Hi Race,
Firstly, I'm from Australia so not 100% sure that the Denon and NAD units are the same as the ones you are thinking about. I am also a bit of a novice at this (first post!)so don't really have the lingo yet either. However I did recently audition both the 3808 and the T775. I even managed to find one dealer that sold both. Unfortunately I was still unable to listen on the same speakers but did listen to the same CD/DVD's on the same day. In short I found the NAD had an amazing sound but did not have the features that the Denon had for my intended use of Home Theatre. I also did some research and found some disatisfied people who had purchased the NAD and were very unhappy with aspects of the video processing. I know NAD's empahsis is on music first, which I respect, but it didn't give me confidence in their HT. I went with the Denon about 2 months ago and love it.
In my opinion, if you are a music purest, get the NAD. If you want fully featured HT - the Denon is without peer in this price point.
Good luck with your decision!
