Help please! - Which AV receiver?

galewis1

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I’ve been away from the av scene for a few years, but as a result of buying a new 4k TV, I need to replace my Yamaha rx-a3010 which doesn’t pass through/upscale 4K.

My requirements:-

I need 4K pass through and upscaling.

I used to run passives all round, but have recently changed the front 3 speakers to actives (beolab 1’s and 7.2) and obviously the sub (PC13 Ultra). Will consider making the surrounds (KEF eggs) active as well if a pre-amp processor is the way to go, but I think economies of scale make an AVR a more flexible option. As a minimum then, I need 5.1 pre-outs. I’ve no plans to go 6.1, 7.1 etc.

I have a difficult room to equalise, but want an easy life, so I’d like good quality, easy to setup, in room correction (ypao, audessey etc) built in.

Inputs wise, I need HDMI inputs for Sky Q, PS4, Sonos Connect, Fire TV, Xbox, Wii-U

I only need 1 HDMI out to the TV.

No need for anything flash audio decoder wise, DTS, DD5.1 is good enough for me.

I’d like to spend as little as possible! Will sell my rx-a3010 for whatever it’s worth and can add £250 more. Happy to go pre-owned.

Recommendations appreciated.

Cheers

Gaz
 
If you have just bought a 4K TV you should be looking at an a AV with HDMI 2.0 capabilities. Both TV, AV and source (eg SKY Q) will need to be HDCP2.2 capable so that you can view 4K UHD
 
Good advice, thanks fvx300.

Thinking about in-room correction, does anyone know the cheapest AV receiver than can EQ the sub as well the main speakers? I understand most budget receivers only EQ down to sbiut 40-60hz, but I’m hoping perhaps one of the latest tranche of receivers might have this feature, which would certainly lean me towards buying a new model, rathervthan perhaps a 2nd user higher spec model.
 
Good advice, thanks fvx300.

Thinking about in-room correction, does anyone know the cheapest AV receiver than can EQ the sub as well the main speakers? I understand most budget receivers only EQ down to sbiut 40-60hz, but I’m hoping perhaps one of the latest tranche of receivers might have this feature, which would certainly lean me towards buying a new model, rathervthan perhaps a 2nd user higher spec model.

Your best bet would be to maybe look at last year's Denon AVRX3300 which comes with Audyssey XT32 room EQ correction. You can still pick one up for about £470:
Denon AVRX2400HBKE2GB 7.2 Channel AV Receiver with WiFi and Bluetooth

There are other retailers selling it for more such as here:
Denon Atmos AV Receiver

and:
Denon AVR-X3300W AV Receiver
 
Thanks for the links dante01 - First link is to AVR-X2400?

I’ll have a read up on the 3300 though. Sounds like it fits the bill and the price is about right.

Gary
 
Thanks for the links dante01 - First link is to AVR-X2400?

I’ll have a read up on the 3300 though. Sounds like it fits the bill and the price is about right.

Gary


Sorry, my mistake. The cheapest you'll find one is at Richer Sounds, but not every store has one remaining in stock and they are only now available as in store purchases.
 
Are you happy with the sound of the 3010?

I can't but think if you are going with a fairly entry level one from what was the top of the range you might be disappointed.

Your only 4k source is sky q from what you have posted.

Connect sky q directly to tv and optical to amp. Sky q is mainly 5.1 so nothing lost or gained.
The tv will do upscaling better than the AV amp anyway.
 
Are you happy with the sound of the 3010?

I can't but think if you are going with a fairly entry level one from what was the top of the range you might be disappointed.

Your only 4k source is sky q from what you have posted.

Connect sky q directly to tv and optical to amp. Sky q is mainly 5.1 so nothing lost or gained.
The tv will do upscaling better than the AV amp anyway.

Well..yes I’m happy with the sound of the 3010, but since moving to actives, I’m only using the power amp side of things for the surrounds. I was working on the theory that pre-amp processing dates far more quickly than the power amp part, and that even a relatively budget pre-amp stage of a modern av receiver would out perform the pre-amp in my 3010.
 
Yes if you are talking about things like Dolby atmos etc. Obviously your amp wouldn't do that but that is one part of it.


One of the things that usually varies is the dac. The higher up the range the better. Denon don't mention what they use were as Yamaha do for example.

I bought a media player with supposedly a newer better dac than my amp and it didn't sound as good. In theory it should have done but because of the rest of the implementation it didn't.

Newer does not always mean better imo.
 

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