20 Best 308 Complete Lower Receiver (2022 Updated)

Have had a traditional 5. 1 system for years and was looking to upgrade to a Dolby Atmos system to complement our LG Oled television. Was not well informed and did an extensive amount of research via YouTube and Google articles.

Was pretty certain that for simplicity purposes I would purchase a high end sound bar like a Sonos Arc. The thing that kept holding me back however was a number of reviewers feeling that music quality wasn’t nearly as good with sound bars.

Music playback quality was just as important to me as viewing and hearing Dolby Atmos content. My Sony speakers and sub from my 5. 1 system were also 15 years old and was worried they would not be adequate for a modern receiver.

After watching an Andrew Robinson review of the Pioneer LX305 which is the model just above this receiver, I decided to pull the trigger on this model as it has many of the same features and 8k inputs to make it future proof when that content becomes more relevant and want to upgrade to an 8k tv someday.

I also learned that I needed to add 2 height speakers to my current system to play Dolby Atmos and purchased the Sony SSCSE upfiring pair after reading favorable reviews for a reasonable price. These speakers sit on top of my fronts and complete a 5.

1. 2 Atmos system. My Oled supports Earc as does this receiver so I also invested in ultra high speed hdmi cables per recommendation to get the absolute best performance. Connected one from my Oled to the receiver via Earc port on both.

Connected ones from my satellite receiver, Apple TV 4K and PlayStation to receiver as well. Also decided to purchase new speaker wire as it had been years and felt should upgrade that as well. Rewiring all my speakers did take some time but no big deal.

Setup was really easy after reviewing how to YouTube videos for Dolby Atmos and AV receivers. I initially did the auto calibration of the speakers which was very simple but was warned by many professionals that these can sometimes be inaccurate.

All speakers should be set to “small” instead of “large” for a majority of systems and the auto cal labeled 3 of mine as large. No big deal as I then just did the manual calibration and was able to assign them properly and adjusted the sound levels with a sound meter which is recommended and crucial to obtaining the most accuracy for your system.

Have always loved my Apple TV 4K as my streaming device versus the tvs built in apps. With Netflix, Apple TV plus and HBO Max my family now has plenty of Dolby Atmos content to view and our jaws dropped when we viewed it for the first time.

Not sure if I’ll ever go to a movie theater again. The sound is so immersive and the video quality is amazing. Being a music lover, I was also excited to utilize my Apple Music subscription via the Apple TV 4K and this receiver.

With all of their music now being high quality lossless and having Dolby Atmos tracks my music sounds simply phenomenal through this system. Hearing new details in songs I’ve listened to my whole life made this one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

There are so many options in the AV world and it’s overwhelming to decide what to purchase within your budget. This purchase exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t be happier with my upgraded system!.

This Pioneer is replacing a Pioneer Elite unit from 25 years ago (which still works, BTW). I’m expanding the system from 5. 1 to an Atmos set up and the old unit doesn’t “speak” any of the new digital formats and is pre-HDMI.

Setup was easy and uneventful. It was a little confusing figuring out how to relabel the various inputs, but it’s nice to see “Switch” or “Wii U” on the display instead of remembering what unit is plugged into which pre-named input.

I still use a Harmony universal remote (RIP) and this new Pioneer is fully supported, so that’s nice. Attaching our current 7. 1 speakers (no height yet) was easy and the quality of the surround effects is much clearer and immersive than the basic Dolby 5.

1 support the old unit had. Voice separation on the center channel is much improved. A feature we’re enjoying is the built in AirPlay 2 support. we can stream lossless music to the new Pioneer when we’re back there or eating dinner in that room and not need the TV on like we had to do when using the Roku as a music streamer.

Connection to the network is fast and control of the AVR using the included Pioneer app is responsive. The included Dirac Live software in the Pioneer app and included mic did a good job correcting some room resonances at 34Hz and 60Hz.

Dirac Live is one of the reasons to look at this AVR, in my opinion. I later used the Dirac Live software on a laptop and a calibrated mic on a mic stand and did a more extensive room calibration and the room response is great everywhere on our main listening couch.

You don’t have to go to this depth to enjoy the AVR (please do use the Dirac with the app, though, only takes a few minutes) but it’s a very nice capability to tune the system and room as best as possible.

I have some wiring work to do before I install the Atmos speakers, but based on how this has gone so far, I don’t expect any problems.

My old Onkyo TX-NR818 HDMI board died and I needed a replacement. Like everyone else, I really wanted the Onkyo TX-RZ50, but since December, I have not been able to get one. Pioneer and Onkyo are both owned by the same company now, and technically this and the RZ50 have nearly the same hardware and specs.

The setup is easy, features are amazing, and for movies it’s a beast! THEN, I started playing Stereo Music through full range B&W tower speakers. It is nowhere near as good as my old Onkyo TX-NR818 (sure my old Onkyo had more raw power in Stereo mode, but this unit just killed the bass and some highs on the speakers — i tried adjusting all the settings for the speakers and did not make it any better).

I seriously hate that you cannot adjust the crossover per channel (only Small\Large). I knew this before buying it, but hate the wait of the Onkyo and I was hoping people here were just exaggerating it’s audio quality output (keep in mind this of course depends on the speakers you have).

I do prefer the plain and symmetrical looks on the Pioner (the new Onkyo has a bunch of buttons to the right that looks hideous in my opinion) and love the orange display. But the sound quality just killed it for me.

I cannot say if the TX-RZ50 will be any better (now-a-days quality in certain products is just going downhill), but the fact that you can adjust the crossover and it’s $100 cheaper is a good start. The waiting to be in stock game beings.

It’s honestly not a terrible receiver and if you don’t have demanding speakers, you want 9. 1 or even 11. 1 (with external amp) output, and Pioneer was the only item in stock, then it’s a good unit to have.

Other than that, it’s worth waiting a bit more for better speaker adjustability and pricing on the Onkyo. [I honestly don’t understand why this is $100 more].

I don’t like to review things with out giving perspective. I want people to understand where my experience is coming from when I write this. I currently run a 5. 1 channel surround sound system in a living room that is less than 380 sq ft.

My center is a Klipsch RP-504C, my left and rights are Klipsch r-41M’s (will be replaced soon with RP 8000f’s), my rears are a pair of Klipsch RP-600M’s, and my sub is the SVS PB3000. Due to space and setup, the front floor standing speakers have to remain on hold.

Because the room is small in size and SVS puts out so much bass, I was more content going with this receiver. Klipsch are known to come to life with lower amounts of wattage (it’s quite true) and mine have an RMS rating of 150W.

This is rated to be 90W per channel but it’s not for all seven channels, and I am not 100% sure it is actually 90W being produced. I think all receiver menus for tuning such and are so behind the times so I am going to complain about that but the rest of the world is also annoyed at that.

Anyway, I have yet to run into any issues with using the menus, it is relatively navigable, and easier to learn using, so that is a plus. The room correction doesn’t work really well for my personal setup, perhaps your experience will differ, so I decided to just leave everything standard and just tune my subwoofer accordingly so it’s balanced.

It’s not a perfect solution but it has made for an amazing experience. It has most of the features you’re looking for in a receiver, Dolly Atmos, supports up to 8k 60hz, it has plenty of HDMI ports for multiple devices, supports ARC and eARC, supports Dolby Digital, DTS, HDR10 and HDR10+, it is capable of supporting two subwoofers (not individual channels), and more.

I bought this while it was on sale for around $549, so if you are looking for a receiver in this range, I would try and wait for a good sale. Otherwise, I would you keep your eye on other receivers around this price range from Denon or Marantz, you might find something much better all around if you stretch your budget.

I recommend this product for purchasing but I personally recommend you save the full retail amount and then wait for a big holiday sale. Then, with that $849, see when higher tier models you might be able to get your hands on with the money already allocated toward the receiver.

Regardless of your own situation, it won’t disappoint.

I got a 4K TV and my 11yr old Yamaha RX-V381 Yamaha would only support 1080P so I decided to upgrade my receiver in order to send 4K to the TV. Due to the widespread shortage of pretty much everything, Best Buy only had about 3 entry level receivers and one midrange receiver (this one) to pick from.

I was tired of the Yamaha’s clunky menus and unintuitive GUI so I went with the Denon AVR-3700H. After spending a good hour connecting everything, my first sign of trouble was when the getting started wizard did not show anything when it tested the HDMI port where my home theatre Windows 10 PC was connected.

To make a long story short, about 4hrs worth of fiddling later and nothing would make the receiver consistently handshake with the PC. I tried different HDMI ports on the receiver and PC, updated the drivers, updated the firmware, tried different power on/power off sequences etc.

