to forget either of the Denon AVR's and go buy a decent Arcam AVR or the like for a bit more dollars, better performance.

What speakers are you using?

 

[caesar]

Has anyone tried the 2807 with the iPod dock control - can you actually browse through the iPod menus / files via the amp's display rather than using the OSD on the TV (which is a bit painful) ? How easy is the navigation ? Pics would be great......

Many thanks in advance for your answers

Caesar

 

[charlie44]

Yes, i have used the ipod dock, and yes you can browse on the amp display, but i find it much less painful to do it on the TV screen.

 

[kmb]

From experience uncle...I bot the Denon 3806 and 3910 for HT. After about two days of listening, I was totally disappointed in the 3806 due to amp clipping at volume (the 3910 is great btw). So where was the bottleneck? Long story short and many auditions later, it's in the 3806 itself. Would this also be the same problem inherent in the 2807? Probably. Best option is to forget either of the Denon AVR's and go buy a decent Arcam AVR or the like for a bit more dollars, better performance.

Sounds to me that you were trying to drive some very inefficient speakers with a far bigger power rating than the Denons individual channel output or something wasn't setup properly or maybe you had a duff unit. I own the same dvd & amp combo driving Kef Q Series speakers and believe me this setup can go uncomfortably loud with no noticable strain on the amplification.

 

[caesar]

charlie44 - many thanks