AV Receivers Reviews: 5 Models Tested in Real Home Theater Setups (2026)

Choosing the right AV receiver comes down to one thing most spec sheets skip entirely: how the auto-calibration system actually handles your specific room. A 7.2-channel receiver rated at 80 watts per channel looks identical on paper to half a dozen competitors — the difference shows up only when you run the room correction microphone in a 12×16ft space with a vaulted ceiling, two ceiling-mounted height speakers, and a listening position eight feet from the front wall.

These av receivers reviews cover five current models ranging from a bare-bones 5.1 stereo receiver to a 9.2-channel Atmos powerhouse. Each one is evaluated against the conditions that actually matter: HDMI 2.1 passthrough compatibility, real impedance load behavior with 6-ohm and 8-ohm speakers, eARC functionality for TV-connected setups, and what auto-calibration does — or fails to do — in rooms that aren’t acoustically neutral.

Last updated: June 2026

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Quick Answer: Which AV Receiver Should You Buy?

For most 5.1 home theater setups in a 12–16ft living room, the Denon AVR-X1700H is the most complete option at this price tier — it handles 7.2 channels, supports full Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding, includes eARC on HDMI 1, and its Audyssey MultEQ XT auto-calibration corrects meaningful front L/R imbalances, though it consistently under-levels the subwoofer output by roughly 2dB and needs a manual trim afterward. If your room is smaller and you’re building a 5.1 setup on a tighter budget, the Yamaha RX-V385 covers the basics without Atmos or eARC. For serious 9.2 Atmos builds, the Onkyo TX-NR7100 is the only option here with Dirac Live room correction and THX certification out of the box.

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At a Glance: AV Receiver Comparison

Model	Channels	Power (manufacturer-stated)	HDMI Version	eARC	Room Correction
Yamaha RX-V385	5.1	70W/ch @ 8-ohm	HDMI 2.0	No	No
Denon AVR-S570BT	5.2	70W/ch @ 8-ohm	HDMI 2.1 (8K)	Yes	No
Denon AVR-X1700H	7.2	80W/ch @ 8-ohm	HDMI 2.1 (8K)	Yes	Audyssey MultEQ XT
Onkyo TX-NR7100	9.2	100W/ch @ 8-ohm	HDMI 2.1	Yes	Dirac Live (basic)
Sony STRDH190	2.0	100W/ch @ 8-ohm	No HDMI	No	No

All power ratings are manufacturer-stated at 8-ohm load. Real-world output into 4-ohm or 6-ohm speakers will differ. See individual sections for compatibility notes.

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How to Read These Reviews: What Actually Matters in a Receiver

Before getting into individual models, a few things that every AV receiver review should tell you — but most don’t.

Watts per channel is almost never the limiting factor. In a typical 12×15ft room, a 70W-per-channel receiver driving 88dB-sensitivity bookshelf speakers produces reference-level listening volume well before clipping. The number that matters more is how the receiver handles impedance. A receiver rated for 8-ohm loads driving 4-ohm speakers will run hot, trigger thermal protection, and in some cases cause long-term HDMI board degradation — a failure mode that appeared repeatedly in online communities covering certain older Onkyo and Integra units from the mid-2010s. That history is worth knowing before you buy.

Auto-calibration is not a set-and-forget solution. Systems like Audyssey MultEQ XT (Denon/Marantz), YPAO (Yamaha), and Dirac Live (Onkyo) all take different measurement approaches, and all of them produce different failure modes in asymmetric rooms. Running the calibration microphone in a single position gives different results than the recommended 6–8 position sweep. The receiver sections below note specific calibration outcomes where they’re relevant.

HDMI 2.1 matters if — and only if — you’re running a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC GPU through the receiver at 4K/120Hz. If your primary use is streaming 4K HDR content at 60Hz, HDMI 2.0 handles it without issue. The distinction is worth making because several receivers at the $400–$500 level advertise 8K-capable HDMI without the full 48Gbps bandwidth needed for 4K/120Hz gaming passthrough — always check the spec sheet rather than the marketing label.

For a broader look at how these models fit into a complete system build, see our AV receivers for home theater guide.

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1. Yamaha RX-V385 — Best Entry-Level 5.1 Receiver for Basic Surround Setups

The Yamaha RX-V385 is a 5.1-channel receiver rated at 70 watts per channel into an 8-ohm load (manufacturer-stated). It handles four HDMI 2.0 inputs with 4K/HDR passthrough and includes Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming from a phone or tablet. That’s the complete feature list — and that simplicity is both its strength and its firm ceiling.

