Denon's AVR-3806 home cinema amp
Denon’s latest entry for the hotly
contested sub-£1000 home cinema amplifier sector is the newly unveiled AVR-
3806. Amongst a vast array of features it boasts 7-channel surround, HDMI
conversion and automatic room setup via Audyssey MultEQ XT room calibration
which will carefully set up the speaker levels to suit your room without
you needing to scramble around with a tape measure. It even boasts the ability
to produce a distinct sweet spot for six independently placed listeners
simultaneously. Its power output is 7 x 120w and a 3 zone multi-room system can
use different sources to simultaneously supply a separate room with independent
sound.
Wanting to prove that it is ahead of the
game, HDMI technology is the main focus of Denon’s offering. On top of two HDMI inputs, the
AVR-3806 also fully converts analogue, composite and S-video inputs to HDMI
output (although whilst you save up for that HDTV you can use more traditional
outputs too). Denon has even redesigned the remote control to help match the
demands of what remains, despite its best efforts, a pretty complex system;
the programmable control now sports a combination of hard buttons and touch
screen.
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If you’re not expecting much in the way of
small change from a grand when buying a home cinema amp, Denon’s system is
probably going to worth a look and more so if you are succumbing to the lure of
the High Definition era. Furthermore, anyone who currently has a DVD player
with Denon’s DL3 technology will also be able to make use of the enhanced
quality using the AVR-3806.
