Post by housetech on Aug 1, 2021 16:27:07 GMT -5
DRA800H thoughts
The main goal of the purchase was all about convenience & features for zone areas, specifically the Partio. We spend our most of our fun time outside and wanted easy operation without the use of multiply electronics to control: all-in-one.
HEOS can stream Amazon Music (our main streaming) & many others natively, with all the Denon functions from Denon app. I find HEOS & Denon apps quirky & confusing, but I'll figure it out.
Purchase was from Accessories4less- B stock, $429.99. First unit sent had a dead amp channel, replaced unit.
You can find the specs & features on the net yourself, it does a lot.
I researched many brands from most of the big name brands to Outlaw & Cambridge.
I agreed with Sound and Vision's review on many things, if you care to read it.
I've replaced all my electronics since 1999 EXCEPT Monitor Audio Silver "i" series speakers which I adore. All speakers are 2.5 way, with either 5.5" or 6.5" woofers, 2 FB210 Subwoofers (250w). They will reveal lesser quality electronics and not for all systems.
Source material is Sony UBP-X800 w disc, Amazon HD streaming & USB stick with MP3, FLAC & WAV files of many genres. I could pick out which files were MP3- noticeable. That shows the Denon does have good fidelity if you feed it good quality music. Even the MP3 songs sounded pretty good.
My go to demo DVD is Peter Cincotti "Live in New York" HD Super Disc, excellent recording, genre: Jazz.
I could not find if the Pre-outs were line level or pre-amp variable. YES, I can add a power amp! (Basx A2 maybe)
I questioned Denon's 100w/ch rms rating.
My very first impression was 'no big deal' but as I played with it, adjusted, listened in different areas with different speakers I began to like it. Dynamic range was good for an all-in-one receiver.
Preamp has a pair of 32-bit, 8-channel AKM AK4458 premium DACs whose extra processing power is said to improved dynamic range and lower noise. The unit is Hi-Res Audio certified for up to 192 kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV, and ALAC files, DSD at 2.8 or 5.6MHz. (no AIFF files)
The DRA800 does not image as well as XMC/XPA or the Integra DTR 50.4 (135w/ch, 7.2 & 9.2 processed) it replaced (both are Burr-Brown DACs)
Edit- I'll retract that about not equal to Integra imaging statement.
btw, I'm not an Onkyo/Integra fan, but at $400 of $1600 retail bought it. The HDMI board is a 'goner' as so many others have dealt with. Still good as a stereo but not near as good as my Denon AVR5700. That unit may be one of Denon's best units.
High frequencies can be "shouty", had to drop Treble -2 to -4 db through T2+ on some songs. Side note- the T2+ tends to be a little "shouty" even from XMC-1.
Fourplay DVD-A & USB stick sounded very clean and & balanced with office M.A. 5i spkrs.
Enjoyed The Band- The Last Waltz from Amazon Hi-Rez stream- had a wide sound stage. Sound of Silence by Disturded was impressive, reaching deep.
Notice pianos sounded better than Integra on multiple albums. Was it because of different audio settings?
I did find a quirk that bugs me, when playing a USB stick the Denon will play the same song multiple times. That never occurred with Integra or Roku to XMC. Also the Left channel amp gain had to be raised 2db to balance them, it's definitely weaker. I have not performed a full system set-up, similar to a surround AVR.
Tonight I'll run it with video to see how movies sound.
Clearly I didn't do an exact A vs B comparison between my equipment, but ran it through different variations of rooms, speakers, media and applications. It passed the Monitor Audio speaker test, sounded good for an inexpensive unit.
If I had to live with the DRA800H as my only 2 channel, I could, grudgingly.
For money & features, hell yes, it's a keeper.
Let the scoffing begin.
The main goal of the purchase was all about convenience & features for zone areas, specifically the Partio. We spend our most of our fun time outside and wanted easy operation without the use of multiply electronics to control: all-in-one.
HEOS can stream Amazon Music (our main streaming) & many others natively, with all the Denon functions from Denon app. I find HEOS & Denon apps quirky & confusing, but I'll figure it out.
Purchase was from Accessories4less- B stock, $429.99. First unit sent had a dead amp channel, replaced unit.
You can find the specs & features on the net yourself, it does a lot.
I researched many brands from most of the big name brands to Outlaw & Cambridge.
I agreed with Sound and Vision's review on many things, if you care to read it.
I've replaced all my electronics since 1999 EXCEPT Monitor Audio Silver "i" series speakers which I adore. All speakers are 2.5 way, with either 5.5" or 6.5" woofers, 2 FB210 Subwoofers (250w). They will reveal lesser quality electronics and not for all systems.
Source material is Sony UBP-X800 w disc, Amazon HD streaming & USB stick with MP3, FLAC & WAV files of many genres. I could pick out which files were MP3- noticeable. That shows the Denon does have good fidelity if you feed it good quality music. Even the MP3 songs sounded pretty good.
My go to demo DVD is Peter Cincotti "Live in New York" HD Super Disc, excellent recording, genre: Jazz.
I could not find if the Pre-outs were line level or pre-amp variable. YES, I can add a power amp! (Basx A2 maybe)
I questioned Denon's 100w/ch rms rating.
My very first impression was 'no big deal' but as I played with it, adjusted, listened in different areas with different speakers I began to like it. Dynamic range was good for an all-in-one receiver.
Preamp has a pair of 32-bit, 8-channel AKM AK4458 premium DACs whose extra processing power is said to improved dynamic range and lower noise. The unit is Hi-Res Audio certified for up to 192 kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV, and ALAC files, DSD at 2.8 or 5.6MHz. (no AIFF files)
The DRA800 does not image as well as XMC/XPA or the Integra DTR 50.4 (135w/ch, 7.2 & 9.2 processed) it replaced (both are Burr-Brown DACs)
Edit- I'll retract that about not equal to Integra imaging statement.
btw, I'm not an Onkyo/Integra fan, but at $400 of $1600 retail bought it. The HDMI board is a 'goner' as so many others have dealt with. Still good as a stereo but not near as good as my Denon AVR5700. That unit may be one of Denon's best units.
High frequencies can be "shouty", had to drop Treble -2 to -4 db through T2+ on some songs. Side note- the T2+ tends to be a little "shouty" even from XMC-1.
Fourplay DVD-A & USB stick sounded very clean and & balanced with office M.A. 5i spkrs.
Enjoyed The Band- The Last Waltz from Amazon Hi-Rez stream- had a wide sound stage. Sound of Silence by Disturded was impressive, reaching deep.
Notice pianos sounded better than Integra on multiple albums. Was it because of different audio settings?
I did find a quirk that bugs me, when playing a USB stick the Denon will play the same song multiple times. That never occurred with Integra or Roku to XMC. Also the Left channel amp gain had to be raised 2db to balance them, it's definitely weaker. I have not performed a full system set-up, similar to a surround AVR.
Tonight I'll run it with video to see how movies sound.
Clearly I didn't do an exact A vs B comparison between my equipment, but ran it through different variations of rooms, speakers, media and applications. It passed the Monitor Audio speaker test, sounded good for an inexpensive unit.
If I had to live with the DRA800H as my only 2 channel, I could, grudgingly.
For money & features, hell yes, it's a keeper.
Let the scoffing begin.
