Customer Reviews

Denon AVR3310CI 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The AVR 3310CI is loaded with nice features. Excellent sound quality, inputs for just about anything, and decent menus for setting up and using the receiver. The amplifiers give a very good quality sound, not as good as my MacIntosch system but not bad for the money. Construction is good and it runs fairly cool being it is in a somewhat enclosed area. Technical support is good in that there is little wait time when calling.

Now for the bad. I have now gone through 3 AVR 3310CI receivers trying to get one that works. I believe that most if not all of the issues I have are due to firmware problems as the hardware seems to work just fine. I would try to update the firmware but there are even problems with this function as it takes forever (many hours) and most of the time it will abort or hang in the middle of the download/update process so you have to try and try again. My first unit eventually got into a hang state in that it couldn't update the firmware and as a result the receiver just kept on trying with no success. During this time the other functions were not available. According to Denon there was no over the phone fix for this problem and suggested I either return it to the store and send it in for repair but that I am responsible for the shipping costs.

My second (and as of Saturday my 3rd unit) has two out-of-the-box issues. First is when connecting to Internet radio I get a "Please Wait" window. Sometimes this hangs the system and sometimes I can recover from it. On my recently installed unit this past weekend I immediately got this message and waited 15 minutes or longer and still no resolution. I turned off/on the unit and after a while the message went away and I was able to use the Internet function.

The second problem is when selecting the setup menu button. The menu comes up fine but within 5 seconds it starts to go dimmer and dimmer and to the point that you cannot see the menu on the TV screen anymore. This occurred with units number 2 and 3. I am afraid to do a firmware update due to the many problems that I had with the first unit and I was told that others had the same problem (even Denon admits to this and recommended to me NOT to perform updates).

I have spent many hours on the phone with the Denon Techies and they say to just send the unit back and they will repair it. However, I have to pay for the shipping costs (estimated at $50). I refuse do this on out-of-the-box problems. These are design problems and not normal failures.

So at this point in time I'm considering switching to a different model number and hope that it has a more stable design.

One other area is in regards to the search and general navigating capabilities on the Internet. Given the price of the AVR 3310CI this function could be a lot more sophisticated as the current function is pretty basic.

I've had my Denon 3310CI AVR for 6 months now and it has been working fine. That is until I did the firmware update. Something has gone wrong with the programming in the system. The main remote does not work as it should and gives unpredictable results. The unit no longer connects to the internet and I can't see any network activity lights at the back of the box. When switching from once source to another, for example from DVD to PS3, there is no sound but there is video. I have to turn off the unit and turn it back on to get the sound. I'm unsure what to do now. If I had seen these reviews before I would not have upgraded the firmware because the unit was working fine out of the box. There were no problems during the firmware update. The power did not go off and internet connectivity was never lost. So, it totally confuses me as to what the problem could be. I'm currently researching the net for answers.
So in conclusion, you can buy the unit but don't do the firmware updates.

I had been scoping out Denon's and other brands for a while. I finally decided on this unit due to it's features and price point. I highly recommend the Denon website for comparing different XX10CI models. So far, I have been happy with my purchase. It has a whole host of features including up-converting all inputs to HDMI, HD Radio, Sirius capable, 5 HDMI inputs, 3 audio zones, and completely re-assignable digital/analog inputs. The ability to reassign different audio and video inputs on the fly has turned out to be quite useful, something I did not anticipate. Overall sound quality has been superb so far.

One downside is menus can be a little slow to navigate through, and the GUI isn't too sharp looking. It's certainly not the XMB from Sony, but it's functional. If I wanted cool looking menus with overpriced sound, I would have bought a Sony. Features that this unit does not have include dual HDMI outputs (I don't really foresee myself having two TV's in one room), and the ability to network wirelessly. I plan on purchasing a Denon iPod dock (the -3w or -51w, I don't know if the -51w is worth the price difference) which should allow wireless connectivity to my computer. One downside that surprised me was the need to have HDCP HDMI devices connected. I have an older Motorola cable box from Comcast with DVI output, and the 3310CI would not pass the video from the cable box using a DVI/HDMI cable, so I have to use component cables. Not a huge problem, but stupid IMO. Comcast told me they won't provide true HDMI boxes unless you pay for DVR (we already have it in another room, so I didn't need a second DVR), and HDCP is just another stupid security control.

