Excellent All-in-one Amplifier for Normal Home Use
Written: Feb 06 '03 (Updated Mar 17 '03)
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Pros: Good sound (both music/movie); Functionality; Build quality; Layouts (front panel control, back panel connectors, remote)
Cons: Control menus' contents not very easy to understand; User manual can be written better.
The Bottom Line: Near the best for that price!
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| ricehigh's Full Review: Denon AVR-3803 7.1 Channels Receiver |
I bought this unit after various testings at shops for months (previously tested the 3802 also). Many peoples said that Denons are not musical enough for music but I disagree. I would say Denons are obviously more powerful and produced sound appears to be thicker but yet music playback is still quite musical, provided that matched speakers are used (a warmer speaker with quicker response would be needed).
My AV system configurations (and/or other tested components) are as follows:-
- Denon 3803 AV Amp;
- Panasonic 37PW4 plasma display (progressive scan compatible);
- Hisaga component video cables;
- Panasonic DVD-RP82 progressive scan DVD player;
- Aiwa DVD-481 DVD player;
- various CDs and LPs;
- SilverLink coaxial cable for digital audio;
- Infinity Primus BE300 floorstand mainspeakers with Olehbach 3mm2 x 2 speaker cables;
- Primus center speaker, JBL SAT surround speakers;
- Sony LP turntable;
I am very pleased with the CD playback and LP playback as well. It's good that Denon still keeping a phono-in in this advanced amp. The frequency response is very good, bass and treble as well as voice reproduction is near excellent. More importantly, the sound level reproductions are very detailed. This is true no matter for signals with different frequencies, i.e., low, mid & high. The response time of the sound reproduction is indeed very good also. Last but not least, it still can give me a powerful feeling when producing the sound which I like.
For watching movie, I tried the up-conversion function and also tried to input DVD component signal into it as well. I found that the up-conversion function is just for convenient but no improvement can be seen. In contrast, very minor degrade in picture quality may result. Moreover, if there is just one component video input source, there is no need to input the signal into the 3803 as it simply just passes the component signal into the monitor. That's why there is no On-Screen-Display if component video is input and then output.
As an AV amp for watching movie, I think this unit already exceeds too much the basic requirements for both sound and video quality as well as functions and features so I won't comment further on its performance in this aspect.
The unit actually is excellent and near perfect. However the control menus can be simplified and most importantly, some wordings should be re-phrased for better understanding. For example, for the enable / disable / routing of low frequency signals for the speakers and sub-woofer, it has been made rather cumsy and difficult to understand and this is the same in actual use as well.
The user manual contains all the useful and technical information but it is not very helpful since that it is not teaching you to use the unit by function which most users want to perform, but instead, by features which the unit offers. As a result, one might need to read through the whole manual before he can perform just a common function, e.g. play a DVD with 5.1 sound channel playback.
One more example, even the basic connection guidelines are not clear enough at first. As I saw that there was 9.1 speaker connectors at the back panel, I really didn't know what should I do. However, after "scanning" the whole manual from page one to near the end, I know what to do!
Nevertheless, once it is properly set-up, the front panel's control knobs and buttons are nice and easy to use. As the front panel's layout, the connectors on the back panels are also logically placed with clear markings. The remote control's button layout is also very clear and logically laid. It contains many buttons which may cause one feel dizzy at the first glance, but it can be used as an universal remote controller and also with the learning function for devices not in the preset list. The preset device code list is lengthy and I think it should cover most of the AV devices from major or even some minor manufacturers. I have no problem in setting up the remote for use with my VCR, DVD player and plasma display, except that the user manual has omitted to tell one or two essential steps in the operation so that I needed to waste some time to guess and try. However, I still prefer to use the original individual remote controllers as they're easier to use and all the functions can be performed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 872
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Epinions.com ID:
ricehigh
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Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 2 members
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