Customer Reviews

Denon AVR-3311CI 7.2-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Having listened to mid-range receivers from most of the major brands, I liked the sound of the Denons the best..a bit warmer than the Onkyos, which is better for music. The Pioneers sounded nice, but lacked Audyssey (using the proprietary MACC instead). Marantz sounded great but aren't as fully featured as comparably priced Denons.

I wanted a receiver that's up-to-date with all of the latest surround sound formats and is relatively future proof, since I don't plan to upgrade again for several years. The 3311 seemed to fit the bill perfectly and I'm very happy with my purchase so far. The sound quality is great. I thought that my old Onkyo sounded pretty good, but this surpasses it by far. Audyssey MultiEQ XT does an excellent job at tailoring the equalization to compensate for the acoustical flaws in the room. I've never had a system that sounds so balanced, detailed and immersive. There's plenty of power to drive most speakers (even my inefficient Polk RTiA7's) to their potential. I was initially concerned about the reduced weight of the newer Denon mid-range receivers compared to older models, but this concern seems to be mostly unfounded, as the performance and adequate power speaks for itself. Pre-outs are included to allow for the addition of external amps, if desired. Last year's models apparently suffered from networking problems. Fortunately, these issues seem to have been resolved in the 3311 and the network features have worked flawlessly so far. By the way, the upcoming model AVR-991 is priced $200 lower and is basically the same as the 3311, except it has no pre-outs, a couple less inputs, one less zone and one remote instead of two.

To me, this unit (or the 991) is the sweet spot in the new Denon line as far as performance, features and value. It's reasonably priced, being $300 less than last year's 3310, yet has more features and probably better sound, due to the upgrade to the "XT" version of MultiEQ. It'll cost a lot more to step up to the next higher model (4311?) and, based on comments I've read, the difference in sound quality is likely to be marginal at best. The 3311 comes with a 3 year warranty (the AVR-991 warranty is only 2 yrs).

Based on my experience with this receiver so far, I'd definitely buy it again and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a friend. Tip: try to get it on sale. I got mine for 25% off list price despite being a newly released model.

I have this connected in our main TV watching room. 99% of the time, it is playing sound and video from either a Tivo or a Mac Mini that is setup to play our DVD movies along with video sources such as Hulu, Netflix, and the iTunes store rentals. It almost never plays back just music (but see below).

This AVR receiver, like most, is marketed and plastered with too many industry standards and proprietary / trademarked formats, such as 3D, HDMI, Windows 7 Compatible, Audyssey, Sirius, HD Radio, iPod ... I don't mean they are meaningless (some are to me), but when comparing this receiver to the Pioneer VSX 1120 and to the Yamaha offerings, the sea of sometimes interchangeable acronyms surged and flowed around me like hype, not help.

One of these, however, I have really come to value - Audyssey. The Denon 3311ci comes with a microphone that you place at and around your main listening areas (up to 8 spots). Then you run the Audyssey program that is built into this receiver. It sends out a bunch of tones and clicks from each of your surround sound speakers, processes the results, stores it to memory, and ... greatly improves the surround sound performance! (My prior receiver's performance was probably better than most people's as I had calibrated each speaker using precisely using a Sound Pressure Level meter, special calibration DVD's, and measuring the distance from each speaker to the main listening position). Audyssey's faster and more sophisticated measuring and processing made a big improvement. I think the results that it processes take into account the room's acoustics (furniture placement, walls, windows ...) in ways that a human just couldn't do. Very impressive. In the first weekend, two other people (wife and mother) watched Tivo and a movie in that room and separately commented on the amazing sounds they heard. ("I thought there was a siren on the street behind me, but it was the movie." and "I got up to answer the phone, but it was just part of the Tivo show.")

The video looks very good, too. Both the Tivo and the Mac MIni are connected to the Denon 3311 via HDMI through one HDMI cable, each. Then, a third cable runs to the HDTV. That's it. Three cables. Very easy setup. Everything has worked well.

I'll be integrating the 3311CI's webserver into our home automation system, which is a main reason for selling a beloved Arcam AVR 350 that it replaced. That's a bigger project, but the basic movie and TV video and sound of this unit has impressed us so much, that we thought we'd share.

So, why only 4 stars? It's been 5 on everything so far, but there are many other things to test on it. Also, it's not as spectacular for just listening to music in stereo as the Arcam was. It's very good, but not stellar for good old fashioned music playback. However, that's something I'll do with it 1% of the time, at most.

