Home > Consumer Reviews > Denon AVR-3808CI 7.1-Channel Multizone Home Theater Receiver with Networking

The Denon AVR-3808CI is the best receiver I've ever tested. I was so impressed I took it home. The unit provides qaulity sound and advanced features.

I've installed multi room listening and the unit has handled the installation perfectly even spotting wiring problems along the way.

I've been very impressed with ability to update the firmware directly over the unit's Internet connection and the ability to play Music from my PC server, from Internet streaming services or even from a USB memory stick.

I've unit may also be configured from your PC via it's HTML interface. Once connected to your home network all the settings on the system can be changed, and more importantly stored and restored from your PC.

The HTML interface lacks sophistication, I would rate it as cluncky, but it does work. Denon would be better off enhancing the HTML interface to be far more user friendly.

The on-screen User interface matches the front panel interface exactly, however the on-screen interface is easier to use, since l the options are displayed. The Front panel display can only display the current selection and the next option below. Without a manual and a good understanding of AV programming it's easy to get lost in the process.

Overall this is a fantastic unit and will be more unit than most households will ever need. This unit strikes a perfect balance allowing great home theater setup and being easy enough to program by any enthusiast.

I love this receiver. Is it easy to set up? Well it's not simple that's for sure. I did not buy a receiver with this much functionality and think it would be simple. The graphical user interface is OK to navigate but it will take a little time to get used to it. The Audessy setup went great. Most importantly my music and movies sound awesome. The up-conversion looks better than that of my TV and looks good on DVDs. I highly recommend this receiver and a nice set of speakers to everyone.

update: I have been using this for a couple months now. I have a 5.1 and zone 2 setup and I still love it. Everybody here loves the uncompressed audio on HD movies. Also the media browsing via LAN is slow, very slow compared to the PS3. But streaming FLAC is still the way to go.

PROS: Lots of features and inputs. Sounds great, though I do not subscribe to the idea that different brands of amplifiers sound different. I think, at the same price level, all amps sound the same, at least to human beings. Any differences are only measurable with laboratory equipment and speakers and your listening environment would utterly mask that. Not to start a flame war. Moving on ...

Can run multiple zones with multiple different inputs. Use this regularly.

Internet radio and USB are really good features for me, as is the ability to play off Windows Media server. WRT Internet radio, the Denon website to organize your stations is a nice plus.

Great price and immediate delivery via Amazon.

CRITICALLY IMPORTANT: Amazon is an authorized Denon resaler. Otherwise, Denon will not honor your warranty. Bleeh! See below.

CONS:

Mine just died (:-( after 5 months of light duty use. Worse, the estimated time to repair at a service center is 2 - 3 weeks. That is after calling 4 centers. The other centers quoted 3 - 4 weeks. This is the centerpiece of my home theater/audio system. I'm limping along on cobbled up leftovers and having withdrawal symptoms.

GUI and remote controls are definitely non-intuitive. Good thing,Denon supplies 2 remotes. The simplified remote is usable. I have never gotten the main remote to do much, and I have been completely unable to get it to run my TV or DVD player (which it is supposed to do). To put this in perspective, in all humbleness, I am highly technically literate. So, if I can't get it to work very well (the main remote), I'm afraid anyone other than an obsessive zealot or professional audiophile is going to experience some difficulties. The GUI could stand a lot of improvement, but I had no problems with it. Likewise, the manual is more like a few sentence summary of a particular feature than any kind of real explanation.

Summary: I like it fine. I guess I can buy a good quality universal remote, if that is what I really want to do. Solid core functionality but with plenty of room for improvement wrt the user interface.

Brilliant sound quality and feature set for this price rnage. I eventually got it set up as i needed, but the manual and remote are nowhere near where they need to be for such a complex product, and I am technical. I had to invest in a logitech harmony remote to make sure the rest of the family could use it.

Pros: the Audyssey sound setup showed me that I had my rear speakers out of phase. Suddenly I have very realistic surround for the 1st time in years. It's nice that it can stream music off any PC in the house. The online radio is easy to setup on the PC. You can edit settings from your PC since the receiver plugs into your network. It can play MP3's off USB sticks.

Cons: the web interface looks like it was written in the 1990's. The front door isn't very easy to open. It's pricey. PC play lists have to be created in Windows Media Player, not iTunes.

It's a good receiver and has no trouble filling my room with clean sound. It'd be a great deal if it cost about $500.