I got this receiver yesterday 7/18 , my understanding is right after I ordered mine last friday they went on backorder.
I had originally started with that great pioneer deal for the VXS-850s that best buy was clearing out so cheap, the thread on is on here, for 250$ or so it was a super deal, BUT in bringing one home, setting up and then listening to it and reading reviews, the sound can really be mechanical or machinery like , like rest of most of the current pioneer line.
I am replacing a SONY STR-760z, a 1996-97 model that weighs alot and has been an incredible reciever for me at 110w/channel with 5.1.
You really have to jump to the top of the pioneer model line I am told to get away from that negative machinery effect, and then all u have you done is gotten rid of a bad thing , it still leaves you comparing the pioneer to everything else. Other pioneers I have owned come with lots of power and features but have also been kind of mechanical and way short on DEPTH of the sound, esp music in direct or 2 channel stereo or whatever equivalent mode.
I picked up a Yamaha HTR-5550 for 276.00$ and loved the clarity but it didnt have the power of my sony str-760z from 5 or 6 years ago and seemed short on warmth and WAY short on bass. The Yamaha's are known and loved for being clear crisp sounding having TONS of digital modes but the weak bass shocked me. I have two 5 foot towers with self powered extra subwoofers so this was amazing, to be short on bass with THESE speakers you really need to be low on bass, it turns on the HTR-5550 has a flaw in its specs for bass most dealers I talked to say.
As it turns out after several weeks of research anyone who owns a larger model sony from that time frame when I got mine , got a real great unit since the current Sony ES line, their flagship line is very similar in quality of construction, power supplies and weight. Sonys from back then weighed MUCH more than Sony models today outside SONY's ES line, due to the heavy power supply and circuit components. THAT is a mark of a good reciever, and to date always has been.
I discovered this, but also that this latest greatest Yamaha didnt drive my speakers properly, and was missing warmth and some bass. Additional research on the Yamaha yielded a surpising discovery, an overwhelming opinion that is has great clarity which Yamaha's are known for but WEAK base sound and one really weak base specification. The great peopel at 6th ave uncovered it when I was doing heavy reaseach. Now the Yamaha is less power , like 75watts per channel but the Yamaha's are known for very clean power channels so 80 is like a 100 watts they told me on a Yamaha ,compared to most other models with the same power rate the Yamaha will always drive better and stronger. SO that difference in power couldnt account for all the issues I was finding.
Sooooo, I ended up ordering this Denon which is 110/wt a channel. First of all, let me say its GREAT for quality of sound , warm, and power and new technlogy features, my big old tank of a Sony had 5.1 and prologic and really was awesome but DIDNT have optical inputs except for one coax and none of the newer technology features or digital sound modes from the 5 years since it came out of course.
The warmth, the bass sound, power, clarity, and DEPTH, is superb. The audioreview.com website has over a hundred reviews of end users on this Denon 3802 UNIT alone, and I highly recommend that site for researching any tv, or audio purchase. You can search by brand and model with less than 3 clicks usually. Now having said all these great things about the Denon let me say a few bad, the remote and reciever setup, like many new recievers these days is AWFUL. I am slowly figuring it out, my unit came with some setting that had the speakers disabled and I had to call the mfg and they talked me through some reset procedure to get them to turn on, we thought I got a lemon. Second setting up all the options via this remote is as best like getting a PhD . Its worth it, for sure, but be prepared and be patient and READ the manual. MOST new receivers are difficult to set up. BTW this thing simply blows the Yamaha right away. Getting it with some issue out of the box that the mfg takes 2 hours on the phone to figure out with you is NOT fun and they dont have an 800 number.
The 3802 also has a digital output socket and Prologic II which works nicely with my Philips 985 Dvd+RW dvd+r dvd recorder.
Also as has been stated you need to CALL 6th eve electronics for the 699$ price AND they are one of ONLY 10 or so authorized dealers. If you don't you have NO warranty. Denon posts this cleary on their website. Lots of as cheap deals abound on the web , those this really is current rock bottom I have seen for this model, but you wont get any warranty. BE WARNED!!
So the bottom line, I thoroughly agree and recommend this reciever based on its SOUND quality for anything DVDs, or music.
Its really not in the same class as the pioneer, but in a class above. Traditionally this unit is considered part of higher end model lines for reviewing and comparison, and requently is compared to 2,000-4000$ models. So pioneer fans dont crap on me, and that price was unbeatable for 250$ for the pioneer as opposed to the 699$ for the denon, BUT the denon is usually MUCH higher priced and comes from a true audiophile class of audio components.
I've written alot here, since I am grateful to this boards users for both helping empty my wallet (joke) and turning me on to this buy, BUT hopefully my experiences shared above can help some of you out.