Denon AVR-X4500H Owners Thread

Stu MSD

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Hi Folks,
I’ve recently come back to the AV world after falling in love with a Samsung 65QFN and then finding it wouldnt play nicely with my Pioneer LX56.

After much research I set my heart on the AVR-X4400H and ordered what seemed to be the worlds last one from Peter Tyson at a bargain price. A few hours later, the dreaded call... “We haven’t got any... but for only £150 more you can have the latest version...”

So here we are.

Anyway, I got it all setup and working, replacing my ageing Panasonic LX-56 and I must say, it certainly seems to be more musical somehow.

I have what seems to be termed a 5.1.2 setup, using front heights, not perfect for my new setup I know, but all I can get in the room with ease, although I may investigate some Atmos enabled rears.

How’s the Receiver?
The channel separation is almost certainly more defined and I am enjoying actually hearing something coming from my front heights for a change. (First time I’ve had Atmos)

Power wise it’s fine with it suiting my room size well, I don5 imagine it will ever be driven harder than 70%. But I wonder how it would fare in a room twice the size. The 200w per channel is a comedy rating in my opinion and is probably PMPO and a very long way from RMS. It’s fine for me... but beware of you have a very large room and require big volume.

The screen information for each setting is a joy as understanding the Pioneer was a real pain at times if you were deep inside some menus, but no such problem with this Denon, every option has an on screen explanation. Perfect.

So, all in all, love the receiver, and allied to the new Q9FN the setup has got me all excited about AV again. I Just need to figure out why I don’t seem to be able to stream 4K from my Synology NAS. Normal HD works just fine, but 4K is buffering like crazy.
 
The actual reason for my topic today was forgotten...
For any owners with late model Denon’s, they released their promised eARC firmware update today.

Just installed mine and it’s all running fine.

New firmware version is: 2461-9173-9131-1084
New DTS version is: 3.90.50.51
 
Funny, I was in exactly the same position about four weeks ago, was buying new speakers and AVR and I figured last years Denon X4400H was better value than the new X4500H. Got some prices from a few places to negotiate it down as far as possible - Richer Sounds came out with the best offer. When I finally pulled the trigger it was touch and go - there was one left in stock, and as they put it through the system I got it! Three hours later my phone rings and its Richer Sounds and I knew what was coming... They offered some other models but I wanted the same number of channels as a minimum, long story short agreed on the X4500H for £900 which seemed to be a pretty good deal.
 
I suspect a lot of these places are using the old models to get you on the hook. Lets face t, here are two great examples of that tactic workinga treat!

But yeah, your deal was far better than mine as I paid about £990 I think. But still, I am very happy with it. :D
 
Greetings all!

I hope you don't mind me jumping on here. I was just wondering whether this would be the correct amp to go with the Monitor Audio Silver 200 AV12 Speaker package. I have been looking at both this amp and the speakers for a while now but finally I am in the position to buy! Would this be a good match do you think?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - along with any alternatives if you can think of any!

Many thanks!
 
Greetings all!

I hope you don't mind me jumping on here. I was just wondering whether this would be the correct amp to go with the Monitor Audio Silver 200 AV12 Speaker package. I have been looking at both this amp and the speakers for a while now but finally I am in the position to buy! Would this be a good match do you think?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - along with any alternatives if you can think of any!

Many thanks!

That's my exact set up, with a pair of PSB Imagine XAs on top of the front 200s for 5.1.2. I haven't listened to much music through it (a lot of people say Marantz AVRs are a little bit warmer for music listening), but for movies and even general tv it sounds INCREDIBLE, I couldn't be happier with it. And it doesn't hurt that they look great too!

If you're interested in upfiring modules, the PSBs pair really well, I wasn't sure about those, they were a bit of a punt that I bought ex-display, but they really do 1) Actually work... impressively so (that was my biggest doubt), 2) pair pretty seamlessly with the MA Silvers and 3) fit on top of the floorstanders and look the part

Theres a guy on ebay who does copies of the Dolby Atmos demo disks with lossless audio, that's what I pull out when I really want to appreciate just how good the full set up is.
 
That's my exact set up, with a pair of PSB Imagine XAs on top of the front 200s for 5.1.2. I haven't listened to much music through it (a lot of people say Marantz AVRs are a little bit warmer for music listening), but for movies and even general tv it sounds INCREDIBLE, I couldn't be happier with it. And it doesn't hurt that they look great too!

If you're interested in upfiring modules, the PSBs pair really well, I wasn't sure about those, they were a bit of a punt that I bought ex-display, but they really do 1) Actually work... impressively so (that was my biggest doubt), 2) pair pretty seamlessly with the MA Silvers and 3) fit on top of the floorstanders and look the part

Theres a guy on ebay who does copies of the Dolby Atmos demo disks with lossless audio, that's what I pull out when I really want to appreciate just how good the full set up is.