[UPDATE - I took this rating from 4 to 5 stars on Oct. 1. Denon has issued a couple firmware updates that have actually made this a better machine than when I bought it. For example, it can now link to a free iPhone App they released that lets us use the iPhone to control any of the zones from anywhere in the house. Nice one, Denon! Also, as my ears have become accustomed to the sound of the Denon, I've found it very pleasing for theater and music.]

If you spend some time reading AVSForums you'll learn that last years model (the 3310) was plagued with dead networking cards. It appears that nothing has changed with there year's model. I ordered the 3311 from 6th Ave and they were quick to ship with a good price but after hooking it up I realized my network card was busted. The unit will hang in the "Network Connecting" screen and never acquire an IP address or permit you to manually change any of the network settings. Again, searching thru AVSForums I learned that this was a common problem on the 3310 and a few folks have had this with the 3311. Since the networking features are the primary reason to step up to the 3311 from the 2311, this is a deal breaker. I contacted 6th Ave and so far they have been great about the return.

I'm on the fence on whether to try another Denon or try a Pioneer. After my issues, I read up and realized that the Denons have a serious issue with reliability in terms of the network card. Sure they offer a 3 year warranty, but you'll be without your receiver for weeks and have to pay to ship something that weighs 40lbs across the USA. I have the 2310 now, and it's been a reliable receiver but I needed to upgrade to get 3D support. I upgraded one model to get Pandora support and what I thought was digital source support for Zone 2. After having the unit I now discover that Zone2 digital source support only means via Optical/Coax and not HDMI. I can't believe that HDMI sources are still not supported for Zone 2. I like to use Zone 2 to play my outdoor speakers and I refuse to run analog cables to all my sources for this. It's just absurd that a receiver of this caliber with all the HDMI features you can imagine has left this out.

Pros:
- Video switching is good (no better or worse than last years model)
- 3D pass thru from DirecTV to Panasonic VT25 works fine. (this would not work on the 2310 and DirecTV would fail to tune the 3D channels because if it)
- HD Radio is nice, this was my first experience with HD radio and it truly is great stuff. All the FM radio stations around me have HD support of it's great quality

Cons:
- Broken Network kills much of the things I bought it for. How a $1300 receiver can ship with such crappy quality control amazes me.
- Lack of Zone2/3 audio support from HDMI inputs. This kills me.
- Interface and manual still suck (IMO). I think you realize more how bad it is when you have a defective unit and there's no useful troubleshooting. No customer service support on the weekends either.
- Charging $50 for Airplay support is pathetic, they should provide this firmware update for free.

Still on the fence, since this receiver is one of the few I can find that does what I want. I may end up trying another one but now I'm concerned about the reliability and just annoyed with Denon's poor quality control in regards to these networked receivers.

I am upgrading this unit from an AVR-3805. The main reason for this upgrade had nothing to do with the quality of sound I was getting from the AVR-3805, but to get additional features. Here were the features I didn't have and was hoping to get on the new unit:
1) Had only DVI with fiber/digital. I wanted to go to all HDMI.
2) IPod function to easily watch iPod clips and listen to music
3) I wanted to listen to Internet radio stations and music services.
4) Wanted to access my F drive on my home computer which has all my music stored on it.
5) I presently was using Zone 2 to drive my outdoor speakers on the 7.0 channel and using Zone 3 to go to a Russound audio bus which has its own amplifier and RCA input. The problem was that the AVR-3805 would only take in analog signals and send out analog. This would require every digial input device that I was using such as the computer, DVR, CD, DVD, Game box to have a digital and analog cable. The new AVR-3311CI Zone 2 and 3 were able to take a digital input and output an analog signal and thus get rid of all the bulky redundant cables.
6) I really wanted HD radio.
7) I also hoping to lower wasted heat that gets stuck in my cabinet even with the fan running.
8) I was also saving 1 or 2 inches in the back as I have a cable heat damming problem and more space will only help.
OK, so here is what I got and my thoughts:
I got rid of all the digital cables and RCA input cables. I upgrade my computer and put in a graphics card that has HDMI out and can also send just music without video (make sure you get this feature or it won't work). Everything worked great on my living room and was able to see and hear music digitally and video. The problem came in when I went to listen to my pool speakers or my russound distributed audio system from zone 1 and zone 2 as nothing came out. After talking with Denon, apparently HDMI digital was NOT the digital they were talking about for the two zone digital converters. They were only talking about fiber and coax. This is very disheartening as it now seems that I have to go back and add fiber back to all my input in addition to HDMI if I want to listen to sound on the two zones. They gave me an explanation, but I believe it was a dumbing down of the digital conversion and could have been done.
I am having a problem with my Iphone working on the IPod input as after 2-8 minutes the buffer starts to drop below 100% and eventually goes to 0% and locks up the Denon IPod input. This does not happen if you plug an actual IPod in, only on the Iphone to play music. Denon didn't take responsibility for the problem and told me to talk with Apple. I do not have this same problem on any my car or at the gym IPod readers. Also the on screen readers is very limited and wish it could be graphically improved.
All the network features are amazing to me and make the computer hook up almost obsolete except for watching YouTube clips. The flash upgrades and setting up on my network computer are great. There is much work to be done on their HTML code for the computer interface.
Except for the zone 2/zone 3 digital conversion and the Iphone losing its buffer, I have no regrets and I am happy with my purchase.

