Denon AVR-4308CI

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• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 9 stars

  HI DEFINITION MUTIMEDIA RECEIVER!!!!!

  by gbone73 on September 19, 2007

  Pros: LOTS OF CAPABILITIES . 4 hdmi inputs -2 0ut -GUI interface.

  Cons: A little ahead of its time. Can't enjoy hi def audio via bit stream YET!

  Summary: Well i finally got my true next generation receiver.I have to admit that cnet definitley help make up my mind when it came to chooseing the right one.I ...

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  Summary: Well i finally got my true next generation receiver.I have to admit that cnet definitley help make up my mind when it came to chooseing the right one.I originaly had the yamaha rxv-2600 and i was very happy with it's sound performance but its hdmi features were a little off. the # 1 problem was the hdmi spec was 1.1 only.I was still able listen to PCM sound tracks but it had syncing problems with my hdmi xbox elite via hdmi .An irritateing noise would be produced from the yamaha when trying to listen to sound through hdmi.Problem solved! The denon avr-4308 works flawless with the xbox elite and the ps3.My guess is because the hdmi 1.3 on it is the just more up to date.Anyway set up on the receiver was fairly simple.After i hooked up all my speakers and components i was curious to see the new GUI display denon was raveing about.I will just say that with out a display like this it would be very difficult to set this up.The menu is very slick.When you activate the GUI you can still see and listen to the program on the TV . The menu is categorized very well and should make things alot easier for home theater newbies.performance wise the machine is brilliant. i had the luxery of being able to compare it to a great reiver in the yamaha rx-v2600 and i have to say that in terms of sound i would say there neck and neck.Now in tearms of video features the denon takes the lead and never looks back.It has four HDMI 1.3 inputs More then enough four anyones hi def epuipment. I love the two hdmi outs also .This would be good if you had an lcd and a hi def projector in the same room. I listen to some hi definition radio and thought it sounded great when i actually got a good singnal.I would recommend getting a very good antena so you can enjoy the radio feature.Another feature that i thought was great was being able to listen to internet radio all over the globe through denons own radio website.Its pretty cool to listen to radio in area that you did not know existed. Now in tearms of movie playback performance,The Denon rocked the house.I realy enjoyed watching the film 300 on blueray in 1080i via my PS3. but the best part was the reason why you would want to buy a peice of equipment like this.DOLBY TRUE HD 5.1 or PCM 5.1 movie sound tracks! I would compare them to the difference between stadard def television and hi def television.They just sound fantastic.The down side is,(depending on how you look at it) is that no player sends the hd sound formats via bitsream at the moment so the display on the denon reads muti channel in.thats because all player right now convert the signals to pcm before being sent to the receiver. Just dont dont expect it to say dolby true hd on your shiny new receiver just yet. There should be new players that send the hd sound stracks via bit stream by the end of the year but keep in mind that by doing so you loose the option of enjoying all of the interactive features that blue ray and hd dvd offer.If you want to see them you must let the player do the decodeing. It realy makes no difference which device does the decodeing. IT sounds great either way. Denon once again put out a fantastic receiver and a i can truly recommend it to any one who loves and is serious about his or her home theater center.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  2 Channel Analog is Quite Bad

  by bikeboy272 on June 27, 2008

  Pros: Sound quality aside, everything works beautifully. Lots of really useful features.

  Cons: Sound quality is completely unnacceptable for this price range.

  Summary: I must preface this posting by saying I am not some 2 channel snob that's not happy unless I have inneficient, buzzy tubes etc.. I have been selling Denon ...

