Denon - shocking build quality and even worse service

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AventadorSVJ

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I have owned 2 Denon products and they are good value items until something goes wrong.

The Denon DVD-2930 has failed to read discs and was repaired twice before Denon decided that they would replace the item rather than go to court. I have owned the DVD-2930 for one year and been without it for 2 months in total.

The Denon AVR-3805 remote control stopped functioning and it was sent back to the retailer PRC Direct. I also contacted Denon for good measure. It has been over 2 months with literally 10's of calls between Denon and PRC until this morning when I received a cracked (this was cracked before it was packed - i.e. not in transit) remote.

I've had enough of Denon - they waste so much time and cannot produce quality products that last.

I've been a mug but that is enough............:mad::mad::mad:

My advice is to spend a little more and buy a proper Hi-Fi brand such as Arcam. Buying an inferior brand such as Denon is a costly mistake that people shouldn't have to endure from budget brands, never mind the so called mid-Fi.
 
I have a denon 1920 dvd player it performs well but i would say build quality feels very cheap it rattles like a biscuit tin and cd playback is underwhelming but dvd seems very good ,still its being relegated to the bedroom as i have just ordered a yamaha dvds 2700 for 250 with a Qed hdmi thrown in reduced from 900' i am hoping for a big improvement sound wise which i think it will (dual laser ,dual transformer etc etc ) oh i and i never liked the denon remote either .
 
I've had a Denon AVR-2805 receiver for 3 years and have never had a single problem with it. The build quality is excellent to my eyes and the sound is even better. Easily one of the best pieces of kit I've ever owned. As such, I'll probably be buying a Denon again when the time comes to upgrade.
 
I had Denon gear for three years or so, having ditched my Arcam system. The first 2910 DVD player I had refused to play numerous discs that played fine on other machines, and the replacement was no better. After a lot of hassle, Denon gave me a 3910 as a replacement, which worked fine for a year or so until the transport worked loose and started producing very audible mechanical noise while playing. The local Denon "authorised" service agent tried twice to fix this, to no effect - and of course Denon themselves have no service centre in the UK. Replaced it with a 3930, which had atrocious lipsync problems - tried a replacement, no better, demanded my money back.

Went back to Arcam (DV137 / AVR350) a couple of months ago and realise I should never have gone away from them. Denon UK's customer service is a joke - over the lipsync problem, I practically had a shouting match with one of their "experts" who basically told me that the player was fine and I was imagining it. The AV receivers are built in Japan and are quality pieces of kit - never had problems with the 2805 or the 3805 I upgraded to - but the DVD players are built in China, and the lack of quality shows. I'd never buy a disc spinner from Denon again, and they really need to sort out their UK service operation.
 
I am very happy with Denon Products.
I had a Denon AVC-A1D amo and DVD-5000 and they have worked great except for when the Denon DVD5000 had a problem and was fixed in a couple of weeks. Now have a denon DVD3910 and a Denon AVC-A1HD and they are great with great build quality and no problems. contacted Denon the other day for latest firmware for the DVD3910 and received within a week..
So happy customer here with Denon..
I guess there will be a few problems with the amount of Denon kit and also its up to Denon support to step up to the mark to resolve the problem to the customer satisfaction...
 
Denon deem it acceptable to without a component for 2 months. None of the 'proper' Hi-Fi branded companies would ever let this happen. Other higher end brands do fail (Arcam, Musical Fidelity, REL) but are on the ball, sorting out the problem within days.

I often feel that the UK is losing its service with a lot of different products. Sometimes, it often feels that the shops don't even want your custom. However, the smaller branded companies NEVER fail to please and ultimately it is these companies that I will return to.

One guy mentioned that he left Arcam to go to Denon and then has gone back due to failing components and poor service.
I left Musical Fidelity then went onto Denon. I am now near the end of the process, moving to Arcam.

Never again will seemingly good value prices lure me into a false sense of security.

I agree that the AVR-3805 and DVD-2930 are both excellent pieces of kit (not to Arcam standards but hey) but the remote on the AVR-3805 falls short of Fisher Price and the DVD-2930 is as reliable as the Austin Metro.
 
No doubt for every one or two bad reports, there are many hundreds, if not thousands of satisfied customers. I have always found Denon products to have the edge on quality, when compared to products from rival Japanese companies.

Arcam & Musical Fidelity could be classed more as niche manufactuers compared to the bigger Japanese box shifters - their customer base is smaller, and corrospondingly, the rate of dissatisfied customers will be smaller aswell.

However, if I had to endure the frustrations that you no doubt have, then I would feel the same way as well!
 
I have an AVC-11SR that has been totally faultless for maybe 5 years now (can't remember exactly), it's built like a tank. I just bought a DVD-2900 off ebay as I thought it'd be a safe bet and it's very well built for a DVD player (even if the tray is a little on the plastic side of things). That said the DVD player seems to have an issue with CD playback which is a pain as I bought it to replace a DVD player and CD player as I was fed up with having two boxes.

I'm going to contact Denon tomorrow and see how much it'll cost to get fixed, however I guess going on this I shouldn't be hopeful...
 
