A solid receiver, especially for the price
Written: May 18 '03 (Updated May 20 '03)
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Pros: excellent sound quality, all of the needed options, great price
Cons: a bit lite on power
The Bottom Line: The 1803 will not leave your ears ringing, but it does produce excellent, natural sound. I am generally pleased with mine.
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| babyfootchamp's Full Review: Denon AVR-1803 6.1 Channels Receiver |
I shopped around quite a bit before I finally purchased a denon 1803 about one month ago. I was looking for a receiver with all of the current home theater capabilities, but with excellent sound quality as well. Many of the "big name" brands offer loads of bells and whistles, and look great on paper, but when you listen to them their sound quality just is not up to par with that of brands such as denon and marantz. Of course, if you are willing to fork over the big bucks, there are many brands that most people have not even heard of that offer amazing sound. But, if you are not wanting to spent thousands of dollars, denon and marantz are among the best.
Specs can be very deceptive, so you should definitely listen to every receiver you are considering rather than just depend on the specs. A prime example of a misleading spec is rated watts per channel. There are several ways in which they can tinker with this number to make a receiver look more powerful than it is. Among these ways is rating the watts per channel either at one frequency level, such as 110 watts at 1khz, or rating average watts per channel over a range of frequency, such as 80 watts per channel from 20hz-20khz. Both of these ratings apply to the 1803, and denon advertises the 80 watts per channel number because this is a more accurate indicator of amplifier output. Lessor brands generally go with the first rating, simply because it is a higher number, and makes their amp seem to be more powerful than it really is...
Anyway, I shopped denon, sony, kenwood, marantz and onkyo. Right away i noticed that the kenwoods were not going to cut it. The kenwood 6070 is "thx approved," and has more options that any of the other receivers that I shopped, but the sound quality was just not there.
Marantz is at the opposite end of the competition. The marantz 4300 and 5300 offer excellent sound quality, and are great music performers, but the 4300 lacks many options, and the 5300 is a bit more expensive than I would like, and also lacks some options.
I did not spend that much time looking at onkyo, as I fell in love with the denons. But, onkyo seems to make a product of very similar quality. Harmen kardon also supposedly makes good stuff, but I did not look at hk at all...
My major decision came between sony and denon. While lower-end sony receivers are comparable to the kenwoods I was shopping, sony also makes their "es" series, which is their higher-end stuff. Through a connection I can get sony es at a discounted price, so I looked at the sony 2es, which retails for about $700 (though I have seen it much cheaper). The sony offered many of the same options as the 1803, but the sony had a bit more power.
Now, here is where listener preference comes in, and this is why listening to a product is more important than any spec you can read. The sony definitely plays louder than the 1803, with all of the same options, and with the connection I mentioned price was similar, yet i went with the 1803. The sony had good sound quality, and spec-wise, such as thd and signal-to-noise ratio, it was as good as the 1803, but the two receivers have a distinctly different sound. Sony is known by audiophiles as generally having a "bright" sound, meaning that they tend to emphasize high-end frequencies. Some people like this sound, and many "american" speakers cater to this type of in-your-face high end. I, on the other hand, prefer a more natural sound. Denon is supposedly a very natural-sounding receiver, and I actually noticed the difference between it and the sony in this regard. Because of this, and only because of this, I went with the 1803.
I run the 1803 with paradigm speakers (also supposedly natural sounding) all the way around. I am still lacking a sub, but the sound quality is great and I am loving the natural sound of this system. In hindsight, I would make this purchase again. The one complaint that I have about the 1803 is that it will not blow the windows off of my house. It will play to volumes that are "loud enough," but if I really wanted to blast out the neighbors the 1803 would not cut it. It has to be turned to about -5 before it gets loud, and for some this might not be loud enough. Maybe once I add a sub, and fill out the bottom-end it will seem a lot louder...
In conclusion, the 1803 is not a blaster. If you like to listen to music or movies at levels that make your ears bleed you should go another route. There are other options that will play louder and you might even prefer their sound. But, if you are into a natural sound and accurate reproduction of music as well as movie soundtracks, the 1803 is an excellent buy. Just remember that I warned you if you get it home and don't think that it's loud enough... (If you are willing to spend a little more denon makes the 2803 and 3803 that do offer more power.)
Above all else: Listen to the equipment, remember what other components you are using with each piece of equipment (as to not give any one piece an unfair advantage with much better speakers than another) and decide what sounds best to you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 435
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Epinions.com ID:
babyfootchamp
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Location: Oregon
Reviews written: 2
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