KnightInShinningArmor Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Hello people. I have a slight dilema re amplifiers for my HT setup. The choice is b/w Denon 3803 or the older Yamaha DSP A-1 (which i m using at present)Ive been told that denon sounds much clearer and sharper with deeper bass as opposed the the high boom generated by yamaha. the price differnce is quite steep and i was wondering if its really worth the money. I would appreciate any advice in this regard. Thanks KLF-20 (Front) KSF C-5(Center) RF-3 (Surrounds) KSW-300 (Subwoofer) Panasonic SV-10 DVD Yamaha DSP A-1 (Amp) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snails_Pace Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 ---------------- On 7/31/2003 5:34:27 AM KnightInShinningArmor wrote: Hello people. I have a slight dilema re amplifiers for my HT setup. The choice is b/w Denon 3803 or the older Yamaha DSP A-1 (which i m using at present)Ive been told that denon sounds much clearer and sharper with deeper bass as opposed the the high boom generated by yamaha. the price differnce is quite steep and i was wondering if its really worth the money. I would appreciate any advice in this regard. Thanks KLF-20 (Front) KSF C-5(Center) RF-3 (Surrounds) KSW-300 (Subwoofer) Panasonic SV-10 DVD Yamaha DSP A-1 (Amp) ---------------- I had a similar choice a few years back when I was also stepping up from one of Yammy's older flagship models. You'll get all sorts of opinions on this board regarding receiver matching and Klipsch, some saying Yamaha sounds too bright, others that Denon isn't worth the hype or price, others say go w/HK, B&K, Rotel or Outlaw for this reason or that...FWIW, yours is the first post where I've seen the Yamaha accused of having a "high boom." Regardless, for me, it all came down to features--I just didn't use the 40+ soundfields the Yammy features in its digital processing section--if I want to feel like I'm listening to music in a concert hall, I'll pull out the live recording, but I've NEVER thought to myself, "Hmmm, what would this movie/CD sound like in a giant football stadium or a real New Orleans jazz club? Well now, let's just fire up the SUPER STADIUM or Jazz Club modes and find out." So the question really comes down to whether you're satisfied with the job the A-1 is already doing for you, or if you'd like to step up a notch to the latest HT sound formats since that's really the only appreciable difference the Denon offers over your Yamaha, in least in terms of off-the-shelf processing capabilities. The Denon also has some newer capabilities, component switching, 24/192 DACs, and what-have-you, but there's always a bigger fish in the pond when it comes to consumer electronics, so you've got to draw the line in the sand somewhere, whether that's with your old receiver or one you purchase today...the next best thing is always just a few more months away. I know the 3803 has all the latest and greatest 6/7.1 surround decoders, and DPL II really is remarkable for creating a 5.1 soundfield from 2.0 and older surround sources; since the A-1 doesn't have that capability, you might consider the Denon for that feature alone. But the Denon forgoes the two front "ambient" speakers the Yamaha powers for dual rear surrounds...have you been impressed enough with DTS-ES or DD-EX releases in the theaters to want to upgrade your receiver (and probably add a few new speakers as well)? Personally, I never found the added ambient channels on my Yamaha to be that useful, and the 70mm widescreen surround modes ended up more distracting than anything. I opted for the 3803's bigger brother if only for its exacting reproduction of the original sound recorded on the disc, DVD, cassette, whatever...without a lot of other processing and decimal manipulating to color the soundfield. So again, it all comes down to what you're looking for and why you're considering the upgrade. After all, the build quality on the A-1 is top-flight so you certainly can't go wrong keeping what you've got; it's really just a matter of whether there's more you want out of your HT experience as I'm not entirely convinced you'll hear a night-to-day difference in raw 2-channel performance between the two receivers. Just my $.02 Cheers! - J.T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightInShinningArmor Posted August 4, 2003 Author Share Posted August 4, 2003 Thx a lot JT for the detailed analysis. It was nice of u to take so much time. If i may impose upon u a bit further, I have bought the 3803 but there is a pblm. My center isnt really doing all that well. It seems that the dialogues are muffled on most scenes where there are lot of front effects. e.g I was watching "We were Soldiers" on it and i had to reduce the fronts to 6.0db for anything to make any sense. My KSF C-5 was doing ok with the Yamaha. there is nothing wrong with the wiring i checked that first. The test tone also sounds quite ok. I am at a loss as to what to do. Since u r also using denon u mite be able to point out if there r any settings that i m missing here. Any input on this will be most appreciated. Thanks KLF-20 (Front) KSF C-5 (Center) RF-3 (Rear) KSW-300 (Sub) Panasonic SV-10 DVD Denon 3803 (Reciever) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPyro Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Knight- Two things.... First check and see if sound is comeing from the tweeter. Second, (if you don't already have it) buy a SPL meter from RadioShack and a calibration disk (such as Avia, Sound & Vision, etc) and calibrate the level of all of your speakers. Usually, the center channel has to be boosted slightly higher then the mains, due to effeciency and size reasons. When I had the Denon 3801 with my Rx-3's, my center had to be boosted like +3.0 dB higher then the mains, but with my ACT-3 & Parasound amp, the boost is only about a +1.5 dB. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchild311 Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Snails Pace, side note from the original post, my apologies, but how does your 5803 do with your KLF-20's? Do you find that it's a little overkill? Are you planning on upgrading your fronts to KLF-30's or going into the Ref or Heritage lines soon? Just curious ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMays Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Have you checked to see if your center is set on "large" or "small"? Switch between the two and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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