Recommend easy to use receiver (1 Viewer)

[Eric_L]

About seven years ago I purchased a Pioneer vsx-1122 receiver for my man cave. I truly regret that purchase. The unit has terrible feature creep. The surround settings (there are around two dozen choices) are changed with two different buttons - and I never really know which does what. The sub-woofer only works on surround emulation - never on Dolby. The rear speakers are just as quirky, the settings for each input don't seem to be remembered by the device when I switch inputs, The display is archaic, etc. I consider myself a somewhat sophisticated techie yet truly hate that device.

Upstairs I have a Yamaha rx-v465 which I love. I have none of those problems. It too has a few quirks but nothing as bad as the Pioneer.

I have decided that I want to stream Bluetooth in my mancave. (my device pre-dates general blue-tooth connectivity) I could buy a cheap adapter, but I think I will use this opportunity to get a newer and less cumbersome device.

I am going to researching for a device with a more intuitive interface but I thought I'd ask here first to see if there are any favorites anyone wants to share.

My requirements are simple; 5.1 surround (easy), Bluetooth, enough HDMI inputs to be useful, play nice with my Harmony remote, and a reasonable interface that isn't like learning a foreign language. Most of the time I am using it to stream music videos from my Apple TV while entertaining - so I prefer a good emulator that will utilize all of my speakers. I do occasionally watch a movie in the cave, though my other TV is my preferred movie venue - mostly because of the crap Pioneer receiver in the cave that wouldn't use my sub.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Yamaha typically gets high marks for being user friendly. Check their current offerings for one with the features you need. If it doesn’t do Bluetooth, it’s easy enough to add an outboard Bluetooth receiver.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt