AV Receivers

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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.

Richard Stevenson  |  Jul 18, 2012  |  0 comments

Fresh from scooping the industry equivalent of an Oscar for technical innovation at this year’s CES, Lexicon’s DD-8 power amplifier comes to the test bench flaunting the looks of a size-zero super-model – wistfully thin, lithe and lightweight, and sexily wrapped in cat-walk style designer clothes. Unlike most supermodels there is more than airspace between its rack-mountable ears, too. Using some clever proprietary amplifier technology, Lexicon’s DD-8 packs eight channels of 125W into that slimline chassis.

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.

Richard Stevenson  |  May 30, 2012  |  0 comments

If you own either of Denon’s flagship A1HD products, the AVR or the standalone processor, you might be feeling a little left out these days. While these high-end devices still pack a performance punch, their v1.3 HDMI jacks and lack of height/width processing has kept them very much a 2D product in a 3D world. Enter Denon’s 3D Edition Upgrade.

Danny Phillips  |  May 02, 2012  |  0 comments

The bigger brother of the TX-NR709 (reviewed in HCC 202), Onkyo’s TX-NR1009 boasts a bulkier frame, greater muscle and a fuller spec sheet – including a claimed 9 x 180W power output (into 6Ohms) and DTS Neo:X, the latest audio mode to deliver extra front height and width channels.

Ed Selley  |  Mar 13, 2012  |  0 comments
Easy-going AV Denon's AVR-1912 offers a smooth sound as well as its headline AirPlay functionality. But Danny Phillips doesn’t always like it that way

Apple’s nifty music streaming feature, AirPlay, is slowly finding its way onto more and more home cinema products, and Denon’s AVR-1912 is another one to add to the list. This makes it dead simple to play music from iPods, iPhones and iPads, but with DLNA-certified streaming and USB playback also on board the rest of your devices are in safe hands.Denon hasn’t dubbed this AVR the ‘Everyceiver’ for nothing.

Ed Selley  |  Jan 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Master of drama Richard Stevenson finds it hard to resist this 3D-capable, connection studded AVR, despite its chunky price. He wants to keep it forever...

Onkyo’s flagship TX-NR5009 receiver is so crammed full of goodies I really don’t know where to start. The big price ticket might put some off, but I reckon it’s spectacularly good value. It has all the high-end goodies, too, such as the massive toroidal transformer, separate power supply for A/V processing and a multi-layer chassis to reduce vibration.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 12, 2011  |  0 comments
A grand well spent Richard Stevenson revels in the sheer power and shower of features that make Denon’s latest receiver offering value for money

I must have been snoozing last year as I missed Denon’s AVR-3311 completely. That well specified £1,200 receiver forms the base on which the AVR-3312 is built, updated and refined. And it’s damn fine news for potential buyers that this year’s contender comes in £200 cheaper. Where the money has been saved is a mystery. The new kid gives little away to the old guard, boasting all its power and features, and adding more networking and HDMIs, AirPlay as standard and a new set-up wizard.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 12, 2011  |  0 comments
No lightweight… This slimline AVR re-imagines home cinema for the network age. Steve May hums The Times They Are a-Changin’…

Whether through luck or design, Marantz has created something rather special with the NR1602. Driven by a desire to innovate within the often stultifying constraints of hardcore AV, the company has taken the traditional hefty AVR form factor and chopped it in half. The result is a component with a good deal more va-va-voom than its peers.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 12, 2011  |  0 comments
Apple-tiser amp Richard Stevenson considers this receiver as Pioneer’s homage to Apple, and calls it the VSX-2021 Steve Jobs Signature Edition

Pioneer’s VSX-2021 is a receiver for the Apple generation. It’s all but intrinsically linked to the company’s wares with iPhone/iPad control Apps, dedicated music sharing for multiple iPods, remote control of the latest OS devices and full AirPlay integration. Even the user manual and set-up navigator are fully interactive iPad Apps. Okay, this £800 receiver can be operated with its own remote control and you can ignore the Apple-centric features, but that would be like buying a BMW and never using the iDrive. Even those VSX-2021 buyers with a penchant for Android devices (there is an app for that platform, too) might find themselves considering an iPad for its Pioneer-centric features alone.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 12, 2011  |  0 comments
Raw power, no frills Richard Stevenson auditions the wild child of audio visual receivers and finds that this non-conformist is a credit to the NAD lineage

NAD is not a brand to follow the masses. In fact, while the AVR herd are grazing on features and connecting to the milking machine of network integration, NAD receivers are more ‘free range’. The T757 goes a step further and is truly feral. What we have here is a significantly wallet-wrenching AV receiver that has thrown off what are considered basic features on even budget models costing one-fifth of the price. Instead, this chunky beast concentrates on sonic performance, delivering your speakers an ultra- clean analogue signal designed to make your ears love you. I would even go so far as to say that its dark grey exterior and clean lines make it the best-looking NAD receiver yet, too.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 12, 2011  |  0 comments
Luxury for less Adrian Justins hunkers down in the suburbs with Onkyo’s latest mid-range networkable 7.1-channel receiver that punches far beyond its weight

Onkyo’s TX-NR709 ups the audiophile ante of the much-loved TX-NR609, and has a back panel busier than Oxford Street at Christmas. In come binding posts for all speaker terminals, bi-amping capability, 7.1 phono inputs and 7.2 pre-outs, which is strictly speaking 7.(1 x 2). You can hook up a grand total of 11 speakers, with the option to enjoy 7.1 sound at any one time through the usual 5.1 configuration, plus either surround back, front high or front wide expansion.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
A breath of fresh AVR hits the spot Richard Stevenson is bowled over by the entry-level model of Yamaha’s 25th anniversary amp line-up. How far does it punch beyond its price point?

There has been something of a dry spell for new AVRs of late. Months have passed without seeing one then, like buses, Yamaha launches the five-model strong RXV-x71 lineup all at once. To celebrate the 25 years since the launch of its Cinema DSP technology, Yamaha’s fledglings get some cutting edge features and obligatory eco-friendly credentials, too. While the flagship RX-V771 looks stunning on paper, I suspect this was a ruse by Yamaha just to tease us, because the RX-V471 turns out to be an absolute corker.

Ed Selley  |  Jul 15, 2011  |  0 comments
Future-proof hero Danny Phillips auditions the musically-endowed, super-featured AVR from the brand with a big reputation for value

very year, Onkyo’s home cinema hubs top the bestseller lists, appealing to punters looking for an amp that delivers maximum bang for their buck.

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