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  Summary: I must preface this posting by saying I am not some 2 channel snob that's not happy unless I have inneficient, buzzy tubes etc.. I have been selling Denon for years, and for basic surround duties they have always been OK. Now more and more we are trying to incorporate solid 2 channel listening into the home theater environment. I also sell Sunfire, Bryston, Parasound, Onkyo etc. I thought that when you spend $2500 on a receiver it should at least give average two channel performance. WRONG. Terribly harsh, gritty, and sibilant with a condensed soundstage. Surely it would be better in preamp duties with an external amp you ask? Yes. Slightly. The desire to make this receiver sound dynamic and super treble heavy to draw the average joe (that doesn't realize his ears will bleed after a few days of subjecting himself to it), has ruined what should have been a solid performer. By the way, we used to get away with using 3805s and 3806s for preamps. what happened? Anyway, hope this helps. If you want it for Blu Rays, the new uncompressed formats it supports sound OK, especially with the Audyssey properly calibrated. But, if you want to do some music listening, you should loook elsewhere.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  exceptional receiver, modern

  by Dr.LAL on March 11, 2008

  Pros: Good Sound and Vision

  Cons: Poor remote, wished it had more HDMi inputs

  Summary: The DENON 4308CI is one of the best receivers I've used so far in the past 20 years. Being an audio enthusiast and hobbyist myself, i am an extremely ...

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  Summary: The DENON 4308CI is one of the best receivers I've used so far in the past 20 years. Being an audio enthusiast and hobbyist myself, i am an extremely satisfied user of this great product. I believe this is the only receiver which has Satellite radio+HD radio+internet radio in one unit. THe Sound and Vision off this unit is also exceptional. 4 HDMI in and 2 out will handle most of the components. I have a Bluray+PS3 doing 1080P, Sat TV etc all hooked up using HDMIs and it's the perfect setup. Ample audio output (140W/Ch on all channels is also a + point).
  
  Internet Radio is something which made me curious to explore..years back when we were all streaming using our PC's, the sound quality was the real turnoff. So i decided to play around with this unit with the same mind set. I was wrong! the quality of some of the foreign stations received here in the US (like from France, Russia and great Indian music from India and UK) was excellent. This would really help when shortwave radio reception is poor and with access to 100's of stations, you can listen to your taste! HD radio and XM is also great!
  
  The only drawback was its remote which is cryptic and takes time getting used to. Overall an excellent receiver, sound and vision wise! Great Job Denon

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  You get what you pay for

  by the_jordan on February 2, 2008

  Pros: More features than I could ever name

  Cons: Price? Streaming music requires Windows Media Player 11, pictures load slowly via USB

  Summary: The setup takes about half an hour, but my speakers have never sounded better. This is a spectacular receiver and I would only be happier with it if the network ...

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  Summary: The setup takes about half an hour, but my speakers have never sounded better. This is a spectacular receiver and I would only be happier with it if the network MP3/WMA playback was set up a bit better. Internet radio works great via wireless, but don't try to update the firmware via wireless... more headaches than its worth. Of all the electronics I've bought over the years, this is definitely in the top 5. Oh, make sure you read the manual.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Wow -- features and performance galore!

  by pbhenry on November 17, 2007

  Pros: Just about everything

  Cons: Clunky web interface and it all comes at a cost

  Summary: Over the years I've had a number of excellent hi-fi units and, more recently several AV receivers. The problem with the latter was their good AV sound performance, but ...

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  Summary: Over the years I've had a number of excellent hi-fi units and, more recently several AV receivers. The problem with the latter was their good AV sound performance, but relatively poor stereo music performance.
  
  That all changed when, based on reviews and demos, I bought my first Denon a couple of years back -- the AVR 2805. The AV sound performance was outstanding, even without a subwoofer, and the stereo music performance was also excellent. For the first time I had it all in one box.
  
  Unhappy circumstances left me with none of my old kit, so I started shopping for a replacement and settled on the AVR-4308ci.
  
  Honestly, I've only begun to scratch the surface of its extensive capability. However, the most important things to me -- it's audio performance for both home theater and for stereo hi-fi remain outstanding.
  
  The 4308ci adds a third independent zone and also extensive video switching and upscaling capabilities in just about every format and resolution you can think of. Again, with so many features and so much capability, I haven't explored everything.
  