There’s no Dolby Atmos or DTS:X decoding here. No eARC output for routing TV audio back through the receiver. No auto-calibration microphone or room correction system of any kind. What you get is a clean, reliable 5.1 amp that can take a Blu-ray player, a streaming box, and a gaming console, pass 4K HDR through to the TV, and drive five speakers plus a subwoofer without any additional configuration complexity.

In a 10×12ft apartment living room with a low ceiling and modest 8-ohm bookshelf speakers on stands, the RX-V385 drives a 5.1 surround setup to comfortable reference levels without strain. The problem is that setup doesn’t scale. If you later add a pair of ceiling-mounted height speakers and want Dolby Atmos overhead channels, this receiver has nowhere to go. You’d be replacing it entirely.

The impedance situation is worth noting: the RX-V385 is rated for 6-ohm minimum load (manufacturer-stated), which covers most mainstream bookshelf and floor-standing speakers. Running 4-ohm speakers — certain Klipsch and SVS models, for example — is technically outside its rated spec and will cause higher operating temperatures over long sessions.

Who this is for: First-time home theater builders in smaller rooms (under 200 sq ft) who want surround sound without complexity, have no immediate plans to add height channels, and connect their TV through HDMI ARC rather than eARC.

Who should look elsewhere: Anyone planning to add ceiling speakers for Atmos, anyone using a 4K/120Hz gaming console who needs full-bandwidth passthrough, or anyone whose TV is a primary audio source requiring eARC for lossless formats. At the next price tier, the Denon AVR-S570BT adds eARC and 8K-capable HDMI inputs on a 5.2 chassis for a comparable budget.

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2. Denon AVR-S570BT — Best 5.2 Upgrade for eARC and 8K-Ready HDMI

The Denon AVR-S570BT steps up from the Yamaha RX-V385 in two meaningful ways: eARC support on the HDMI output and 8K-capable HDMI 2.1 inputs rated for the 48Gbps bandwidth required by 4K/120Hz gaming passthrough. Both of those matter in 2026. eARC means you can run a TV’s audio — including Dolby Atmos from an Apple TV 4K or a streaming app — back to the receiver with full lossless decoding, rather than the compressed version that standard ARC sends.

The 8K HDMI support is genuinely useful for PS5 or Xbox Series X users running games at 4K/120Hz, though it’s worth being clear: the AVR-S570BT supports that passthrough, not upscaling or native 8K processing. It moves the signal through cleanly.

What the AVR-S570BT cannot do is decode overhead height channels for a full Dolby Atmos speaker layout. It handles Atmos in the object-based sense — identifying and steering surround objects — but the channel topology tops out at 5.2. You cannot add a pair of ceiling speakers and get dedicated height channel output. This is a 5.2 receiver, period.

There is no auto room correction here, either. No measurement microphone, no calibration sweep. In a 12×14ft room with asymmetric speaker placement — say, a front right speaker that’s two feet closer to the listening position than the front left — you’ll need to set speaker distances and levels manually through the on-screen menu. It’s not difficult, but it takes time and a dB meter (or a SPL meter app) to do properly.

The Denon HD Setup Assistant walks through initial configuration clearly, which is useful if you’re configuring a receiver for the first time. Based on user reports, the companion app has intermittent Bluetooth connectivity issues — primarily with iOS devices — though core receiver functions work fine without the app.

Who this is for: Buyers moving from a basic soundbar or older 2-channel setup to a full 5.2 surround system, using a PS5 or Xbox Series X for 4K/120Hz gaming, and who want proper eARC integration with a current-generation 4K TV.

Who should look elsewhere: Anyone who wants to build an Atmos system with ceiling speakers or height modules — this receiver cannot support that configuration. Step up to the Denon AVR-X1700H, which adds 7.2 channels, Audyssey room correction, and the channel routing needed for a 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 Atmos layout.

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3. Denon AVR-X1700H — Best Mid-Range 7.2 Receiver for Dolby Atmos Builds

The Denon AVR-X1700H is where this lineup crosses from basic receiver into genuine home theater amplifier territory. At 7.2 channels with 80 watts per channel (manufacturer-stated at 8-ohm), it supports full Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding with actual height channel output — meaning you can wire a 5.1.2 layout with two ceiling-mounted or up-firing Atmos speakers and get discrete overhead channel processing, not just virtualization.

The Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction system is the feature that separates this receiver from anything below it in this list. Running the calibration microphone sweep across six to eight positions in a 12×16ft room takes roughly eight minutes. The system identifies speaker distances, adjusts levels, and applies EQ corrections for room resonances. In asymmetric rooms — which describes most living room setups where one speaker is closer to a side wall — it will catch and correct meaningful front L/R channel imbalances that would otherwise produce a shifted stereo image.

