With a plethora of features and sufficient power to drive some of the most demanding speakers, as well as the ability to process a 5.2 system with the main speakers bi-amped and still have two channels remaining for a separate two-channel setup, the Denon 4520 is poised to be a favorite among enthusiasts. If you are looking for an all-in-one unit with a good power amp design versus a processor plus separate power amps, or maybe limited on space to accomplish the same, the 4520 is definitely worth consideration… and highly recommended in my conclusion.
Very good review. The fact that the 4520 can drive your ML's so well that you sold some monster mono blocks is really interesting.
I also really enjoyed the 1 vs 8 positions graphs at the various seats to be enlightening. I haven't seen that done by anyone before and it brings up a few questions for me to look at in my own system. Thanks for being so thorough and sharing the results.
We will be getting into more detail with a couple of different room comparisons on the 1 vs 8 in our very detailed Audyssey Information thread that we are preparing now.
Very nice and thorough review! Your review of UMC-1 was what drew me to the Shack, by the way. I did not buy the UMC-1.
Your reviews are easier to digest than others I have read on traditional publications, in a good way. I was wondering why you sold your Emotiva amps, when I saw your ads. Well, now I understand.
Do you think you'll review Anthem's receivers in the near future? MRX-700? It would be interesting to compare Anthem's highly regarded ARC Vs the Audissey room correction. I hope you'll add this to your to do list.
@PhxHT... I was talking to a guy, Chris at Cohen Electronics, just the other day and he mentioned the Anthem receiver. I actually owned an Anthem processor and amp several years back... the AVM-50 and MCA-50. I never wrote any reviews on them, but it would be nice to maybe get a hold of one of their receivers and give it s spin in my system... perhaps the MRX 700.
Great review Sonnie! I have the A100 (same as the 4311) and you are making my upgrade bug kick in:rolleyesno: I'll have to think long and hard if I will really benefit from the upgrade or if I need to sit it out until the 'newer' version next year. I'm really surprised that it can actually power your ML, they usually need good amplification that AVR's can't provide.
Nice review. I'm still happy with the 4311 and couldn't justify the upgrade, but the GUI on the 4520 looks good. I'll wait until the next breakthrough in DAC's, and/or Audyssey before upgrading again.
Quite a few people access the Internet using computers provided in public libraries. Of course, while they can read the review, they also are people who probably could not justify the expense of such a receiver.
Good point... maybe I should change it to, "Then again, if you do not have a computer, there is a possibility that you will not be reading this review."
Interesting, thank you for putting your thoughts to...computer. This is an exciting read in that I have been using a Denon receiver as a processor for many years, tried and Onkyo for a short while and put the Denon back in. I cannot say I heard a big difference so I think for me it came down to familiarity and ease of use. I have played Denon many for a long long time, like an old shoe, it must just feel comfortable. I have been looking to renew the 4 year old receiver with the newer models but the less expensive models in my range do not have 7.1 in and that for me is a deal breaker. This one seems a bit more than I wanted to spend but I like your thoughts on its ability to drive the speakers un aided by bigger amps....that speaks to me in a big way, talking about cleaning shelf space.
Thanks Again it appears I may have found a new center for my system.
One thing I'm curious about would be to how the 4520 rates in the value department compared to its more expensive big brother, the Marantz AV8801 separates and the matching amps they sell. Right now it's an expensive high end receiver, but compared to the AV8801, it may deliver 95% of the sonic performance for a lot less.
I don't think I would think twice about the 4520 over the 8801 plus amps, although it is a very nice looking setup. I am not sure what the 8801 could offer over the 4520 that would nearly begin to justify the extra cost of the unit, much less having to buy separate amps. I obviously have no way to know for sure without hearing and testing, but my best guess would be that I highly doubt there would be any significant difference in sound quality, yet they make them to be bought.
Like the 4520 so far. The Sub EQ setup is nice. It shows an onscreen volume meter dbs. and has you level the two subs before it will allow you to EQ them. Nice function. Still confused though as it shows in the menu that they are +11 and I thought that they should be -5 to +5. Could placement of the SUBS be the issue?
Love having both my Denon AVR's networked. Using my tablet or laptop to control them in or out of room.
I did notice the top of the receiver gets warmer than my 2112 used too. But, I increased the air space above the 4520, hopefully compensates.
Im gonna do a white noise test with a independant meter tonight to get them both at 75 db. Then rerun audyssey. Hopefully that will be a little more accurate. I know the sub EQ meter kept bouncing when i was trying to do it that way.
Yeah... it is somewhat finicky. I evened out my sub response with my parametric EQ (took the major peaks out) and then leveled my subs to 75dB with my mic and REW. Then when I go through Audyssey it doesn't even ask me to level my subs, it checks them and skips to the next step.
I enjoyed reading your review. I have owned the 4520 since the first month of its release, and have nothing but a positive experience so far. I replaced a 4311, which is now powering the system in the master bedroom.
Two features that I think are worth pointing out are the network configuration save capability, and that the 4520 supports the Audyssey Pro kit.
Anyone who currently has an AVR brand other than Denon should be aware of the value of being able to save different configurations. If you are actively involved in measuring the audio performance of your home theater or listening room, and are experimenting with speaker locations, room treatments, etc., being able to save different configurations for comparison is extremely valuable. As far as I know, Denon is the only AVR manufacturer that offers this capability.
And for those who value Audyssey technology, being able to use the Pro kit adds a level of fine-tuning to an already excellent room correction system.
I was not aware of the configuration save capability, I missed that part... and that is good to know.
I am aware of the it's ability to use the Audyssey Pro Kit and mentioned that I did not use it. I suppose I should state that it is available, but I did not use it. I will correct that part. At the time I did not want to spend the $150 to get it licensed until I knew for sure I wanted to keep it. I could now, but the response sounds pretty good, so I figured I would leave it be for now. XT32 is pretty good.
I should have mentioned that the configuration load/save functionality is accessed through the AVR's web interface, in case anyone has trouble finding it.
With 150wpc, what is the power consumption from the wall sockets on the Denon 4520?
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