Advice appreciated on upgarding AV Receiver Denon/Pioneer/Yamaha/Onkyo

Rolph77

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So, It's almost time for me to upgrade my AV Receiver, but what brand and model to choose?

I have a couple of features that I need to have, but first, this is what equipment I currently have:

B&W 684 series 5.1 speakers
55" LG C7 OLED
Pioneer LX53 Receiver
Oppo UHD Blu Ray player
Standard PS4
Sky HD box
Nintendo Switch
Rega RP1 Turntable with a Graham Slee V Era Gold Pre Amp

What I would like the new receiver to have:
To run a 5.1.4 Atmos setup in one room
To run a separate pair of stereo speakers in another room (currently switch between 'A Speakers and B Speakers with the Pioneer so I can listen to music in an adjacent room)
To have a direct source function (I currently connect my turntable/pre amp into my Pioneer receiver with the Direct Source input, so the new amp does not need to have a dedicated phono input)

Everything will be connected to the new amp - Blu ray, Sky, Switch, PlayStation, Turntable.

Will be changing to a PS5 next year, so the new receiver will need to have 4K pass through. I currently split the audio and video signals from the Oppo as it has two separate HDMI outs for this, but will want to have that and the PS5 both going straight into the new amp.

As I want a 5.1.4 Atmos system in one room and a stereo in another, would I be correct in assuming it needs to have amplification for 11.1 or 11.2 channels?

I know my turntable setup is not strictly ideal but stuff is where it is!

As ever, any help and advice, opinions always welcome.

Thanks for reading.
 
It would help if I added my budget, apologies!
£1000 max.
 
I don't think you can get an 11 channel receiver for £1000, so why not move your current receiver into the other room and use that for your 2 channel set-up in there.

As you want to use the new receiver for music, the best AVR's for that are Marantz and Arcam. Arcam will be over budget so I would look at the Marantz SR601x or the Marantz SR701x. The x changes each year as a new model is introduced, if you can find older models at a reduced price, they are usually good bargains.
 
I don't think you can get an 11 channel receiver for £1000, so why not move your current receiver into the other room and use that for your 2 channel set-up in there.

As you want to use the new receiver for music, the best AVR's for that are Marantz and Arcam. Arcam will be over budget so I would look at the Marantz SR601x or the Marantz SR701x. The x changes each year as a new model is introduced, if you can find older models at a reduced price, they are usually good bargains.
Thanks, I'll have a butchers at the Marantz ones.
I think I'm right in saying that to run a second set of stereo speakers to another room, a zone 2 function is preferable to a speakers B function, as zone 2 would have it's independent volume and if I set my main left and right front channels to small because of the sub, then this small signal would also go the my B speakers, which is not ideal.
 
Thanks, I'll have a butchers at the Marantz ones.
I think I'm right in saying that to run a second set of stereo speakers to another room, a zone 2 function is preferable to a speakers B function, as zone 2 would have it's independent volume and if I set my main left and right front channels to small because of the sub, then this small signal would also go the my B speakers, which is not ideal.
Yes, you would need zone 2 which would send a downmixed stereo signal to a second zone.

But, you will need to spend a lot of money to get an AVR that can power 9 channels in the main zone as well as 2 channels in a second zone.
 
I was afraid you would say that.
The Marantz SR-7013 looks very attractive, have found that for £1149.
It says it's an 11.2 amp, but not sure if I could run a second zone plus the 9 channels.
 
Yes, that's a nice AVR, I had an SR7011 for a while, it was very decent.

It does only have 9 amp channels on board. Why not move your current AVR to the second room?
 
That would be another very large black box in another room, she would not be happy!
 
You're other option, as pointed out, would be a 11 channel capable receiver, which is over your budget. There are amps available that have a small footprint, Cyrus One, Rega Brio to name but two but these again are going to push your budget. What speakers will be in Zone 2?
 
Perhaps, as an option, a receiver that can handle 5.1.4 that also has a B Speakers switch so I can just switch my music to the other room as I do now?
 
Ok, so I've done a bit more research.
I'm planning on choosing and buying a 9.1 AVR that will do the 5.1.4 setup i want in the living room.
It will also need to have a Zone 2 Pre Out that I will connect to a separate amp to power the stereo speakers in the next room.
I'm budgeting around £1500 on the whole thing, so I'm thinking £700 for the receiver, £300 on the stereo amp, £400 on two pairs of Atmos modules that will sit on my existing speakers leaving £100 for cabling.

I've been looking at the Denon X3600h which is currently at £699 on Peter Tyson, no idea yet on stereo amp.
To be honest I'm not sure whether I need an amp, an integrated amp or a power amp?
More reading up required...
 
For Zone 2 connection an integrated stereo amp would be better as it would be easier to control the volume from it.
 
Thanks for your reply Gibbsy.
That will help to narrow down the choice.
Presumably I don't need a power amp as the AVR will be providing the power? But the integrated amp will be doing the actual amplifying?
 
Zone 2 just gives a fixed volume output and needs an amp to amplify that signal. You would connect to any line-in by RCA on the integrated stereo amp and thus control the volume and power on the stereo amp independently from the receiver.
 
I did think about that, but unfortunately I'm rather limited on space.
 

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