Podcast #1227: Best AV Receivers for Newbies, Enthusiasts, and Fanatics

On this week's show we look at alternatives to YouTube TV for sports fans. We also look at AV Receivers for Home Theater Newbies, Enthusiasts, and Fanatics. And like always, we start with your emails and take a look at the week's news.

News;

• Ikea's new low-cost line is a huge win for Matter and your smart home
• Middle-Aged Viewers Power YouTube Long-Form Content
• Paramount+ announces next round of price increases
• YouTube TV Subscribers Increasingly Irate Over Disney Blackout

Other:

• LINOVISION POE Over Coax EOC Converter
• LINOVISION EOC Transmitter and Camera Outdoor Universal Mount Box
• NCIS promo
• Brady Darvin's first tattoo in honor of Morton Darvin to raise money for Veterans Legal Institute

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Best AV Receivers for Newbies, Enthusiasts, and Fanatics

It's getting close to Black Friday and you may want to upgrade your home theater system for the Holidays and you are wondering what AVR should I consider. Well the HT Guys have done the homework for you.

We breakout our picks in the following three categories: Home Theater Newbie (entry-level, under $600—simple setup, basic features), Home Theater Enthusiast (mid-range, $800–$2,000—balanced performance and expandability), and Home Theater Fanatic (high-end, $3,000+—audiophile-grade power and advanced processing).

To simplify we stuck with Denon. Although we have used AVRs from Onkyo, Sony, Marantz, Pioneer, and Yamaha in our theaters, we chose Denon because of their reliability, relative price/performance ratio, and excellent room calibration features.

Category

Pick

Price

Channels

Power (W/ch)

Home Theater Newbie

Denon AVR-S570BT

$449

5.2

70

Home Theater Enthusiast

Denon AVR-X3800H

$1799

9.4

105

Home Theater Fanatic

Denon AVR-A1H

$7199

15.4

150

Home Theater Newbie: Denon AVR-S570BT

If you're new to home theater or upgrading from a soundbar, this AVR keeps things simple but includes the key features. It supports 5.2 channels for basic surround sound and passes 4K video from your set top box or game consoles. Audyssey auto-calibration checks your room and adjusts the sound for you with minimal intervention by you. Users like its clear, balanced audio in small to medium rooms, so movie soundtracks are improved without complicated setup. The Denon AVR-S570BT has an Amazon rating of 4.3 stars out of 5 by over 1600 users.

Home Theater Enthusiast: Denon AVR-X3800H

Enthusiasts get a great mix of power and features with the X3800H's 9 amplified channels that include support for 5.2.4 Dolby Atmos. The upgraded Audyssey MultEQ XT32 fine-tunes the sound for your room, making bass and dialogue clearer and more powerful. You will notice an improvement over the Newbie System system in clarity and and it has more features including six HDMI 2.1 ports that support 8K and 4K at 120Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM. HEOS lets you stream music wirelessly from services like Spotify. It's also good for music, with support for high-resolution audio. One small downside: it's bulkier than slimmer models. It's ideal for expanding your system without breaking the bank. The Denon AVR-X3800H has an Amazon rating of 4.4 stars out of 5 by almost a 1000 users.

Home Theater Fanatic: Denon AVR-A1H

Audiophiles and home theater fans will love this top-of-the-line receiver. It handles up to 15.4 channels (powers 15 at once) for big setups like 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos or Auro-3D. It puts out 150 watts per channel with clean, powerful sound, using high-current amps and ESS Sabre DACs for high-res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. It includes advanced room calibration with optional Dirac Live or Audyssey, plus IMAX Enhanced for movie-theater quality. All seven HDMI inputs support 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 120Hz, and there are analog inputs for turntables. It's overkill for small rooms but will shine in a dedicated theater delivering realistic, immersive sound. Downsides: expensive and uses a lot of power. The Denon AVR-A1H has an Amazon rating of 5 stars out of 5 by 5 users.