Anyone demo the Denon 3805 vs the 990 side by side? Would be curious to hear their thoughts. Thanks, Kevin

I know that it is not the same, But my 990 replaced a Denon 2800 (yes I really mean a 2800, it was old..)

To me the 990 has a better sound with the upsampling on my CD's. With the DVD's there is a much more involving soundscape created....this is a quick review, but in all fairness, the old denon did not even have dolby digital, or digitial inputs... So...

Anyone in the Memphis,TN area have a 990 they would like to compare head to head with the Denon 3805? I think it would be an interesting comparison. I currently own the 3805 and owned a 950 before it, and prefer the Denon, but would love to hear how the 990 sounds. If anyone's game, just let me know. Thanks, Kevin

I had the Denon 3805 and replaced it with the 990. No regrets. The 990 is clearly the winner in that comparison. It beat the Denon watching DVD's and HDTV DD hands down.

I'm surprised that no one can tell whether this thing sounds better than a receiver.

Is this 990 sounds better than an Harman Kardon receiver? Please, I really need to know since I'm in the market to upgrade my HK525 receiver.

Read my post above. You will need amps. Any processor plus separate amps will sound better than any receiver.

Barnabas,
Did you compare the two side by side? I should have been more specific in the question about the comparison earlier, because I am most interested in how the processor qualities differ, as I am using an outboard amp (Sherbourn 7x200). Thanks, Kevin

I am curious. What was better with the 990? Did it just sound better? Did you insure that all the settings both internal and external were the same?

Just trying to get a handle on the value metrics.

Kevin, I'll try to explain my experience. I had the 3805 about a year before I got the 990. I was using the 3805 as a pre amp for the fronts and center; only the surrounds were powered by the Denon.

First, adding separate amps to the Denon made a big difference in sound. Even my wife noticed the difference. Not to sound trite, but it was as if a veil was lifted from the speakers with the amps powering the speakers vs the Denon. 260wpc to fronts and 425 watts to the center.

Anyway, I did not do an A-B comparison; I relied on music that I was familiar with to try to make a comparison. The first thing I noticed was watching "24" in HD/DD 5.1 a few weeks ago. The vocals opened up tremendously with the 990. It was noticeable immediately.

Music was more open as well. Highs had slightly more clarity and soundstage opened up a bit. Again, vocals were more defined and clear in all formats (DVD, DVD-A, SACD, XRCD).

I won't say that I heard things I never heard before though!

Rat, I guess I can say that the 990 did sound better overall. I had a slight hum with the 3805 and had to use a cheater plug (my bad) on the amps. With the balanced connections from the 990 to my amps now I have no noise issues.

I replaced my Denon 5800 with the Outlaw 950/770 about 2 years ago. I was taken aback by the improvement. Posted a thread here when I made the switch. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Mike