One power on it would work fine, the next no signal, the next there was a display but no audio, etc. I also tried dropping the video card in the PC down to 1080P, up to 4K, etc. This was the same PC that had worked flawlessly with the Yamaha for the past 3+yrs.

I called Denon’s tech support the next day and they stated on the phone that they do not support PCs connected to the HDMI ports, only HDMI devices. That was all I needed to hear, I packed up the Denon and took it back to Best Buy.

After taking the Denon back to Best Buy, I had the same problem I had before; nothing but entry level receivers on the shelf to pick from. At this point I did not trust any brand but Yamaha so I purchased the Yamaha – RX-V4A.

After connecting everything I immediately updated the firmware in the Yamaha RX-V4A because some of the reviews for it were pretty terrible with the older firmware. I then switched to the PC HDMI input port and it worked first try; audio no problems and 4K video.

I tested extensively, and I did not have a single problem. So for me all is well that ends well, I ended up saving almost $1400 and got the reliability back that I expected when switching to the PC HDMI input, but after my experience there’s no way I would recommend a Denon.

I have owned several Denon tuners, amplifiers, and receivers over the years and have always been very happy with them. I have been using a Denon AVR-X4000 receiver installed in a media closet to feed two TVs (den and living room).

This only provides surround sound in one room, so after buying a new OLED TV for the den, I decided to add a surround sound in that room with a second receiver. I wanted to stick with Denon because of positive experiences with the brand and their excellent network protocol for easy control over my home network.

I usw custom software on iPads to control my TVs and media devices, and the Denon IP interface is the best I’ve used. I considered a lower-priced Denon unit, but I wanted one with dual-room outputs for maximum flexibility.

The AVR-X3700H was the lowest priced option with that feature so I chose it. Comparing it to my existing AVR-X4000, it’s nearly identical. The two units are the same size and construction, and the front and rear panels share the same basic layout.

The user interface is also the same. Being familiar with all of this, setup was quick and easy. Using the included microphone for AUDYSSEY setup really improves the sound, tailoring it to the room’s acoustic qualities.

I have all of my media sources connected to the AVR-X3700H and it feeds the new OLED TV in the den. I use its 2nd room output to feed the AVR-X4000 so that both TVs in the den and living room can share among media sources.

So far, I am very satisfied with the AVR-X3700H. The sound and video quality are excellent, and it handles all of my sources with seven HDMI 2. 1 ports supporting the latest HDR formats and HDCP 2. 3, plus Bluetooth audio input and Internet audio.

One thing to note is that unlike the AVR-X4000, this receiver does not convert analog input sources to the HDMI outputs. I normally don’t use any analog sources, but I did try to connect an VCR to play some old home movies and that won’t work.

Also, I have an issue with a hum on my subwoofer when I connect its amplifier to the AVR-X3700X’s 12v trigger output. This has not been a problem when it was connected to the AVR-X4000. I tried grounding the units together, but that did not work, so I just leave the subwoofer amp in “auto” mode.

Because of those two shortcoming, and the high price to step up form a single room model,I give this receiver 4 out of 5 stars. If it’s like any other Denon equipment I’ve owned, it should give me years of home theater service, and I do recommend it.

1st off, it’s a nice looking receiver. The basic set up is fairly easy, being able to do most of it on the T. V. screen with the walk-thru. Calibration microphone is awesome, plug it in the front, follow instructions and the reciever does the rest.

calibrates the sound for your room and listening position, really awesome stuff. So like I said, the basic set up was kinda easy. but if you wanna tweak some things I find it to be a pain. No manual came in the box, so off to the internet to find the manual, which is long, and to slowly figure out what this reciever is really capable of.

Like finding out I needed to switch it from 8ohm to 6ohm to match my speakers. Didn’t seem like it did that automatically because my speakers where already playing and when I was able to figure out how to locate this function on my receiver it was in 8ohm mode.

I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate this thing thru the receiver, not all the goodies pop up on the T. V. setup. Unless I’m doing something wrong?? All that said, with just doing the basic walkthru set up and setting up the Phone remote control app, it sounds great right out of the box.

I purchased this model cause the S760h was out of stock, but both models have the new updated 4k/8k 2. 2 HDMI ports. Which is what I wanted. Can hook up all the newer products like 4k Firestick, quality gaming systems, etc.

and not lose any video or sound quality. Not to mention it should still be compatible with higher end T. V. ‘s in the future. These AV receivers, along with the s960H model should be relevant for a long time with these updated HDMI ports.

The sound is extremely clean on the model I purchased, I would love more power output but you get what you pay for, and honestly it is enough for my living room area. I really enjoy the 2 channel stereo mode as well as my 3.

1 (L/R/Center/Subwoofer) set up. I have yet to try it with surround speakers but this unit is capable. If this receiver has all the options you are looking for I would definitely recommend it. It does not have dual zone, no out puts to add stronger amplification in the future if you wished, and even though the specs say Dolby Atmos, (which I thought meant I could add “height” speakers) it does not have this function.

Denon’s reputation should also help this AVR to be a good choice. I gave it 4 stars cause it’s great for what it is. but there is always something better if you have the cash.

I dont normally leave reviews, but on this one i decided i would After choosing between this and the yamaha 8k receiver, i decided on this one. Honestly, visually it looks nicer to my eye. Also, its 8k ready where as the yamaha 8k is a future update.

Now dont get me wrong, i have a yamaha 4k receiver in my bedroom and i love it to death, but if im dropping $$ for a 8k receiver, i want it 8k out of the box Setup was pretty basic and an easy step by step walkthru.

I seen other reviews saying it was a nightmare. i dont know why, it was just very easy. asked you everything bit by bit. Connecting the wires was also easy, everything was labled, didnt need instructions to figure it out.

I love that i can plug everything into the 8k ports, such as my cable box and 4k player and that i can change the program in settings so when i hit the cable button on remote, it goes to the alternate cable hdmi connection.

Sound is great, had to mess around with it a little to find the right settings for the surround sound and subwoofer. My only real gripe is the phono. I have a vinyl player, i have it connected to the phono port, on my yamaha it was connected into a/v2.

The issue i have is the volume when playing is low, like REALLLLLLL low. I had to turn up the volume to 50 to start to hear sound from it. i dont know why, i tried using a preamp, but then the sound was low and very staticy no matter how i changed hte settings.

Seems odd to me that my tv will be blaring at vol 50 but i can barely hear my record player Other then that, no issues with the system at all. for 500 its deff worth it. The sound is amazing, i dont need all the bells and whistles the $700 systems have, this seems to have everything i need.

So if your looking for an easy system for a 8k beginner, go for this. you wont be disappointed if u plan on listening to vinyls tho, well i dont know, maybe someone can figure that issue out.

Upon setting up this AVR for the first time the main thing that struck me was how WIMPY the phono stage output was. I say “was” because I discovered how to fix that annoying problem. BEHOLD! 1) Select your input.

In this case “Phono”. 2) Now select “Setup”. 3) Now select “Inputs”. 4) Now select “Source Level”. 5) Adjust level via remote for up to 12db of gain. Exit. Repeat if you wish another input selection to have its level increased or decreased.

Each input MUST be selected on the remote and shown on the receiver display prior to making the other selections I have outlined above. It is individual for each input. I raised my Phono all the way and now it works a whole LOT better! I bought this because SiriusXM in their ignorant “wisdom” have chosen not to support the Pioneer Elite SX-N30 I have owned for several years now and I was looking at the Denon DRA-800H but it was a bit overpriced for what you get and so for $200 less.

I bought the Denon AVR-S660H. Outside of less power, it does have 5 channels of said power vs the 800H having 2. Otherwise, they seem equally matched feature-wise. I own a Denon AVR-X4300H and that is an excellent 9.

2 system that I primarily use for movies and music. This 660 is currently running at 2. 1 channels and I will be installing a very nice Klipsch center channel speaker soon. But. Back to what I think of the 660.

I think, not feeeeeeeeel that it is an excellent value and a fine performer. Once I found out how to fix the terrible phono output (with no help from “AHEM!” anyone else, I can now heartily recommend this device to any and all that want primarily stereo for music and are fine with up to 5.

2 channels for film. It doesn’t disappoint believe me. It DELIVERS. I have been running it for several days now, 24 hours a day, non-stop with vinyl, with CD and with the wonder that is HEOS providing me with Pandora, Amazon UHD and SiriusXM along with my favorite internet station out of the Netherlands, “The Great American Songbook” station and this receiver works superbly! My JBL 4-Way towers have a sensitivity rating of 91db and the work just fine with this new Denon! In truth, my only disappontment was with the phono section and now that that has been rectified, I have zero complaints and can 100% recommend the AVR-S660H.

I forwarded my findings on the phono stage to Denon and they are looking at (hopefully) updating the manual that comes with the unit to include my solution to the problem. Now then. The BEST part of this Denon is HEOS.

