After completing a new round of testing, weve selected the Denon AVR-X1700H as our top pick, the Denon AVR-X3800H as our upgrade pick, and the Denon AVR-S570BT as our budget pick. Logitech. This receiver sounds better than the under-$1,000 models we tested, thanks largely to its more advanced Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room correction. Other factors that can make an expensive receiver value for money include: Appearance Strange as it may sound, some AV receivers cost a bit more due to their appearance. Best Budget AV Receiver: Sony STR-DH590 Best Receiver for Wireless Surround : Yamaha RX-V4A Best AV Receiver for Dolby Atmos: Denon AVR-X3700H Best AV Receiver for Audiophiles: NAD T 778 A Great AV Receiver for Music : Denon AVR-S750H Best AV Receiver With Sonos : Integra DRX-3.3 Best Overall AV Receiver 1. You can also find AVRs with seven channels of amplification, microphone-based auto calibration, adjustable crossover frequencies and even HDMI switching for well under $1,000. If in doubt, get a Denon. The AVR-X3800H offers nine channels of speaker amplification, so you could set up a surround-sound system with five ear-level speakers and four overhead speakers. The relative simplicity of the AVR-S570BTs remote reflects its more stripped-down feature set. The quality of a receivers room correction hugely impacts the sound. However, recently they have introduced the HDA series of amplifiers and players, which are now considered their top-performing products. Copyright 2009-2023 Home Cinema Guide | All Rights Reserved. AV receivers run the price gamut from a couple hundred dollars to well into four-figure territory. Plus, in my experience, they are reliable. At the end, it takes you through the process of connecting a microphone to the face of the receiver and stepping through a number of measurements using the remote and the on-screen interface. The Sony STRDH590 5.2 Multi-Channe l 4K Receiver delivers a stellar sound and loads of additional features and is ideal for a home theater setup. Rotel and B&W (especially the CM series) are well known to have great synergy together sonically. Instead of reaching for one remote to turn on your TV . Our tests consistently show that, in this price range, the effectiveness of the room-correction system is the differentiating factor in sound quality between AV receivers. So youll need to narrow down your choice by thinking about the issues most important to you. This means you can have a 9.2.6 speaker layout if you add additional power amplifiers. The highest-quality AV receivers tend to have a lower total harmonic distortion, a wider frequency range, and lower impedance. True, a couple of key music servicesnamely Apple Music and Qobuzare missing, but the receiver also supports Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, allowing you to easily stream those services from your phone. Its great to see the new MRX models come with the latest ARC Genesis software. One significant new feature in the latest AVENTAGE receivers is support for 8K/60 Hz video or 4K at 120 Hz. Other upgrades over the AVR-X3700H include analog-video-to-HDMI upscaling and support for Auro-3D (an immersive audio format similar to Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, though not as common). Dirac Live is widely accepted by many to be the best room correction technology around. Even if you have only a 5.1-channel speaker system right now, its nice to have the two extra amp channels to add more speakers or a second audio zone down the road. Look for full HDMI 2.1 compatibility. The AVR-S570BT provides fewer inputs than our other picks and has no Wi-Fi or Ethernet support, but the essentials are present. The popular voice-control technologies of Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri are also supported. HDMI 2.1 is the newest version of the digital connection that all modern video-based components use. If you have a good AV store near you, see if you can listen to these models in their listening room, and try to get it hooked up to similar speakers to your own. But if you watch movies with large groups of people, this is a pretty meaningful feature that we dont see on cheaper AV receivers. Theres a lot to unpack in that sentence, so lets walk through it step by step. Sony STR-DH590. But the reason this model is no longer a pick has less to do with price hikes and shelf-life concerns (though those things matter) than it does with how Yamaha handled the HDMI 2.1 issues that plagued all of the first-generation 8K-compatible receivers. It also supports HDR10+, HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG high dynamic range content. If you dont want to install height speakers in your room. A bigger concern is that we couldnt upgrade the receivers firmware without jumping through some hoops. Denon AVR-S660H. It is a more complex process than the room correction supplied with most AV receivers. The connected speakers and how they interact with the room are the most significant impact on the sound that you hear. As someone whos spent countless hours tinkering with home theater setups, I can tell you that having the right AV receiver is crucial to achieving the ultimate cinematic experience. Alternatively, you could reserve two of those channels for a separate stereo audio zone in another room. It does an exceptional job of producing a balanced and immersive surround sound experience. The STR-DH590 supports 4K HDR pass-through at 60Hz. . Talking of HDMI, there are 7 HDMI connections on the rear and 3 outputs. We researched and tested to find the best-looking and best-sounding home theater equipment that will take your personal setup from functional to enjoyable. But it can stream music only over Bluetooth, not Wi-Fibased platforms like AirPlay 2. Therefore, eARC will allow you to pass Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio streams from your TV and back into the receiver. Sony STR-DH790 7.2 Channel Receiver Review. This means that this receiver will pass through 8K/60p and 4K/120p video to your TV. Even under that $1,700 price cap, we found a variety of AV receivers that range widely in price and cover different performance needs. The Yamaha RX-A8A is an 11.2-channel receiver with full support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Don't worry if your budget doesn't stretch that far, we've selected an amp that can be yours for just a couple of hundred thousand. How much of that extra power you actually need depends on the size of your room and the efficiency of your speakers (that is, how loudly