Hi have a Denon 3808 which I have modded for improved bass responce, I can tell you as an engineer the build quality of this device is first rate. I do agree that the 1920 dvd I used to own was rather cheap and nasty but then it was a 6th of the cost of the 3808 amp so I think theres an element of one gets what one pays for:lesson:
 
Hi have a Denon 3808 which I have modded for improved bass responce, I can tell you as an engineer the build quality of this device is first rate. I do agree that the 1920 dvd I used to own was rather cheap and nasty but then it was a 6th of the cost of the 3808 amp so I think theres an element of one gets what one pays for:lesson:

The AVR-3805 cost £1000 and the DVD-2930 £650. Is this not enough?:confused:

The Arcam AVR-350 does cost around £1200 and is built like a tank and the remote is brilliant. My Arcam CD36 cost around £1400 and this is absolutely amazing.
On thinking about this, Denon even on value for money terms only really competes against Arcam for video processing. For audio, there really is no comparison.:lesson:
 
The AVR-3805 cost £1000 and the DVD-2930 £650. Is this not enough?:confused:

The Arcam AVR-350 does cost around £1200 and is built like a tank and the remote is brilliant. My Arcam CD36 cost around £1400 and this is absolutely amazing.
On thinking about this, Denon even on value for money terms only really competes against Arcam for video processing. For audio, there really is no comparison.:lesson:

I own a 3803 and an A11-SR.never had any problems, sound or build quality wise.My father owns the Arcam CD36 and it does sound fantastic,but i wouldnt go as far as to describe it as "built like a tank",in fact the first time i laid eyes on it i didnt think it was as well built as the Creek it was replacing.(which was half the cost of the CD36)
Again the AVR350 does sound very good,however £1200 for what is essentially a legacy receiver is a bit steep IMO.And yes with your dedicated CD transport against a DVD player,the sound quality is going to be better,however,id be willing to wager that connected thorugh a well set up 3808,the difference in sound would be negligable.
 
I own a 3803 and an A11-SR.never had any problems, sound or build quality wise.My father owns the Arcam CD36 and it does sound fantastic,but i wouldnt go as far as to describe it as "built like a tank",in fact the first time i laid eyes on it i didnt think it was as well built as the Creek it was replacing.(which was half the cost of the CD36)
Again the AVR350 does sound very good,however £1200 for what is essentially a legacy receiver is a bit steep IMO.And yes with your dedicated CD transport against a DVD player,the sound quality is going to be better,however,id be willing to wager that connected thorugh a well set up 3808,the difference in sound would be negligable.

I'm willing to bet that no Denon Receiver ever built sounds as good as the AVR-350. Legacy receiver or not, Arcam design equipment to sound as good as it can, whereas Denon build things to shift units.
 
I'm willing to bet that no Denon Receiver ever built sounds as good as the AVR-350. Legacy receiver or not, Arcam design equipment to sound as good as it can, whereas Denon build things to shift units.

I certainly think that my AVR350 sounds better than the Denon 3805 it replaced. I do rate the Denon receivers, as both the ones I owned worked flawlessly and sounded pretty good, but the Arcam really does seem to be in a different league sonically.
 
I'm willing to bet that no Denon Receiver ever built sounds as good as the AVR-350. Legacy receiver or not, Arcam design equipment to sound as good as it can, whereas Denon build things to shift units.

A bold statement indeed.....if your happy with your 350 then thats great..... im happy for you,but if i was in the market for a £1200 reciever then i know to whom id be paying a visit........................................................ and it wouldnt be Arcam.......
 
I had Pioneer kit before I bought a Plasma tv with HDMI, HD ready, so decieded to buy a HDMI upscaling dvd player, I bought a Samsung, was impressed, then wanted one that would play my CDs in a musical fashion, so went for a Denon DVD 2910. The jump in build quality and performance were very impressive! Then my Pioneer Multichannel Reciever developed faults, so decieded to get a nice Denon amp. Looked on ebay and found a secondhand AVC-A10SE. The jump in build from my Pioneer (THX Select £650) reciever to the Denon were great! And playing CDs through the Denon sounds SOOO much better! Im happy with my Denon kit and will continue to use Denon, but I now buy secondhand. You get alot more value for your money!!!:smashin:
 
I'm willing to bet that no Denon Receiver ever built sounds as good as the AVR-350. Legacy receiver or not, Arcam design equipment to sound as good as it can, whereas Denon build things to shift units.

Thats a pretty poor educated guess, unless you have heard the entire Denon range to base this statement on.

Also, the big Denon Pre-Power is assembled by hand - hardly the best way to maximise boxes shifted.

Just because you have had a bad Denon experience, doesn't mean that the brand is bad.
 
My 3808 rocks - bi-amped its awesome - more than a match for an arcam avr350 (dads got one)
 
Hi, I have 2 Denons 4308 and 3930. Build quality is excellent on both. As for Arcam 350 beating all Denons ever built, I went from a Arcam 350 to Denon 4308 and for sound quality there is nothing in it (IMHO).
 
Unsurprisingly someone who feels let down has a bias against that brand.
 
I've have had a Denon 1907 but i currently have a 3808 and both units are build very well IMO.

Andy
 
Mr. Winter is now an Arcam owner, he has had his say ably supported by one or two people. 3805 remotes, 29X0 disc reading issues and Denon customer services are all well discussed issues. This thread is rapidly becoming a Denon is great/Arcam is better willy waving competition and so ceases to serve any real purpose. I am closing this thread, Mr. Winters' comments will remain available to anyone who wants to do a search.
 
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