Denon AVR-3808

By Jamie Gemming

April 2008

Denon AVR-3808 AV receiver. $3499


Denon's AVR-3808 can be bought in silver (as shown) or black. Click for larger image.

Remotely yours. Two remote controls are in the box. Click for larger image.

Not as scarey as it looks. The rear panel of the 3808. Click for larger image.

On-screen GUI for the 3808.

Scarlett Johansson - that’s where my mind goes whenever think of the Denon 3808. Denon have updated their latest range of receivers to move away from a chunky, tough exterior, to a smoother and much more feminine look. Personally, I’m still unconvinced. At times it looks great with its curved fascia and sculptured knobs but from some angles it just looks a little weird. And that’s the same with Scarlett. Half the time she looks hot as; sometimes I think both her fashion stylist and hairdresser secretly hate her and dress her up to look weird at times.

No more mucking round; I’ll get straight into how it sounds. Denon rate the 3808 at 130wRMS which means nothing other than the fact that Denon think it is significantly more powerful than my own 100wRMS Denon 3805. I tend to agree.

The 3808 exhibits the same warmth across the whole frequency range but compared to my 3805 the 3808 definitely has more oomph in midrange. Its not just the extra midrange grunt the 3808 supplies to the driving guitar player from Me First and the Gimme Gimmes or the slamming drum intro for How Far We’ve Come from Matchbox Twenty that impresses, the 3808 has greater definition and a more natural sounding tone. With higher pitched notes such as the voice of Coldplay’s Chris Martin the 3808 demonstrated the tight control I expected but I could discern no improvement from my own excellent 3805.

Halfway through the movie The Rock, there’s a fierce gun battle between a squad of Navy Seals and Marines. The 3808 does a marvelous job of enveloping you as the thunderous staccato of the machine gun reports reverberate around the room, with fire coming from all directions.

Holes like a colander

Connections-wise this machine is a technological tour de force. It has inputs and outputs everywhere. I won’t list them all as it will bore you and me to death, but is has everything you would expect from a $3,500 receiver. The highlights are four HDMI 1.3a ins and one out, 1080p upscaling, USB ports front and rear and an Ethernet plug to connect it to your PC allowing you to stream music or access the internet radio stations. The rear panel is laid out very well with the speaker terminals down low substantially reducing the birds-nest effect, making adding or removing other devices much easier.

Push my buttons

I’m not sure when Denon updated their GUI but it is now much better than on the earlier models I have played with. It is now very modern looking, in colour and pretty simple to use. The automated set up is activated through the GUI and is quick and easy though manual set up is also an option.

The 3808 arrives with two remotes. One is a big, black semi touch-screen job that has been around since ’06 models. This remote is still a love or hate affair. I love it and find it easy to navigate the backlit screen but my partner (who isn’t a technophobe) never came to grips with it and preferred using the older and simpler previous generation remote from my 3805. The second remote is for zone 2 but can be used as a replacement for the main remote.

Another cool feature of the 3808 is the ability to plug in an iPod dock and be able to use work the iPod from the receiver’s remote control. That’s very handy and much less hassle than getting off the couch, walking to the iPod and clicking onto the next track.

Please Denon, swap my 3805 for a 3808

I feel the 3808 is at least the match of any receiver in its class. In fact, the 3808 closest rival might be its big brother, the 4308. At an inch taller than its little bro, it wears the new curvier design much better. But unless you are showing off or really require the second HDMI output or the wi-fi capabilities I can see no point in spending the extra $2,000 as the 3808 is pretty much the complete receiver. It sounds wonderful, is future proofed connection-wise (as much as possible) and is simple to set up and use.

For your nearest Denon dealer

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