One other downside, which I'm still toying with, is the ability to select inputs with the Comcast programmable remote. (For anybody who doesn't know, the standard Comcast remote is very powerful and can be fully reprogrammed, but they don't tell you this. There are many websites with more info on this.) My roommate has an older Denon that I was able to control inputs, volume, and power with the plain old gray Comcast remote. So far I just have the volume and power with the 3310CI, while the number pad isn't quite matching up to the input numbers on the back of the Denon remote.

I ended up picking up this unit at a certain popular electronics store for $1200. It was not an advertised sale in either their circular or on their weBsite, But the posted price appeared in their computer.

My advice is to wait till this thing goes on sale, but it's still worth a GOOD BUY at full price. (I think my hints were obvious enough, no?)

There is a problem with Denon 2310/3310/4310 receiver line playing TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio track when connected to LG, Samsung or JVC Blu-Ray players. The receiver shows that it is receiving the HD audio signal from the player and the HD audio blue light comes on the front of the receiver but then instead of sound you get a "helicopter" like noise or no sound at all coming from the speakers. There are multiple reports from 2310,3310 and 4310 owners about this problem on AVS Forum.
The receiver plays sound fine when Blu-Ray player sending Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, DTS or Multichannel PCM, but not theDolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio sound track. After I sent the receiver in for service to Denon NJ factory for repair, the receiver came back with the problem not repaired after 3 weeks in the service center. This is very unfortunate problem as the receiver has a great set of features

This is my 2nd Denon receiver, the 1st of which is still working just fine after 9 years -- justed need to upgrade to HDMI.

Set-up was very easy -- almost suprisingly so -- I'm running all HDMI -- connected an LG blu ray player, a Direct TV HD DVR box, and an LG plasma tv -- no problems whatsoever. No lipsyncing issues, no missing sound, etc, everything works as it should.

Speaker set-up was remarkably straightforward -- I was dreading the day of hooking everything up, as I'm not the best doing this type of stuff, but even I was surprised at how simple the overall set-up was. 2 channel sterio listening is simply WOW -- a true delight. While this unit sports many nifty features, the one that counts the most in my book, is audio playback quality (how good does the damn thing sound!) -- and sound quality is this unit's main strength.

Sounds fantastic playing through a pair of B/W CM4s (also a CMC center channel and a Velodyne sub) -- soundstage is wide and open, with crisp highs and solid, earth thumping lows -- instrument separation is very nicely done -- sounds like a live band is playing in your living room -- Movies sountracks are spectacular in the Neo cinema mode. Video output is crystal clear. I've tried some DVDs, to see how well the upconversion is working and it looks really good to my eyes. Maybe not Blu ray good, but damn good -- cannot complain one bit in this department either! Everything sounds so good, that I didn't even run Audessy feature as it already sounds good enough for my ears, but I'll try it out at a later time.

Input switching works fine -- menus and GUI are not the best, but are simply enough. While other complain the remote is terrible, I'm perfectly fine with it -- I've programmed it to act as the TV & Blu ray remote as well -- nice to be able to consolidate a few remotes! The user manual is decent, though could be a bit more clear on a few points -- that being said, I've haven't had any problems really getting anything to work if I spend a bit of time and dig deep enough in the manual.

I haven't even tried the online radio options or IPOD playback, etc -- probably won't, but I've tried a USB drive, and that worked fine -- nice to be able to play my 20GBs of music without ever leaving the couch. Build quality looks good and solid -- a handsome piece of AV equipment -- nothing evident to fault. I have NOT upgraded the firmware as everything seems to be working properly and unless I see a reason to do this, I probably won't. (mine seem to be one of the ones with the proper circuit boards; I believe some early models had problems with firmaware upgrades due to bad circuitry.)

Unit does run hot, so make sure you have adequate cooling / ventilation -- Also, and the only thing which is baffling me a bit, is how to have the unit to play the audio put signal automatically -- for example, if I play a Blu ray, I have to manually switch the sound from 2 channel stereo (which the unit automatically starts up in) to DTS cinema, etc. I have the mode set to output the correct format auomatically, but it doesn't seem to be doing that. If anyone knows a solution to this, please do let me know!

Got this unit on Amazon for approx. $600.00 bucks on a daily deal special -- for that price, NOTHING comes close; At least not in sound quality and total, overall features. This unit is a very nice solution to those that want a reasonably priced receiver to handle their home theater needs, without sacrificing audio / video quality. (especially audio).

