TOP 5 Surround Sound Receivers! Receivers for MUSIC and MOVIES (2021)

BEST SURROUND SOUND RECEIVERS of 2021

► KRISTI’S RECOMMENDATIONS - HOME THEATER RECEIVER 2021


► PRODUCTS SHOWN WITH OUR TOP 5 AV RECEIVERS

SPEAKERS
Sonus Faber Lumina II: dealer only

SUBWOOFER

TURNTABLES

SOURCES

OTHER

MOVIES - GAMING - MUSIC

► TOP 5 AV RECEIVER REVIEWS


► TOP 5 Surround Sound Receivers! Receivers for MUSIC and MOVIES (2021)

00:00 TOP 5 AV RECEIVERS - INTRO
00:45 ONKYO RECEIVER - TX-NR5100
02:23 MARANTZ RECEIVER - NR1711
04:08 DENON RECEIVER - X3700H
05:18 PIONEER ELITE VSX-LX305 RECEIVER
06:29 ONKYO TX-RZ50
08:47 KRISTI'S PICKS
16:15 SIGN OFF

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[andrewrobinsonreviews]

★ *QOTD: Did your favorites make the list? What would be in your top 5?*
★ *CLICK 🔝 “SHOW MORE” in the description for answers to many of your questions*
★ *RULES: Please be respectful. NO OUTSIDE LINKS, URLs, email addresses, etc.*

[psyphonyxaudio]

" ...Than Squirrel Turds "

My time spent watching until the end of this ..was definitely rewarded.

[jeffwinney]

Glad to see Pioneer getting back in the game. While I have been (and still am) a huge Onkyo receiver fan, I still have my Pioneer Elite M-91 amp from the 80s rocking. Thanks to this wonderful community for a great year. Hope you all stay healthy and warm. Special thanks to Kristi and Andrew for all their hard work. Have a very safe and happy new year. I'm hoping to grab some La Scalas in the spring. :)

[EverydayHiFiGuy]

I was fortunate to be able to get an Anthem MRX1140. I love it. Once dialed in, I feel that the marantz/denon/Yamaha flagships just can’t compete. It’s truly tragic that anthem doesn’t give you guys the respect you deserve and opportunity to review their products. They’re stuck in the past when it comes to their marketing tactics.

[kimhall]

The Yamaha V6A firmware is now updateable. Just updated mine and it now supports 8k/60 and 4k/120.

[TheEPICskwock]

I just picked up the onkyo tx-nr5100 and its amazing. I upgraded from a cheap $350 yamaha AVR that only supported 4K 60hz and 5.1 channel. It had no wifi, no dolby atmos, no ALLM, no VRR, no dolby vision, and couldn't support 4k 120hz. So for me this new onkyo is so amazing as it has all those features at only $499. One thing to note, if ARC isnt working for you, make sure you update the firmware of the AVR. It didnt work for me until I did that, now its perfect.

[Boxkerp]

My Denon 6700 isn't on this list, though it wasn't reviewed. However, the 3700 is on the list. So I guess that's a kind of a vote for the 6700. The Onkyo RZ 50 is enticing, but for some reason, I like the idea of having the option to do 9.1.4 or 7.1.6, thus my love for the 6700.

One question, shouldn't speaker impedance and receiver matching be described as difficulty "keeping up with" as opposed to driving? 4 ohms has less resistance than 8 ohms so it more or less "pulls" more power than 8 ohms. I like to think of it as a person walking 2 dogs vs 4 dogs.

Lastly, as I said many times in my post, I watch every video you guys release. Often, when I watch these videos, I mention to my wife how much I like the kid blowing the bubble artwork you guys have on your wall. Well, yesterday, under the tree, I found my own copy. I had no idea she was paying attention. She could care less about my hobby. If hadn't been for this channel, I would have never known that artwork existed. Thanks.

[TheKingpleb]

Could you do a 2023 version now maybe??
Pretty please 😉

[joshdekubber]

I just got my Anthem MRX1140 dialed in, Arc Genesis room correction/calibration is so great. It sounds so incredible I wouldn't trade it for anything. Also the combination of it with my Forte iv's and dual SVS SB 3000's is the perfect setup for me for music, movies and my daughters gaming.

[ralphgalbraith]

Which is better? Denon AVR-X3700H or the Onkyo TXRZ50 AV receiver?

[hawkeytown]

Thanks for all your reviews this year! I pre ordered an rz50 5 months ago and never received anything but a "sorry we don't know when we will get it". I ended up finding an in stock integra 5.4 and snapped it up. Its worth a couple hundered bucks just to actually have it in the grand scheme of things. So far its been excellent and sounds amazing, a lot of people are gonna love the rz50 when they can finally, at some point, get their hands on them. Dirac is hands down no question vastly better than any other built in room correction I've seen.

[davidparker]

We recently purchased the Pioneer given your review. The system is paired with 7 MK speakers plus MK sub serving a pretty large room 23' x 36'. After setup (Dirac), I can say we are totally satisfied with the listening experience.

[Strawbs]

I went with the Denon x4700 mainly because this year’s updated model was available before the x3700 …but what makes it worth every cent more than the x3700 is the stiffer chassis w\ drop down front panel, better quality components and bigger power supply, not to mention that Auro3D upmixer (wow!), which “IMHO” is better at channel separation\distribution than Dolby.

