- Aug 10, 2019
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Hi,
I live in the States and I purchased the Denon AVR-1909 to replace an aging (5 yo) Marantz SR5200. I based my purchase on the supertest review in WHF and chose it over the Onkyo SR606 which amazingly sells for almost half the price of the 1909 overseas. The reason I paid the hefty premium for the 1909 is that it's the only receiver in my budget offering Dynamic Volume which is a new feature that I'm very interested in since I have 2 young children and I do most of my gaming and movie-watching while they're asleep. I know that reviews are never a substitute for first person auditions but the stores are simply too far away and our living room with a cathedral ceiling and rooms on 3 sides of the room cannot be reproduced in any store. I'd also used WHF reviews in narrowing down my choices 5 years ago when I purchased the Marantz and my speakers. My speakers consist of 2 pairs of B&W 601S3 and LCR60 for the center speaker.
We use the receiver 50% of the time for TV (HD & SD), 20% for movies (Blu-Ray & DVD), 20% for music (AAC, MP3) and 10% for gaming.
Sonically, I was expecting the Denon 1909 to blow me away with all the new HD audio formats and advances in technology but that, unfortunately, has NOT been the case - in fact, both my wife and I agree that the 1909 lacks the soundstage and clarity of the SR5200. I've run the Audyssey auto-setup and when I enable any of the Audyssey features, the sound is distorted. Voices just don't sound the same - Patrick Stewart with his super distinct voice sounds nothing like Patrick Stewart and Michael Buble sounds like Rick Astley. There is a Pure Direct mode which removes that distortion and makes voices sound natural but the music is not as warm or engaging as it was with my old SR5200 - we can certainly listen to it but songs that would normally stir us up emotionally and have us reach for a glass of wine, leave us devoid of emotion. While the Denon plays lows and highs very clearly, there seems to be a missing dimension in the sound that I'm guessing has to be the midrange. I'm trying to find any possible way to like this receiver and not return it to the store simply because my back is still aching from hooking it up which is why I'm asking for help on this forum. On the positive side, the Denon 1909 is much faster than the Marantz 5200 when it comes to movie effects and explosions and delivers them with an authority that has to be heard to be appreciated.
Is there anything I can do to improve the sound of the Denon 1909? Should I just return it and stick with my old receiver (and maybe purchase new speakers instead)? Is there another AV receiver out there that is more musically inclined than the Denon such as the Marantz SR4003, Sony DG920 & ES2400 or Onkyo SR606? I thought Denon and Marantz would deliver similar sound since they merged but that may not be the case.
Cheers,
Michael Tzoanos
I live in the States and I purchased the Denon AVR-1909 to replace an aging (5 yo) Marantz SR5200. I based my purchase on the supertest review in WHF and chose it over the Onkyo SR606 which amazingly sells for almost half the price of the 1909 overseas. The reason I paid the hefty premium for the 1909 is that it's the only receiver in my budget offering Dynamic Volume which is a new feature that I'm very interested in since I have 2 young children and I do most of my gaming and movie-watching while they're asleep. I know that reviews are never a substitute for first person auditions but the stores are simply too far away and our living room with a cathedral ceiling and rooms on 3 sides of the room cannot be reproduced in any store. I'd also used WHF reviews in narrowing down my choices 5 years ago when I purchased the Marantz and my speakers. My speakers consist of 2 pairs of B&W 601S3 and LCR60 for the center speaker.
We use the receiver 50% of the time for TV (HD & SD), 20% for movies (Blu-Ray & DVD), 20% for music (AAC, MP3) and 10% for gaming.
Sonically, I was expecting the Denon 1909 to blow me away with all the new HD audio formats and advances in technology but that, unfortunately, has NOT been the case - in fact, both my wife and I agree that the 1909 lacks the soundstage and clarity of the SR5200. I've run the Audyssey auto-setup and when I enable any of the Audyssey features, the sound is distorted. Voices just don't sound the same - Patrick Stewart with his super distinct voice sounds nothing like Patrick Stewart and Michael Buble sounds like Rick Astley. There is a Pure Direct mode which removes that distortion and makes voices sound natural but the music is not as warm or engaging as it was with my old SR5200 - we can certainly listen to it but songs that would normally stir us up emotionally and have us reach for a glass of wine, leave us devoid of emotion. While the Denon plays lows and highs very clearly, there seems to be a missing dimension in the sound that I'm guessing has to be the midrange. I'm trying to find any possible way to like this receiver and not return it to the store simply because my back is still aching from hooking it up which is why I'm asking for help on this forum. On the positive side, the Denon 1909 is much faster than the Marantz 5200 when it comes to movie effects and explosions and delivers them with an authority that has to be heard to be appreciated.
Is there anything I can do to improve the sound of the Denon 1909? Should I just return it and stick with my old receiver (and maybe purchase new speakers instead)? Is there another AV receiver out there that is more musically inclined than the Denon such as the Marantz SR4003, Sony DG920 & ES2400 or Onkyo SR606? I thought Denon and Marantz would deliver similar sound since they merged but that may not be the case.
Cheers,
Michael Tzoanos