I bought the AVR-3310CI for our main surround system and after several months of very satisfactory performance, I later purchased an AVR-2310CI for our bedroom system. Both receivers replace nearly 10-year-old JVC models that still work fine, but lack HDMI outputs. Purchase of new LCD TVs & Blu-ray players prompted purchase of the new receivers. The reason we went with the 2010 models is because these were the only up-converting models I could find from any manufacturer that still offered a full complement of S-Video jacks. We have a mixed system, with Oppo BDP-83 for Blu-ray, but standard definition Series 2 TiVo boxes for TV viewing. S-Video is the highest-quality output on these TiVos.

The other nice thing about the Denon is that it offers very flexible up-converting, so composite can be simultaneously routed to s-video, component, and HDMI; s-video can upscale to component and HDMI. This is great for us because we need to route the TiVo output to component video to preserve 4:3 aspect ratio for SD programs (HDMI output automatically stretches everything to fill 16:9). Pretty much everything else relevant to this receiver has been covered in other reviews, but here are my top several pros & cons:

Pros: (1) Outstanding audio & video quality, (2) nearly all inputs are fully-assignable, (3) build quality of the receiver is very good, (4) previously-mentioned up-converting abilities, (5) every standard video input from composite to HDMI 1.3, (6) phonograph input & ground lug [these have disappeared from most sub-$1000 receivers, even though vinyl is making a huge comeback].

Cons: (1) Horrible user manual [search Google for the BatPig's Denon guides & forum posts], (2) tuner is not very impressive [HD stations drift in and out, producing an audio dropout each time the unit switches between HD & standard FM], (3) up-converting analog video introduces much more latency than I expected--not a deal-breaker, but certainly annoying since we have a whole-house video distribution system that is now thrown out of sync, (4) convoluted user interface & poor factory remote--highly recommend investing in a Philips Pronto or Logitech Harmony smart remote to control your system.

Some might consider it a weakness that the 3310 does not offer HDMI 1.4, thus it is not 3D-compatible. I have no interest in purchasing anything 3D for the home until the technology is far more mature, so this didn't bother me at all. Also, the receiver only has one subwoofer preamp output, but this is fairly common for receivers in this price range.

Another feature worth mentioning is the Audyssey auto setup and equalization system, which is nothing short of amazing. On the 2310CI, it easily handled the EQ'ing for the Bose Acoustimass speakers in our bedroom system, (almost making it sound as good as a real hi-fi surround system), along with a Yamaha subwoofer. The 3310CI's Audyssey system really shines on our main system downstairs, however. For many years, I have endured the hours-long process of manually measuring speaker distances, then using a frequency generator & SPL meter to equalize my subwoofers with a Behringer 12-band parametric equalizer. Thanks to poor acoustics in our vaulted-ceiling family room and a serious null around 41 Hz at the main seating location, this usually required use of 9 or 10 filters out of the available 12. Now, after letting Audyssey do its thing, I only need to use 3 filters on each of our two subwoofers. In fact, if I didn't already own the Behringer BFD, I probably wouldn't have bought it just for the minor tweaks needed after the Audyssey auto setup. I know the Audyssey system is licensed to several receiver manufacturers, but I don't have experience with it on any other brand. As far as I'm concerned, it made the Denon more than worth the price of admission, although I did pick up our two last-year's models from Amazon at clearance prices.

OK so I figured that if I bought a higher end receiver I'd get higher end quality. WRONG! This piece of Chinese junk has had the Ethernet card go out twice now. And when taking it in to the service center they never have the part available so it's a two month wait while the part gets shipped from the far east. Save your money and buy something more reliable, my last receiver was an Onkyo that was built like a tank and was still going strong but had no support for HDMI. Take my advice, don't buy this receiver.

I recently upgraded my home theater setup to support BluRay and my first purchase (aside from upgrading the home theater PC) was to pick up a new receiver. Since I've had great luck with Denon receivers, and their 2010 line of receivers is currently being discounted heavily, I went ahead picked up the AVR-1910. I won't go into details here, but I will say that the 1910 didn't work very well in my setup.

Anyway, at that point I went back to the drawing board and picked up an AVR-2310 - which was MUCH better than the 1910 and really would have worked perfectly for me. The only reason I upgraded to the AVR-3310 was because it was discounted as a Gold Box special from Amazon.com that made it not much more than the 2310 - and it has HD radio and network access.