Excellent news! I hope to be going to AudioVisual Onlines shop in Bacup this weekend to splash the cash! I may have to swap the rears though as I can't fit them on the wall and from what I have read about the dimensions of them, a speaker stand just won't cut it. I thought that if I swapped them for the standard Silver Bookshelf speakers and got Monitor Audios 'The Stand' that would suffice. I think I will have to have a look at those Atmos speakers you mentioned though - sounds interesting!

Many thanks
 
Hi Folks,
I’ve recently come back to the AV world after falling in love with a Samsung 65QFN and then finding it wouldnt play nicely with my Pioneer LX56.

After much research I set my heart on the AVR-X4400H and ordered what seemed to be the worlds last one from Peter Tyson at a bargain price. A few hours later, the dreaded call... “We haven’t got any... but for only £150 more you can have the latest version...”

So here we are.

Anyway, I got it all setup and working, replacing my ageing Panasonic LX-56 and I must say, it certainly seems to be more musical somehow.

I have what seems to be termed a 5.1.2 setup, using front heights, not perfect for my new setup I know, but all I can get in the room with ease, although I may investigate some Atmos enabled rears.

How’s the Receiver?
The channel separation is almost certainly more defined and I am enjoying actually hearing something coming from my front heights for a change. (First time I’ve had Atmos)

Power wise it’s fine with it suiting my room size well, I don5 imagine it will ever be driven harder than 70%. But I wonder how it would fare in a room twice the size. The 200w per channel is a comedy rating in my opinion and is probably PMPO and a very long way from RMS. It’s fine for me... but beware of you have a very large room and require big volume.

The screen information for each setting is a joy as understanding the Pioneer was a real pain at times if you were deep inside some menus, but no such problem with this Denon, every option has an on screen explanation. Perfect.

So, all in all, love the receiver, and allied to the new Q9FN the setup has got me all excited about AV again. I Just need to figure out why I don’t seem to be able to stream 4K from my Synology NAS. Normal HD works just fine, but 4K is buffering like crazy.

Do you see any difference in picture quality on your Q9FN since you changed to the X4500H?
 
Do you see any difference in picture quality on your Q9FN since you changed to the X4500H?

Hi,
You know I would swear blind I did, but I put that down to placebo having dropped a fair lump of cash in it.

I only had 2 days with the panel and LX56 though. And my Denon is set to bypass all picture processing unless it’s a sub 4K signal.
 
Hi,
You know I would swear blind I did, but I put that down to placebo having dropped a fair lump of cash in it.

I only had 2 days with the panel and LX56 though. And my Denon is set to bypass all picture processing unless it’s a sub 4K signal.

Yeah I thought the same, and I think you're right, it's the upscaling that stands out. Previously I was just using the TV's upscaling (LG C7 OLED) and I thought it was pretty good, but with the Sky signal running through the X4500H the upscaling is really impressive, even the colour tone is more vibrant.

It helped win the other half around. I think she was slightly miffed I made a fairly chunky purchase, then she sat down to watch Masterchef Australia (her favourite show of all time) and went 'Ooh wow it does look good!'. Prior to that it was all 'Ugh Another remote control! ... and my favourite 'there's too much sound now'.
 
I must admit, the more external 1080 stuff I watch, the more impressed I am.
 
Hi,
You know I would swear blind I did, but I put that down to placebo having dropped a fair lump of cash in it.

I only had 2 days with the panel and LX56 though. And my Denon is set to bypass all picture processing unless it’s a sub 4K signal.

@Stu MSD Can I just pick your brains please re your comment above. How do I achieve bypassing processing unless its a sub 4k signal. Do I simply choose the output that is 4K so anything less is processed and 4k isn't or do I have to do something else. Could you share your 'processing settings' - Thanks in advance
 
what processing have you set for video on the map? i think i set mine to straight through so it didnt do any video tinkering but maybe ill have to try and see if this improves anything.
 
@Stu MSD Can I just pick your brains please re your comment above. How do I achieve bypassing processing unless its a sub 4k signal. Do I simply choose the output that is 4K so anything less is processed and 4k isn't or do I have to do something else. Could you share your 'processing settings' - Thanks in advance

Got all mine unwired at moment as imtrying to recable some stuff, but can look once its powred back up if nobody else chimes in.

I recall its set to upscale anything thats NOT already 4K 60.
The Q9FN does the same already i think, but the Denon seems to do a better job. (I think)

We need more testers!! Im sure this unit is almost identical to the 4400H so maybe those boys can be of help.
 
I’m writing to report about an oddity at my Denon AVR-X4500H, which I’ve recently bought.