I have 10 HEOS speakers throughout our home and via the 660H or my 4300H, I can send internet radio, Amazon UHD, Pandora, SiriusXM my CD collection and even my VINYL throughout my entire home via WiFi! It just flat works and I have tried Bose, Sonos and Bluesound but for my hard earned money, HEOS is the best there is bar none! The app for Android and iOS work on superbly on our phones.

They also work on our iPads. And our Amazon Fire Tablet 10. They just flat out WORK. They are transparent and neither add to nor take away from your music. They are there to provide access and control of your music and the do so with ease.

Highly recommended? Yup! HEOS is ex cellent. Home Entertainment Operating System. HEOS. I can play my over 500 CDs via one of my 300 and 200 disc Sony CD changers via HEOS to any room in our home that has a HEOS wireless speaker in it.

And I do. I can play my records in any room over WiFi via HEOS. Any station on Pandora, Amazon UHD, SiriusXM whatever station I choose from the literally thousands available on the internet. HEOS does that and does it easily.

I recommend Denon, Marantz and HEOS without hesitation or reservation. When it comes time to send my brother and his wonderful wife a Christmas present, you can bet it will have HEOS in it and be from Denon or Marantz.

I trust those two brands completely. And speaking of “trust”. Trust me. I know what I’m doin’ when I’m reviewin’.

I just recently bought Denon AVR-S540BT receiver and not to happy with the quality of sound. I use to have a Denon about 20 years ago, loved it, but lost it when was traveling for hurricane and vehicle was stolen, so was the receiver.

Since then always wanted another Denon. When I purchased a home a few years ago previous owner left a Sony about 20 years old. I have the Sony in my garage. I recently was donated a pair of Cerwin Vegas E-712 plus I have a pair Bose 301, figured I would buy a Denon for these, I have this in the house.

For one could not set up receiver with my bigger TV in living room, had to use my smaller TV from the bedroom because of HDMI ARC. Question, can I now put back the original bigger TV to receiver or was that just for setting up.

Also it just didn’t sound right, I played with the setting for speakers, bass, treble, HZ, etc. The older Sony receiver in garage sounds much better than this new Denon receiver, the older Sony had more bass and much more crisp sound.

I feel I wasted my money, maybe that’s just how receivers are made today, feel like I should have purchased an older receiver from ebay or something. I’m kinda embarrassed to show off. I did show the difference to my brother and dad, we all were impressed with the old Sony receiver.

What is the problem here, why doesn’t a new receiver sound as good as a older one, is Sony that much better? Also the speakers in the house are much better than in the garage, and garage still sounded better.

I even brought the speakers from the house in garage and hooked up to Sony receiver and was impressed, saying that’s how the one inside should sound.

5 stars @ $350. Typical Denon — which is to say very good. Relatively low power, but great for a smaller room. Hard to beat at this price point. Now, please don’t interpret this as meaning this isn’t a worthwhile product.

It is. What it lacks is MORE than 5. 1 channels and it also lacks more than 70 watts of horsepower. However, if this is for your “smallish” room or, in our case, our bedroom, you will be pleased. If you are looking for the control center of your big bad home theater set up, you will be disappointed.

To step up, and I mean step UP, you will have to at least double your budget — more likely triple it. My impression is that Denon and Marantz are the real deal. I have a much more expensive Marantz in the home theater room, but this unit is, hmm, “Marantz-lite” — highly recommended.

This receiver works fine, but it seems like it was designed only to work, not with any enjoyment in mind. I hate it. You can connect your phone to use as a remote, but if you do that while playing something else, it automatically switches to bluetooth input.

If you like listening to radio, forget it- it’ll do presets, but there’s no intuitive way to keep track of them. Also doesn’t have incremental tuning, so you’re stuck with only the stations the receiver can find.

It has a feature that puts it to sleep automatically, but not in any smart way, it’s just a timer that starts when you turn the unit on. The controls on the front of the unit are annoyingly minimal, so you need to use the remote or the app for a lot of functions.

The remote is not particularly intuitive or useful, and the phone app is basically just a touchscreen version of the remote. I know this is just a cheap receiver, built to a pricepoint to fill a spot in the lineup.

If you use it just to do one or two things, like watch movies and listen to CDs, it’s fine. I guess technically it has a lot of functionality for how cheap it is. I bought it because it fits in a cabinet that I needed it to fit in (I know, stupid parameter).

The problem is that the user interface is not at all thoughtful, so all of that supposed functionality is just frustrating to use. If you plan to listen to radio and/or stream music (spotify), keep looking.

I’ll buy something else soon, it’ll either be smarter- as in a wifi-equipped unit- or a vintage receiver.

I bought this receiver to replace a blown 5. 1channel amp in my living room. It also finally allowed me to integrate all of the components in that stack to all go into one device, I’ve got an Xbox One, a PC, and an older VCR/DVD unit all going through the amp.

I had run the PC through my old amplifier to test awhile back but it had problems with passing through a usable resolution, the RX-V4A had no such problems. It sometimes does not see the Xbox right away when switching to it, but it always shows up after a few seconds.

Overall I really dig the ability to integrate all of my components through one receiver and not have to do some kind of cable swap whenever I want to watch one of my old VHS movies. This is my first Bluetooth capable home receiver and I am glad to say that it works well, the range is better than the bt speaker that I have in my kitchen one room over so I usually use the receiver the whole time now.

Yamaha Advertises that you can connect the Bluetooth to another Bluetooth sink device, and send sound to the second Bluetooth device as a simultaneous listening device. I could never successfully get it to pair with my Creative D100, which in fairness is quite old so the doubtless older version of the Bluetooth protocol that the device uses might be more at fault than Yamaha’s hardware, your mileage may vary with that feature.

Regarding the MusicCast app, I was a little annoyed by the fact that Yamaha had foisted yet another app on me to bloat my phone even more, but after using it for a few months now I do find the app usable if not the most convenient way to use the device wirelessly.

There is a small learning curve but the app does function as advertised, but it would have been nice if the Receiver just played nice with my Google Home out of the box. The RX-V4A’s bigger brother, the RX-V6A has more inputs and supports 7.

1 and even atmos but I was just looking for a drop in replacement for my old Yamaha RX-V475 and the RX-V4A does the trick. I have been using it pretty much daily since November and it’s still going strong.

Purchased as ‘used in Excellent condition’ with ‘no missing accessories’. This is my first experience with ANY sort of AV receiver (moved into a new house with surround sound; figured I’d give it a shot), and it took me awhile to find my bearings.

I had some difficulty connecting it to the existing system. It didn’t come with instructions or any accessories, but I thought this was standard. Some googling allowed me to realize that a remote should’ve been included.

And it’s needed to assist with basic setup through the TV as you cannot do it from the front panel. This is partly a design flaw it seems. It’s probably a great receiver, but make sure you get the remote! Not too pleased with Best Buy stating that all accessories were included, when in fact the MOST important one was missing.

I’m usually really happy with purchases here, and I’m hoping this was a simple mislabeling. In process of ordering one from Yamaha right now.

Despite costing 3x what i paid for my sony 540 av amp 7 years ago it wasn’t a quantum leap in sound quality but it is better – that’s just a function of how the price of stuff has gone up in that time I suppose.

It’s well built and the arc seems to work with my samsung tv, unlike the sony which never did, meaning i had to wire it with an optical cable for sound and connect the set top box directly to the tv – so it’s nice to have proper functionality.

The settings are pretty broad – you can adjust everything – though it isn’t at all difficult to set up. Music sounds very good with DPLII Music. My speakers are definitely being driven harder – that i would say is the big difference.

There is more punch to the bass and the amp doesn’t seem to be even trying to throw out sofa shaking deep rumbles that I never got from my sony and separation is better and cleaner – dialogue is much brighter.

All in all, very happy, great amp.

I originally bought a refurbished Denon AVR 540. I only bought it over the Yamaha because the Yamaha was unavailable in the US. After struggling to set the Denon up for about a week the Yamahas suddenly showed up for a very short period of time, and I managed to get one from BB.

I sent the Denon back to the refurbish shop where the technicians could again pretend to fix it. The Yamaha has been so easy to set up, and so far is flawless. The Denon had serious HDMI issues. It would change inputs on it’s own, TV would just turn off, I’d be watching Roku through the receiver and all of a sudden it would switch to DVD, etc.

The Yamaha works as planned. I hit the button for TV, the receiver comes on, the tv comes on, the Satellite comes on. If I activate the bluetooth on my iPad the receiver comes on, it switches to bluetooth, and it starts playing (if I’ve activated Pandora, etc).

I can listen to BT or FM while watching sports. If I hit the DVD button the receiver comes on, the DVD player comes on, the TV comes on (not necessary for me, as I only use the DVD player as a CD player) The sound is fine.

This setup is in our bedroom, with a 43″ Samsung 8000 series TV, with 3 Paradigm Atom speakers across the front, a very cheap Monoprice 8″ subwoofer, and no surround speakers. Not nearly an audio or videophile system, but great for a bedroom.

The Yamaha handles the processing for a 3. 1 channel system beautifully. The auto speaker setup was easy, fast, and effective. The unit is very adjustable. You can change the volume display from the actual db setting to the relative setting (0=100) which always seems easier and more useful.

You can program the extra bass and the compressed music enhancer to come on with appropriate sources. This is a great secondary theater receiver, and a great for the price unit for a main theater. I would think about how much expansion I might need in the future, and how much of the current and future Surround processing I think I’d utilize, as this unit is not the current state of the art, and not very accomodating to many more inputs than I am utilizing.

But for my purposes it is perfect.

After using it for the last few months, I can safely say that it’s worth the money! However, it does have it’s quirks. For example. I had an issue with it cutting back on after 3-5 minutes after powering the unit off.

So I ended up having to turn off the HDMI control setting so the system isn’t randomly turning back on (seemed to do the trick). I guess the other devices are interfering with it somehow. Even turned the bluetooth off on both the receiver and other devices, but that didn’t seem to work.

Also had an issue where it will sometimes randomly change to another audio input setting on the receiver when changing the t. v. audio input (on my Sony t. v. ), back to the receiver audio setting. There’s also a long delay (20-30 seconds) on the receiver when cutting it back on (because I’ll often just switch to the t.

v. speakers late at night so it’s not loud when watching t. v. ). All in all I would recommend. Plenty of sound settings, and tons of customization on the receiver. Although it will take you awhile to get used to it if you’re a novice with newer audio receivers.

Thinking about taking this one back seeing as it may be defective. Or, these particular Yamaha receivers might just have bugs.

Great entry-level AVR for both movies and music. I run a simple 2. 0 setup with Polk Series III floorstanding speakers. I decided to upgrade my old, non-HDMI AVR for two reasons: 1) better sound quality for my 320 kbps music streaming, and 2) the ability to finally play audio from my Samsung Q60 TV through my stereo 2.

0 setup (which also lacked an optical audio input). I also game on an Xbox One X and wanted to make sure that the AVR would be capable of smoothly passing through 4K HDR content. This receiver excels at all aspects.

The music quality is surprisingly improved, particularly with the Compressed Music Enhancer function. I always thought all receivers would sound basically the same when it comes to simple music playback in stereo, but there’s a noticeable improvement to my ears in terms of both detail and clarity.

So far I prefer using the STRAIGHT preset in combination with Compressed Music Enhancer for listening to albums. On the 0-97 scale, I find 50-60 is generally loud enough for reasonable listening in my ~ 700 sq.

ft. apartment living room. On the video side, I was able to get the HDMI ARC function working surprisingly quickly. I have the Xbox plugged into HDMI 1 on the AVR, and another cable running from HDMI Out on the AVR to my TV’s HDMI ARC input.

This lets me send consistent 4K HDR video signals from my Xbox, through the AVR and to the TV without any distortion or lag, and returns the audio through the speakers. Even though I don’t have a surround setup, I typically use the Surround Decoder along with the Game preset for pretty good results.

Audio from shows and movies streamed from my TV’s various apps (Netflix, HBO etc. ) also works well. I debated forsaking the video stuff and just getting a higher quality stereo amplifier, but the ability of this AVR to coordinate with my Samsung TV’s Anynet+ features for media switching is what sealed the deal for me.

Using the HDMI Arc setup described above, and after enabling HDMI control on this AVR, the AVR automatically 1) switches to TV audio whenever it detects a streaming app, 2) switches to the audio and video signals coming from the Xbox whenever I start it up, and 3) automatically switches to the audio channel I have my Chromecast Audio plugged into whenever I feel like listening to music.

The AVR also passes the audio and video from my Xbox through while powered off – and the TV automatically switches on its onboard speakers when the AVR is powered off, no manual digging into TV settings required! The only potential drawback in terms of functionality is that using this ARC setup, the TV doesn’t automatically switch in and out of Game Mode depending on the media source, since it’s all being routed into the TV via the same single HDMI input.

I don’t mind leaving Game Mode on for movie streaming, but for those that would, you could alternatively connect your game system into another TV input rather than pass it through the AVR (though the game’s audio would still be returned via ARC to your external speakers).

The only other drawback so far is the YPAO calibration. It was easy to connect the mic and run the quick calibration, but the results were just awful! For some reason it turned my right (front) speaker down by 10dB, making music sound horribly tinny.

I manually went in and restored it, now everything sounds great. I was hoping it’d automatically give me a more fine-tuned calibration on the order of a couple dB (without me having to figure it out by trial and error), but oh well.

Overall a fantastic product, especially at this price.

First I have to say that the sound quality and performance of the unit itself is great. Clear sound and sufficient power for my Epicures and surround system. The AtmosX brings a new dimension to watching suitable movies.

I have switched to the 4k upscaling in the Denon now rather than the Samsung 65″ 9000series as the Denon quality and smoothness seems significantly superior. Unfortunately that is where the joy ends.

The AVRs software is buggy: even in the store demo, the Denons were having trouble losing the signal from the HDMI inputs requiring to be power cycled. Connecting via Bluetooth and the X2400 lost complete all inputs from the HDMI and remained dead for the rest of the demo: I should have taken it as a sign, but put it down to their complex in-store setup in store with 6 receivers all chained together to one screen and driven from one BluRay.

After listening, I decided on the X4400H for its better music sound quality and clearly better build than the 2400/3300. The icing on the cake was the salesperson advised I could use the HEOS speakers for my rear surround, thus being able to eliminate the wiring issues I face in rental apartments.

(I move a lot) (BTW: I have not found how to do this and believe it is not correct except for the basic AVR unit – happy to hear otherwise. ) So now the software: – Setup software I found actually to be quite good and well guided.

– The Audyssey setup was also fine but 8 Measurement points ! Com’on Denon – others do it with one. Thankfully you get the option to stop after 3 points. I wonder if these other measurements are really adding any noticeable difference to the setup.

-Regular issue when switching between HDMI sources that there is no input. As seen also on the store demo unit (Now I understand the big sign asking not to change any settings at the store). Power cycling normally fixes the issue.

I have since found that using the HEOS app instead of the remote or input selector dial fixes this issue 99% of the time. (go figure??) – Regular no audio input even though Video signal is coming through.

Again power cycle, change to anotehr input and then back using the App resolves the issue. – Separate Apps for the receiver (AVR Remote) and the Network sources/ network outputs (HEOS). Surely these could be integrated into one App ? Denon Please get with it?? -HEOS App itself is far from intuitive.

Pay particular attention to which ‘room’ you are in if you are also connected to HEOS speakers on the same Network. I think it would be great if Denon could get some end user feedback on this sucker as the functionality is basically OK, except.

-HEOS App fails to find the receiver from time to time (even though the AVR Remote connects fine). It can find the HEOS speakers I bought to use for the mentioned wireless rear surrounds. 🙁 , but not the receiver.

Solution use the AVR App cursor control and the onscreen display. -I have not worked how to play back video sources form my DLNA complaint server system. I run also an Emby server on top, but cant connect to either for Video.

The music files are all accessible and the HiRes and lossless files are all streamed and decoded flawlessly. Another gap in the HEOS App or a hidden connectivity I have not found yet ? Workaround is to use the 3y old Samsung TV to access the files and pass the audio back to the Receiver.

Yes: I have downloaded and installed latest firmware available. Hopefully further updates will resolve these issues. In the meantime I am sorry I could not recommend this unit. So all in all: The receiver does a great job when it is in operation.

just getting it there is so frustrating being never sure if what you select will work. Really I spent nearly 2G for this ? Background: I have had an old Sony 5. 1 Receiver that has served me reliably for nearly 2 decades without fault.

I upgraded to the Pioneer VSX1123 which I was happy until I moved after which it developed an intermittent fault: ‘A’ speakers play all the time even when B selected. Intermittent output to surround channels.

Pioneer service cant find the issue due to its intermittent nature and my guess is short time operation. after two services, this unit was consigned to the trash. ;-( The store I purchased Denon also had Pioneer / Onkyo, Marantz(not a fan).

The Onkyo was in my view the best sounding and much better value for money on their deep discounted sale but due to past reliability issue I was unwilling to consider. (Onkyo and Pioneer are the same company and I have read there is minimal differences in the equipment inside) If the store had Yamaha I would be seriously considering taking the Denon back for a trade.

