Denon AVR-X3600H 9.2 Channel AV Receiver Review & Comments

If this is a 9 at launch price I guess it would be a 10 when it comes down to sub £600, as this line always tends to do in the not so distant future.

I have a pretty nerdy question regarding the “Siri support”. Is this anything more than having AirPlay 2?

I just ask because my 3500 has AirPlay 2 (so you can use Siri to play stuff to it from eg an iPhone) but “Siri support” was never listed as a feature. Could be because AirPlay 2 was added to the *500 series after launch, but wondered if this indicated more than simply an AirPlay 2 target.
 
My brother is looking for a new amp and asked me, I basically said the 3500 @ £500 or the 3600/4500 @ £950 ish.

He only has a 5.1 system and wont be going atmos. He has B&W 683 s2 front, 685 s2 rear and the HTM61 S2 centre.

All things considered would the 3500/3600/4500 be best?

Many thank in advance :D
 
My brother is looking for a new amp and asked me, I basically said the 3500 @ £500 or the 3600/4500 @ £950 ish.

He only has a 5.1 system and wont be going atmos. He has B&W 683 s2 front, 685 s2 rear and the HTM61 S2 centre.

All things considered would the 3500/3600/4500 be best?

Many thank in advance :D
If he's in the UK then the boat has sailed for the 3500. I would simply look at the very best deal on either the 3600 or 4500 as now there seems to be little to separate them. 4500 would be my choice.
 
My brother is looking for a new amp and asked me, I basically said the 3500 @ £500 or the 3600/4500 @ £950 ish.

He only has a 5.1 system and wont be going atmos. He has B&W 683 s2 front, 685 s2 rear and the HTM61 S2 centre.

All things considered would the 3500/3600/4500 be best?

Many thank in advance :D
If you're sure that he is not going to go Atmos then you already know the answer.
 
If he's in the UK then the boat has sailed for the 3500. I would simply look at the very best deal on either the 3600 or 4500 as now there seems to be little to separate them. 4500 would be my choice.
If he looks he might still find a 3500*. Plus there are still a few older Marantz around which is an almost identical platform. For example, the half height Marantz are very decent receivers with more than enough power for a standard UK living room up to 7 speakers. Even if he went Atmos, he could at least add 2 front height speakers to his 5.1 set-up.

*I've just had a quick look and there are some available for around £600. If you really look there might be some cheaper because at one point it looks like they were selling for around £500.
 
If he's in the UK then the boat has sailed for the 3500. I would simply look at the very best deal on either the 3600 or 4500 as now there seems to be little to separate them. 4500 would be my choice.

You can still pick them up new for £499? Limited stock though, you're right.

As for 'I already know the answer, I'd go for the 4500 :D, because of the better components
 
If he looks he might still find a 3500*. Plus there are still a few older Marantz around which is an almost identical platform. For example, the half height Marantz are very decent receivers with more than enough power for a standard UK living room up to 7 speakers. Even if he went Atmos, he could at least add 2 front height speakers to his 5.1 set-up.

*I've just had a quick look and there are some available for around £600. If you really look there might be some cheaper because at one point it looks like they were selling for around £500.
I had trouble finding a 3500 last night. If still available for £500 it's steal. The half size Marantz take a half power hit. The SR6013 is still a good buy.
 
I had trouble finding a 3500 last night. If still available for £500 it's steal.
Couldn't find it for £500 either, but there was at least one site that had it for £500 but out of stock
The half size Marantz take a half power hit.
Yes but I had one of them and unless you are going to be playing at reference sound levels it still sounds great. I think I pushed it to near reference volume levels once just to hear what it sounded like and I don't remember there being any major issues.
The SR6013 is still a good buy.
That's actually gone up in price. You can still pick one up for £700 new or slightly less for a boxed return.
 
Yeah, if you see his speakers, he doesn't play it quietly! -10 typically
 
In terms of sound quality would a new unit like this be an upgrade over what I am currently using, marantz AV8802a if used as a preamp? Are the DAC's any better?
Mind you the DAC itself is only half the truth. All the circuitry around it the other half and I guess the most demanding for the designer so it surely depends on how good this is implemented as well.
 
Just bought a 3600 to replace my Onkyo 828.

The 3600 seems more "bright" than the Onkyo. One thing I do notice is I can hear the surrounds far more than on the Onkyo. With the 828 they were far more discreet whereas it's almost like the surrounds are just repeating the fronts (if you see what I mean). I've used Audyessy setup but was wondering if there was a setting that calms the rears down so they sound more discreet?
 
