Best HDMI 2.1 4K+ HDR AVR (Audio Video Receivers) for Consoles [2020]

INTERESTING. Now the question is, how to swap my current Denon AVR with something like this without the other half noticing. Suggestions very much welcome!!

 

Tell him it's one half of the PS5 Feking Huge Edition.

 

I would probably have to find someone to wire up some ceiling speakers to get Atmos going.

Not sure if it's worth it though.

 

I have read some positive experience with the Dolby Atmos virtualization (heighten sound effects without real speakers). The higher priced Yamaha also got this in place. Marantz and Denon have had it for quite some time. I have an older Yamaha Aventage without it, so looking forward to test it buying a new AVR. I have read that for some people real height speakers can take to much attention to the heightened sound. The virtual effect reduce this impact. Here is a review of a Marantz to read with this in focus.

https://hometheaterreview.com/marantz-sr6014-92-channel-av-receiver-reviewed/

 

Sorry but that's just a matter of bad calibration. Height speakers should not 'detract' from anything, and if they do then there is something seriously wrong with the setup. I have 4 height speakers and they are simply off most of the time. During Atmos movies (or the very few times when I'm watching a non-Atmos movie and I turn on the 'upscaling' Dolby Surround mode), then they do what they need to do. If anything, I would love to have more height effects, as so far I feel that my top channels are very much underutilised.

 

Just say the HDMI board died ... like they frequently do on Denon AVRs. Mine included.

 

Never had that happen on a Denon but had it happen on ALL my old Onkyo's that I once had and passed down to parents and sister when I upgraded. It was at least 6 units.

 

Nice. keep these coming!

 

Just be happy for that. The replacement board mysteriously cost about the same as a whole new amplifier.

 

For Onkyo it was the same, but had a wait time of at least 6 to 8 months. That's when I said F Onkyo and switched over to Denon. Now I have 3 of them to support between mine, parents, and sisters.

Fortunately for parents and sisters they can get by with the normal ARC for streamig services (TCL Roku based TVs) and even their bluray players.

I'm still needing to update mine for latest and greatest 4K HDR HDMI 2.1 but I still have some time because I still run on a 1080p Plasma set.

Any particular Denon years or models that are prone to have hdmi board issues? Are their newer avrs any better?

Are Yamaha models the better brand now?

 

I’ll look into it.

Most of the content I watch are not Atmos. But I’m guessing most Atmos receivers will take content with 5.1 or even 2 channels and synthesize multichannel effects.

I was also considering an Atmos soundbar, even though I have nice 5.1 speakers, mainly because of the slow rollout of HDMI 2.1 but a lot of gear have e-ARC.

 

After reading on reliability on AVR's through the years, it seems that the Yamaha's are among the best, but I guess that can change in a flash with new models coming out. I prefer to put a little extra money up front and get the higher end Yamaha Aventage series because they shall be built with higher quality internals. Another alternative is to buy Marantz as a higher quality sibling of Denon. If it helps? I do not know, but makes me feel safer

 

Take a picture of the current AVR. Print it out in high quality at a professional shop. Place picture in front of new AVR. Done!

Regards,
SB

 

From whats said on AVS it seems like the 2020 Denons run extremely hot and require 4 inches of open space for air circulation. That is how my older Onkyos operated. And they all killed their HDMI control boards. I would be very concerned with any AVR that ran that hot, to the point of never buying ones like that again.

Also see a lot of reports of hdmi handshaking issues on different AVRs, needing a minute or more before signals sync or requiring a dance of power cycling components in specific orders.

Whats going in here? Did all the good engineers retire or were replaced with the fired ones from Onkyo?

 

Buy the new AVR and a sign with "High Voltage" like this.

Put the sign in front of the new AVR. Drill some small holes in the sign until the remote signals reach trough. Tell your better half that you got a call from the company that there has been some accidents where people got killed by touching the AVR.

 

Wtf? That is concerning. What if you in addition put a hot console on top?....hmmm. I will follow that information for the new Yamaha series. I have mounted a 120 mm silent PC fan behind my AVR so hopefully this will be sufficient for the new one if this is a widespread problem.

 

I have an Onkyo TX-NR3007 that I bought 2009 and the HDMI board broke just after warranty expired. Fortunately they did replace it witout cost, and it's been working faultlessly ever since. At that time it was a very common problem with Onkyo A/V receivers, I guess it was because lead had been banned in solders just around then and solderings were more prone to fail.
It's 10 years old now, and I'm tempted to replace with an Atmos capable HDMI 2.1 receiver.

 

Onkyo seems to be dying as they gave up US distribution. They bought Pioneer's AV business some years ago and since then that platform wasn't really developed anymore either. That is a real shame.

Back then I decided for a Pioneer AV because it used a digital amp which is far more economical than all these old analog amps Denon's base platform still seems to use. My pioneer never really got hot for instance. BTW, Marantz is a Denon label if you didn't know.

So this awful market situation doesn't leave you that much options anymore.

 

So are you saying the height speakers haven’t been worth the money you spent?

Or maybe even those wedge shaped Atmos speakers which they put on front L and R speakers would suffice without the hassle and expense of installing ceiling speakers?

 

You could say that. And that’s why I’ve been waiting for and nagging about Sony to support Atmos in games, or even on Netflix, as up to this point I only ever got it via UHD Blurays, which is a rare occasion.