# Denon Receiver Recommendation?



## Skaldfell (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi Folks,

How good are Denon's A/V receivers at driving a 6 to 4-ohm load? I am looking at upgrading from my current receiver and the Denons seem nice, but I'm driving Ohm 3s in the front and Ohm 1s for the surrounds. The 1s will hit 4 ohms while the 3's will hit 6 ohms. Fifty watts or more are needed for the 3s as they are terribly inefficient and they drop to 32 Hz requiring a lot of power for the bottom end.

Thanks


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I do think that the most recent Denons have not been as good when it comes to driving 4 Ohm Loads. If you look, the 7 Channel AVR-3808 weighs more than the 9 Channel AVR-4311. The AVR-3805 from several years ago weighed more than both and only retailed for around 1000 Dollars.

What AVR are you currently using? I would look at the Onkyo TX-NR3008 and 5008 as they both weigh almost 60 Pounds and are THX Ultra2 Plus Certified. To be Ultra Certified. the AVR must handle a 3.2 Ohm Load. If on a budget, the TX-NR1007 was an Ultra2 AVR and is pretty recent. If on a tight budget, the TX-SR805 can be had for under 400 Dollars and outputs well over 100 Watts even into 7 Channels and is THX Ultra2 Certified as well.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## GranteedEV (Aug 8, 2010)

The only brands I currently would trust with 4 ohm loads are Harman and Yamaha. Even Marantz is sketchy lately. I'm a fan of Pioneer and Denon as companies but I don't think I would trust their amp sections either. Between Harman and yamaha, only Yamaha is up-to-date with a proven room setup to my understanding - though harman has all the resources and preexisting softwares such that they should really be at the top.

Want my honest advice though?

Buy a decent, but not highly priced receiver, and make sure it has robust, high voltage preamp outputs. I mean around the price range of a marantz SR5005 at accesories4less. I mean, there's better options, for example, a Denon 4311 or Marantz AV7005 - but they're "barely" better and not worth the difference in cost. Anyways, after you pick the receiver, you won't be using it as an amplifier at all. It will be strictly a processor.

IE - mate it to an Emotiva XPA-5 or something along those lines. Even if you don't need the excess voltage of something like that, the limitless current capability justifies the high powered separate amp. Not need to question "if" this or that receiver can drive your speakers now or in the future. 

Other amps you could consider include the Outlaw Model 7500, ATI 2005 but both, and most other options - do cost more


----------



## Skaldfell (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi All,

My receiver is a Yamaha HTR-5940. The Yamaha is my first foray into an A/V receiver. I cannot fault it too much, considering I got it on sale at Radio Shack. The power does seem to be around 100 W PER channel as it can drive the Ohms to distortion. And it is pretty clean and handles the 6 ohms well in its 6-ohm mode. Not so clean below 60 Hz with the Ohms, but you need a pretty high damping factor to handle that, I think.

However, it has taken to injecting a loud 60 Hz hum into the right speaker after an hour of so of operation. Given the price I paid for it and the $50/hr service charge at my local repair shop a new amp is probably more cost effective than a repair. I have also run out of inputs on the back (yes, I hang a lot of stuff off an amp) and don't want to go to a manual switch box add-on.

Some of the surround effects on the HTR-5940 do pretty odd things to the audio and I wind up using the most basic settings pretty much all the time. The useful effects aren't much different than those on the old synthesized quad receivers of the 70's. So the fancy DSP effects are kind of a waste for me.

I'll check the products you guys recommended. Maybe an A/V preamp would be better to consider as I could match amps to the Ohms better.

Skaldfell


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I think getting a quality Outboard Amplifier would be an excellent purchase. I have had mine for around a decade and they are all functioning perfectly. Better still, Amplifiers are technology proof whereas AVR/SSP's become dated usually within 4-5 years.

It is also wonderful not to have to worry about having enough power when you are Auditioning Speakers. Some Speakers (like mine) need a great deal of current to sound their best. Going with something like the Marantz SR6005 that EV recommended would be an excellent choice and is quite cost effective. If not interested in 3D, AC4L has the Onkyo HT-RC180 ($1049 MSRP) for $349 Refurbished. 

The 180 is a clone of the TX-NR807 with just a few minor differences. It is built on the same chassis, uses the same Amplifier Section, etc. You would get Audyssey MultEQ, THX Post Processing, Preamp Outputs, and much more for the price of an Entry Level AVR.
Cheers,
JJ


----------

