Attention! The accuracy of the information and the results of the ranking is subjective and is not an advertisement.
7 best AV Receivers
When you want to get everything in one
Author: Stepan Kagner
The idea of combining all home multimedia devices under common control is not new, but it was with the improvement of digital technology that it got its full realization. A modern AV receiver is a device that can “serve” multichannel acoustics, receiving signals from a wide variety of devices: from the latest iPhone or optical input to an archaic turntable for vinyl, pick up sound from the HDMI channel of a home theater, decode and process many digital formats spatial sound. The “heart” of such devices is a powerful DSP (signal processor) that processes the incoming digital signal (including the one received from the internal ADC at the analog inputs) and transmits it to the “D / A amplifier” bundle.
Of course, ideological audiophiles themselves realize the presence of digital circuits in the device, but any other user who does not require the presence of a half-centner of radio tubes and transformers will have more than enough sound quality of the AV receiver, and the broadest configuration options will not be superfluous. In our rating - only the best AV-receivers (according to reviews of experts and ordinary customers).
Rating the best AV-receivers 2018-2019 year
| Category | A place | Name | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Top Class AV Receivers | 1 | Onkyo TX-RZ3100 | 9.9 / 10 | 189 990 |
| 2 | Marantz SR8012 | 9.8 / 10 | 314 000 | |
| Best mid-range AV receivers | 1 | Denon AVR-X4500H | 9.9 / 10 | 119 990 |
| 2 | Onkyo TX-RZ830 | 9.7 / 10 | 99 900 | |
| 3 | Pioneer VSX-LX503 | 9.4 / 10 | 129 990 | |
| Best Baseline AV Receivers | 1 | YAMAHA RX-V585 | 9.7 / 10 | 38 990 |
| Best High-End AV Receivers | 1 | Arcam AVR850 | 9.8 / 10 | 604 990 |
Best Top Class AV Receivers
|
189 990
We did not take real monsters like McIntosh MX122 with a price comparable to the cost of a new car for the rating of the best AV-receivers, so Onkyo TX-RZ3100 was the best choice for this category. You can list its capabilities for a long time, but it's better to just look at the back panel to see on it 85 (!) Different connectors for interfacing with peripherals and signal sources.
The built-in amplifier is capable of serving 11.2 format acoustics, delivering power per channel of 200 watts. Note, however, that this power is indicated at a harmonic ratio of 1% - of course, you can listen to music, but it is unlikely anyone will squeeze watts to perceptible distortion from a device with such a price. At 100 watts, the amplifier provides a harmonic factor of just 0.04%. Lovers of “warm vinyl sound” will find here a phono stage under the MM head (moving magnet phono cartridge), this amplification channel provides more than a sufficient 90 dB signal / noise ratio for vinyl. If you prefer modern technologies, the sound can be transmitted through the line input, at least through one of the 8 HDMI channels, at least in optics, at least via Bluetooth, or at least playing files from a flash drive, and that's not all. Digital conversion after DSP to analog is ensured by two Asahi Kasei AK4490 DACs on the front channels operating at a sampling frequency of 384 kHz, on the remaining channels there are 768 kHz of AK4458 and 192 kHz of AK4388. Considering the fact that even by studio standards, 192 kHz is already considered sufficient frequency, the Onkyo TX-RZ3100 can be considered a full-fledged high-end in its digital part. Gamers will be interested in the gaming settings of digital processing circuits in four different modes, for fans of “honest” sound, on the contrary, there is a Pure Audio mode with a minimal amount of signal processing. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Honestly, for the year I did not figure out half the possibilities of this receiver.But the main thing for me is what sound it has. |
|
Marantz SR8012
314 000
The first in the history of Marantz 11.2 format receiver managed to collect an impressive bunch of awards from the profile press. It will be a universal solution for the home - and for nostalgic vinyl playback, and for lossless music, and for movies. Yes, even running on the computer connected to the receiver, the Hunter: Call of the Wild and wandering around Hirschfelden will be a real pleasure - the birds flying overhead, the sound of the wind in the crowns of the trees become so voluminous that even the gun will be reluctant to reach. For the sound output to the speakers are responsible 11 discrete amplifiers. In stereo mode, the receiver is capable of providing 140 watts per channel (acoustics - 8 ohms), not exceeding the THD level of 0.05%. The auto tuning of the frequency response to the acoustics configuration is carried out using Audyssey MultEQ XT32 - this is the most flexible and accurate Audissey system offered. Of course, this is not Dirac or Anthem's Anthem's capabilities, but will you feel the difference in the blind test? In its price category, you can recognize this receiver as one of the best, and it supports all the necessary audio coding and processing technologies, can be integrated into your home wireless network, and the manufacturer does not forget to regularly update the software. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Excellent, powerful and detailed sound, the receiver can fully reveal the possibilities of high-class acoustics. |