I bought the x6300h brand new in mid-2017 (July) at an amazing price of around £1250. It stayed in its box new, untouched, and unused in storage for pretty much a full year due to a lengthy house purchase and move.

Thankfully, it had a 2 year manufacturer warranty by Denon as luck would have it, my x6300h was defective out of the box with one of the malfunctioning soundboard issues that had, as I subsequently learned through research on the internet, had afflicted a number of batches for this model.

Denon did their thing and got my new AVR sent (I dropped it in at a local authorised Denon retailer) off to an authorised repairer, whom solved the issue with a complete replacement of the soundboard.

Once back in pristine condition and now fully working, the sound is absolutely phenomenal. I run a 7. 2. 4 configuration primarily for Dolby Atmos and DTS: X, plus getting the benefits of their new upmixing technologies, Dolby Surround and DTS: Neural X.

The sound stage has a beautifully dynamic, nuanced, and well balanced sound and completely obliterates the often harsh sound that my previous Onkyo TX-NR626 – admittedly a decent budget receiver and was great for £250, but no comparison with the x6300h.

Audyssey’s flagship XT32 room correction is phenomenal and far better than the basic MultEQ on my Onkyo. Also, this AVR has plenty of power in the amps for me. Audyssey is one of the reasons I went for Denon as many other brands have ditched Audyssey for other room correction technologies.

A great all in one system, and if the x6300h is anything to go by, then I’m sure its successors in both the x6400h and x6500h are well worth the money!.

I gave my niece and her husband my Onkyo 1009 AVR and I purchased the Denon AVR-X8500H and never looked back. ! This bad boy has 15 channels but only 13 can be used at one time, so I’m hooked up to 11 channels at the moment, with two large Polk floor standing speakers that are bi-amped and 9 satellite speakers and one sub, this is perfect for my apartment.

One thing that caught my attention about the Denon was when I compared it to the big Integra DRX-R1. 1, the two front channels on the Integra are strapped with two AKM 4490 Dacs while the other channels are using the AKM 4458 Dacs and only 3 SHARC DSP chips.

The Denon X8500H is fired up with 4 SHARC, 4th generation DSP chips, with the AL(alpha) 32 processing chips which supports the 192 kHz multi-channel sampling rate designed for the Blu-ray discs on every channel.

! Then they strapped this bad boy for the BEST possible soundstage and dynamic range, with the reference AK4490EQ DAC on EVERY CHANNEL, the method to this madness is totally different. My center speaker has NEVER sounded like this before and my little satellites have ALL come ALIVE, these little guys are performing like they are on steroids.

!!! The DSP sound processing is on the money, this unit is worth EVERY penny as far as I’m concerned. Wheater it’s Blu-ray, CD, USB or Streaming I get a different presentation every time. Denon is correct when they call this a listening experience.

So, you get what you pay for, clean audio and nice visual presentation. My only real gripe, the UI is a little slow. It takes a while to load chromecast apps and spotify playback. Something to note, when you run the auto audio calibration, you may not get any action from your powered sub, that’s because the auto eq doesn’t think you need one.

Go into sound settings and look for “double bass”. Turn that on and your sub will be used again.

Granted this unit is expensive it definitely is an upgrade to my 20yr old head unit. I currently use the unit to power my outdoor speakers. My old unit would get rather warm when pushing it to 75% capacity.

This unit I had to actually set the max volume to 65% or my entire neighborhood would hear me. Also at 65% the unit remains very cool. And its only half the height of my old unit. Glad I made this purchase.

Again definitely more expensive but worth it for a 2 speaker setup.

It’s obviously a smaller powered 2 channel receiver, but I needed it for the small space because my larger receiver was overheating. This thing stays extremely cool. It also has plenty of power for a one bedroom apt.

It works completely as designed. Happy with my purchase.

This really is a great amp. It has loads power that will fill the largest of rooms. It has a great auto eq making set up a breeze too. I compared this amp to a newer version costing over a grand and the sound was identical! This amp sounds good with any speakers.

It’s a he’ll of a lot better than the yamaha of tge sane age. The Denon really does give a cinematic experience giving a big spacial sound. 2nd hand this amp is a real bargain now and should be concidered by anyone on a budget that what’s awsome sound.

If you can get some kef kht 2005 or the larger 3005 or even the b&w m1 speaker packages, you really won’t regret buying it.

Great receiver with loads of options. Only thing missing is HDMI switching. HD picture via component cables just as clear as HDMI. Only difference is you have to run a separate cable for digital sound.

It comes with 5 optical and 2 coaxial inputs so no worries. Good programmable remote and easy on screen set up. This receiver really brings it and large display is also a bonus. I highly recommend this receiver.

Only Bummer does not come with auto set up mic.

The only reason I gave it a four star rating and not a five star rating is I am not liking the remote as much as my AVR3801. Call it familiarity maybe. I bought this for my sister’s soon to be completed home theater.

It sounds really nice and clean just like my 3801. It has a few more gadgets and such which is a good thing. I am certain that they will be completely satisfied with this little jewel.

Speakers: DALI OBERON 1 (No sub-woofer) Turntable: Elipson Chroma 400 TV: LG via HDMI ARC Bought for the family snug, so a mixture of TV, vinyl, Spotify and Bluetooth to start with and possibly CD in future if I find a nice second hand one – no rush First impressions: relatively straight forward out of the box.

The UI/Setup Assistant/Instructions isn’t that sophisticated compared say a modern TV. I didn’t try using the Android app -so don’t know if that would have improved stuff; it wasn’t strongly signposted at the outset if that was the case, more mentioned at the end of the setup.

The setup journey was rudimentary and didn’t signpost where one could make more changes e. g. check your speaker impedance, is your phono MM or MC Tried Phono first. First impressions were lovely, nice and crisp and clear vocals and high to mid range, but after while realised bass seemed to be missing or muted.

This was on such 90’s bangers as Happy Mondays-Step On, New Order-Blue Monday or Primal Scream-Loaded. Adding Bass to 6db made some difference but nothing floor shaking to disturb the neighbours. Tried different speakers and an older Dennon amp (DRA-365D) and that gave a more low end, so it wasn’t the speakers.

Long and the short – phono hasn’t impressed so far. Got the TV audio running once I found the right setting on the LG – results, nice and rounded. Better bass/low end results than for the phono, so it can do it.

The youth in the family got themselves onto Spotify without much assitance and it seemed to work for them. Next Bluetooth. And this is where it has let itself down. Skips, jumps, pauses seems to be playing segments over itself so the beat sounds wrong, inconsistent.

And this is off two different devices, so it’s not the devices which work fine with other Bluetooth. Haven’t got back to you yet as I’ve been trying different stuff out and wanted to record my journey so far – Updates to follow.

If you’re on the look out for an AV amp and prefer stereo rather than surround sound, this is an excellent offering which has surpassed my expectations. I run it into a pair of Q Acoustics 3050 floor stand speakers, I stream directly to the Denon from Spotify or an internal NAS.

The sound quality is superb as you’d expect, and user interface easy to use. The only slight gripe is that although the user interface can display what’s going on through your TV – it’s rendering of graphics isn’t great, so whilst it’s useable, it looks pants compared to how Spotify looks on screen when provided by my Amazon fire stick.

So for highest quality sound I stream Spotify directly to the Denon, but if I value nice graphics on the TV to accompany my music, I stream Spotify through my fire stick. Which still sounds excellent.

For watching streamed TV i use a Panasonic TV and the fire stick as the source. The fire stick is plugged into the Denon through HDMI and then the tv through HDMI Arc. This works a dream as the moment I press the on button on the fire remote, the tv and Denon switch on and work beautifully – with the volume on the fire remote adjusting volume on the Denon.

Overall this is an excellent unit which surpassed my expectations. I knew it would sound amazing but didn’t expect the inter working with TV and fire stick to be so seamless. Great job Denon!.

After a new Marantz PM6007 failed on me, Richer Sounds helpfully talked me through this as a straight swap, though it both and has more but doesn’t have quite the same functionality. Set-up without a TV connected is quite difficult, not helped by the on-line instructions not being correct, so following them does not work, for example setting pre-sets on the tuner.

Assigning inputs and setting input levels also took a lot of trial and error. Disappointingly Internet Radio is only provided through a third party app which requires a monthly paid subscription, and annoyingly every time I switch it on it wants me to set up this app.

And for some reason, using Heos to connect from my iPhone to stream music from Tidal it ignores this nearby AVR and connects and turns on another AVR in another part of the house, so almost every day have to battle settings for a few minutes before it recognises this AVR.

But it sounds great, the tuner delivers good FM and DAB radio, the vinyl sounds great through the phono section, and even the cassette tapes playback well. And generally the Remote Control is effective.

