JohnK,
I had not seen the link that Jay suggested before I began posting a couple of days ago. It is quite amazing that the Denon 3808 gets quite close to the Outlaw amp and weighs in 12 lbs lighter than the Outlaw amp. I guess that it is just better engineering from Denon.
Yes, I concede that unused power is just unused power. But, even given a certain sized room with a certain set of speakers, how can anyone say for certain how much is enough, or how much is too much? Sure, if all of your speakers are 6 or 8 ohms and you have a small room then a budget receiver will probably be fine. But, as the room gets in the mid-size to large range this becomes a more difficult question. My thinking was that for an extra $300 it is probably better to over-do it than under-do it. Now with the links that you and Jay pointed out it seems that the Denon 3808 and Outlaw amp are very close in terms of power ratings and so it is no longer a point to consider in this case.
So now, the biggest differences between the two setup's are that the new Denon avr-790 has Audyssey Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ while the Denon 3808 has the MultiEQ XT. As sirquack above and you pointed out the MultiEQ XT has more filters than just the MultiEQ that is on the Denon avr-790.
I spoke with my Dad last night and told him the two options that I came up with and he decided that he wanted the Denon 3808. The Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ just weren't important to him. I think that this is a better choice anyways because with the 3808 he will have the better MultiEQ XT. If we wait around for the Denon 3809 next month it has a retail price of around $1500 or $1600 and only some incremental changes that he doesn't care too much about.
Well, I'll just try to get the best price between Amazon, Vanns and 6thave before Friday, but it will probably be around $1000. Thanks for all the help to everyone.
- Nick
