Denon 2805 questions

@gear: how is your Lab doing? Must be rough. I had a 250lb mastiff with a tiny 7lb calico who were inseperable; wish I had some pics, they were quite a sight together. Still have the cat but they're more independant; would have been far worse on the dog if the situation were reversed.

I've heard this same story about the power cord three or four times already with Denon. Kind of strange. Take it easy guys...Gerry

 

thats pic was about a month ago.... the chiwawa was sitting on my lab while she was asleep... the lab is sad, you can see it in her eyes. i was in the garage last night and had the lab with me, i showed her the collar from the chiwawa, she sniffed it and gave me a look... it was kinda sad, but i think she will be ok, i am gonna get her a new buddy. my in-laws have a pregnant doberman, so i think i want one of those. give my lab a bit of competition.

 

Dobermans are great dogs! Smart and so easy to train. Don't deserve the bad rep they have in places. When I was a kid, they were like pit bulls are now; so popular that they were inbred over and over producing a psycho dog. Probably my next one too (or a great dane; can't decide; I think a dobbie would need the room to run and exercise that I can't provide).

 

Hey Gear,

What would make better use of my 1 DVI input on my TV? Should I go DVI from my cable box, and use component cables on my DVD player? Or should I go HDMI-to-DVI to my TV form my DVD player and then use component cables for my cable box?

I watch more television than DVD's, but I would like my DVD picture to look as good as possible. Does DVI give that much of a better picture than component?

 

in your case, i guess, since you watch more tv then dvd, i would use your dvi from cable to tv and use a good quality component from dvd to tv. what i mean by good, buy you a set of cables that run upwards of 40 bucks or more. i have read, and also know from personal experience, a good quality component set of cables is as good as a semi cheap dvi cable. search e-bay, sometimes you can find a real good quality cable for way less then retail at stores. you also want to make your dvi cable as short as possible and keep it kink free. another good tip, route all your power cables on one side, your speaker wires on another side, and all audio/video cables on another (all if possible) it reduces emi (electromagnetic interfearence)..
http://cgi.ebay.com/MONSTER-DVI-400-Cable-2m_W0QQitemZ5830389314QQcategoryZ73387QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
i went back like 3 pages, because i do not know when you will check this.... but you get the idea. and its monster branded !
here is a good component set... i have these for my bedroom dvd player to tv...
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-ft-component-...830340761QQcategoryZ14968QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


then, monster brand
http://cgi.ebay.com/Monster-Cable-T...828523662QQcategoryZ32835QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

buy only as short as you need, its better to be a tad longer, but not so short that you cant pull out your receiver at a later time to plug or unplug.
also, i suggest you get you some banana plugs too, it makes connections so simple and easy to unplug too. it saves the hastle of screwing the wire in, and saves time, trust me. i love my banana plugs. at the very least, get all your cables gold plated. gold is a better conductor then that silver crap.. resistance is lower.
use e-bay...... its your friend.

 

Thanks again Gear. I ended up just leaving my connections pretty much as they were. It was kind of a hassle to get my VCR, DVD and PS2 inputs all set up in my TV and I just didn't want to mess with that again. About all I changed, was to run the optic cable from my cable box to the AVR and the DVD player to the AVR, then to the TV. I'll look into getting some of those cables you suggested and maybe when I'm feeling industrious in the future, I'll swap the cables over. I think I'll return the DVI cable I have now. It's 15 feet long. Plus I didn't like how the connector sticks so far out from the back of my TV. I already hate how far out my TV sits from the back of the wall, (the major drawback to having a projection TV, but I just couldn't afford the minimum $2,000 for a decent DLP).

But I'll tell ya that the 2805 kicks ass!!! Movies in DTS sound great, although I find that the front speakers kind of overpower the center channel. I like to have my center channel set kind of low so that you can't really tell that the sound is coming from on top of the TV. But with DTS, the voice kind of get drowned out if you turn the center down low. I loved the auto setup feature. I had measured the distance to all my speakers before I did the set up, but apparently I was WAY off, because the settings the AVR came up with were way different than mine.

I listened to some CD's this morning in Pure Direct mode, and I tell you, my jazz CD's have never sounded better! The instruments sounded so clean and detailed.

I know I'm not using 1/4 of the features of this receiver, but I love what it's doing so far. When I get more comfortable with it, I'll start playing around with other stuff.

Thanks again for all your help guys.

