Nice idea; flawed execution
Written: May 23 '01
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Pros: Good power & fine Dolby AC-3 and dts processing
Cons: Build quality, particularly fan system
The Bottom Line: You can't have everything in a home theater receiver for $1,000, but among the things you ought to get for that money is reliability. The AVR-3300 doesn't give you that.
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| paluc52's Full Review: Denon AVR-3300 5.1 Channels Receiver |
The Denon AVR-3300 was meant to provide much of the performance of Denon's former flagship, the AVR-5700, at a third of the price. The AVR-3300 features very sophisticated digital signal processing via a single SHARC floating-point processing chip (the AVR-5700, newer AVR-4800 and AVR-5800 all have dual SHARC chips to separate the AC-3 and dts surround processing from the THX "post processing"), terminals for two different types of rear surround speakers (one set for front-firing, corner-placed surrounds for music, and another for dipolar, side-placed movie surround speakers), and 105 watts per channel times 5.
I bought a "refurbished" AVR-3300 from uBid.com because I wanted the dts signal processing and the "oommph" of 105 wpc. Dts is a proprietary surround sound processing system that some audiophiles prefer to Dolby AC-3 digital. The number of film soundtracks recorded in dts is slowly increasing. My craving for additional power (I had a 70 wpc Denon AVR-1700 receiver before) has to do with getting more "clarity" and dynamics out of my Snell speakers.
As to the signal processing offered by the AVR-3300, I remain a Denon fan. The AVR-3300 improved the realism and spatial imagery of movie soundtracks. The added power too gives movies and music detailed and dynamic sound.
But the unit's great weakness seems to be the build quality short cuts that were required to downsize the $2,800 AVR-5700 to the $1,000 price point. The AVR-3300 runs hot. Instead of a heavy duty power transformer and expensive caste metal heat-sinks, the AVR-3300 relies on an internal cooling fan that is supposed to by controlled by a microprocessor to limit fan noise. Some fan units apparently work just fine. Mine did not. The fan squeaked and came on at inappropriate times (i.e. at very quiet moments in a film score). The noise was very distracting - enough so that I was ready to go back to my trusty AVR-1700.
But I tried to get the AVR-3300 repaired first. After several weeks at a Denon-authorized shop, I was told that the "fan replacement kits" were no longer available and there was nothing that could be done, even though the unit was still under warranty! The existence (or former existence) of a "fan replacement kit" suggests to me that the AVR-3300's fan problems were not unique to my unit. I DID get a full refund from uBid, for which I am grateful.
All in all, you will be lucky, especially at this late stage in the production history of this model, to get a good functional unit.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 449
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Epinions.com ID:
paluc52
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Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Soviet Studies was first career; now a lawyer. Trailing-edge boomer, married with 2 kids.
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