UPDATE 1/1/2011: I have been adviced by Denon to ship my unit back for repair now for the following issues: 1) FM radio station keeps doing a 1 second cut out about every minute or so on a very popular local station that my last 3805 got just fine and all my other pocket radios get. 2) I can no longer get internet access or connect through my browser or iphone app. However, you can get a DHCP assigned IP address on it and even ping it. 3) When the internet did work, several of the ip radio stations listed could not connect and would skip to the next station listed. However, Denonradio.com which list their stations can be accessed from my browser.

This unit reminds me of something that has a lot of great specs and looks beautiful on the outside, but the inside has some form of cancer. I can only hope they are able to really fix this stuff when I send it in. I really thought this was the last unit I would ever need and is why I waited so long to upgrade.

UPDATE 2/21/2011: The unit was sent back with only the network card MAC address fixed and a Flash upgrade. I am taking out the issues mentioned in my previous update that there is a problem with the HDMI handshaking. After going around in circles, I finally got a Samsung TV repair guy out and found that I have a faulty board in the TV. That cause sporadic rebooting of the TV. Sorry about any slams on Denon for that one, but it really did seem like it was a Denon issue. Also, the vTuner/Denonradio.com issue has been replicated at Denon's lab for all three of their 2011 series models. They are telling me that it is vTuner's problem as all they are is a link. I am slowly getting vTuner to take a look at it, but they just keep asking more questions. So it seems the only problem I am really having with this unit that Denon needs to fix is the local FM radio issue. The service center has asked that I just send it back for another refurb and hope that the problem goes away. Also there has been another Flash upgrade since receiving this and the rumor is it was to fix the network card issue. BTW: if you turn you main power off you can't access the unit to turn it on remotely as the network card gets turned off ott.

Immediately below is my original review. Please see further below for my updates as I can no longer recommend this product.

Posted 10/2010:

I've had this amp about a month now. Setup was very easy. I had it playing Blue-rays and doing everything else before I opened the manual. Having one wire from each component and only one wire to the TV is fantastic. The amp must be on when you watch TV. I have FiOS and I can program the remote to use the amp for sound and that remote can control it as well. I also have a universal remote, but the FiOS remote does everything I need.

The sound is great. This replaced an older Harman Kardon with digital inputs but no HDMI. I have older DCM Time Windows for my front speakers, Klipsch center and rear speakers and an Infinity sub. A Sharp LCD TV, Panasonic Blu-ray (for it's Netflix capabilities) and FiOS. I'm not an audiophile but I enjoy good sound. This amp is perfect for me.

Configuration is easy (again, I didn't need the manual). You can label the inputs and you can reassign inputs. EG: I don't have an iPod, I have a SqueezeBox. There is a specific connection for a "Dock" but my SqueezeBox has an optical output. I plugged the SqueezeBox into the TV optical input, reassigned that input to "Dock" and then renamed "Dock" to "Music". After I did that, I was on my computer, and since the amp is on the network I decided to see if it had a Web front end (again, I hadn't looked at the manual yet). I went to [...]/ and a very intuitive setup screen came up. You can also backup configurations to your computer and reload them if necessary. Setup is considerably easier from your computer vs scrolling around using the remote.