 

with your auto set up, you can still tweak to your preferance... my room dimensions are obviously different then yours, but i like to keep my center much higher then the sides.... mainly for dialouge..
i watched stealth over again... (which if you have not seen, i suggest you buy it) the surround in that is way good. and in dts
my wife, for the first time, according to her, has now heard the surround sounds of movies tonight. with my old sony, she thinks it was just as good as my yammy.... go figure.
im in the same boat as you, as far as projection tv, but i have twin towers with a bridge, so it kind of makes it look better. let me dig up the pic in my documents... here it is.


my tv sits about 3 inches from the back wall (and this pic still has my old receiver in it) and i have moved my sub again to the left of the left tower. the bass rattles the windows there and pushes the window blinds around with air. funny...
a tip.... and most will agree.. set all your speakers to small and the sub bass (on the sub itself) to max and the gain all the way down (low frequency) THX sets their standards @ 80hz but play with it, i played with mine for like 8 hours the first day i had it, my wife was pissed. but oh well... i still get flack for it..

 

I didn't see Stealth because it looked like a total piece of crap to me. I can't see buying a DVD just for good sound. Maybe I'll give it a rental and see.

That's funny that you say to set all the speakers to small. I tried that with my Yamaha receiver and when listening to music, it sounded like crap to me. Too many midrange frequencies seemed to be missing. Are you saying to switch them to small when listening to movies? Maybe I'll give it a shot and see how it sounds.

 

Remember that originally THX specifications were based on movie and sound reproduction to it's truest sense...that meant more vertical dispersion rather than horizontal...perfect for movies, but not so great for music...then THX Ultra 2 which is also tailored to music...from what I've heard sounds pretty good, yet I like SACD and Dvd Audio. Listen to a lot of Jazz and Classical. My Home Theater is not THX, but the setup is as perfect as I can get it, using proper calibration methods and I also prefer my surrounds to me just a little higher than the other speakers.
@darien87, congrats on your new toy and continue to share what you learn about it...sounds great.
MovieDud

 

i play with my settings all the time, i hear better sounds out fof mine when set to small, but sometimes i hear better when set to large. its a never ending configuration battle i guess. set em how you like em !!
what sounds best for you may be different for me.
now you need to buy this.......

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/YSP1/idx_ysp1000.htm


1 speaker does it all !!

 

Howdy guys! I'll be driving to New England tomorrow to spend the holiday with my family. My sister just moved so I don't know if she'll have her computer connected yet so I wanted to wish you guys and your families a great and safe turkey day!

I had a stroke of luck yesterday and had to mention it. Over the weekend, I was at a friend's in amish/mennonite farming country just west of Philly. I went to this flea market and got a chuckle out of these two boxes with signs that read "graphophone wires $10.00" (hadn't heard that word since I was a kid). I'm setting up a cheapie system for a woman at work who I'm sure doesn't have a thing so I bought them. Each box contained one huge tangled knot that was 80% junk but had some really serious "monster" cables of all sorts...svideo, rca, six or seven component in various lengths etc. Just in time too because I almost finished making this burled maple TV & equipment stand to get rid of this ugly old stacked component unit. I've read that monster isn't the best but its better than what I'm using and must have cost a fortune.

@gear: you're a genius guy! ...but I'm confused. I read your suggestion to Darien about switching speaker settings to small and it didn't seem to make much sense. Denon and Mirage both said to set for large. I played with this all day and it makes a really big difference; seems music heavy DVDs are better on large while heavy duty effects are best set to small but how can this be? How can speakers with the quality of yours and mine sound better when using them in a diminished capacity?

I just got your messages about the guy inquiring about Denons. I was gone for the weekend and when I returned late last night, my computer was a real mess and, unfortunately, had to do a destructive recovery. When I'm done, I want to look for a couple of articles comparing the 2805 with the 3805 and then I'll write. Thanks also for the DVD player suggestion. Haven't looked into yet but I will in a couple of weeks.

@MovieDud: last week I wrote that my xcopy platinum was still working just fine; I should have knocked on wood! I lost it when I had to do a destructive recovery. I can reinstall it but the company went belly-up; I don't that I could get it activated. I'll check what you wrote about other similar software. Tell me, what are these DVDs you can buy to tweak your system. Are these legitimate? I used the auto set up and then tweaked the sound; just what do these DVDs do if they're a legit product?

@Darian: Congratulations on your new toy Darien! I couldn't imagine how you'd keep it in the box for two days without setting it up though; I don't have that sort of self control. By the way, what did you finally tell the wife? You won it somewhere? I have this really great article (Denon specific info and instructions)about 16-17 pages long which is unbelievable...hard copy though. If you wanted, I could scan and email it or fax it to your work or something. It's really useful...let me know if you'd like a copy.

