An SSP Benchmark Product Review
 

Denon AVR4802R 7.1 A/V Receiver

Part II

February, 2004

Brian Florian and Sandy Bird

 

On the Bench (Sandy Bird)

The measurements confirm Brian's findings of this being a clean and powerful receiver.  In fact, it is probably one of the cleanest receivers I have ever measured.  It easily matches or outperforms the specifications claimed by Denon.

The first set of measurement were taken using the analog inputs with a 1 volt 1 kHz signal and the preamp outputs feeding a 1 volt output signal.  These setting produced a THD+N measurement of 0.0028%.

Measuring IMD using 10 and 11 KHz test tones, the Denon achieves 0.0015%.

Frequency response is flat from 20 Hz - 20 kHz with only a slight variation beyond the audible spectrum.

Switching to the digital input, I immediately discovered this preamp would not decode a 24/192KHz signal, so I dropped the format down to 24/96KHz, where we see a small performance gain over the analog inputs. THD+N measures 0.0015%.

IMD measures 0.001% with the digital input.

Moving on to the power amp section, I was even more impressed.  The AVR-4802R achieves a THD+N measurement of 0.006% feeding 10 watts into an 8 ohm non-reactive load.

Increasing power to Denon's 125 watt rating, THD+N increased to 0.048%.

Using the same 125 watt output, the frequency response remains flat within the audible spectrum.

The unit was far from clipping, so I decided to push the power amplification section a little.  Like most solid state amps, when it clips, it clips hard, but just before clipping it achieved  166 watts.  This was only driving a single channel, but it was easy to tell Denon implemented an excellent design in both the pre and power amplification sections of the AVR-4802R.

Conclusions

While of very good build quality and overall having no detrimental flaws (beyond requiring a TV for setup), we were not blown away by the AVR-4802R receiver, even though it made THX's Ultra2 grade and offers very impressive amplification.  The one redeeming feature which may put this one on your list of units to audition is the included speaker selection function for using both dipole and monopole side surround speakers.

Denon has demonstrated remarkable responsibility as a manufacturer in the area of DVD Players, working to make things like the Chroma Bug a sin of the past, and we hope they are as receptive to what we have to say about this A/V Receiver, possibly improving the next version.
 

- Brian Florian and Sandy Bird -

Related to the article above, we recommend the following:
SSP Functionality Benchmark

Miscellaneous Ramblings on Subwoofer Crossover Frequencies

Misunderstood 0.1 LFE Channel

Nature of Equipment Reviews

Dialogue Normalization: Friend or Foe

What we Hear

Why Time Alignment is Important

High Fidelity

Cinema Sound and EQ Curves

Accuracy, Distortion, and the Audiophile

© Copyright 2002 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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