And when it finally connects to Tidal, great quality. Can’t forgive inaccurate manuals that mean hours wasted in set-up. I’d like to recommend it but not without sorting out Heos and the manuals.

Previously had a Pioneer Elite VSX-23TXH Integrated Amplifier / Receiver since 2011 connected to a wired up complete Klipsch 5. 1 Surround Sound system, Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray player, and Sony Bravia S-Series TV which worked out fine.

Mid 2021 upgraded a couple of my Satellite TV service boxes to 4K but had to temporarily bypass the Pioneer Elite Receiver since it was not 4K compatible. With the previous older Pioneer, for a couple months we could only watch TV using the Sony TV provided speakers whether broadcast via Satellite or streaming.

After Thanksgiving 2021, we purchased this Denon AVR-S760 7. 2 channel 8K Integrated Amplifier / Receiver and even though it is rated at a few watts/channel less than the Pioneer Elite listed above, it provides more than enough clean power to my 5.

1 Klipsch surround sound system. Overall, I have to say this Denon provides better sound to my Klipsch surround sound, Elite Blu-ray, and Sony Bravia system than the Pioneer VSX-23TXH did. We enjoyed the Pioneer Elite since 2011 but with technology improvements over the years, more may wish to consider upgrading their equipment to receive 4K content where available.

The difference in resolution will become more significant as the size of one’s TV increases. My previous Pioneer VSX-23TXH had (1) subwoofer port while this Denon AVR-S760H has (2) subwoofer ports so you can add a 2nd subwoofer for additional bass which I most likely will do in the future since I already had both corners of our audio video room pre-wired for subwoofers in the past.

My Sony Bravia has an ARC HDMI port and this Denon is compatible with ARC and eARC standards so in my case I connected my 4K Satellite TV box, and Blu-ray player to HDMI IN on the Denon and connected my Sony Bravia HDMI (ARC) to HDMI OUT (ARC) on the Denon for best setup.

I have watched a variety of 4K broadcast content, regular broadcast content, as well as 5. 1 surround music content and stereo music content played on my Blu-ray player and this Denon cleanly amplifies and distributes it amongst my speakers in awesome fashion!!! I enjoy how it delivers power to my subwoofer especially.

This suggests the Denon autocalibration feature works well as long as you setup the included microphone properly as instructed. In addition, when we stream content now we can listen using this Denon! This Denon is an awesome value for the price.

If one really needs more power than what this system offers, then consider Denon’s next model up but expect to pay significantly more.

I bought a new Denon AVR-1612 in May of 2012 from Amazon. I really loved it ─ it had all the features I wanted, was very affordable and sounded great. When I decided to upgrade my system to 4K, I naturally decided on another Denon, so in December of 2020 I bought a refurbished AR-S540BT directly from Denon.

It worked well, even though it was a refurb and a bit stripped down (only three 4K inputs, for example, but that’s all I needed for my 4K Blu-ray player and 4K Roku ─ my cable TV is 2K). After I bought a new subwoofer (SVS PB-1000 Pro) for my system last summer, I felt like the sound was a bit off and decided in November of 2021 to upgrade my AVR to a refurbished AVR-S650H to take advantage of its Audyssey equalization to smooth out the low frequencies.

After I unpacked it and tried to set it up, the firmware reported that my speakers weren’t connected. After confirming that they were connected, I tried rerunning the set-up with the mic from my 1612 (which looked identical), and that worked.

Then I got a message that my subwoofer wasn’t connected, but I figured out that only the subwoofer-1 output wasn’t working, and I was able to complete the setup using the subwoofer-2 jack. After testing out my new 650, everyone who listened to my system (including me) said the same thing: that the dialogue was nearly unintelligible, as if the sound were coming through a cardboard tube from an empty roll of paper towels.

My front speakers are placed behind an acoustically transparent screen, and even though I’ve not had any problems with the speakers before, I tried a suggestion from a recent article in Sound & Vision magazine and moved the speakers to a foot behind the screen.

It made no difference in the sound. Then I tried shutting off the Audyssey equalization and tweaking the sound manually. I found that the sound was better if I boosted the 2 kHz frequency to its max (+6 db), but it still didn’t sound nearly as good as what I had gotten before the 650.

I even tried running the audio “flat” ─ no Audyssey, equalization or tone adjustments. It still sounded like the sound was coming though that cardboard tube. Ultimately, I reconnected the 540, and I can finally enjoy my home theater again (altho my bank account suffered some damage).

I am reluctant to give my comments as they are primarily negative. I am a 77 year old engineer-trained techie that has dabbled in high end sound gear since 1966. And I have to say this machine is about as far from “plug and play” as anything device I have ever purchased.

I have had it for about 10 days max and I haven’t scratched the surface of what it is supposed to do. I have worked out some of the controls but I’m still waiting get decent sound from this receiver.

First of all I apparently don’t have a TV that has the latest HDMI technology need to use the setup steps via the TV monitor. Trying access control it (especially tone controls) from the receiver itself was futile.

Finally, after days of reading I managed to configure the Denon app and the Heos app so I am now somewhat able to configure some tone controls and the tuner. But it took me almost a day to configure the amp and home network to do this.

There is only one or two paragraphs at the back of the manual that aided me to do this. And philosophy of having separate tone settings for each input is awkward and unnecessary. Oh for the days of tone control and balance knobs! Due to limited HDMI tech I tried to use optical connections from TV to the amp.

It doesn’t work, at least for streaming inputs like Firestick. I have to use analog phono cables to hear streaming TV audio output. And it ends up coming out the cab/sat input. Only the antenna TV sound is heard from via “TV Audio” input button.

I still can’t connect to my subwoofer via subwoofer cable. It just won’t work. I am forced to run the subwoofer via the front speaker outputs. I would rather not wire the speakers that way. Which leads me to believe that the subwoofer outputs won’t work because it can’t “when the whatchamacallit is enabled.

” This device has a bunch of features that apparently don’t function if “this or that is enabled!” Like the so-called equalizer for instance. Controlling the device from an app is a nice idea (and it is the only way I can “control” the settings”) but the basic architecture of the controls is just wrong.

It is arcane. It needs to be simplified. Especially the setup mechanism. It just didn’t function. It possibly may work better if I had a more up to date TV with more HDMI input and outputs but that can wait.

All I want now is just to get some decent sound out of the amplifier. After another week of fumbling around I shall try to get some tech help from you folks but for right now, I’m overwhelmed.

This is our third Onkyo for our home theater room. We originally purchased a Onkyo TX-NR747 (7 channel) receiver used, then when it came time to upgrade to 9 channels we purchased the Onkyo TX-NR787.

We enjoyed the extra channel so much, and given the sale price on the RZ830 we decided to upgrade once again. The RZ830 allowed us to get full 7. 2. 4 sounds via the additional of an Onkyo M-5010 2 channel amp, and now we are able to enjoy all 11 channels.

Aside from the extra channels, we have extra power, 3 years warranty, superior RZ components, eARC capability, and finally improved sound. Having it set-up for only a couple days, we have already noticed sound effects on movies that we did not notice in the past.

The sound on the RZ830 is very clean. The auto room calibration worked like a charm with very accurate measurement for each of the 11 speakers and only tweaks I did were to the crossover frequencies.

Very impressed! Finally, we did try a Denon in our seach and to our ears, the vocals on Onkyo were noticeably more clear. Hope this helps.

I bought this to replace an Onkyo TX-NR747 that’s about 3 years old. The 747 had good sound but would drop 2-3 seconds of audio whenever you jumped back or forwards watching a show on my TiVo or BluRay player.

That drove me to really not like the 747. The 830 works flawlessly, no audio drops. I have it setup for 5. 1. 2 channels and it still can power both my Zone 2 and Zone 3 speakers without an external switch.

You can control the unit on your smartphone using the Onkyo app. The 830 has an internal fan but so far I haven’t seen it turn on, probably as I don’t really push it too hard and it is in an open cabinet.

It doesn’t seem to run hot. All the internet apps seem to work well, Pandora, TuneIn, etc. Would be great if it had HDRadio but I guess you can’t get everything! So far I like the 830. Perhaps the only negative is that it is 1″ taller than the 747, probably to fit the fan.

But at under $500 this was a great purchase.

This receiver has made my entire home theater sound incredible! It’s a monster unit compared to my old Sony and wow is it powerful. The setup process is a breeze and it corrected a number of settings I struggled to accurately capture in the past.

I’m running Def Tech D7’s, Mythos 7 center and ProMonitor 800’s in the rear and they are now getting the power they need. The 4K pass through works great and the settings are very easy to understand.

The only flaw is the remote, which feels cheap and light for what you’d expect from the price and quality of the receiver itself. This was worth the additional price to future proof and to get the necessary power.

