Featured A/V Receiver Reviews

Today we're looking at the new Sony STR-DA3700ES Receiver. We're actually pretty excited about this one because we got to see it up close and personal at this year's CEDIA event in Indianapolis. What's the big deal? Well, Sony has completely redesigned the GUI on-screen display and setup system. They haven't just redesigned the setup menu, they've took an axe to the whole way you connect and engage music, video and streaming media. In all honesty, we had to restrain ourselves from lifting up the receiver to look for an Apple logo. Sony is back in the game, except that they never really left, they just haven't been pushing the envelop over the past several years. Now other manufacturers are going to have to sit up and take notice.

AudioControl announced the launch of their new Concert AVR-4 HD Home Theater Receiver. The Concert AVR-4 HD is said to fill a gap in the market for an audiophile quality receiver, at a great price, that does not compromise on the quality of its components, delivering a stunning movie experience rich in top tier audiophile sound quality and video performance. With a high efficient Class H 120wpc x 7 (all channels driven) amplifier design, the AVR-4 HD seems like it will deliver oodles of power for upscale home theaters while remaining cool in operation making it an ideal choice for rack mounting. The AVR-4 HD supports all the latest in HD audio and video decoding including 3D video pass-thru. We look forward to learning more about the new AVR-4 HD Home Theater Receiver from AudioControl when info becomes available.

Yamaha has once again put forth a solid offering in the highly competitive $1k price category with their new RX-A1010 Aventage 7.1 Channel Networking A/V receiver. The performance and feature set of the RX-A1010 should make Yamaha and its owners proud of this middle child A/V receiver. Over the last couple of years, Yamaha has been paying close attention to reviewer and customer feedback on their receivers as evident by the improved sound and build quality that birthed the Aventage lineup. Take time to set this baby up the right way, feed it a good speaker system, and you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. Don’t doubt for a minute that you can’t have a good two-channel and multi-channel experience with the RX-A1010 because I found it to be quite a musical receiver too. At this price point you have a lot of options from competitor products but the Yamaha RX-A1010 should be at the top of the list for your consideration especially if you want to take advantage of all of the latest networking streaming music options. Highly recommended!

Near as we can tell, the audiophiles took over the design department at Marantz and now their new line of receivers looks very much like their reference line of 2-channel products. And, quite frankly, it's really awesome. This is a great receiver for a number of reasons. The first thing you notice about the SR5006 is that the huge LCD display that seems ever-present on all brands of AV receivers has been replaced by a minimalist round display. For under $800, the SR5006 offers power, inputs, and network streaming that go far above and beyond what we'd expect. On top of that it's rugged and looks totally audiophile - in a way that no one else does right now. This is a receiver that stands out in the crowd - and that's been very hard to come by in an age of nearly identical-looking black boxes.

The Limited Edition PM-15S2 may have very few substantive improvements over the standard PM-15S2 Integrated Amplifier other than the switch to a black chassis and an upgraded power supply, but Marantz did it without raising the price. If you were thinking of investing in a PM-15S2 and the color was holding you back, rejoice. For the rest of us, we now have two top tier Marantz products to drool over.

If the Marantaz PM6004 sounds like an Integrated Amplifier built for the high end crowd; it does to us as well. Until you get a look at the price. At $600 MSRP, the PM6004 is well within the reach of the masses. This is high end quality at big box prices. If you've always dreamed of a two channel listening setup, you may have just had your prayers answered. We're really looking forward to getting the PM6004 on our test bench to see what it can do.

Frankly, we weren't going to write about the Integra DTR-70.3 receiver. We already wrote about the DTR-80.3 which is the new flagship of the Integra line. What could the DTR-70.3 have to offer other than less features for less money? How about the same features for less money! We had to look hard to find the differences between the two receivers and we're guessing that you'll take the $700 savings over an extra optical input and a better power supply solution.

This may be a short preview, largely because not too much is known, but Universal Remote Control debuted its upcoming TSP-2000 9.2-channel surround receiver . The receiver feature 125 watts per channel for each of its 7 channels of amplification and is slated to be THX certified according to literature displayed with the receiver. The receiver has a Decidedly "Denon-eque" look on the back in terms of its layout, but URC stated that while they explored various partners, this final design is their own development, directed to meet the specific needs of integration with the Universal Total Control line of products. For starters, the receiver features an Ethernet port - not so that you can stream media through it (for that URC has the SNP-1 Streaming Network Player) - but so that this Network Home Theater Processor can be integrated flawlessly into URC's network of Total Control solutions. It's a brilliant move. Instead of relying on their growing database of control codes for everyone else's products, now custom installers can use a complete solution in-house that is built to work flawlessly as a whole system.

The Integra DTR-80.3 receiver has everything the DHC-80.3 processor claims plus 20 lbs of amps. At 145 watts per channel, this THX Ultra2+ certified 9.2 channel receiver has nearly every feature available today including top of the line Audyssey room correction (MultEQ XT32), DTS Neo:X processing, 4K upscaling with ISFccc calibration, a host of custom installer features, and lots more. While the price tag isn't for the faint of heart, it isn't some outrageous number that only the uber-rich could possibly afford. At only $400 over the price of the processor, this is a receiver that should be turning many heads.