AV Receivers

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Mark Craven  |  Oct 10, 2019  |  0 comments
hcc_recommendedBy now we shouldn't be astonished by the lengthy spec lists of affordable AVRs, but this Pioneer still elicits a double-take. In bang-for-buck terms, the £440 VSX-934 seems irresistible...
Steve May  |  Nov 12, 2014  |  0 comments
Primare, purveyor of high-end AV and hi-fi, isn't a noted follower of fashion. Its stock in trade is immaculately built and designed components for the connoisseur. While this philosophy has a natural affinity with two-channel hi-fi, it’s a less easy fit with AV, where features and functions are typically stacked higher than Godzilla’s galoshes. 
Ed Selley  |  Dec 29, 2010  |  0 comments
Sonic compromise Samsung's not usually an audio big hitter. Danny Philips wonders if the Koreans are spreading their AV dominion a little thinly with this budget amp

Samsung isn’t known for its AV receivers, but that hasn’t stopped the Korean behemoth having a stab with this affordable 5.1-channel effort. It doesn’t have the reputation to rival audio luminaries like Onkyo, Yamaha and Denon, but the HW-C500 may attract owners of other Samsung kit who like their system’s collars and cuffs to match.

Steve May  |  Oct 26, 2012  |  0 comments

The STR-DA5700ES is an important product for Sony’s home entertainment division. Not only does it represent a concerted effort to retake ground lost at the upper end of the AV market, it comes with refinements that we’ve not seen before, and some bold new ideas. This is Sony reinventing home theatre for the network era.

Steve May  |  Aug 08, 2013  |  0 comments

The STR-DA5800ES is an AV receiver unlike any other. With it Sony has avoided the obvious – there’s no AirPlay or Bluetooth streaming – but pushed the envelope when it comes to leading-edge signal processing and usability. It’s remarkably forgiving of your living space but offers uncompromised audio quality. For many AV enthusiasts this will sound like very good news indeed.

Richard Stevenson  |  Jul 10, 2013  |  0 comments

Sitting in the shadow of Yamaha’s flagship Aventage receiver, the £1,500 RX-A2020 is a big and hefty lump of AVR goodness. The range build and cosmetics are superb, even if there is a serious hint of Harman Kardon about that full-width black Perspex screen, and the display is bold, bright and large enough to see from the other side of the room – even if you live in a sports hall. The rest of the fascia is pleasingly minimalistic and the sculptured knobs, different sizes at that, have a cool and solid feel to them.

Steve May  |  Jul 22, 2015  |  0 comments

It’s easy to forget that Yamaha effectively invented the home cinema receiver market. When screens were square and multichannel audio was young and frisky, it pioneered with monster AV receivers that became things of legend. Back then, DSP was Definitely Something Profound, and Yamaha wrote the rulebook on soundfield design.

Steve May  |  Jul 02, 2012  |  0 comments

The Aventage range represents the current high-end in AVR design from Yamaha. Combining bomb-proof build quality with brilliant DSP, they are arguably the most exciting new home theatre arrivals from the brand since the launch of the outrageously over-specified RX-Z11 THX battle-cruiser back in 2008.

Mark Craven  |  Oct 19, 2022  |  0 comments
hccbestbuybadgev3Mark Craven samples the expansive sound – and specification – of an upper-tier nine-channel AV receiver

As part of Yamaha's flagship Aventage receiver lineup, the RX-A6A promises to put everything the storied audio brand knows about movie sound into one, feature-packed box. Priced £2,000, this is a big brooding beast of an AVR, and it has the performance to match – film and music playback is never less than enthralling. Ask me where it comes up short, and I'd have to give a shrug.

Martin Pipe  |  May 26, 2013  |  0 comments

Occupying the lowest rung of Yamaha's elite 'Aventage' range, the RX-A820 is a versatile beast with DSPs galore (an area where Yamaha has a rich history), a claimed 7 x 130W of amplification at your disposal and no fewer than eight HDMI ports. With its £850 price tag it's aimed at those who want something more than just a basic AVR.

Ed Selley  |  Feb 14, 2011  |  0 comments
An amp for life? Jim Hill finally finds a future-proofed AV receiver with the right number of HDMI inputs to suit high-end cinema and music needs

I’m weary of annually having to upgrade my AV receiver each time the HDMI standard changes, and gaining one more HDMI input with each new model. Why don’t the manufacturers understand that all AV sources use HDMI and, at this end of the market, accept we’re likely to need more than four?

Ed Selley  |  Dec 29, 2010  |  0 comments
Setting the scene Yamaha's latest lower mid-range AV receiver is sensibly-featured and delivers the goods from movies, says Martin Pipe, but lacks grunt

The 7.1-capable RX-V567 from Yamaha – a company that has played a pivotal role in popularising home cinema – is not the most affordable model in its line-up, but at £400 still looks like a bit of a bargain. The problem is, almost every other AV brand is aggressively targeting this end of the market, so does it do enough to stand out?

Adrian Justins  |  Sep 25, 2014  |  0 comments

The £500 AVR market is more competitive than the final stages of The Great British Bake-Off. These days, it’s no good simply offering multichannel decoding and amplification with the odd DSP mode and a raft of HDMI sockets. No: you have to spread the love and get your AVR to cosy up to all the other technological toys that are stuffed with entertainment content, including smartphones and servers. And the best way to do that is sans wires.

Ed Selley  |  Jun 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Chill-axing with a party animal Yamaha's top-of-the-range 3D-capable receiver has a musical heart. Steve May throws up some devil horns

The RX-V3067 is a deceptively polite flag-bearer for Yamaha’s latest generation of AVRs. It sits at the top of the brand’s 3D-capable range, but it’s an unassuming hero and certainly doesn’t cast the same shadow as its Z11 and Z7 forebears.

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