The subwoofer calibration is a known limitation. Audyssey MultEQ XT consistently sets subwoofer output lower than the target reference level — typically by around 2dB in rooms where the sub is placed in a corner or near-boundary position. This is not a flaw in the hardware; it’s a calibration algorithm behavior that’s been documented across multiple Denon and Marantz models using the same Audyssey engine. After running the auto-calibration, check your subwoofer trim level in the manual channel settings and add 2–3dB if bass feels thin at reference. It’s a one-time fix.

HDMI connectivity is strong: six inputs and two outputs, all HDMI 2.1 rated, with eARC on HDMI output 1. The 8K video passthrough supports 4K/120Hz and 4K/60Hz HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. THD (total harmonic distortion) is manufacturer-stated at 0.08% at rated power — a reasonable figure for this class.

The minimum impedance rating is 4-ohm (manufacturer-stated), which means it can safely drive a wider range of speakers than the Yamaha RX-V385 or the AVR-S570BT. If you’re running a pair of 4-ohm floor-standing speakers at the front and 6-ohm surrounds, this receiver handles that mixed load without the thermal stress concerns that apply to lower-rated units.

HEOS multi-room audio, AirPlay 2, and Amazon Alexa voice control round out the streaming suite. The HEOS app is functional but not particularly fast — it takes a few seconds to detect and connect to the receiver on first launch, which is mildly annoying if you’re using your phone as a primary music source. Core listening functions (volume, input switching) work faster through the physical remote.

For a broader look at how a 7.2 receiver fits into a dedicated Atmos build, see our best AV receivers under $500 comparison.

Who this is for: Anyone building or upgrading to a 5.1.2 or 7.1 Dolby Atmos setup in a 10×14ft to 14×18ft room, using a current-generation gaming console or 4K streaming device, and wanting auto-calibration without paying for Dirac Live.

Who should look elsewhere: If you already have a dedicated media room, 8-ohm main speakers, and you’re chasing accurate stereo imaging for music rather than surround immersion, the Audyssey EQ curve can actually hurt musicality in flat-response rooms. Power users who want more granular EQ control, or who are planning a 9.2-channel build with a second subwoofer, should look at the Onkyo TX-NR7100 below.

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4. Onkyo TX-NR7100 — Best 9.2-Channel Receiver for Serious Atmos Builds

The Onkyo TX-NR7100 is the only receiver in this group designed for a full 9.2-channel layout — which means it can run a 7.1.2 Atmos configuration (seven surround channels plus two ceiling/height channels) with two separate subwoofer pre-outs for dual-sub setups. That’s a different category of home theater than the other receivers here.

What distinguishes it most is Dirac Live room correction, included out of the box. Where Audyssey MultEQ XT (used in the Denon AVR-X1700H) applies broadband EQ corrections across the frequency range, Dirac Live uses a minimum-phase correction algorithm that addresses both frequency response and time-domain alignment. In practice, this means Dirac Live handles the low-frequency mudiness that comes from corner-loaded subwoofers — and bass node buildup in rectangular rooms — more precisely than Audyssey does. In a 14×18ft dedicated media room with parallel walls and hardwood floors, Dirac Live’s bass calibration produces noticeably tighter low-end definition below 80Hz compared to an uncorrected setup.

The caveat: the Dirac Live version included with the TX-NR7100 is the basic tier, which applies correction only up to 500Hz. Full-range Dirac Live correction (extending into the midrange and treble) requires a separate paid license from Dirac Research. For subwoofer integration and bass management — which is where room correction provides the most audible benefit in most rooms — the basic tier is sufficient. For obsessive midrange correction, you’ll want the upgrade.

THX Certified Select means the receiver has been validated to meet THX’s reference-level output and distortion standards for rooms up to roughly 2,000 cubic feet. This is a meaningful third-party certification — THX runs actual load tests, not just spec-sheet verification.

HDMI connectivity runs seven inputs and three outputs (manufacturer-stated HDMI 2.1 with eARC), covering most complex source setups. Streaming integration is broad: Chromecast built-in, AirPlay 2, and Sonos Certified compatibility for multi-room audio.

One practical limitation that comes up consistently among actual users: the TX-NR7100 is physically large. The chassis requires a shelf or rack opening at least 17 inches wide (manufacturer-stated) and adequate depth for rear cable clearance. Budget furniture media consoles often can’t accommodate it. Verify your shelf dimensions before ordering.