Take it easy guys and again, you and your families have a great holiday! ... Gerry

 

@gerry1, Happy Holidays and have a safe trip. Two things: Yes, the Dvd's are legit...I use Video Essentials and Avia setup disks...but if your Receiver has the automatic setup then I would go with that. I set up a friend's Denon and he misplaced the mic, so I did it with a Radio Shack SPL (Analog) and these Disks. He finally found it a day later and I went over and compared, and I wasn't off except that the Denon auto feature said that one speaker was wired out of phase, wasn't the case, but beyond that my calibration and the Denon's was almost dead on. Not bragging just saying that these receivers with the auto feature is nice touch for those who do not want to mess with Spl meter or invest into several dvd's...picture quality is a high priority to me...I believe that both disks I mention will help you calibrate a set that will provide years of usage and compleet satisfaction, beyond this option there is calling up a professional and set it with even more detail tools that would cost you or I a fortune.
Also, the option of speakers set small and using the sub is how my Theater is setup and has been for years. I believe based on what I have heard (again from my system and room environment) sounds awe-some with movies and music, I listen to a lot of SACD (Super Audio CD) and Dvd Audio discrete 5.1 sound...It sounds amazing. I feel for me I listen to movies very loud, not quite at reference level but still loud and I have never had a situation where the amps in the receiver couldn't keep up because I have allow the 500 what Def Tech Powerfield 1500+ handle the low end. A great test disk is Super Speedway (now in DTS...mine is in DD). SOnically the only thing I have heard that gets even close is the first 25 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. I usually show this to entice people to get into Home Theater...I have shone it three times in the past 4 months to three individuals and after Thansgiving I will set up the 3rd person's HT...I already did the other two. CHeck it out...It follows Mario and Michael Andretti is building an Indy cart and several exhausting race sequences that will literally take your breath away. Ususally when others watch this with me they could scream at the top of their lungs and you couldn't hear them...o.k. maybe at that point I am at reference level...but it sure is a lot of fun.
Have fun, experiment and pass on what you learn.
MovieDud

Happy Holidays to evryone at AD...you have taught me so much and I continue to learn everyday.

 

@Gerry
Hell yeah, I'd like a copy of that Denon article you're talking about. I actually set the 2805 up on Friday night while the wife was at school. She didn't notice until the next day when it was on. She noticed because the Denon's display is blue and the Yamaha's was yellow. Then she saw the Denon remote and was like, "What's that?" I just played kinda dumb and she dropped it. Whew. I would have been screwed if she asked me what I paid for it.

Going back a few pages; I'm positive that when the Magnolia manager told me to leave the 2805 on all the time, he meant, all the way on. Because I asked him if that wasted a lot of power and he said that it would only be drawing what it took to power the LED display. This didn't make sense to me, because if it's on, isn't it ready to start playing music at any time? Unless the unit has some sort of sleep mode. Plus he mentioned something about always having music playing from the speakers helping them to sound better. Whatever.

But go ahead and e-mail me that stuff or you can fax it to my work. Just let me know and I'll PM you my work fax number. My e-mail address is darien@hotmail.com

Thanks

 

Darien, if you don't mind a suggestion, I would go to Denon USAs web site and send them an email about the standby switch (perhaps there's something in the owner's forum about it, didn't look). I'm suggesting that simply because it's better to be safe than sorry and would only take a moment. I don't have the technological knowledge of the other guys, I simply have this "feeling" that leaving your 2805 on at all times (as opposed to on standby) is dead wrong and might ultimately hurt your unit. Again, I'm just talking through my hat here but why take a chance on the well-being of your equipment when it would take just a couple of mins to contact and ask for sure.

I'm not home but will send that article as soon as I get back...Gerry

 

Hey Gerry,

I actually called the Denon service line and the guy there told me that there is a school of thought that leaving your receiver on helps it sound better. But when I asked him if Denon what recommended, he said they didn't have an opinion either way. I asked him if there had ever been any studies where they took 2 identical receivers and tested them to see which one lasted longer, (turning one on and off and leaving the other on all the time). He said he had never heard of such a study.

So who knows. Sounds pretty weird to me too. But I do have a co-worker that does leave his stereo and computer on all the time. So who knows.

 

Smart of you to look into it; good equipment costs far too much to take chances with.

Darien, I thought I would send you a hyperlink that I gave to a guy in another thread. It's a rather long and easy to understand review of the 3805, not the 2805 but I was looking at it again this morning and there is so much really valuable information common to both our units that I changed my mind and sent it anyway because there's a lot you can get out of it: <http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/Denon-AVR3805_review01.php#>

 

Sweet. Thanks for the link Gerry. I'll check it out when I have some free time.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!!

By the way, I got the new Panasonic DVD player today and set it up. Progressive scan makes a little bit of a difference, but not as much as I was hoping for. I tell ya, that DVD player's got a lot of crazy features too. I gotta read the manual more.