As sources, I've connected two Cambridge Audio blu-ray players: CXUHD and 751BD. The former works smoothly in conjunction with the receiver. CA 751BD is an older player and after connecting it to the receiver, I noticed that besides turn on/off it didn’t respond to other commands from the remote control. I changed the connecting HDMI cable and then switched to various HDMI connectors on the receiver, but the 751BD remained practically out of work.

I couldn’t jump to conclusions what was wrong as I didn’t confront such a situation previously. One day later, after looking up through AVR settings, I noticed that there were two options for 4K Signal Format: Standard (Default) and Enhanced. After switching to Enhanced, the 751BD began working flawlessly.

Can anyone give an explanation?
 
On the eve of Black Friday, the x4500h looks to be going for £1,299. Was it really selling for £900/990 just two weeks ago?
 
First time poster on this forum but need help. I just purchased the last 4400H and a full DT 8060 speaker system. 2 8060ST w/A60Atmos, 2 DT Supercube 2000 subs, 4 SR8040BP surrounds & a DT CS8050 centre speaker. I also have 4 ceiling mount speakers Polk SC60. As the Super towers are amplified will it ease the 4400H power output? Also because I have 2 subs, are the 2 sub outputs separate or BiY-wired inside the receiver? Should I also just not wire up the A60 upward firing a60s and go with the ceiling speakers? Thx in advance.
 
On the eve of Black Friday, the x4500h looks to be going for £1,299. Was it really selling for £900/990 just two weeks ago?
RRP was £1500 at the time I believe, but quite a few sellers will negotiate. I bought mine through Richer Sounds (had the issues as earlier post - originally trying to get the 4400, ultimately out of stock etc) final price agreed for the 4500 was listed as a 'managers special'. Whilst the unit was £900 I bought (optional) extended warranty @10% so all in £990. I'd also bought some speakers as part of a wider package which helps, total for everything was roughly 71% of the RRP.
 
I’m writing to report about an oddity at my Denon AVR-X4500H, which I’ve recently bought.

As sources, I've connected two Cambridge Audio blu-ray players: CXUHD and 751BD. The former works smoothly in conjunction with the receiver. CA 751BD is an older player and after connecting it to the receiver, I noticed that besides turn on/off it didn’t respond to other commands from the remote control. I changed the connecting HDMI cable and then switched to various HDMI connectors on the receiver, but the 751BD remained practically out of work.

I couldn’t jump to conclusions what was wrong as I didn’t confront such a situation previously. One day later, after looking up through AVR settings, I noticed that there were two options for 4K Signal Format: Standard (Default) and Enhanced. After switching to Enhanced, the 751BD began working flawlessly.

Can anyone give an explanation?

Only difference I know of between the two is that enhanced operates at 10bit as opposed to 8bit, and supports enhanced chroma sampling. Would be strange if your older unit was 10bit only but you never know!
 
RRP was £1500 at the time I believe, but quite a few sellers will negotiate. I bought mine through Richer Sounds (had the issues as earlier post - originally trying to get the 4400, ultimately out of stock etc) final price agreed for the 4500 was listed as a 'managers special'. Whilst the unit was £900 I bought (optional) extended warranty @10% so all in £990. I'd also bought some speakers as part of a wider package which helps, total for everything was roughly 71% of the RRP.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. Always pays to negotiate!
 
That sounds like a pretty good deal. Always pays to negotiate!
I see a few places now listing at £1099 you could probably get a good deal at the moment
 
I see a few places now listing at £1099 you could probably get a good deal at the moment
Thanks! Seen some of these deals. But I ended up getting a Yamaha RX-A2070 for £879 instead to replace a RX-V1020.
 
I have been offered 3500 for 620£
and 4500 for 920£

Any suggestions please
Spend more and get the 4500?
 
I have been offered 3500 for 620£
and 4500 for 920£

Any suggestions please
Spend more and get the 4500?
The 3500 is a seven channel receiver maximum. The 4500 has nine channels out of the box with the ability, with the addition of an external amp, to process eleven. The 4500 is a more power receiver overall.

The question is down to what speakers you have, how big is your room and how many channels to you intend to run. If you are only going to have a maximum of 5.1.2/7.1 then the 3500 is going to be enough. If your speakers are fairly hard to drive, or you want to extend the speaker count to 5/7.1.4 then consider the 4500.

Audio wise the 4500 may sound better than the 3500, on the other hand a 4500 may not sound as good as a 6500. A lot depends on your speakers and room if you're looking to justify spending an extra £300.

Personally I would pick the 4500 over the 3500 because of the speakers I'm driving and they need that extra bit of power.
 
Thanks Gibbsy
currently its being used for 2.1 only in the lounge.
but plan to have home cinema in future.
Kef R 300 are the speakers being used with Yamaha 471 AV receiver(old 2011) model.
would like to get into atmos
 

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