Best mid-range AV receivers
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Denon AVR-X4500H
119 990
Receiver format 9.2 raised the bar, the previously established "three thousand and five hundred" model. He received four signal processors SHARC, support for Auro 3D in addition to the usual Dolby Atmos and DTS: X, auto calibration of MultiEQ XT32 from Audissey. The power of the output channels is up to 200 W, true, especially for a tick: the amplifier gives such power only in single-channel mode to six-ohm acoustics with a harmonic ratio of 1%. In real conditions (and only in stereo mode), no more than 125 W are given per channel, the harmonic level in the acoustic range is quite decent at 0.05%. But, of course, this is not an uncompromising high-end or audiophile Hi-Fi - well, so the difference in price is obvious. A set of inputs is sufficient for any use case. There is a phono stage, five line inputs, a “number” on optics and a coaxial cable, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and AirPlay are not forgotten. The receiver at the current price level can definitely be recommended as the best representative of the “middle class” - which we, in fact, will do. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
For this money, as it seems to me, the best AV receiver is definitely - the sound is already very close to a higher class. |
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Onkyo TX-RZ830
99 900
Another good 9.2 format receiver, but this time from Onkyo. The manufacturer is proud to announce that this model has received the THX Certified Select certificate, that is, its sound can be considered reference for home theaters. But with one “but” - like other receivers that are not audiophile-class, the low harmonic coefficient (in this case, 0.08%) is achieved only at half power, and not at nominal power. And it still remains, other things being equal, higher than that of the Denon AVR-X4500H - so we will rank the rankings of the best AV receivers in that order. AccuEQ Advance is responsible for the “alignment” of multichannel sound in combination with AccuReflex, which is responsible for the “tops” phase adjustment separately. Using it to watch movies with multichannel acoustics, in conjunction with a PC or console for sounding games - Onkyo's strength, the system perfectly distributes sound sources in space, provides excellent working out of volume jumps down to the lowest frequencies - thanks to high-quality large-capacity capacitors in the power supply. But the music, frankly, is boring - let Onkyo offer a lot of technologies designed specifically for playing audio content, but the sound in comparison with Denon noticeably loses.Well, to each his own: someone needs an AV-receiver as the central part of the audio system, someone prefers to fall apart on the sofa in front of a widescreen screen. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Onkyo - this is Onkyo, the sound is not at all disappointed. |
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Pioneer VSX-LX503
129 990
According to the characteristics, the Pioneer audio path is similar to Onkyo - the same 0.08% harmonics at half of 180 W of nominal power. But at the same time it is much more expensive, and it looks even cheaper. Plastic panel on the receiver more than a hundred thousand? Are you seriously? If Onkyo has already had a misaligned “character in the direction of cinema / computer games, then in Pioneer it is even stronger. Yes, the receiver works well with the sounds of shots, explosions and other special effects, it creates a good sound space, but if you turn on an ordinary high-quality stereo carrier, how can you think about it - and what did I actually pay for? Naturally, if there is an experience of "communication" with other receivers. It is inconvenient that there is no possibility to save several profiles of settings for different listening points - in a room with a large area, adjusting the sound for the sofa and then reseating it in a chair, you will immediately understand that this is a definite drawback. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.4 / 10
Rating
Reviews
The movie is revealed for all the money, and in modern games with a developed multi-channel sound - great. |
Best Baseline AV Receivers
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YAMAHA RX-V585
38 990
