I had previously owned the Denon 1602 before, and was using my brother's 2802 for a while. When I had to go back to the 1602, there was not much of a difference, so I was thinking of upgrading it to the 3802, which I auditioned at The Home Theater c/o Sonny Tuason. He was kind enough to lend it to me for a home audition, and I was astounded by the difference the 1602 and 2802 had from the 3802.
I returned it to him knowing that this was the amp I was going to get. But while we were talking he suggested that I also check out the AVC10SE (parallel to the 5800 line).
When it did arrive, I was surprised at the size of this thing. Sonny wasn't kidding when he told me it was a mammoth amp
This thing weighs close to fifty pounds and it wasn't easy transporting this thing.
Nevertheless, as soon as I went through the plethora of menus and hooked it up to my system, I was immediately taken aback by how it performed. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I had read a number of reviews on magazines and the Internet extensively so I had high expectations for this amp. What was so suprising was that it even exceeded my expectations. For the number of movies, CD's and SACD's that I listened to, every aspect was just so much better. The 1602 suddenly sounded underpowered and thin-sounding while the AVC10SE had such a full output, especially with the mids and highs. The details that came out were particularly overwhelming as I could not believe these were the same songs I was listening to numerous times before. A couple of my friends who were strict followers of tube amps particularly liked how well it performed in music modes as it reproduced recordings so meticulously. This amp performs so well in movies even without using its THX EX mode, and is just phenomenal in music. No wonder a number of magazines called it the AV amp of the year and placed it at the top of the heap against all other brands which included Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, Arcam, Nad, etc.
The best part is, it's virtually future proof. It's ready for formats such as 7.1 for DTS, DD, and THX, and there's no shortage of power either.
Thanks to Sonny Tuason of for recommending this amp :)It’s something I’d definitely recommend to anybody also