  One main lure was the addition of networking capability -- both wired and 802.11b/g wireless. I have an extensive home LAN with locked-down WPA-2 security and, once configured with the hidden SSID and WPA keys, the Denon connected immediately. More interestingly, my Windows Media Center on my Vista Ultimate PC announced that it had found a network media player and did I want to give permission for it to access the WMP files -- which I did.
  
  Using either one of the two included remote controls, or the Denon's web interface, I was able to stream audio from MP3 and WMA files stored on my PC. I was also able to play Internet-based radio directly through the Denon (without the PC). I still haven't explored how the Denon gets its list of Internet streams but it may have something to do with the Denon 'vTuner' Internet site which I haven't had time to investigate yet.
  
  My biggest complaint so far is the clunky, awkward and somewhat buggy web interface. Although the various displays and page layouts are pretty intuitive, the navigation is not -- pages lack a 'home' or return link for example forcing you to use the back key on the browser. Also, when you select the 'net audio' link from one of the zone control pages, it launches in another tab and the interaction between the pages is awkward -- almost like they're fighting with each other for control of the receiver. I've also had problems trying to stop a stream in progress -- this seems inconsistent.
  
  No doubt the issues will be fixed in fireware released to come, but still they detract from an otherwise great product.
  
  Having said that, I'm very pleased overall and look forward to exploring the AVR-4308ci features in depth and enjoying my sound and video library output in high quality.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Great receiver but with caveats

  by tanner241 on August 30, 2008

  Pros: Great sound from a powerful amp section, a ton of ways to connect to and make use of the receiver, bright viewable display on front and a GUI to use on your TV, good looking receiver in black, also

  Cons: Confusing and uninformative manual on what does what and for what reason , the remote but that has already been discussed

  Summary: Personally I like this receiver, it has a strong amp section that sounds clean and wont distort if you turn it up. and it lots of future proofing built in ...

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  Summary: Personally I like this receiver, it has a strong amp section that sounds clean and wont distort if you turn it up. and it lots of future proofing built in to it to keep going for years to come. Its also firmware upgradeable via a ether-net cable, which I did as soon as I brought it home. It also has advanced Al24 on all channels like their top of the line receiver the 5308 which helps in the sound. It is a quality piece of sound equipment but thats what you paying for. The video processing may not be the best but I by-pass this and just let my players do the video. On a value basis I would say it is good, since it has just about everything that their top of line receiver has with just a lesser video processor and some THX qualifications but with almost the same power out put, the 5308 is twice the price of this.
  And as I've already mentioned its darn good looking too.
  You can find it on E-bay for @ $1700.00

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• 2 stars

  Don't Buy This One

  by mmccoy9904 on June 28, 2008

  Pros: A single box/hdmi set up

  Cons: Sound quality

  Summary: The instruction is poorly written. The remote does not always work. The worst part is the sound quality. Virtually no mid range. The unit needs plenty of cooling room beause ...

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  Summary: The instruction is poorly written. The remote does not always work. The worst part is the sound quality. Virtually no mid range. The unit needs plenty of cooling room beause it runs hot be careful where you place it. I have had horrible luck in getting the HD radio to hold a signal even with an outboard antenna.

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• 6 stars

  Very good unit - very bad manual

  by mrhoads on May 15, 2008

  Pros: Does just about everything (I think)

  Cons: Bad manual. Extremely complex.

  Summary: I have only had this unit for about a week and still have not been able to get the HD or internet Radios to work. It took me three days ...

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  Summary: I have only had this unit for about a week and still have not been able to get the HD or internet Radios to work. It took me three days and a phone call to Denon to get the FM radio to work. I wish someone would write a book on how to use it.