I’m very happy with this product.

Just surpassed all my expectations across the board. The sound quality, dynamics, details and nuances are exceptional. This AVR does a great job for Music along with movies, games et all. My setup is: Klipsch RF 7 III and RC 64 III fronts, RP402 surround, RP500SA for front height and dual SVS SB3000 Subs.

5 ear level speakers are powered via Emotiva XPA gen 3. My previous experience has been with Denon x4000h AVR and Onkyo’s prior to that. With the Denon’s, it was always a compromise with sound quality.

was generally bass boomy, details and vocals were hard to pinpoint and i thought it was the speakers and peripherals that were the bottleneck so had gone down the path of adding the Emotiva amp and upgraded speakers to RF 7 line.

Unfortunately the sound quality while improved, was never inspiringly joyful. so took the plunge with RX A8A. Couldn’t be happier that i did. Wasn’t expecting such a vast difference to SQ, though this upgrade is substantial at pretty much double the price of the Denon x4400H.

The sound stage, dynamics, bass quality and nuance, detail and just overall balance and tonality of sound has made me smile more than a few times. It’s just the way i always wanted movies and music to sound.

Was apprehensive of the YPAO calibrator having read so many negative reviews vs the Audyssey Multi EQ. Yep, the directions and details in how to use YPAO can be better. My recommendation: don’t just do the one point calibration, do at least 3 and above point calibration.

I’m not sure about the measurement accuracy etc, but the sound that i got post YPAO 6 point calibration was just what i wanted, Subs perfectly dialed in and bass vs overall tonality – exceptionally kicky, precise and tons of dynamics.

For movies i use the Natural PEQ and for Music I use the Front PEQ. Finally reached the sound quality that i had been aspiring for since the last few years and super glad that Yamaha delivered. This ones going to be my end game setup for hopefully 3+ years.

Ordered 10/17 and ready for pickup 10/22. Unit came with 1. 10 firmware and updated to 1. 14 from USB since network option grayed out. Offered 1. 22 on 10/30 after turning on and completed over network; this version is not on their support site.

Pros: – Overall, a good upgrade from RX-A1030 – Decent upgrade to YPAO and better results – Atmos virtualization surprisingly sounds great. Setup with 7. 1 but no front presence and two additional speakers for second zone.

– eARC works but still trying to figure a way for components to not get automatically controlled – Sufficient power for movies although I’m using an external power amp for the front channels Cons: – Small screen and hard to see information from distance – Shiny plastic front.

Didn’t they learn years ago when it was “a thing” on TVs to have fingerprint magnets and reflective annoyances? – Remote is too long, top heavy, cheap plastic back, rough edges where front/back connect, back light erratic, wasted space at bottom, no 0-9 buttons to dial in radio stations directly or channels.

– UI cleaned up slightly but still archaic and poor/limited management of favorites from broadcast radio and Sirius/XM – Archaic web interface and very limited – No physical manual! Could have made it way less than 411 pages if they didn’t waste all the space with poorly formatted sections and redundant basic explanations.

No in-depth material for advanced topics. Did they think they were on a government contract and getting paid by the pound of paper? – Removed multi-channel input which was using with RX-1030 for a control amp and legacy components – No analog video and certainly not worth the cost to jump to the A6A; time to keep separate systems – Didn’t see a clock setting and USB backups were dated 2013 and 2014 after 1.

22 update – Able to disable Bluetooth but didn’t see anything for WiFi since I’m using wired – No HD Radio although other regions support DAB – Still made in Malaysia and not china, yet – Still have no use for the Scene feature.

Let’s be straight – this is one great sounding receiver with great features. I noticed a better, more clear, more punchy sound compared to my old 3010. And it is feature filled (as long as the promise to bring the HDMI ports up to the full 2.

1 specs and HDR 10+ with a future fw update. However there are some items that preclude me from giving it a 5. 1) The display is a just simply way too small – a common complaint for the new Aventage receivers.

I don’t mind the “cyclops” look (others hate it), but I am already missing being able to see the display from my seating position. It is awful and this a big step back from previous Aventage. 2) Also a step back is the functionality of the remote.

Now, the remote feels good in the hand with lots of heft; however there are no discrete buttons for inputs and DSP programs – instead one has to scroll through them. There are also other things missing like an info button.

I was able to program a Harmony for those buttons using learned commands the 3010 remote, but this is another step back. 3) While the MusicCast app pretty good and gives a lot of functionality and information, there is no Windows app – just Android and ios.

One used to be able to control music and sources through the web interface. If I am immersed working on my PC, I hate having to pick up my phone or tablet to control the music. Having said that, the web based setup interface is very good.

4) HDMI control still is a mystery with my Sony TV. I want to be able to be able to watch the TV with the TV speakers sometimes for shows like news. I can do that, but HDMI control has to be turned off and it makes things cumbersome.

This could be a Sony problem tho – not sure. However, eARC works well and again the receiver sounds great with Atmos streaming from apps on the TV. I also like the flexibility Yama gives for Atmos with the height (presence) speakers – you can mount them either on the front wall or ceiling.

5) YPAO calibrations remains wonky. For instance, my very large front channels are sometimes set to small while my smaller front presence speakers are set to large. I have run it many times, and the results differ almost every time and with strange combinations.

But to end on a good note – I am still pleased with it due to the sound and all the many great features that you can read about. But there have been step backs in a few areas and I just cannot give it a 5 due to those – especially for the high cost of the unit (and it is way too costly, but I needed a new receiver and couldn’t wait for price to come down).

My old reference Yamaha AV amplifier failed after 25 years so I called Richer sounds Watford branch for a demo between the award winning Denon 3700 and the Yamaha A4A, they booked me in that afternoon.

I’m not sure what these media people are listening too but there was a clear and obvious winner to me and the salesperson Sam. The Yamaha, it provides a much better soundstage, richer tones, plenty of bass with clear mid and high’s.

The Denon sounded soulless, non immersive and meek by comparison. Don’t get me wrong, it had good mid and high’s but average everywhere else. Also the Denon’s look and feel was much dated and cheaper by comparison.

Richer sounds had no live stock of the Yamaha A4A but had the bigger A6A version available. Sam ordered the A6A to be delivered next day to my address and said I could test the amp within my own home setup and no pressure to buy.

He obviously knew the larger A6A version would surpass what I had already heard and would be keeping the unit. I also got £100 of interconnects within the deal due to a promo richer sounds we’re running at the time, I opted for the Chord shielded after taking advise from the store.

All in all a great experience, good value for money, sound advise and great customer service as always The booked me in the same day and against all media reviews the Yamaha was.

This Receiver is very easy to set up and sounds great. Follow the steps one by one to complete set up. You can also fine-tune the centre speaker and the other speakers. Very clean and straightforward front fascia and rear.

I feel the binding posts are little too close together. However, it does not feel like Yamaha of old, the quality of the fascia and the slight lightness of the unit almost make you feel that it’s a slightly cheaper product.

For example, the remote has a rubber texture on it, looks modern and feels good however, doesn’t provide that level of certainty like old Yamaha amplifiers did. Deep bass and the treble is rich, not the best sounding amplifier for Music, if you want music then you need a Denon – hands down.

If it’s purely surroundsound that you’re looking for then look like further than the Yamaha as nothing else will come close to it (theatre) performance wise. The amplifier is crisp and very intuitive to use, very user-friendly settings and interface.

You will not be disappointed. It’s just misses out one star to make it a 5 star product as the display is a bit small & The remote feels a lot cheaper than Yamaha of old.

I use this unit in my small home office where I work 3 to 4 days per week. It provides the perfect blend of power, convenience, and functionality. I have it connected via my home ethernet network and it performs beautifully.

The YPAO feature worked great in achieving excellent sound in my small office. I have it connected to a pair of vintage JBL L20T speakers and a Polk subwoofer. I mainly stream music from my Mac over my home network and listen to FM news radio.

This is an excellent unit and I highly recommend it for those who desire a no-muss, no-fuss, easy-to-set-up unit that delivers excellent, high-fidelity sound.

The unit performs very well but there are some issues. #1 You have to manually set up wifi using your remote control that comes with the unit. Don’t try to follow the instructions for MusicCast if you are going to use an Android phone.

#2 Make sure when the unit connects to wi-fi or wired connection that it performs all firmware updates before proceeding. I found I could not use the MusicCast app to set up the unit because it needed firmware updates before it would connect.

WPS does seem to work for this. #3 once all the firmware is updated – and this might take multiple rounds, keep checking – THEN you can connect to the MusicCast app. #4 your phone if Android MUST be connected to a 2.

4GHz WiFi network and not a 5GHz. MusicCast app absolutely will not work when connected to 5GHz using an Android phone. Of course this may all change once Android updates its own software in the future.

