# Surround Sound Receiver



## jeffjunstrom (Aug 12, 2019)

Thanks to the recent lightning strike near my house, I'm in the market for a new receiver. My old Pioneer was fried, so I need to replace the old girl, and I'm looking for recs.

I'm looking for 1) a 7.2 channel receiver, 2) that has to have two zones, 3) is Bluetooth/WiFi/Smart Home compatible (though I'm pretty sure that's all of them now), 4) has a fairly easy setup (I'll be doing it myself by essentially unplugging and replugging from the old to the new) and user interface (the wife, who is less technologically savvy, will want/need to use this), and 5) is $700 +/- $100 or so.

For reference, we have a 5.1 setup in the living room, the cable box is run through the receiver and leads to an 82" Samsung, and we also have an outdoor Zone 2 with a basic outdoor speaker.

The guy who initially installed our system recommended the Yamaha Rx-V6a, but they are sold out everywhere. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated...


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## White94RX (Jan 23, 2021)

I've been pleased with our Integra. Has 3 zones, Dolby Atmos, all that jazz. This is in our home theater. The sky is the limit depending on your budget. I think for the upstairs living room it's a Sony. Just wanted the basics for 5.1 surround (I guess we're really only using 3.1). Haven't had any issues with it either.


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## PodScot (Mar 18, 2021)

I have a Yamaha tsr 700 which is identical as the v6a except tsr 700 is only available through Costco. Costco does show the tsr 700 in stock along with 2 other options, Denon and Onkyo. V6a typically sells for $600, Costco sells it for $399 with sales once in a while for $329. I'm happy with it, especially at the price paid.


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## PNW_George (May 28, 2018)

I would look at Denon with that budget. I have Denon Receivers and a Marantz AV Pre-Amp. Denon and Marantz have the same parent company.

In normal times you can find Denon from sellers at steep discounts, especially previous years models, but it seems inventory is scarce and discounts may not be as common.

Onkyo and Integra also have the same parent company which also now owns Pioneer. I owned an Onkyo pre-amp and had the well know HDMI/board failure 3 times. They may have fixed the issues but never again for me.

Anthem, Sony and Yamaha are worth looking at. I really like the Anthem STR stereo pre-amp I have.


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## jeffjunstrom (Aug 12, 2019)

PodScot said:


> I have a Yamaha tsr 700 which is identical as the v6a except tsr 700 is only available through Costco. Costco does show the tsr 700 in stock along with 2 other options, Denon and Onkyo. V6a typically sells for $600, Costco sells it for $399 with sales once in a while for $329. I'm happy with it, especially at the price paid.


So this is the route I took. Should be here tomorrow and hopefully I can get it up and running fairly quickly. Glad to hear you have a positive review; I read some iffy reviews but that price is hard to beat.


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## PodScot (Mar 18, 2021)

If you don't like it Costco returns are easy. Seems like the issues were from a while ago before all the updates. I did read something about some huge update coming out and some people may get new receivers. So far I've had zero issues. Most of the issues seem to be 4k related, which I'm not doing because our tv is too old. There's some good reading on avs, here's one thread. https://www.avsforum.com/threads/yamaha-tsr-700-7-2-channel-receiver-similar-to-rx-v6a-at-costco-instore-399-99.3170034/


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I have a Sonos setup that I love. I have the soundbar and the sub in the front, and then I have two wired speakers in the ceiling in the rear hooked up to a Connect amp. And several satellite units throughout the house. I can send sound from TV/Music/Apple Music/etc. to any or all of them separately or grouped.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

SCGrassMan said:


> I have a Sonos setup that I love. I have the soundbar and the sub in the front, and then I have two wired speakers in the ceiling in the rear hooked up to a Connect amp. And several satellite units throughout the house. I can send sound from TV/Music/Apple Music/etc. to any or all of them separately or grouped.


I put some Sonos stuff in our new house. I am by no means an audiophile, but it sounds fine to me and I appreciate how seamlessly their stuff works together.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Ware said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > I have a Sonos setup that I love. I have the soundbar and the sub in the front, and then I have two wired speakers in the ceiling in the rear hooked up to a Connect amp. And several satellite units throughout the house. I can send sound from TV/Music/Apple Music/etc. to any or all of them separately or grouped.
> ...


Absolutely. And I had a wired Onkyo 5.1 setup before, and this one is technically 3.1 I think but I'll be darned if I can hear a difference, and I'm a big video game and movie guy.

My only gripe with my setup is it's not HDMI, I have HDMI over Ethernet, and that contraption is limited to 60hz 4K- the Xbox one x supports 120hz.

Next house for sure will be HDMI.


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## Boy_meets_lawn (Sep 27, 2020)

So depending on what you are driving any of these AVRs don't have much power even with only 2 channels driven. I always buy a discounted AVR when the new models come out and consider them disposable as new hardware and video standards come out so frequently. I say buy the minimum AVR that has the features you want. Then when you have the budget buy a separate amp to drive your speakers.

If you have a universal remote then you can just program everything to work with macros and your wife should be easily able to use everything.


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