As far as the AVR-3310 goes, here are the things I like about it:
1) The sound is excellent with my new speakers (Definitive Technology ProCenter 2000, 2x Polk OWM5 for right & left, 2x Polk TC60i as surrounds)
2) I know all the Denon receivers have the Audyssey setup - but I really do like that feature. It only took a few minor tweaks after running the auto-setup to get the receiver setup how I wanted it. If you make a mistake when making manual changes, you can always just go back to the most recent Audyssey settings and start over.
3) Pretty much everything is configurable - including renaming/hiding/assigning inputs, changing individual channel levels, etc...
4) I've seen that other people are having issues with the firmware update process; but it worked perfectly for me
5) It decodes all the latest audio formats
6) The HDMI passthrough/scaler looks great. I have run into a few cases where it gave the picture a pink hue, but turning the receiver off/on has fixed that.
7) This is my first HD radio, and it has good reception and sounds great
8) I like that I can set a maximum limit on the volume and have the receiver turn on at the same volume every time. These are great features if you have kids!
9) The dynamic volume feature is excellent. This is the first receiver I've owned where I'm not constantly adjusting the volume during movies when the kids are asleep. (If you have a Harmony One, be sure to have Logitech add the discreet codes for Night, Evening, and Day modes to your remote.)

For this price, I don't think I have any real complaints; but here are some things that could be improved:
1) Others have mentioned that the remote isn't that great. I agree here, but I already had a Harmony One so I don't have to use it:).
2) The receiver has a lot of options, but the menus aren't overly intuitive. Sometimes you really have to hunt for specific options and a couple of times I've mistakenly thought something couldn't be done - and then I've stumbled across the correct menu later.

Overall, I highly recommend this receiver. As I mentioned before, the AVR-2310 would have been fine for me; but I love the addition of the HD radio and upgradable firmware!

The Denon brand has long been synonymous with high end products and premium prices to match. This was my second Denon thousand dollar plus receiver and I suppose I only have myself to blame for making the same mistake twice. Sound quality is premium. But I will limit my comments to usability. That is, if it's broken it doesn't matter if it's assembled by cherubs in nirvana, it's just an expensive paperweight. I sold the model I had because I wanted HDMI usability which my previous model missed. But after only 8 months the unit just stopped working. Nothing. I hand delivered the unit to the local factory authorized repair facility in South Florida. That was 10 weeks ago! First I was told the HDMI board needed to be replaced. If I needed to pay for it they said that one item would cost $400-500 plus! Then I was told for some reason, it technically was not covered for repair but they would fix it anyway. I didn't understand how a new unit could not be covered but was not about to argue. The HDMI board, which they said was back-ordered, finally arrived and I imagined the end was in sight! But after waiting another 2 weeks I called and was told the board was not the problem and they ordered a different part. That system of repair, that is, hey...let's order random parts and plug em in to see what happens. Oh, that didn't fix it, let's screw on some new knobs and give her a go...doesn't seem exactly state-of-the-art for a premium component company. I didn't buy this unit via Amazon which was my biggest mistake. But after reading about others who had DOA units and software freezes, I am now done with Denon, and on and on. Not sure how long this repair debacle will continue and I might eventually wind up eating this nightmare of a product. Beware if you're shopping and ALWAYS buy from a service giant like Amazon is all I can say. I will update this to give the final outcome; in all fairness I just want to get some use out of my expensive piece of gear. In the past I have had receivers that are still being used by appreciative friends as hand me downs and they operate flawlessly though with fewer bells and whistles. Maybe they'll let me come over to sit on their sofa's to hear a little music sometime for old times sake!

Update (December 17, 2010): After 13 weeks in the authorized Denon repair facility, the unit was finally repaired. I imagined the damage to the receiver was due to a power surge so felt some shared responsibility for the ridiculously long repair process. But the repair tech told me when I picked up my receiver, that the HDMI processor commonly and regularly failed on the AVR 3310 and has needed to be replaced on many units in the first year of use. This adds insult to injury learning this. In fairness, now that it is again operating normally, the sound it reproduces is spectacular, warm and flawless. The video signal is also very clean and satisfying. Denon makes premium products and I feel certain the successor to this model, the AVR 3311 has been modified with an HDMI card that is free of defects. Still, it seems unreasonable for any repair, especially for a manufacturer of Denon's stature, to drag on into 4 months, for a known weakness and flaw.

I read a lot of reviews on this receiver before I purchased it. Many of them I found not true after setting up my system. I am glad that I did not allow them to influence my decision. I have owned may different receivers and this has been by far the best. My JBL Studio speakers never sounded so good. Better than with the old Pioneer VSX-81. My receiver has been turned on every day since I purchased it two months ago and going strong. I did the firmware upgrade on it within the first week and it performs as it did when I first turned it on. It is true that the receiver is a bit complicated. With that in mind I would not recommend it to someone that does not have the experience to handle the setup. Thanks Amazon for the great price so I could afford such a great receiver.