The list of good things can go on for a while, in the end, it's an amp, it has a good price point, it does what it does, it does it very well and it's easy to use. So far, I have only 2 minor complaints... I have to agree with the review that said the controls seem 'cheap'. they do, but I'm using the remote 99% of the time so that doesn't annoy me. Considering that EVERYTHING is made to sell as cheap as possible, they have to cut some corners, and it looks like they did there. Time will tell if they cut corners on the power supply or any other critical items. Besides that, my only other complaint is cosmetic. Why do they need a sticker on the front showing Microsoft Windows support? All of the other logos are subtle, the MS one is a colorful sticker... the only color on the unit. This is a feature I don't plan to use as I have a Logitech SqueezeBox for music from my network. My questions is: why ruin the clean look for this sticker? Clearly those are both nit-picking complaints.

I ordered mine from Forrest-Electronics in the Amazon Store [...]). They had it on sale for about $200 off the normal price. Shipping was very fast and it was a new unit in a sealed box with a USA warranty. I gave Forrest-Electronics 5 stars for their service.

ADDED 2/24/2011

When I first started using my Denon 3311CI, I loved it and I gave it 5 stars and a great review. A few short months later, my opinion has changed and I now regret the purchase. I can no longer recommend this product to anyone.

The first sign of trouble was being prompted to configure Audyssey. It had been configured, but maybe there was a power failure or something else that caused the unit to need it configured again. So I configured it, again. About 2 weeks later, same prompt. Then the prompts became more frequent, until virtually daily. I reached out to Denon Customer Support, and they said I had to send the unit in for service.

At the same time, I noticed that I could no longer access the web front end from my computer(s). I tried several things, including disabling firewalls, etc. I noticed that the unit was 'suddenly' set to DHCP (I had set it up with a Static IP Address). I also found that I was locked out of the options that would allow me to change any of the network settings. I contacted Denon Customer Support and didn't get very far. I felt like they were sending me in circles.

At this point, I was ready to pack up the unit and send it for the Audyssey repairs. I added the Network problems to the issues list and dropped the support case with Denon.

While packing up my 3311CI, I noticed that it was "Made in China". I had not noticed that before. I honestly felt that I was paying a little more for something 'not' made in China. In-the-end, I guess I could have bought any amp, saved some money and had the same level of 'quality'.

A week later the unit was back. Same serial number, not refurbished. I set it up, including Audyssey, and the networking functions and web interface were all good! The repair description alluded to a firmware upgrade.

Two days later, there's the prompt for Audyssey! Same exact issue. I called the repair facility and left a message. Now I'm waiting to find out what the next steps are in my quest to get this repaired.

It's a shame that a great name like Denon is tarnished by cheap parts and cheap labor. I, for one, am willing to pay extra for quality and I thought I was. But more and more I'm finding that quality simply doesn't exist anymore. You can pay more for something, but in the end, it's still 'cheap'. Maybe my situation is unique; maybe I have one of very few lemons. But it's the only Denon I have and it will be the last one I buy.

4/8/2011 Updated - hopefully for the last time.

In an effort to stop the constant Audyssey setup prompts, I did send the unit back for repair. The unit was returned quickly. The notes said that the HDMI Board was replaced. Regardless, the issue was not resolved, it was even worse! I contacted Denon Support, again. After reviewing my case and the past repairs, they agreed to replace the unit. I sent my unit back and had a new one very quickly. I do have to say that once I brought this issue to Denon's attention, I had a new unit very quickly. The 'new' unit was, as expected, refurbished. The label implied that it was a refurbished unit because of a cosmetic defect, not a returned unit. All I could find was a barely noticeable scratch on the volume control. No big deal. I also noticed that the controls had a better feel to them... above I mentioned that the controls felt very cheap. They feel a little better now; they are clearly not the same. I've had the new unit a week now and, so far, it's worked and performed perfectly. I had a lemon and Denon replaced it. Time will tell if the quality is truly there or not.

Performance-wise I have no issues with this unit. The video and audio performance look and sound good to me and my family. I'd buy one again and recommend it. It wasn't cheap, but the extra features it brings are worth the extra expense to me... I do use and value them. Everything works, but it's very complicated and takes a long time to fully figure out.

