Denon AVR-S710W reviewed at RHT
I have a Denon AVR, and I’ve found it to be quite solid so RHT’s conclusion on this HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 $480 Denon AVR-S710W doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Trying to pick a future-proof receiver in 2014 was a challenge. You had to pick between full bandwidth HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 copy protection, and DTS:X didn’t even exist yet. No matter what option you picked, you knew that in the next year or two you might need to replace it if you got a new TV. By mid-2015 that had changed and it was not hard to find receivers with full HDMI 2.0a and HDCP 2.2 support for UltraHD along with DTS:X and Dolby Atmos support. One of the more affordable options with those features is the Denon AVR-S710W.
Unfortunately these guys
Unfortunately these guys Denon (Marantz) and Integra (Onkyo) are in a race to the bottom, put as much in it and make it as cheap as you can. I am a custom integrator and sold Denon since 2007 but since they went to their X series of IN-Command receivers which we have controlled with their network ports. They will fall off the network and won’t be controlled again until they are reset and unplugged. Integra has had the same problems as they source their parts from the same suppliers. The sony ZA seriers of ES receivers are currently the best and they, finally for sony anyway, sound really good.
GeoffQ
I haven’t listened to one of
I haven’t listened to one of their AVRs for many years, but the last time I did I wasn’t impressed. Coupling that with the reported quality issues (at the time), it put me off.
I had heard from some sources that Sony finally got their [higher-end] AVRs into a good place, so it’s great to have confirmation from a real person :). Will have to give them another chance.
Do you have much experience with their models in this Denon’s price range? I’ve been quite happy with my Denon AVR-X2000, but I’m always on the lookout for what other OEMs are doing (not happy with the direction of Onkyo BTW).
babgvant wrote:
I had heard
[quote=babgvant]
I had heard from some sources that Sony finally got their [higher-end] AVRs into a good place, so it’s great to have confirmation from a real person :). Will have to give them another chance.
[/quote]
Thanks for the kind words!!
No the Onkyo/Integra and Denon/Marantz companies have really dropped the ball, their amps are the only thing that is still decent but the electronics are what make them work. Their HDMI boards and Networking and Control equipment are all sourced from the same suppliers and they are asking for the cheapest not least expensive but still quality components. Sonys receivers have been notoriously bad for years but they took saw what was happening with D&M and Onkyo and took the 5 biggest integrators in the SoCal area and sat them down and asked what they needed in a good AVR. Response was pretty clear, good sounding amps and better electronics especially HDMI boards as that has been the achilles heel for the other guys. They even asked for good streaming but Sony said “why, you are integrators go get a good streaming stand alone solution that would be much better than we could ever build into an AVR and we will put that cost into better electronics and give you better margin”. They actually pulled it off, I tried it and was shocked. I have put 12-15 in clients houses and have not had one problem with any of them, oh yeah they also gave us 5 year warrenties!!! Crazy. I don’t think they have done that with their lower end AVRs but I don’t know I haven’t tried them.
When Denon went to the X series InCommand they stopped putting in the RS-232 ports in their lower end units, which was our goto for control, and forced us to have to use the network port for control which was crazy unreliable even with a great MikroTik router handling the LAN. Their 4 digit CI series receivers were alway crazy good and relaible and had the Denon sound which they were known for, I have a 1912CI in a clients house for 6 years controlled by the network port and a Verizon FiOS router that has never dropped, just better quality components.
That $500-$600 price range is so difficult because no one makes an AVR for the integrator in that price range and the consumer AVRs think that is a premium price but they put more powerful amps in the same crap package and charge more. I highly recommend staying away from that price range, wait save up $300 more and get a unit that will last 5 to 10 years. The units now only have one or two HDMI 2.0 HDCP 2.2 ports anyway and it will be a few more years until they have more.
Just my 2 cents,
GeoffBQ
Thanks for sharing. It’s
Thanks for sharing. It’s great to get some perspective into what is going on in different parts of the market.
This was also the recommended
This was also the recommended receiver at the wire cutter, which is where I first saw the recommendation. I was just in the market for a new reciever and that was my starting point, but I did end up going for the s910w instead. I’m not sure I will ever use the A-D conversion/upscaling, but it was nice to know that if we wanted to break out the old NES I wouldn’t have to mess around with the back of the tv (which is mounted to the wall and quite difficult to work around. The only thing it didn’t have for me was upconversion to 4k/60Hz (would have required going to the x3200 at ~$800 i believe) but I didn’t find that to be much of a problem. It would have been more of a nice perk in case it was better quality than my tv’s upscaling but I doubt I would be able to tell the difference anyways, especially when most of what I am watching has already been compressed to hell. Also doesn’t have pre-outs, but like the review says it runs my ELAC debuts as loud as I could need them so I don’t anticipate ever going to separates.
I didn’t find the GUI to be particularly easy to use for 2016, but then again I also do remember the GUI from my last reciever (Denon 2802, from… 2002?) and compared to that its positively delightful. Still, its clear no one from Denon’s UI team has ever used an iOS (or even Android) product because its way below the bar for today’s electronic products.
One thing I did was buy a refurbished unit from Amazon.com. When you are willing to go that way the s910w is only $400 and if you thought the s710w was a good deal at $480 then this is way better. I know there are warranty/service implications by going refurbished but that didn’t bother me; it was more important to money towards the other parts of the chain (speakers, sub, tv, streaming box) because I was building from scratch. Well, ok, not scratch but all my current components were way out of date and it was time to harvest the fruits of the last 10+ years of progress in the home theater tech.