Just bought a 3600 to replace my Onkyo 828.

The 3600 seems more "bright" than the Onkyo. One thing I do notice is I can hear the surrounds far more than on the Onkyo. With the 828 they were far more discreet whereas it's almost like the surrounds are just repeating the fronts (if you see what I mean). I've used Audyessy setup but was wondering if there was a setting that calms the rears down so they sound more discreet?
Assuming you ran everything correctly then just adjust the rear speaker levels manually. I just recently re-ran Audyssey and for the first time I didn't have to immediately adjust my surrounds.This time I was very careful with my mic positioning plus I had almost perfect conditions, running very late at night. After noticing the better cohesion I checked the configuration and saw a marked difference from previous runs. Even after all that, part of me still thinks I could possibly turn my left surround down a touch :)
 
Thanks Coulson.

I'll run it again later tonight. Was a little concerned I'm not going to like the 3600 (compared to the 828) but need to give it more time I think.
 
Re-ran Audyssey. Hooked up a 4K player and put in Blade Runner. Very happy with the results now.
 
I have been considering the 3600 v 4500 and at £829 the 3600 is saying buy me buy me. If the 4500 does not come down to £900 from the current £999 I think I will have to get a 3600 this weekend.
 
buy 4500 from Peter Tyson
if they drop the price they will refund you
I think 4500 is better than 3600
 
How good is the 2 channel music playback on the 3600 vs the 4500?
 
£799 at richer sounds
 
I have been considering the 3600 v 4500 and at £829 the 3600 is saying buy me buy me. If the 4500 does not come down to £900 from the current £999 I think I will have to get a 3600 this weekend.

There is also Marantz SR6013 which is very similar to X4500H feature wise and internal pictures look similar too, missing only Auro3D, one extra zone less and the front display. I think those are the biggest differences, correct me if i forgot something. One site also measured both machines and SR6013 matched power wise to X4500H with few watts difference. Even if it didn´t the 15w difference on paper wouldn´t make any real world difference. Imax Enhanced, eARC also in Marantz. And some might see the HDAM as big plus.

Price is 699£ at AVO for black/silver! This makes Marantz damn good option vs. both Denon machines talked in this thread!
 
How good is the 2 channel music playback on the 3600 vs the 4500?
The 4500 has AL32 processing on board unlike the 3600. This could make a difference. I have AL32 on my DCD 2500 SACD player and I'm seriously impressed with the detail, depth and clarity that it can get out of both redbook and SACD discs. Certainly it puts all my other SACD players in the shade when it comes to audio quality. How this will transfer to stereo on the 4500 is somewhat harder to judge but it has to be better than the 3600 that does not have this ability.

I do have AL24 on my Denon X6200 but yet that receiver is very disappointing with stereo music, so much so that I use a stereo amp with HT by-pass linked into the system for a far superior stereo music performance. At least with both 4500 and 3600 you do have the option to add a stereo amp into the system via the pre-outs if you are serious about music.
 
There is also Marantz SR6013 which is very similar to X4500H feature wise and internal pictures look similar too, missing only Auro3D, one extra zone less and the front display. I think those are the biggest differences, correct me if i forgot something. One site also measured both machines and SR6013 matched power wise to X4500H with few watts difference. Even if it didn´t the 15w difference on paper wouldn´t make any real world difference. Imax Enhanced, eARC also in Marantz. And some might see the HDAM as big plus.

Price is 699£ at AVO for black/silver! This makes Marantz damn good option vs. both Denon machines talked in this thread!

The SR6013 is not comparable to the AVRX4500. The SR7013 would be the comparable Marantz model to the X4500 and the new Marantz SR6014 is the model most comparable to the X3600.

The power ratings of the SR6014 and the SR6013 that preceeded it are comparable to those of the Denon AVRX3600 and not comparable to the power you'd get via the X4500. In fact the power ratings per channel are not that much different than those associated with the 7 channel AVRX3500 than preceeeded the 9 channel X3600 model. The difference in wattage is quite large and not just a few watts as you've suggested. It is this additional power that you are paying forif wanting the X4500.

Power Output (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2ch Driven)
AVRX4500 125 watts
AVRX3600 105 watts
SR7013 125 watts
SR6013 110 watts
SR6014 110 watts


The SR6014 is effectively the same AV receiver as the X3600 apart from the inclusion of HDAM circuitry and analogue multichannel inputs on the Marantz model and only its porthole display as opposed to the fulled sized display on the Denon.
 
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