Denon has been quite a busy beaver lately- aside from sprucing up the entire electronics line with some incredible new products, on the corporate side, Denon's got many new synergies at work including the acquisition of Marantz! Surprising? Probably- since Denon and Marantz command a substantial portion of market share in the home theatre electronics fold. Back on the products side, Denon has thrown some impressive new products on to the market, including the awesome mid-line hybrid 2900 DVD-A/SACD multi-media player. review here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_100695248516 Back on the receiver side, Denon has made some nice improvements in what would appear to be an effort to make up for what WAS a step back... Denon's former-former flagship 5801 was replaced by the 5802- Many people criticised the output stage of the amplifies section along with a few other user-related gripes.. This trickled down the entire line to amount to what appeared to be a universal acceptance that the transition from version 1 to version 2 was pretty much a step in the wrong direction. Not to dissapoint, Denon listened to a great deal of user feedback (plenty of negative) responded to it and acted by offering a wonderful version 3 revision. At the top of the receiver list is the 5803- A super impressive receiver aimed at the mid-priced audiophile market.
With an MSRP of 4300 dollars, the 5803 probably doesn't sound like a mid-line anything- clearly this is an expensive unit. However in the world of audiophiles, this is relatively typical price which wouldn't raise nary and eyebrow. This review is particularly challenging for me- My goal is to remain as objective as possible. However it's tough to do so for a few reasons. The 5803 can be obtained with a street price of well beneath 3000 dollars. Don't pay much attention to epinion's "lowest advertised price" either- Despite this products intent to compete in the audiophile market, clearly the serious audiophiles will go for seperates- either solid state (at least) or they'll go for the far preferable tube electronics to power worthy speakers. The bottom line is that this leaves Denon at the very expensive end of a list which cater's to high-line consumer level home-theatre oriented electronics. This means that serious 2-channel enthusiasts may or may not skip over the Denon- a 2-channel guy on a moderate budget my love it- AND that buyer can integrate home theatre. However a 2 channel guy with some cash to spend would probably opt to take a different route here... Let's get into the review and we'll discuss the why's and why-not's afterward....
First, the 5803's features list is quite long- you can view it below as listed by Denon:
"AVR-5803
THX Ultra2 Certified THX Surround EX/DTS ES 6.1 Discrete/Dolby Digital EX Pro Logic II/DTS A/V Surround Reference Receiver
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THX Ultra2 Certified
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THX Surround EX; DTS Extended Surround Discrete 6.1; DTS ES Matrix 6.1; DTS Neo:6 Cinema & Neo:6 Music Matrix Decoding; Dolby Digital EX; Dolby Pro Logic II; Dolby Headphone; DTS
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Ultra2 7.1 Cinema and Music modes
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Lucasfilm Home THX Cinema 4.0, 5.1 and 6.1ES post-processing
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DVD-Audio decoding with Adjustable Digital Bass Management, Delay, Channel Levels and Tone Controls, through DENON Link or External Analog Inputs
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DDSC-Digital featuring New dual Analog Devices HammerHead SHARC 32-bit floating point DSP processors
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7 Channels equal power amplifier section
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170 watts per channel (8 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, .05%THD)
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200 watts per channel (6 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, .05%THD)
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24 bit, 192 kHz A/D conversion (Burr-Brown PCM-1804 x 4) on all analog inputs, including External 7.1 inputs
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16 Burr-Brown PCM-1738E 24-bit, 192-kHz highest resolution DACs, with DSD compatibility - each audio channel operating in differential mode
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Pure Audio mode, features 4 DACs per audio channel in dual-differential mode
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ALPHA 24 Processing Plus in Stereo/Direct/Pure Direct modes (left/right channels)
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4 24 bit,192 kHz Digital Interface Receivers
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3 sets component video inputs, compatible with wideband (480p, 720p, 1080i) response for progressive DVD, DTV (100 MHz)
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8 sets composite and "S" video inputs
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Video Conversion of Composite to S-Video and/or to Component
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1 AC-3 RF digital input for laser disc
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TWO sets of 7.1 external wide bandwidth (100 kHz) inputs for multi-channel formats with full Bass Management(defeatable)
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11(5 Coax, 6 Opt.) assignable digital inputs
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8 Channel Digital External Inputs
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13 analog inputs including built-in AM/FM tuner
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Multi-Zone 1 stereo pre-amp outputs with video output
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Multi-Zone 2 outputs, pre-amp outputs or speaker outputs
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RS-232C port for external controllers
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Remote In/Out Ports
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12 and 5 volt triggers
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DENON Link, for connection to DVD-9000
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Variable high/low pass Crossover 40/60/80/100/120
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Audio Delay adjustment to match audio signals with video signals(0-200ms)
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Digitally regulated volume control with .5dB increment adjustments and step range of -80 to 15
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Delay time adjustment increased to 20 feet per speaker in .1 foot increments
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Auto Surround Mode stores modes by signal type(analog or digital) in memory
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On-Screen Display
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AKTIS RC-8000 LCD touchpanel remote with IR and RF transmission capability included
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AKTIS RC-8001ST Charger/RF Base Station included
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Dimensions: 17.1"w x 8.5"h x 19.1"d
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SRP $4300"
Obviously, the 5803 is packed with features. THX certified, the 5803's greatest attributes are nicely balanced between both audio AND video, stressing the determination of Denon to really deliver the best possible package to devout home theatre people BUT without leaving two channel guys in the cold: Example: The Burr-Brown furnished "Dual-differential" mode which assigned 4 seperate DAC's per channel to provide optimal clarity and purest digital-to-analog conversion before sending the signal to the amplification section.
