I recently purchased a Denon avr-889 for my upstairs system as I got a great deal on the receiver from the local BestBuy. Two things surprised me about this receiver.
1. No pre-outs. Didn't really need them but I thought at this level of receiver they would be there.
2. The sound was very good with Audyssey.
Now when I purchased my 3808 a few months back I was un-impressed with Audyssey and ended up turning Audyssey off.
I didn't realize until I read about this upgrade that the 889 has the dynamic EQ and Dynamic volume features. I hadn't tried the dynamic volume until after I read about this but the dynamic EQ seemed to work really well. It seems to give the sound an extra crispness and punch. Highs seem clearer and more pronounced and the bass has more punch to it.
Late Saturday night I went ahead and got the update for the 3808 and lo and behold the sound difference was quite noticeable. While I have enjoyed the 3808 I always felt that while it was a great functioning receiver that it didn't quite have the gusto that I was looking for. Even after adding outboard amps it sounded good but not quite great. The Dynamic EQ system seems to have filled in whatever was missing before with the regular Audyssey.
So all in all in my opinion the Dynamic EQ works great and to me the 3808 seems greatly improved. I have the Dynamic volume enabled as well but haven't experimented with it too much yet. It would have been nice if it was free but for me the upgrade was worth the $100. YMMV.
Cheers!
