In Use

I tested the Denon AVR-4806 with a Denon DVD-5900 Universal DVD Player, Final Sound Electrostatic Speakers, Panasonic PT-AE900U Projector, and Stewart Grayhawk Screen. Cables were Nordost. I set all channel crossover points to 50 Hz, with the < 50 Hz signal going to a Velodyne DD-18 subwoofer.

The 4806 is rated at 130 watts RMS per channel, with all seven channels driven. As you will see below, the bench test measurements showed it will output 114 watts with all channels driven, using a variable transformer to keep the incoming AC voltage at 120 volts when outputting the maximum power. Although that is less than spec, it is still plenty of juice. The Final Acoustic ESLs are rated at 75 - 150 watts for recommended power. The 4806 is designed for speakers that go as low as 3.2 ohms, and the Finals go down to 4 ohms. They are not very sensitive, but this receiver is certainly powerful enough to use it with ESLs as long as you are diligent with the volume control. Crossing all channels over at 50 Hz helps the amplifier be more efficient with its power, and the ESL panels benefit as well, since these ESLs are full range (no crossover and no conventional cone woofer built in), but trying to get a full range ESL to put out sound at 20 Hz is not a good plan. Of course, if you use conventional cone speakers, and they are 8 ohms, with good sensitivity, you will have no problem at all with this receiver. As for me, I like being a troublemaker, so I paired the receiver with ESLs (I wouldn't have attempted this with a small receiver though).

I watched a whole bunch of movies using the Denon setup, but let's talk about the last one, which was this Tuesday's release of Four Brothers. It sort of reminds me of an old John Wayne western called The Sons of Katie Elder. The premise is that four adopted sons some home to find that their mother has been murdered. So, they decide to cause a very serious problem for the perpetrators. Anyway, there is lots of action, with firepower galore as movies go these days.

Here is Mark Wahlberg's character at mom's funeral. Does he look like he is preparing for a love story scene or going to get an AK-47 loaded up for doing the deed?

When I saw this, I knew I would be in for some great action, and I was right.

Here is a scene about mid-way through the film. Guess who is in the body bags, good guys or bad guys?

The story is not nearly as entertaining as The Sons of Katie Elder, but the outcome is just as satisfying, and the AVR-4806 did its job well. Nice clean effects, easy to understand dialogue during high action scenes, plenty of volume, and no annoying distortion. I saved my listening preferences to User Mode 1 (satellite box movie viewing was set to User Mode 2 where there seems to be more bass coming through).

As for music, how about this recent Heads Up SACD release of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Long Walk to Freedom, which is a group of singers performing music - vocals and instrumentals - from South Africa. Nothing like voices to test any hi-fi system. No complaints here. The 4806 handled everything admirably. It's great to see mainstream receivers having such good amplifiers these days. Remember when all receivers sounded harsh? Not so anymore.

Click Here to Go to Part V.

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