Pros:
* HDMI reduces cable count, improves airflow, speeds up wiring; lots of HDMI in ports
* Picture quality is great
* Audyssey is an awesome calibration tool, well worth the extra expense. Hard to appreciate everything it is doing to calibrate the room and match the speakers. Movies sound great.
* Endless decoder capability
* Microsoft Media Server capability lets me play MP3 files from Windows clients without issue, and from home NAS server with limitations.
* I use internet radio stations it can access so don't bother with AM/FM antennas on this unit
* Regular updates come from Denon over the network connection

Cons:
* It requires a lot of research and fiddling to figure out how to use it. The manual isn't enough; you need to use the online Denon tech resources to actually make sense of some features.
* I'm still trying to figure out how to adjust volume levels of speakers w/o breaking the MultEQ features.
* There are so many audio modes it's a struggle to figure out which to use for different sources.
* I can't see non-tech family members being able to use the two remotes to make the AVR do what they want. It's easy to get the unit into a state they couldn't recover from without "tech" support (i.e., the home tech geek.)
* I've installed speakers per 7.1 specs, but most media is only using 5.1. It took some fiddling to get 5.1 to fill all the speakers properly.
* I'm a VIP member of Live365 radio and listen to it a lot. I couldn't tell if it would work with this AVR before I bought it, and I've learned the answer is NO it won't work. Only the music services it's set up for work (they do). Haven't figured out how to close that gap yet.
* In order to get the Denon menu to come up on the monitor I have to "display sources" first, clearly a bug.
* It takes a lot of hunting around on the monitor GUI menus to find what you're looking for. The organization doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and some things seem mis-filed.
* Most TV programs and channels use surround sound, but to my ears are too loud and not well mastered like movies are. It becomes a distraction rather than a benefit.
* Takes several seconds for a sources to activate when switching, so if you switch from DVD to cable TV say, the monitor is black for what seems like a long time.
* Windows photo display is too slow to be practical. Makes more sense to hook up computer to monitor directly and display with computer in control. AVR adds questionable value here.

Hits the sweet spot of what you want a Network AVR to do well, unless you are the 1 in a 1000 that has those "golden ears". In this review I will try to complement what I read in other reviews, and explain why I think this is the network receiver to buy, and i still think that way after using it for a couple of weeks. This review is slightly revised to better explain one of the HDMI switching issues.

A good AV receiver can do a LOT for you nowadays. The conventional wisdom is to spend more of your budget on speakers, but there are two relevant paths to consider for Digital AVRs: Brain to Bits and Bits to Brain. The first has to do with the ability to get the bits you want to play as soon as you identify what you want to watch or listen, and the second has to do with how well you are satisfied by the bits you select when the bits travel from the source through the receiver and speakers to your brain. Traditionally, the AVR is more about brain to bits, and the speakers dominate the return path. But this Denon AVR and others like it (and there are only a few, currently) can play significant roles in both.

In the Brain to Bits department, this AVR has some terrific features that are altogether shared only by the more expensive 4311, the Denon 911, and some corresponding Marantz models (Marantz and Denon are owned by the same company). These have to do with Network functionality that allow you to connect many different digital audio sources to any of the outputs as well as a control capability through the AVR's builtin web server. This latter capability allows you to control the AVR through any web connected device, including your smartphone, tablet, or PC. Very useful for both setup and control. Just type your receiver's IP address into any browser and you get a complete menu tree. A reduced set of menus is available in PDA mode, where I suppose they expect you to use the web server for control rather than setup. In addition, you can control the AVR with an iphone app available from the Apple app store. Other receivers have many of these capabilities but none, as of yet, have all of the features that I have found very useful.

The receiver supports Internet Radio better than most, and it natively supports a number of music services such as Pandora, Last.FM, Napster, Rhapsody, and Serius/XM. You can get any Internet music service if you use Airplay, as explained below. Pandora is getting better and better, and I use it a lot to play personal radio stations, though i still think Slacker is better for that. You can setup a bunch of favorite Internet Radio stations by going to Radiodenon.com from any computer. You can then browse and select favorites from the thousands of selections, put them in folders, and download the links to your receiver, where you can select the stations from a favorites menu. You get redirected to VTuner where you can get digital versions of about any station on the planet it seems, including your local NPR stations, and hundreds of specialized Jazz, Classical, and Alternative music stations.