Yamaha traditionally pleased with the quality of the sound path. With a 110 dB SNR, the receiver fits into a harmonic ratio of 0.09%, delivering 80 W per channel in stereo mode (6 ohm acoustics). But the marketers already “painted” the nominal power in the passport - 145 watts are available only when working on one channel and at a monstrous level of SOIs at 10 percent. Here, except that the Norwegian black listen, in fact. Yes, about music - the main profile of the company, because of which even the logo depicts three tuning forks, it is immediately felt. If the priority in buying a receiver with a limited budget you have is music, then for that money the author would personally recommend Yamaha. As for the movie or 3D games, the support of various formats from the old Dolby Digital to all kinds of options for DTS will be most welcome. Note that when using this 7.2-channel receiver in the still popular 5.1 format, it is possible to convert front speakers into biamping. The output stages of all channels are “good old” AB class, with Toshiba discrete transistors. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
As befits the “Yamaha”, sounds like more expensive than it costs. |
Best High-End AV Receivers
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Arcam AVR850
604 990
The English firm Arcam, founded by Cambridge students in the second half of the seventies, is a choice of people who value quality, not the promotion of the name among the masses. The FMJ's top AV receiver (in this case, it means not Full Metal Jacket, the ordinary Heap, but Faithful Musical Joy) offers powerful and at the same time high-quality sound: THD remains 0.02% over four speakers. audio frequencies up to 200 watts per channel, if we talk about stereo playback. When using all seven channels, the level of distortion inevitably rises, but only in numbers, and not by ear. And do you need such power indoors? The amplification circuit is made in the "English-Japanese" class G, which is not surprising.Therefore, the amplifier, even if you load it in full, does not turn into a home heater, consuming no more than one and a half kilowatts. However, enough of the numbers (as far as it is possible), let's talk about what they want from us more than half a million. For multichannel systems, the breadth of sound adaptation possibilities for a specific speaker configuration in a particular room is important. In the AVR850, they didn’t use the small stuff, using the Dirac multi-channel equalizer, the brainchild of Uppsala University (by the way, the oldest in all of Scandinavia). No matter how strange it may sound for hardened audiophiles, but to adjust the sound you need to connect a laptop to the receiver - having collected information about the “sound portrait” of the system and the room, it will transmit it to the Dirac Live server, where it will be analyzed and converted into a frequency and time profile correction for each of the channels. And the result is really great: the receiver can correct not even the most linear (or “character-like” acoustics — choose the definition of taste) acoustics. A set of interfaces is suitable for building any configuration that comes to mind. We will not even try to enumerate them - you can start counting the connectors on the rear panel yourself. The receiver is equally well suited for listening to music, and to work in a home theater, the sound in both cases will not cause censures. Is that the absence of a phono stage in the device of this level looks weird. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
A versatile and powerful receiver of really high class, and capable of delivering sound in any configuration without a long fuss with the settings. |
How to choose a good AV receiver
First of all, compare the characteristics of the amplifier path with the expected acoustics: you do not need to overpay for the extra channels if you have 5.1 speakers at home. It is better to invest in sound quality, while you should not look at the peak power (in fact, even 50 watts per channel in the 5.1 system will give 300 watts “non-Chinese”, which is a lot), but the nonlinear distortion coefficient (SOI, THD ) - the smaller it is, the better the sound, the less harmonics in it. For semiconductor amplifiers, this is important - if a tube single-ended tip even with THD under 5-7% sounds pleasant to the ear, because the sound will be enriched primarily by even harmonics (that is, pure overtones of sounding notes), then the transistor cascades are just typical hearing odd harmonics, knocked out of the note number by dissonance. Here and 1% is already very noticeable and unpleasant.
Since the AV receiver is most often bought for home theater assembling, it’s best that the device perceives as many surround coding formats as possible - progress doesn’t stand still, and it’s hardly pleasant to know in a couple of years that the new disc sounds like "not this way". First of all, it concerns the new DTS: X format, which is planned to be promoted in streaming media content as well, in Blu-ray it has been used since 2015. DTS: X is attractive, and for complex speakers, it is apmixing, that is, the spatial breakdown of sound into more channels (for example, from 5.1 to 9.2), it works better than in the common Dolby Atmos.
Have a good shopping!
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Updated: 12.06.2019
Rating in categories:
