Top 10 Best AV Receivers and Processors for 2020 (1 Viewer)

[Angelo Colombus]

Like my Denon S940H with no issues since i bought it a year ago.

 

[Dave Moritz]

With what Denon and Marantz are offering I am not surprised to see them making the list in multilple catagories. That being said there are lots of great options from Yamaha as well. I may own a Marantz but Yamaha was on my short list as well when I was shopping for a new receiver.

 

[Sam Posten]

Moved to correct forum. Thanks for the reports!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The days of the hot running Onkyos are gone. The crown of the blow torch receivers go to Denon and Marantz.

I don't know about the bigger models, but my Denon X3300W runs very cool. It's not nearly as warm as the Pioneer Elite it replaced.

This is my first Denon after having owned two Pioneer Elites and a Sony ES before that. I have been happy with the receiver. I found it easy to setup, and it sounds better than the Pioneer Elites, IMO -- and for considerably less money than I paid for the Elites, too. I have never owned a Yamaha, so I cannot do a direct comparison, but I would have no reservations on buying another Denon.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I recently scored an excellent condition, used Anthem AVM-60 for ~$1.8K -- the going rate seems to be settling around that price point, which is roughly 1/2 of the new AVM-70, which really doesn't seem to add/improve that much over the AVM-60. Seems like a good time to shop for one on the 2ndary market if you're looking for something in its current (used) price range as a fair number of people look to upgrade to the newest lines of prepros from Anthem, Marantz, Denon, et al.

I chose the AVM-60 to be my entry point into Atmos/DTS:X (and also fully 4K setup) in the new dedicated HT room I'm planning. Doesn't have as many bells and whistles as many competitors, but seems great where it counts most if audio fidelity is of highest priority...

_Man_

 

[Carlo_M]

I don't know about the bigger models, but my Denon X3300W runs very cool. It's not nearly as warm as the Pioneer Elite it replaced.

This is my first Denon after having owned two Pioneer Elites and a Sony ES before that. I have been happy with the receiver. I found it easy to setup, and it sounds better than the Pioneer Elites, IMO -- and for considerably less money than I paid for the Elites, too. I have never owned a Yamaha, so I cannot do a direct comparison, but I would have no reservations on buying another Denon.

Both the 4400 and 4500 run pretty cool as well. Full disclosure I have them in open-air and not enclosed. But noticeably cooler than my Pioneer Elites with the Class D amps (I had the SC-05 and SC-79) and way cooler than my old (now gone) Sony ESs from the late 90s.

 

[DavidJ]

Both the 4400 and 4500 run pretty cool as well. Full disclosure I have them in open-air and not enclosed. But noticeably cooler than my Pioneer Elites with the Class D amps (I had the SC-05 and SC-79) and way cooler than my old (now gone) Sony ESs from the late 90s.

Really? That’s interesting, Carlo. I always appreciated how much cooler the SC-05 ran compared to the AVRs I had before and my SC-77 doesn’t run too warm either.

I’m going to be looking for an upgrade before long so that I can move to Atmos, but a front projector is coming first.

There’s so interesting ones on this list that I’ll be researching as I move forward. I am leaning strong toward the Denons but the reports of how hot they run have me concerned.

 

[JohnRice]

So much stuff is being packed into receivers these days. Heat is almost unavoidable. I suggest just planning on using an A/C Infinity unit to keep them cool.

 

[Carlo_M]

Really? That’s interesting, Carlo. I always appreciated how much cooler the SC-05 ran compared to the AVRs I had before and my SC-77 doesn’t run too warm either.

I’m going to be looking for an upgrade before long so that I can move to Atmos, but a front projector is coming first.

There’s so interesting ones on this list that I’ll be researching as I move forward. I am leaning strong toward the Denons but the reports of how hot they run have me concerned.

The SC-05 did run pretty cool, and cooler than the -79 (I think they were still using Class D but weren't using the original ICE amps they used in the -05). My memory is likely more applicable to the -79 than the -05, which was retired when I bought the later model.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My Pioneer Elite's were older -- 94TXH and 47TXH were the models, if I recall correctly. My Denon X3300W runs noticeably cooler than both. Putting the Denon in Eco mode helps with this, and I cannot notice any difference sound wise. My receiver is in an open equipment rack, and I have never used any supplemental cooling.

 

[Dave Moritz]

The SC-05 did run pretty cool, and cooler than the -79 (I think they were still using Class D but weren't using the original ICE amps they used in the -05). My memory is likely more applicable to the -79 than the -05, which was retired when I bought the later model.

I still have my SC-05 and I do not remember it getting to hot and I remember the 05 using the ICE amps and that they did not deal with 4ohm loads well. I currently have a Marantz SR-8012 and I love that receiver and do not plan on replacing anytime soon. I do really like the Yamaha receivers as well and sometimes think about pulling the SC05 out of pc duty and replacing it with my older Yamaha RX-V995. I think that if I did go prepro these would be my choices, Marantz, Yamaha and Emotiva. I don't know if the Onkyo's still run hot but many years ago they had some models that ran like brick ovens.

 

[3dbinCanada]

Im a Yamaha fanboy through and through. Its the only manufacturer I know off that allows one to post edit the room EQ settings. From a reliability perspective, Yamaha has the best record out there compared to all other manufacturers with the lowest rate of defects and returns. All of my AVRs are used Yamahas and they run cool provided you give them the room to breathe. They are also the only AVR company that own their manufacturing. There is no out sourcing or sharing of assembly lines with other manufacturers.

 

[John Dirk]

They are also the only AVR company that own their manufacturing. There is no out sourcing or sharing of assembly lines with other manufacturers.

Pretty sure Anthem does too but nothing against Yamaha other than YPAO of course.

 

[3dbinCanada]

Pretty sure Anthem does too but nothing against Yamaha other than YPAO of course.

YPAO doesnt do bass very well but the rest of the spectrum is done really well. I've ordered a minidsp 4xhd to handle the bass.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Its the only manufacturer I know off that allows one to post edit the room EQ settings.

Marantz lets you do that as well and maybe even Denon. I do love Yamaha as well but not as crazy about YPAO but I do love the Yamaha sound and build quality.

 

[Dave Upton]

YPAO doesnt do bass very well but the rest of the spectrum is done really well. I've ordered a minidsp 4xhd to handle the bass.

While I love Yamaha build quality, I find their room correction to be abysmal. Comparing an optimized YPAO run to an optimized Audyssey run is night and day. And even then, both fall far behind the real champs, Dirac, Trinnov and ARC Genesis.

It’s not that there’s anything particularly broken with how Yamaha approaches things, their technology is just behind. They do a very poor job with phase correction and time alignment, which results in some really strange things above the crossover frequency.

 

[3dbinCanada]

While I love Yamaha build quality, I find their room correction to be abysmal. Comparing an optimized YPAO run to an optimized Audyssey run is night and day. And even then, both fall far behind the real champs, Dirac, Trinnov and ARC Genesis.

It’s not that there’s anything particularly broken with how Yamaha approaches things, their technology is just behind. They do a very poor job with phase correction and time alignment, which results in some really strange things above the crossover frequency.

What Yamaha AVR model were you running YPAO on?

 

[Dave Upton]

What Yamaha AVR model were you running YPAO on?

Due to my background with reviewing and REW, I help folks with calibrations regularly around Houston, so a variety of models. In the past year, I have done installs with the following Yamaha models: RX-A3080, RX-A780 and a CX-A5200

They are certainly less common for me than Audyssey models from D&M.

We ended up replacing the A5200 within about 6 weeks because the owner wasn't satisfied with the results. He's much happier with his Dirac calibration results using an AudioControl processor. In this case, YPAO was doing a truly horrendous job of correcting the subwoofers.

 

[3dbinCanada]

Due to my background with reviewing and REW, I help folks with calibrations regularly around Houston, so a variety of models. In the past year, I have done installs with the following Yamaha models: RX-A3080, RX-A780 and a CX-A5200

They are certainly less common for me than Audyssey models from D&M.

We ended up replacing the A5200 within about 6 weeks because the owner wasn't satisfied with the results. He's much happier with his Dirac calibration results using an AudioControl processor. In this case, YPAO was doing a truly horrendous job of correcting the subwoofers.

Yeah, the subwoofer calibration sucks big time. Its not that Yamaha couldnt fix this. They make musical instruments after all and no what sounds good.

I manually eq my sub and it sounds much better than what YPAO was doing with it. The speakers themselves sound good and like what YPAO did with them.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, the subwoofer calibration sucks big time. Its not that Yamaha couldnt fix this. They make musical instruments after all and no what sounds good.

I manually eq my sub and it sounds much better than what YPAO was doing with it. The speakers themselves sound good and like what YPAO did with them.

Seems like that should be the most critical aspect, and if they're awful at that, well, why bother?

Of course, I'm not big on relying on EQ to fix issues anyway, so...

_Man_