If you use Apple computers and/or devices, you can use Airplay to play anything you get through Itunes plus such services as Slacker that are not included among the native services the AVR supports. I use Airtunes rather than the Ipod dock or frontpanel Ipod connector to play streams from my iphone, ipad, and macbook. So, i can use my iphone sitting in the Kitchen to select any of several dozen nicely curated channels from the Jazzradio.com app and direct the stream to the Kitchen speakers, outdoor speakers, or the living room (the Main Zone). I don't have to use the remotes that came with the receiver, which are useless unless you are in the same room as the receiver, or you set up a remote infrared input link. Using your home network is of course much more convenient.

The receiver supports multiple zones, and two HDMI outputs (and many HDMI inputs). There is one irritating restriction on HDMI switching. You cannot switch any of the audio from any of the HDMI inputs to any of the audio outputs. For me this means I could not easily switch my BD player or Cable input to the speakers in the Kitchen that I like to use with the monitor in the Kitchen that I have connected to the HDMI2 output of the receiver. That's because I set the receiver up to output the audio from HDMI inputs to the speakers. There are two solutions to this: 1) when you are using the secondary Monitor, switch the HDMI audio to follow the HDMI output path to the second TV, or 2) use an analog connection from the audio outputs of cable box and BD player to corresponding inputs on the AVR. I still get digital audio for my main Monitor, but I get analog audio in the Kitchen. Oh well. Denon user manuals have been rightfully criticised. I find them OK, but I would not come up with the HDMI switching solution without having known about the Denonese to English translator provided by Batpig. Search for batpig and Denon and you'll find it. There you will find some very nice tips about how the Denon receivers work and how to set them up.

Overall I have all the Music I want anytime wherever I am in the house, and I can instantly select what I want from whatever web connected device I have nearby, which is usually my mobile phone. While the iphone provides Airplay, you can use other phones by connecting to the receiver through the webserver the AVR provides. You'll still be able to control the AVR and select from all of the sources including your Internet radio favorites. For the moment, this and related Denon and Marantz receivers are the only AVRs I have found that have this superior Brain to Bits functionality.

Now for the its to Brain functionality, this AVR is maybe not so unique, but it is worthwhile pointing out some very nice features. I previously had an Onkyo TX-SR701 receiver. Nice receiver when it came out, but I often wondered whether it was really giving me surround sound when I was playing medium to low volumes. This Denon has a dynamic equalization capability that boosts the surround speaker outputs at lower volumes. The Audyssey XT equalization for all of you speakers is absolutely terrific. Audyssey adjusts the speaker output to suit your room. It is truly wonderful. My speakers never sounded so great. You basically get an equalizer for each speaker whose settings are determined when you connect the Audyssey microphone to the AVR's front panel. The receiver sends out a logarithmic frequency sweep through the entire audible range of each speaker, one at a time, and then the equalizer settings are set to optimize the audio for each speaker, compensating for speaker characteristics, placement, room reflections, etc. There are much better explanations of this on the net, but it works very well. Indisputably improves the function of your speakers. I have Axiom speakers, not super expensive, but very good performance. My Main Zone room is a nice listening venue, but has its quirks with hardwood floors. For me, it was a big improvement after using Audissey. Its easy to A/B compare with different equalization modes. You'll hear big differences.

This receiver has all of the Dolby and DTS sound processing capabilities I have heard about. I am certainly no expert on these, and I'm a bit bewildered by them all frankly, however, it is worth noting that if you like DSP simulations of room types, this receiver is a little lacking. The 4311 has more selections. I like the Jazz room simulation. There are half a dozen others. My old Onkyo had more, but they didn't work as well, probably due to the fact I didn't have Audyssey (you can get Onkyo receivers with it, now), and it did not have the Denon dynamic equalization system that works with the room acoustic measurements and that compensates for your brain's processing of lower volume signals.

So, in the bits to brain department, speakers are important, but this receiver will help get the most out of them. I cannot compare audio quality to other receivers (other than my old Onkyo), but I have to say that before getting this receiver, and i wanted to listen to my music closely, I would use good quality headphones. Now, I would much rather listen to music through my speakers with this receiver. I am listening to much more music all the time.

Finally, for video, other than the HDMI switch issue mentioned above, this receiver seems to do the trick nicely for what I need, but so will a lot of other less expensive receivers. This is just wonderful for Audio, including movies and TV. Surround works much better on this receiver than most anything else I've tried at home or in stores.

I recently purchased the Denon AVR-3311 as an upgrade/update to an old Pioneer receiver I have had for roughly 6 years or more now. I was putting together a new home theater system with the Denon pushing the A/V workload to my new speakers and my old rear projection DLP TV.

Let me state that this is one very nice piece of equipment and if not for the SACD "issues" detailed below, I'd be giving this one 5 stars.

I do, however, have a rather large complaint. This particular unit does NOT decode SACD. That's right. There are NO analog inputs for the analog outputs of any SACD players. This wouldn't be bad, since it IS possible to have SACD play via HDMI, except... the 3311 doesn't support the DSD signal via HDMI either! If you want SACD playback, you have to find a DVD/Blu Ray/CD/SACD player capable of processing and then outputting the signal as PCM audio. Depending on who you listen to, this either degrades the signal slightly or not at all. I honestly didn't notice a huge difference between this receiver via HDMI converted to PCM at all compared to my old Pioneer receiver with Analog. Little more depth from the analog outs, but nothing more. For me, at this price, not including some level of true SDS (the signal from SACD) is quite disappointing, especially since last year's model, the 3310 which this receiver was supposed to replace, had the 5.1 analog inputs for SACD. Depending on WHY you are buying this receiver, this could be a deal breaker, a minor nuisance or not a problem at all. If you have no plan or desire to listen to SACD audio, then ignore this complaint as it doesn't pertain to you.

For those looking for a proper review:

Physical setup was about as difficult as one would expect. Running cables and wire is what takes the most time. If you already have your speakers and wire run, it's just a matter of connecting up different AV equipment you want to use along with the speakers. If you are running 10 AWG cable to your speakers, as I did, you will have to use banana plugs for the speaker connections to the receiver. 12 and 14 AWG should have no issue being wrapped via bare wire to the AVR-3311's speaker connectors though you can obviously plug them in via banana plugs as well.

Speaker adjustment is, in a word, a breeze if you allow the Audyssey DSX and Audyssey EQ work it's magic. The way this works is, you plug in the microphone (included in the box). As soon as you plug the mic in, the receiver notices it and kicks off the Audyssey setup. From there, it's a matter of hitting "next" a couple times and moving from listening position to listening position while it gathers it's readings. It then calculates speaker placement from the listening positions (up to 6 positions can be read for better surround capability anywhere in a room, not just the "sweet" spot) and you can also enable Audyssey EQ, which dynamically controls equialization controls so you get the best possible sound from every listening position.

Of course, if you prefer to tweak the listening environment on your own, you can also change speaker size, distance and so on manually. There is a ton of customization to be done if you desire, or not if you don't. This covers the audiophile crowd and also the people who just want it to sound good without too much fuss. I think I'm in the middle of those two positions...

Also in terms of setup, you can assign any audio input to any video input. If you have a DVD player that converts DVI to HDMI (which means it doesn't send audio via HDMI) and you want to connect that player via one of the included optical connections for audio with video coming from HDMI, go into the receiver's menus and change it. It's very simple, if you're used to AV receivers. For the person who isn't used to them, this can be kind of confusing though the manual does a pretty good job explaining how to change these things, IF you know what you're looking for. Denon's customer service is also supposed to be quite helpful as well, if you can't figure something out.

There are an abundance of inputs on the back of this receiver. You have:

1 phono (preamp)
4 Composite
2 component
2 svideo
6 HDMI
2 optical (audio only)
2 coax (audio only)
1 network connection (wired only, no wireless support)

Outputs:

0 svideo outs (that's right, none, zip, zero, zilch)
1 component out
1 optical out
2 HDMI out (one has the ARC, or audio return channel which will allow you to use your TV speakers instead of the receiver's speakers, if you so desire and as long as your TV supports ARC; mine does not)


You can connect your speakers via bare wire, banana plug or spades (spades may be a little difficult to use as the connections are kind of close; I can't test as I don't have this type of connection, sorry).


This receiver is also HDMI 1.4a compliant, which means it will send your 3D signal to your TV and display PROPER 3D from a 3D capable TV.


Every video input into this device is upconverted using an Anchor Bay ABT-2015 video scaler. What does this mean? Anything and everything you plug in, from your standard definition satellite TV receiver to DVD player to Blu Ray can be upconverted from 480i (or any other resolution that isn't 1080p) to 1080p (or 720p if you prefer). What do the upscaled results look like? Well, the answer is it depends on the input. I have only standard def Dish Network available to me (stinking trees! what I was I thinking, buying a house surrounded by trees with no cable/fios capability!?) and it does an OK job scaling this from 480i to 1080p. It makes the video a little blurrier and the picture is decidedly below even standard DVD levels, but that's the nature of standard definition from Dish Network. I wasn't expecting miracles and I am pleased with what it does for me.

For DVD, the results are pretty good. You won't think you're watching Blu Ray, but it does a good job keeping everything in proper time and accordance to video standards, so you shouldn't notice any weird video issues using this with DVD players either.

If the signal is already 1080p, it can be set to not process it and instead display whatever signal type (1080p 60 or say 1080p 24). You can also setup whether it stretches a standard definition picture (like pressing stretch on your TV remote) or to have it keep it pillar/letterboxed to retain the proper dimensions. I chose the later as it defaults to stretching, which I don't like personally.

You CANNOT upscale to 1080p through anything other than the HDMI connection. It will convert an svideo signal or composite signal to component, but will not convert anything to svideo, as there is no svideo output from this receiver.

Every analog signal is converted to digital and can be output via HDMI. This means you need only connect a single HDMI cable OUT from this receiver to the TV and there is now no need to switch inputs on your TV (assuming you run everything through the receiver).

One caveat to all of this is, since you are upconverting every signal into the receiver (or potentially upconverting), there is no pass through function without the receiver being powered on, which means you MUST have the receiver on to watch TV or whatever else you wish to do. I'm not sure if this option is available on any receivers out there, but it is something you need to be aware of if you don't want to have this powered on for everything you do.

The remote control? It's functional. You can press the corresponding button for whatever input you're trying to output to the TV or use on screen menus to switch between inputs, which is a nice addition.

There is also a second remote included. This receiver can be setup as a "multizone" receiver, meaning you have extra speakers run somewhere in the house and instead of a 7.1 system, you have a 5.1 system in one room and a 2.0 system in another. It's a nice included bonus, if you need it. Otherwise, toss this remote into the box and forget it exists, as you can also use the standard remote between zones as well.


What about the audio? The answer is, what are you looking to output? This receiver covers every encoding format you can throw at it (minus DSD and SACD) which includes:

Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, Pro Logic IIx, Pro Logic IIz and DTS Neo:6

Every format that comes off of a DVD or Blu Ray disc will play (with the exception of SACD and any SDS signals). If you want this for home theater, you can't ask for any better support than this.


I've mated this receiver to B&W 683 speakers for the L/R channels, a Martin Logan Motion 8 for center and a pair of B&W DS3s for the surround L/R channels. I have a subwoofer, but it was a kit job and will be replaced. The audio from this receiver, with these speakers, is nothing short of amazing. My old Pioneer ran the B&Ws well enough, but there is a different level of clarity to these speakers now and I couldn't be happier with the audio it outputs.

And for those that want more power for your speakers, you can always use the preamp connections and purchase yourself another amp instead of letting the Denon push up to 125w @ 8 ohms. I'm happy with the output so this is not something I'll be doing, though I will be upgrading my subwoofer.


In the end, whether you purchase this receiver all comes down to one thing; SACD capability. There are cheaper/on par priced receivers out there from other manufacturers (Onkyo, Marantz, Pioneer) that will output to 7.1 and also gives you analog SACD and digital SACD (SDS) capability. If you don't need SACD (it is a format not many people have bought into are releases aren't as robust as CDs; not everything is released on SACD), this receiver is tops and can't be beat. For those that don't need or want SACD capability, this receiver is, without a doubt, 5 stars.

For those that want SACD, depending on how you weigh it, could mean 4 stars or 1 star. Since I'm OK with the conversion of SACD's SDS to PCM output, it's only a minor nuisance and disappointment, whereas for someone going for a "pure" sound, that doesn't want the extra conversion mucking things up, it will easily drop this to a single star.

I have owned my 3311CI for almost a year and a half now and have had zero issues with it. Very high quality product and it has worked flawlessly. I am using it as a preamp and have it connected to a panasonic BR, Dish VIP722, Popcorn Hour, Apple TV, XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. Display is a Panasonic front projector on a 120" screen.

This unit is loaded with features at the price point. The only problem is a tendency to have the main board fail. The part, called an HDMI module is the main printed circuit board. I have had mine for 7 months and just got it back after replacing the second HDMI module. If you go on AVS Forums you will see repeated instances of people having this board regularly replaced. Good news, it has a 3 year parts and labor warranty, bad news is it takes at least two weeks to repair each time.