2013 Budget AV Receiver Comparison: The Best AVR for $500?

original publish date: July 14, 2013

$500 is a good chunk of change; you could use that dough to purchase roughly 2400 BIC Cristal Pens from Amazon, or alternatively splurge on a foot or two of your favorite snake oil infused speaker cable. But just how far does $500 go in the world of A/V receivers in 2013? As it turns out, you can get quite a lot for your investment with a bit of careful shopping. Which receiver is right for you will depend on your specific needs and wants, but with this comparison we aim to help you find the perfect fit.

At the $500 price point, there are some definite themes in play across all the brands we looked at. For starters, every receiver here is network capable and DLNA v1.5 certified. They all feature a USB interface so you can hook up your iPods and other such compatible players. Since this is 2013, you can also be assured that all of the competitors we looked at are 3D compatible and boast a control app for iOS and Android devices. Considering you couldn’t get most of these features for twice the price five years ago, we’d call that serious progress. Still, as one might gather, there is some differentiation among the brands. Actually, there is quite a bit of difference between these offers, and with that statement, we present to you our handy dandy chart:

Our Favorites...In No Particular Order

Sony STR-DN840

Upgrade to the STR-DN1040 at $499 sale price

Want a 7.2 receiver with built in WiFi and Bluetooth, 4K pass through, and a host of other features for less than $500? The Sony STR-DN840 has you covered. In fact, it's the only receiver in the list that has built in WiFi and Bluetooth. There are, of course, a few other details worth noting as well. For starters, the Sony doesn’t feature any outputs for Zone 2. If you need that capability, we’d suggest looking out of Sony's lineup all together because we aren’t overawed with the implementation in the step up (STR-DN1040: $599) either (though that model does feature a nicer GUI and 4K upscaling among other things). Legacy connections are also cut down to a fairly minimal compliment; if you need component video inputs or more than a pair of composite video inputs, this isn’t the receiver for you. The final little detail about the STR-DN840 is that Sony’s power rating is a bit inflated by specifying output into a 6 ohm load instead of the standard 8 ohm load everyone else uses. Of course, 95W into a 6 ohm load still equates to 71.25W into 8 ohms if you hold voltage constant, which is still quite competitive in this class. Those details aside, the Sony packs in a very impressive feature set for $50 less than our mark, which makes it a solid value in our books. Especially in this price range where features really sell the receiver.

Sony STR-DN840

Pioneer VSX-1023-K 

View entire 2013 lineup

The Pioneer VSX-1023-K gets basically everything right. You get 7.1 channels, 4K pass through, and Pioneer’s MCACC room correction system right at the $500 mark. The Pioneer also gives a small boost over Sony in terms of legacy connections courtesy of a  component video input/output. Last but not least, it also adds one other feature we haven’t talked about yet, Mobile High-Definition Link, or MHL for short. Via an HDMI port on the front panel, you can watch videos from a mobile device on your A/V system, which is a pretty neat trick. The only thing missing here is wireless, though this can be fixed with the purchase of a wireless bridge. However, the additional associated cost means you’re spending a fair bit more than the $450 to buy the Sony STR-DN840; whether a powered zone 2 and MHL is worth that money is a question users have to decide.

Pioneer VSX-1023-K

Yamaha RX-V575 

View entire 2013 lineup

Like the Pioneer, the Yamaha RX-V575 pretty much has all the bases covered including 7.2 channels of audio, MHL (though the associated HDMI input is located inconveniently on the rear panel),Yamaha’s proprietary YPAO room correction system, and a strong (if not potentially excessive) compliment of legacy connections. Yamaha also offers optional WiFi and Bluetooth adapters to supplement the built in LAN port, which nicely rounds out the package. We’re also of the opinion that Yamaha’s control app is among the best of the breed, which is nice for iDevice and Android users. Of course, all of this comes at a small premium: the RX-V575’s base MSRP is $550, which is $50 over the similarly well featured Pioneer (which primarily lacks the plethora of legacy connections), and $100 over the Sony which delivers built in wireless connectivity (though the Sony does lack a few of the Yamaha’s features in return). But, don't expect to pay the MSRP. Street price is $499. Overall, this is a fantastic receiver for those that want basically all of the goodies modern technology can offer while retaining strong backwards compatibility.