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• 9 stars

  Tremendous AVR, though a bit of a challenge to get to know

  by pmignini on March 3, 2008

  Pros: Networking, GUI, video processing, flexibility

  Cons: Poorly considered user manual, some issues with lackluster bass

  Summary: First, a request to CNET: this Denon and it's sister units, plus new AVRs from Onkyo and Yamaha, have been out for 6-8 months with no CNET reviews. A ...

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  Summary: First, a request to CNET: this Denon and it's sister units, plus new AVRs from Onkyo and Yamaha, have been out for 6-8 months with no CNET reviews. A couple of month lag, fine, but 6-8 months? 'Nuf said.
  ==================
  
  I replaced my former receiver, a small, 35 watt per channel, 2 channel Kenwood that was about 20 years old, with the Denon 4308i. After significant research, and a boost from nature who saw to it to cast debilitating lightning unto my TV and attached electronics, I made my choice of the 4308. No regrets. This is a tremendous unit, with just a few small issues that should not detract from the overall value.
  
  My criteria: at least 100 watts per channel, support at least a 5.1 setup, have multiple zones that ideally could play different sources at the same time. Video processing for standard def broadcasts and DVDs, HDMI 1.3 (not critical, but it was something I wanted), sound depth and quality, iPod support. This unit packs all of this and more.
  
  PROS:
  - in addition to the above, has 4 zones, internet and HD radio. Sidebar: internet radio ROCKS! I listen to Boston stations from my Dallas home frequently, and while I understand the technology well, it nonetheless fascinates me that I can do this.
  - Networking via wireless or wired (I recommend wired if it is an option).
  - GUI is quite good, easy to navigate. I just wish I knew more about the many settings.
  - After manual adjustment, sound is phenomenol. Crisp highs, depth, decent lows (again, after adjustment). Low end is somewhat of an issue, see below.
  - Good phone customer service; talked me through several issues. Note: bad email service; they never responded to any of my several email.
  - Video processing is quite good, upscaling to 1080p.
  - Automatic speaker calibration is helpful, but...(see below)
  - A broad array of settings for those interested in customizing their AV.
  - iPod support is very good, AFTER firmware updates (see end note).
  - Streaming audio and JPG, with some limits.
  
  CONS:
  
  - If you don't know what a particular setting is or does, don't bother with the user manual. The manual does not explain anything about the features, just how to operate them. In that regard, it is not friendly to those new to this level of AVR (like me).
  - There is no easy way to switch from TV speakers to the amp'd speakers. It's a modest issue, but annoying, as it prevents me from having a single button on the universal remote make this change.
  - It may be my naivete, but I find the bass lacking for most broadcasts. I have Definitive 7004 towers, center with sub, and sub, all capable of delivering outstanding low end. The automatic calibration tends to sacrifice bass, an issue several on AVS Forum have also noted. There is manual adjustment, though, so all is not lost.
  - The larger of the 2 remotes takes a bit of time to understand. I **highly** recommend a universal remote, even though you may need to adjust it's settings to get full functionality.
  - Streaming is too limited. No video streaming, which prevents me from, for example, streaming a Netflix "watch it now" video to my AVR. No iTunes support, only Win Media Player. Software overcomes the iTunes support issue (TVersity, Twonky), but it shouldn't be an issue to begin with.
  
  CONCLUSION: I expect to have this for many years to come, and I am most happy with this unit. Don't skimp on speakers, get at least a 5.1 setup, always use 12 gauge speaker wire, and get a decent 1080p TV, and you will be be cursing the amount of time you watch TV and listen to music before you know it.
  
  END NOTES - 2 IMPORTANT THINGS:
  1) Since it's release in Summer 07, there have been several firmware updates that have fixed several problems such as GUI drop-outs and issues with iPods. Before programming or setup, connect the unit to your internet and get the latest firmware. Expect it to take up to a few hours. If you don't do the firmware update first, you may lose settings.
  
  2) It sounds obvious, but READ THE MANUAL. Although not beginner oriented, it has a ton of features and information that you will find helpful if you read it before you make lots of setting mistakes (ask me how I know .

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