Guys, I’d love you to know what you think of it.

[rumporridge]

Running a Marantz 5014 with Klipsch 600M’s on the front end. Preamp’d to a Parasound A23+. Rest of the surrounds are run by Berhringer A800’s. Having all sorts of fun with this set up.

[tommysmallss]

My Yamaha RX-V6A did get a FW update recently that enabled several 'promised' features. I'm happy with mine.

[monijam]

I have the Denon x3700h ($1499) but would've been happy with either of the Onkyo RZ-50 ($1399) or the Pioneer LX505 ($1499). The Pioneer LX305 ($1199) is great but lacks the pre-amp outputs of the other receivers.

[dubdub]

Andrew, First, I really enjoy your videos! Most reviewers I've watched fall into one of two categories...hyper technical, or not technical at all. You're the only one I've found who provides the guy on the street with an easily digestible balance of information that eases both the learning and decision making processes we "consumer grade" users face as we build our systems. That said, I'm hoping you can solve a mystery that is currently driving me batstuff crazy. I recently began searching in the northern Virginia area for a home theater company that would do an "old school" 5.1 audio calibration of my audio system. I had a system calibrated by a MyerEmco sound engineer back in about 2002...he used a calibration microphone connected to a portable spectrum analyzer and he systematically output pink noise to each discreet channel using a DVD with 5.1 channel pink noise test tones. He then used the preamp's onboard 9-band graphic equalizer to get each channel as flat as possible. Back then I had a Pioneer Elite AV receiver, and even with the graphic EQ versus a DSP or parametric EQ he was able to achieve astonishing results. On to my problem...while I have found a couple companies in my area that still do this old-school calibration, all but one only perform the service for home theaters they have designed and installed. The one company that was (kinda) willing to do the calibration insisted I insert cheap DSP's via RCA connections between my preamp and amp claiming the onboard EQ was incapable of achieving the desired flat response. That sounded official and all until I researched the DSP's he recommended and learned that instead of the meager 9 bands my preamp EQ has, the DSP's have a whopping 10 bands. So...not sure why a 9 band solution is so completely inadequate but 10 is just fine? I suppose there may be more steps per band maybe which gives a bit more adjustment granularity, but I'm 60 and I doubt I could hear the difference between a 9 or 10 band result. Also, I don't want to ditch my balanced XLR preamp to amp interconnects for RCA cables! If you've read this far I appreciate it...I will now cough up my question...can you recommend a DIY kit or kluged together collection of gear and software that a residential consumer could use to recreate the calibration process I experienced 20 years ago...which appears to be a dead or dying species. I've researched software like SONARWorks (software and microphone) and similar, but their literature (that I've found so far) doesn't really spell out if it is designed to work with a 5.1 setup. Also, a 5.1 pink noise test DVD also seems to be on the endangered list...I'm aware of the AVIA and AVIA II disks, though again the product descriptions online have been diluted over the many years since their original release and I'm not convinced they have the pink noise tones needed to enable the flattening process (at like $85 a pop). My Marantz 8805A preamp appears to output pink noise for manual setting of channel levels, but I can't find anything in the manual that confirms it is full spectrum pink noise, or just a basic test tone to enable simple dB measurements only. if it helps, here's a quick description of my system as it stands today, a Sony Z9J 85" 8K tv, Marantz 8805A preamp, Parasound HALO A51 amp, REVEL C426Be center channel, four (4) Definitive MYTHOS STL Towers for front L/R and surround L/R, and an SVS PB16 sub. The Marantz onboard Audyssey self calibration makes the system sound like its trapped inside a 55 gallon drum or a refrigerator box. I've labored to tune the EQ by ear which is fine and sounds great don't get me wrong, but obviously the system would get much closer to reference if properly calibrated. I'm happy to put in the time and buy what is needed for a DIY project, but of the products out there at companies like Sweetwater and others, it's difficult to know what to buy, and I've really struggled to find 5.1 pink noise source tones. Like I said, batstuff crazy. In closing, literally ANY thoughts, suggestions, or guidance you might be willing to offer would be greatly appreciated! Beyond that, thanks again for all the great videos and I look forward to the next one. Regards and thanks.

[RyviusRan]

I tried out the Onkyo TX-NR6050 from Costco and ended up returning it and keeping my Yamaha TSR-700.
I found the Onkyo sounded more muffled with the mids bleeding into the lows and highs.
The Onkyo also had a worse sounding dolby surround upmixing compared to my TSR-700.
I even used the built in Onkyo Klipsch settings which were custom made by Klipsch for my speakers. I still preferred the clarity of my TSR-700 over the Onkyo -6050

[KristiWright]

Good morning, everyone! How's everyone's holiday going so far? I just want to say that we are so grateful to everyone who has helped donate to our fundraising effort to raise money for those impacted by the tornadoes a couple weeks ago. We're over $4000! Thank you all so much!

Andrew and I wish you all a very healthy and happy New Year!

[AZRob.]

FYI, just snagged my RZ50!! All you have to do is keep checking amazon multiple times throughout the day. But, you gotta be quick, they sell out fast!