A Steal of a Deal
Written: Dec 14 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Processing and amplifier power, ease-of-use, build quality, features, SOUND QUALITY and VALUE.
Cons: If you want THX Ultra you've got to spend more for the AVR-5700, but what do you expect that they should give this stuff away?
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| novosel's Full Review: Denon AVR-3300 5.1 Channels Receiver |
First off, let me start by getting straight to the point. If you are planning on spending around $1000 for an A/V receiver, the AVR-3300 is the one to buy. This is not just my opinion, but audio reviewers in the press join me in that opinion as well. For example, Joe Hageman of Home Theater magazine said, "This receiver gets my highest recommendation." If you haven't heard it, it sounds great. I believe that the key to its great sound is its Analog Devices 32-bit SHARC (Super Harvard Architecture RISC Computer) processor. It's the most powerful processor to appear to date and was first featured in what I consider the best receiver you can buy right now, the Denon AVR-5700. It can resolve low-level detail that is simply lost by lesser processors.
Processing power is key in digital devices (processors and digital-to-analog converters). Digital devices that don't have great resolving power tend to truncate the decay of sound. As a sound fades down to very low levels, they are cut off. This results in lost natural ambience. The SHARC processor is the best I've heard to date, and I've heard many, at resolving low-level decay of sound. The way this thing can resolve the natural ambience of large venues is startling. [I'm not talking about added ambience here, as in ambience "modes", but recorded ambience.] I feel that a Denon with SHARC power can rival the $6000 Lexicon and $12k - $16k Meridian controllers, and that is truly the highest praise for receivers in the $1k - $3k price range. Remember that receivers also come with a tuner and amplifiers.
Speaking of amplifiers, Denon does an especially good job here as well. Denon is known for offering higher-current amps that control the speakers well. This is important given that the vast majority of the distortion in a system comes from the speakers, not the electronics. [This is why you'll never see a distortion specification on a speaker; it would scare you if you did.] Focusing on an amplifier’s rated distortion is virtually irrelevant, for this reason. The way to judge a receiver's amplifiers is to hear it powering speakers. There is no substitute for that. In this regard, the Denon AVR-3300 performs better than any $1,000 receiver to date.
You built-in DTS and Dolby Digital decoding, as you would expect at this price, but remember that both benefit tremendously by the powerful digital devices used here, plus Denon includes rear-channel speaker switching. This is a unique feature that lets you switch between bipolar or dipolar surround speakers for movies and direct radiating surround speakers for music. To all this, add powerful 24 bit/96 kHz D/A converters, 8-channel external input and 8 pre-amp outputs for future sound format and system upgrade compatibility, and you've got a grand slam home run hitter. Factor in an easy-to-use interface, great build quality and handsome good looks and Denon has the competition running back to the drawing board.
If you're shopping in the $800 - $1500 price range, buy the AVR-3300. At $1000 it's a steal. If your thinking of spending $3000 or more, save yourself some money, buy the AVR-5800 and put the extra into a good DVD player, a satellite system or better speakers.
Joe Novosel
Recommended:
Yes
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novosel
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