AV Receiver Reviews

Denon AVR-5308CI
Denon’s flagship receiver designs have always incorporated bleeding-edge technology, and the AVR-5308CI is no exception. It uses the flagship video-processing solution from Silicon Optix, the Realta HQV processor. HQV stands for Hollywood Quality Video. The Realta features advanced HD video processing and noise-reduction capabilities. The AVR-5308CI was one of only two AVRs we tested with noise-reduction capabilities and the only one to offer this feature for HD sources. This is a very attractive feature for anyone watching a lot of cable or satellite broadcasts, which tend to be noisy.

As you can see in the table, this AVR did very well with both HD and SD sources and goes a long way in showing why Denon’s flagship comes at a price premium. This AVR’s digital output was pristine with all digital sources, and its deinterlacing was flawless regardless of the content. The analog-to-digital conversion was a big step up from that of the AVR-3808CI, showing only a slight rolloff at the highest chroma frequencies. The scaling quality of analog SD sources was good, with only some slight ringing in the upper frequency response. The very slight amount of ringing in our resolution charts may be a side product of the analog-to-digital conversion, but it is impossible to tell.

The AVR-5308CI features the most impressive video processing out of the group by far. It’s an expensive receiver, but its video capabilities clearly exemplify the “you get what you pay for” saying.