Denon 3910 vs. 2910

Schwingding

I have been happily listening to CD/SACD/DVD-A through my Denon 2910 for about 2 years. Recently I posted here looking for advice on an upgraded universal player so I could put the 2910 into duty in the bedroom.

After much thought and research I bought a stock 3910 off of Audiogon.

Before I go on, I want to say that I have been very happy with the 2910's audio performance. Originally it was used to provide source material to outlaw amps and polk speakers, but I've since upgraded to an Onix SP3 and Strata Mini speakers and was yearning for a bit more. I have not been happy with the 2910's video performance - lots of macro blocking, but I have a Samsung BDP1000 blu ray player that I have been using for video, so the 2910 is always in video shutdown mode and used for music only.

The moment I fired up the very first track on the 3910 there was an obvious improvement within the first 5 seconds. My reference track is "Getz/Gibralto - Girl from Ipanema in SACD". It is always stunning and very revealing. I already enjoyed it through the 2910 but it took on new life with the 3910. The soundstage in my system took on front to back depth that it just didn't have before. Instrument clarity was improved, and overall soundstage size increased significantly. I even heard music behind me and for a second wondered if I somehow had a multichannel mix going.

I continue to get this same sort of enjoyment out of the 3910 with everything that is played.

I also decided, after reading a review, to give its video output a shot. No macroblocking and the upscaled picture is superior to that of my blu ray's upscaler for standard DVDs. I think this might become my standard DVD player of choice, too.

Thanks for all of your help with this purchase. Now I'm wondering how much better one of those modded 3910s could be....

venomclan

Hi Shwin,
Glad to hear you are enjoying the 3910. It is a superior machine to the 2910 and this was expected. Just don't go demo the 5910, than you will really be in trouble.:cool:
Enjoy.
v

mulveling

Cool, congrats! I recently upgraded from the 2910 to 3910 myself, and I noticed fairly similar sonic improvements. The 2910 is good, but the 3910 definitely sounds more like high-end digital, smoothing out some of the grain/hash while increasing resolution. Both are a pretty good deal for the money in a universal deck, especially used.

I'd like to own a Meridian again, but honestly the 3910 is probably right on my sweet spot in the digital price/performance curve.

That's odd about your video issues on the 2910; I didn't notice any flaws there, though my HDTV is only 34".

engtaz

Congrats