The Denon AVR-X3800H has a lot of tech crammed into it's case. You can see the large E-Core transformer in the lower left corner and the dual extruded aluminum heatsinks for the 9CH built in amplifier to the right of the power transformer. The dual heatsinks on the childcard at the back of the unit are likely to keep the HDMI 2.1 chipsets cool to ensure stable and long lived performance.

Overall the X3800H is no different than many other Denon AV receivers we had tried before. At least to our ears the unit had all the same qualities and characteristics of this brand with spacious sounds, very good channel separation, pinpoint accuracy in space and realistic overhead and surround activity that bind perfectly with what was emitted at the front, making it an ideal piece of equipment for any home theater system.

All the important features, enough channels for Atmos/X, and enough watts for a large majority of systems, all with top-shelf sonics, and all for a reasonable price.

The AVC-X3800H is a tremendously well-specified AVR at its price point, boasting every modern convenience one could wish for. With onboard amplification for nine channels and processing for up to 11.4 channels, the X3800 could become the sophisticated heart of a 7.4.4 channel home cinema system. Once Dirac is added into the mix next year, the X3800 will give AVRs costing multiple times its price a run for their money. That said, whilst the promise of Dirac is of course the big news with this generation of Denons, the X3800 already sounds superb as it is, with Audyssey supporting a refined performance across all my test material.

Despite being more expensive than its predecessor, the AVC-X3800H's updated feature spec and new and improved sound make it an excellent buy