Once I figured all this out, the unit works perfectly.

This receiver was purchased to replace a 24 year old Yamaha receiver. Pros: Nice simple appearance, good features for the price, easy to set up, felt well built. I had it hooked up, connected to my wifi (through IOS share) and playing via AirPlay very quickly.

Cons: the sound quality was disappointing. It sounded “leaner” than my old receiver that was rated at 80W vs this at 100W. Also it had a higher noise floor which I could hear at low volume levels. I may still recommend this if you have a basic audio system and you don’t want to spend any more.

Bought the AVR30 as great price ar Rucher Sounds Had the AVR 600 which was a more powerful AV amp. AVR20 has plenty of power even in s large room. Sweeter sounding than the 600.

I don’t really see the difference in this receiver versus Marantz. I think for the price it is very expensive and more so than the Marantz. The both have issues.

Early on the software had bugs but now since FW1.42 it’s perfectly usable and quite solid. Sounds better than Denon and Yamaha AVRs ideal for a standalone theatre.

So far I have nothing but good to say about the Integra. Advanced manual is readily available for download and really opens up the receivers capabilities. High end speakers are a must, expect 3-4K into a proper speaker setup.

Remote is very adequate but nothing fancy. I would like to see a cover for inputs to make the face seamless. Quality is felt in the weight of the unit and all buttons and knobs feel smooth and well built.

For an entry level high end unit the Integra should be on the list when shopping.

This pre-amp is rock solid, and continuously updated with the latest features. The surround capabilities are very impressive, and after listening to Dolby Atmos you wont go back. It upconverts to surround very well.

Pros: – easy to setup – on screen display overlays volume and info over the video which many others do not – Dolby Vision and HDR support.

Upon my preliminary set-up of the Aventage 3040, I discerned the middle frequencies were rather austere and lean, lacking a sense of depth with muddy low bass. I believed this situation would be resolved upon completing the system set-up, but to my chagrin the sound remained rather austere.

I started questioning my speaker locations, room configuration and reflective surfaces, quality of source material, blue-ray player and all things related to my home theater system until my brain bled.

So, after 30-days of tweaking, calibration adjustments, room layout re-dos and generally driving my wife crazy with my obsession to optimize the sound quality, I began to question if I made the proper decision regarding the Aventage 3040.

I listen to the system on average 5-hours every day. Constantly evaluating the sound, speaker placements and room layout while struggling with my auditory self-doubt. But here’s where it gets interesting, after 120-hours the Aventage 3040 began to come to life.

The 3040 began to develop a presence of voice, a smooth richness of tone, and a 3-dimenisional depth of stage, with movie sound effects filling the room and the low frequency effects now tight and clear.

The Aventage 3040 was “breaking-in” and the sound quality was improving, musical performances, movie sound tracks and even cable telecasts were developing a pleasant and pleasing tonal quality. My obsession to constantly evaluate the sound quality and speaker layout ceased, I actually began to enjoy the system.

Expanding upon my voicing comments, I want to point-out that the Yamaha 3040 needs a substantial amount of run-in (break-in) time to sound its best; as much as 200 hours. As my playing time accumulated, traces of leanness and austerity gradually resolved, enabling the 3040 to reveal a rich, smooth, and full-bodied persona.

My system consists of Time Windows, Def-tech 8040 center channel, Paradigm 12″ subwoofer and Fluance XL series bi-pole surrounds with the system configured for 11. 1 with the Time Windows (front left/right) driven by an Onkyo M282 amplifier, a Samsung Series 8 LED flat panel and blu-ray player (which will soon be replaced by an Oppo 105 blu-ray player).

I have estimated that the total system is capable of producing 1. 65 kilowatts. yep, the eighborhood’s lights dim when we watch movies. So in closing, please understand that higher-end equipment like the Advantage 3040 requires at least 100-200 hours of run-in/break-in time to develop its’ voice.

I can highly recommend this system. I will follow-up with future recommendations. I am still learning the idiosyncrasies of the Advantage 3040 and how best to utilize its features, interpret the owner’s manual and which sound programs work best.

Until then, Charles Haase.

I replaced an RX-Z9 with the RX-A3040 since the Z9 began intermittently dropping the left front channel. I think the 3040 is much more musical than the Z9, and reminds me of my RX-V2090, which I thought was one of the more musical Yamaha AV receivers I’ve owned.

I always thought the Z9 sounded a little muddy no matter what the program selection, i. e. DSP, 2 CH, 9 CH, etc. I also own an RX-V4600, and find it more musical than the Z9, but not nearly as nice as the 3040.

Well done! When I first powered up the unit and turned up the volume, I got nothing other than background noise/static. I was more than a little freaked!! Then, it occurred to me that I might need to run AUTO SETUP using YPAO to initialize the amps.

That worked. Second problem was that I could not log into SiriusXM via wired cat5 network to router connection. I recalled an on screen message saying an update was available, so I ran the update. I could then log into SiriusXM.

Home Theater: I find the receiver front panel displays useful in terms of operational information and control. I also like the bass management and DSP program options. The 3040 seems to deliver a better overall home theater experience/sound than the Z9, especially with bass.

In addition to Boston Acoustic presence, center, and surrounds, I’m running 4 Boston Acoustic VR975s with powered subs front and back, and the bass sounds full and deep on the 3040 for all program choices.

It can rattle the windows. I use the 3040 most often for HD Radio (24×7 classical on WERN HD2), which is the primary reason I selected the 3040 versus the 3050. My Z9 did not have the HD Radio feature.

Yamaha, please put put an HD Radio channel selector button on the front panel (i. e. MODE) of HD radio receivers versus having to use the remote? This is annoying to me. Another minor problem I’ve run into involves the optical output on the AV Out section.

The RCA out jacks ALWAYS send audio to connected devices, but the optical out does not, and I can’t figure out what the pattern or rule is. User manual didn’t help. I’ve contacted Yamaha support via email.

For example, when listening to HD Radio, the optical out does NOT send output through the optical out connector but DOES through the RCA jacks. However, when I switch the source to my Motorola cable box (optical input connection on AV4 in), it does send audio out through both the AV Out optical and RCA jacks.

Confusing. I like the network radio feature and, once past the SiriusXM login snafu, I find that I use this feature second most to HD Radio. I also appreciate the fact that I do NOT need to login into SiriusXM every time I use this source as the receiver “remembers” my credentials and automatically connects.

Very user friendly. Since I listen to classical music most often, for both HD Radio and Network material, I very much appreciate the DSP program/sound options, i. e. church, music hall, etc. Especially useful when listening to pipe organ music.

Here is another area where the bass management/output capabilities of the receiver shine. I also have a Marantz SA8001 SACD player connected via both RCA and optical. It’s fun to switch the Marantz DAC (RCA connection) versus the Yamaha (optical connection).

Either way, the sound is amazing. Again, I think the 3040 is much more musical from an audiophile point of view than my Z9 was. I forgot how tuneful/musical the Boston Acoustic VR975s could be until mating them with the 3040.

The internal amps are sufficient for my needs using the Boston Acoustic speakers mentioned above. I have a large listening room and get a very full and loud sound running 9. 2 without having to crank up the volume much past half to three-quarter volume.

And at that level, I usually here from the wife pretty shortly, i. e. “Does it have to be that loud?” Our house if about 2800 square feet on four levels and I can hear the receiver clearly when at 3/4 volume.

Plus, the sound remains clear and undistorted when cranked up. I use the zone 2 feature to route fixed audio output to a second powered system on the sun room attached to my listening room. I love the zone 2 feature and the audio distribution options available with this and other Yamaha AV receivers.

In summary, I am 99. 9% happy with the RX-A3040. I think it’s a great AV receiver value at list, but I purchased mine at more than 30% off. Since I use HD Radio most of the time, I would really appreciate a MODE selector button on the receiver front panel.

Last word is that I am very pleased with the musicality of the 3040 versus the Z9. The 3040 equits itself admirably with 2 channel audio receivers or separate preamp/power amp combos. I’m sure it would be an outstanding preamp if used in this configuration.

Highly recommended.

The product is well built and has plenty of power works really well for movies. I want a product for both music and movies. The 2 channel selection is lacking there is no way to fine tune the sound. I am a tone chaser and like to dail in the sound by way of an equalizer which you do not have in 2 channel mode.

I replaced a high end 135 watt Onkyo due to some problems that they have now fixed. The Onkyo was better for 2 channel sound. I am running SVS subwoofer and the bass is lacking with this unit. It is there but not like the Onkyo.

I am going to eventually try a second SVS sub. Still a good product for what is out there. Yamaha has always been good for what I need but this needs a little fine tuning to be great.