Yamaha RX-V575 

The Rest Of The Bunch

Although these receivers didn't quite make it in our "favorites", excepting the unknown quality of Harman Kardon's new switch mode power supplies, none of them would really qualify as losers. Offerings from Denon and Onkyo offer ostensibly identical power output and their own mix of features to help differentiate them from the crowd. The Marantz NR1504 struggles with power a bit, but makes up for it with a slim form factor and pre-outs for the main channels.

Denon AVR-X1000

View X1000 and X2000 overview

View X3000 and X4000 overview

So what do we have against a receiver as nice as the Denon AVR-X1000? On the plus side, it’s got Audyssey MultEQ XT, which represents a step up from offerings from Onkyo and Marantz, and comes with a 3 year warranty. In addition, like its big brother the AVR-X4000, the AVR-X1000 can also perform the neat trick of listening to network audio sources while watching any video source. On the downside, it’s “only” 5.1, isn’t compatible with 4K, and has no provisions for wireless networking (other than adding a generic wireless bridge). And of course as seems to be a recurring theme, legacy inputs are fairly sparse. However, we do like the front mounted HDMI input and Denon's mobile app is pretty slick.

Denon AVR-X1000

Onkyo TX-NR525

There’s a lot to like about Onkyo’s TX-NR525: this is the only option here that will give you 4K pass through, optional WiFi and Bluetooth, and Audyssey MultEQ. Unfortunately, you’re still stuck with 5.2 and power that’s more liberally rated than the Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, and Yamaha offerings, as well as the only receiver here that isn’t compatible with AirPlay. On the upside, you do get a good compliment of legacy connections (5 composite and 2 component inputs), which could be useful to some users (though in 2013 it seems a bit excessive). Frankly though, unless you absolutely want 4K pass through (which isn’t exactly critical at this juncture) or you happen to have a lot of legacy equipment, the Denon AVR-X1000 seems like a better option. If Audyssey isn't a must, all of our top picks (which all come with their own proprietary room correction algorithms) appear to offer more for the money.

Onkyo TX-NR525

Marantz NR1504

View 2013 Marantz NR series lineup

View 2013 Marantz SR series lineup

Some might argue that the Marantz should be up top in the winners circle, but the NR1504 ostensibly has the least power of all the receivers, boasts no 4K compatibility, no MHL, and is only 5.1. It is also shy on legacy connectivity; of course, that last bit is no big surprise given the shortage of space on the back panel. On the plus side, the Marantz is a half pint at a shade over 4” tall, features a respectable room correction algorithm (Audyssey’s MultEQ), and it’s the only receiver here to feature anything resembling pre-outs, albeit only 2.1 channels worth. We actually really like the NR1504, but there were just a few too many things against it for us to make it a top pick because we think many of the missing features are important to consumers. Of course, the fact that you use the pre-outs to hook up an Emotiva XPA-2 and a Funk Audio 18.0 for a high tech, top notch 2.1 system is pretty cool.

    

Marantz NR1504

Harman Kardon AVR-1710

On paper, the AVR-1710 is a winner: it leads in power, offers a second HDMI output and an MHL input (inconveniently located on the rear), supports 4K pass through, comes with Harman Kardon’s proprietary room correction system, and has a slim form factor that very nearly equals the Marantz. So why the heck is it down here at the bottom of the list? In short, the switch mode power supply (aka. SMPS) while the competitor units all feature traditional linear power supplies.  Suffice it to say, we’d like to test just how “high performance” they really are before going full bore on this unit.  We’re not saying it’s good or bad. We simply don’t know without testing it out, but it makes us nervous because switch mode power supplies can be noisy and difficult to implement properly. As a consumer looking for a basic receiver, we wouldn’t get too bent out of shape. If the AVR-1710 looks like it has the features and form factor you like, then go for it.

Harman Kardon AVR-1710

Conclusion

On the whole it appears that $500 is where things are getting fun in the receiver market. There is no shortage of choices and decisions to make. Before anybody gets too up in arms about our top 3 picks,  know that we don't dislike any of these receivers. Any consumer who simply needs an AVR that has HDMI inputs and can support a 5.1 system would likely be happy with any of the receivers on this list. It almost comes down to splitting hairs, and for us, the guiding question is, "What does a consumer looking to spend $500 on a receiver really want?" For the most part, the answer to that question is features.