they play when powered by a 2.83-volt input), but with our test system in a 12-by-15-foot room with 8-foot ceilings, we were able to play the AVR-X3800H louder than we could comfortably listen to. So, if you want to support the latest display resolutions, this receiver will have you covered. Of all the models here, my choice for the best high-end AV receiver is the Arcam AVR31. If you're spending under $1,000, there are four main receivers to choose from -- the Sony STR-AN1000, the Yamaha RX-V6A, the Onkyo TX-NR6100 and the Denon AVR-960H. The downside of the Arcam is it is costly, and you will only get an incremental sound improvement over some of the cheaper receivers for all that extra money. The quality of the room correction had the biggest impact on the sound, and MultEQ XT was a clear winner over alternatives from Onkyo, Pioneer, and Yamaha in receivers at or near this models priceespecially when we used the optional $20 MultEQ Editor mobile app (for iOS and Android) to tweak the room correction. This 5.2-channel AV receiver creates a powerful and advanced home theater experience with the latest in video and audio processing with Dolby Vision, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio, wireless streaming and more. Room correction helps to improve the overall sound quality by using microphones and built-in software to estimate how your room and speaker placement are distorting the sound and to attempt to compensate for those distortions. The AVR-X3800H has more amp channels and more connection options than the AVR-X1700H, so the back panel is more crowded. The Marantz SR8015 is an 11.2-channel AV receiver with discrete power amplifiers for each channel. Honestly, though, unless you know a good bit about room acoustics, were not convinced that Dirac Live can give you substantially better results than what you can get from the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room correction thats already built into the AVR-X3800H. For home theater, you wont get much performance improvement. Paul started the Home Cinema Guide to help less-experienced users get the most out of today's audio-visual technology. Home Cinema Guide may get a commission if you buy from a link marked with * on this page: * 8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.02% THD, 2 Channels Driven, * 8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.05% THD, 2 Channels Driven, * 8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.06% THD, 2 Channels Driven, * 8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.01% THD, 2 Channels Driven, Image Credit: Peter Gudella/Shutterstock.com, 4. There is plenty of power to be had here, so this unit will have no problem driving your speakers hard for the best sound. The SR8015 also supports Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization Technology and DTS Virtual:X listening modes. Lastly, because the AVR-X1700H relies on less-efficient Class AB amplifier technology (which is typical of AV receivers), it can run quite warm during extended use, especially at higher listening levels, so make sure to give it plenty of room to breathe. Denons sibling company Marantz also has its own line of AV receivers, and were constantly getting questions from readers asking whether they should get a Denon or Marantz receiver. Todays soundbars offer a level of audio performance that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago, but they still have limitations in performance and flexibility: The speaker drivers have to be relatively small to fit inside a soundbar, youre usually limited to one subwoofer, and soundbars typically offer only a couple of connection options, to name a few. With each receiver, we spent at least a day on testing with and without room correction and enjoying a variety of content, including movies, TV shows, and YouTube videos, as well as some action-oriented video games, at volume levels ranging from casual to extreme. We also like that three of the AVR-X1700Hs HDMI inputs support the most important features of the HDMI 2.1 spec, including quick media switching, quick frame transport, variable refresh rate, and automatic low-latency mode, and all of the HDMI inputs pass through all the relevant 4K HDR formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG. Therefore the complete range was upgraded in 2022, so all HDMI inputs allowed for 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz video plus the other features of HDMI 2.1 like VRR, QMS and ALLM. Considering the AVR-X1700Hs price, its surprising how few concerns we have regarding this receiver. Expensive. For most people, the Denon AVR-X1700H offers everything necessarynow and for the foreseeable futureto enjoy a premium movie, video game, TV, or music experience. Moukey. See all Receivers. In the price ranges we covered with our testing, we were unable to tell most receivers apart when their room correction was not enabled. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR 4K UHD TV - At 140W per channel, the Denon AVR-S540BT receiver delivers exceptional brightness and contrast, and supports HLG, HDR, BT.2020, Wide Color Gamut and 4:4:4 Pure Color sub-sampling for realistic display and immersive sound Adding more network and wireless connection options is a valuable upgrade on the older FMJ AV receivers. It has enough inputs for all of your source devicesfrom your 4K Blu-ray player to your streaming media device to your turntableand its much easier to install and operate than similarly priced competitors. The AVR-X4800H, meanwhile, generally sells for $600 more the AVR-X3800H, but the only meaningful differences are 25 watts of extra rated power per channel (although the power supply is rated for only 50 watts of additional power overall) and an additional HDMI input. In our testing, MultEQ XT32 proved to be a significant upgrade over the MultEQ XT room correction in our top pick, the AVR-X1700H, producing even more controlled bass, less seat-to-seat variation in the sound, and decidedly improved dialogue clarity. People rarely have perfect listening rooms, and speakers (especially subwoofers) often end up in spots where they are unobtrusive instead of where they sound the best. This means you can install a complete object-based surround sound speaker layout of 7.2.4 without adding any further amplification or 9.2.2 if you wish. Pros: Audiophile Class G amplification 8K/60Hz, 4K/120Hz and HDMI 2.1 support 15.2-channel pre-outs for creating a large speaker layout Dirac Live room correction is the best around Cons:
most expensive av receiver