Speaking of amplification, the 5803 is rated at 170w x 7 at 8 ohms. This is impressive power for a receiver- in fact 170 watts exceeds quite a few solid state seperates I can mention- though I won't because this is a bit misleading. Again, this is where I'm torn in writing this review. Is 170 watts impressive? Absolutely- however the bottom line is this is more impressive on paper than to your ears- or at least mine. A Fair comparison would be to say that a modest B&K 5125 (B&K entry level 5 channel amp) will best the 5803's 170watts even though it only provides 125 rated continuous. Of course with the B&K, by the time you get your pre-pro and set it up, you will probably be above the 5803 price wise- and do you get better processing, eeeehhhh, probably comparable, at best. However the real difference comes when you step up to a more serious seperate, such as B&K's 7250- the 5x200 7250 will absolutely embarass the Denon- and it is only about 800 more than the 5125.. So like everything, there is just no end to this stuff and as long as you're willing to put more money in, you'll hopefully get better quality out (provided you listen and listen and listen, audition as much as possible and let your ears make the decision, not just your wallet.
On the other hand, the 5803 has an obvious advantage over any seperate: usability. The 5803 is all-in-one. THe user interface is laid out quite nicely and is relatively easy to use, despite being packed with features. The Unit is commanded by a touch-screen AKTIS remote (RC-8000) The remote is a learning remote if IR/RF capability and can be programmed to do just about anything and control just about whatever you want it to. Navagating through the features of the receiver with the remote is quite easy- once you're hooked up, I'd say a good hour sit down with the remote and the manual will get you familiarized with a good portion of the features you'll want to know about for every day use- the further you go and more you use it, the clearer everything will become- by using the unit more and more you'll ask the right questions by running into a wall- so keep the manual handy and it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to peruse the index, find the chapter you need and learn this next feature. Ironically, I found that programming the remote was about the hardest thing to do with the 5803- which is still not too difficult.
Speaking of hooking up, the 5803 is packed with inputs
3 component ins with wideband capability, 8 sets of composite/S-vid, 2-wideband and an RF for laser disc, 8 channel digital external, 13 analogs- I don't want to repeat the spec sheet - but needless to say there is just about nothing you can't do with this unit in terms of integration. However beyond just simple inputs, there are a few key features which to me make the unit a substantial cut above other "flagship" units- like the ability to take an s-vid and composite video input and convert it into components for rabbiting or signal-hopping. Another key input feature is the ability to integrate Denon's top SACD/DVD-A player, the 9000, via special connection which makes it unnecessary to use regular interconnects, it's called "Denon-LINK" and makes communication between the 9000 and 5803 seemless. My only complaint is I wish they would incorporate this feature onto a few of the other top-line receivers and the 2900 player- the LINK is a wonderful feature and worth putting on a few of the other units just for marketing reasons alone- I would gladly pay a few hundred more to have this feature built into my humble 3803 and 2900- and my ears preferred the LINK to a digital-optical connection.
In terms of what Denon has improved upon, the wattage is truly more plentiful and cleaner. The 5803 is audibly an improvement over the V2 model and overall sounds and looks superb. In the video department, with a quality DVD player and a quality monitor, the 5803 works very well and the video quality does not suffer by running through the receiver, in fact the ability to change signal formats (S-vid to component etc) makes the receiver even more universal and possible to fit into just about any situation- with all the input and output flexibility, there is very little the 5803 could not do- in fact integrating it into the most complicated systems, one might still find the amount of ins and outs is clearly overkill. In terms of sound improvement, my ears tell me there is a difference. The comparison was done on a set of Paradigm STudio 60's in stereo and studio 60's plus studio center and surround 370's in the rear. Improvements were made in the DAC department and decoding and signal wise is clearly what accounts for a noticably better sound. A step in the right direction?? Absolutely- but make no mistake, the 5803 is still not the same as having seperates.