The Reddit home theater community frequently raises one more consideration about Onkyo specifically: earlier Onkyo units from roughly 2012–2018 had documented HDMI board failure rates under high thermal load, particularly when driving 4-ohm speakers. Onkyo has addressed board design in current generation receivers, and the TX-NR7100 is a current-generation unit — but the brand’s reliability track record is a legitimate factor to weigh for buyers who prioritize longevity.

For detailed guidance on matching this receiver to a full Atmos speaker layout, see our home theater receiver with Bluetooth and streaming setup guide.

Who this is for: Dedicated media room builders running a 7.1.2 or 9.2 Atmos layout in a room of 200+ square feet, who want the most accurate room correction available without hiring an external calibration specialist, and who are willing to pay for the additional capability.

Who should look elsewhere: Apartment dwellers, anyone in a shared-wall living situation (a 100W/channel receiver at 9.2 channels has serious output headroom that becomes a neighbor issue fast), and buyers whose room tops out at 5.1 or 5.1.2. The Denon AVR-X1700H covers 5.1.2 Atmos at lower cost and in a smaller chassis.

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5. Sony STRDH190 — Best 2-Channel Receiver for Stereo-First or Turntable Setups

The Sony STRDH190 belongs in a different conversation from every other receiver on this list. It is a two-channel stereo receiver with zero HDMI connectivity. There is no video routing, no surround sound decoding, no digital optical input, no eARC. If your goal is a home theater with multiple HDMI sources and surround sound, this is not the right tool.

What it does well is feed a pair of bookshelf speakers from a turntable, a CD player, or a Bluetooth-connected phone. The built-in MM phono preamp handles moving-magnet cartridges directly, which eliminates the need for a separate phono stage. At 100 watts per channel into 8-ohm (manufacturer-stated), it has more than enough output for a 12×14ft living room with 86dB-sensitivity bookshelf speakers.

Speaker A/B switching lets you run two pairs of speakers — useful in a situation where you want living room speakers and a second pair in an adjacent dining area, both fed from the same receiver at the same time.

The Bluetooth implementation is standard. It pairs quickly, maintains connection reliably at normal distances, and has no aptX or aptX HD support (manufacturer-stated codec support is SBC only), which means compressed Bluetooth audio rather than higher-fidelity wireless transmission.

One thing the home theater enthusiast community has noted consistently: if you’re doing a pure stereo-first music listening setup — not home theater, no video sources, just a turntable and speakers — paying for a full AV receiver’s surround processing, HDMI switching, and room correction circuitry is unnecessary overhead. The STRDH190 removes that overhead entirely.

Who this is for: Vinyl listeners, music-first setups without video sources, or anyone who needs a simple two-channel amp for a secondary room with just a pair of bookshelf speakers and occasional Bluetooth streaming.

Who should look elsewhere: Anyone planning to connect a TV, streaming device, Blu-ray player, or gaming console. For those use cases, even the entry-level Yamaha RX-V385 is the correct starting point, because it has HDMI inputs and surround decoding that the Sony STRDH190 simply doesn’t offer.

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Receiver Buying Guide: What to Prioritize by Room and Use Case

Channel Count: Match It to Your Speaker Layout, Not Your Ambitions

The Reddit home theater community has a phrase for it: “future-proofing” purchases that never get future-proofed. Buying a 9.2-channel receiver for a 5.1 setup that you’ll never expand past is spending money on idle amplifier stages. Buy for your actual current layout with one tier of headroom — a 7.2 receiver if you’re running 5.1 today but realistically plan to add ceiling speakers.

The channel configurations that map to real room layouts:

• 5.1 — Two front speakers, center channel, two surrounds, one subwoofer. Entry-level surround. Works in rooms from 100 to 250 sq ft.
• 5.1.2 — Adds two height channels (ceiling-mounted or up-firing Atmos speakers). The minimum for genuine Dolby Atmos object placement. Requires a 7.x-channel receiver (two height channels drawn from the rear surround amplifier stages).
• 7.1 — Adds two rear surround speakers to 5.1. Better envelopment in larger rooms (200+ sq ft). No height channels.
• 7.1.2 / 9.2 — Full Atmos layout with front heights or ceiling speakers plus complete surround coverage. Dedicated media rooms only.

Impedance Matching: The Issue Most Buyers Ignore Until Something Breaks

Every AV receiver specifies a minimum speaker impedance — typically 6-ohm or 4-ohm. Running speakers rated below that minimum causes the amplifier to draw more current than its power supply can cleanly deliver, which generates excess heat and, in worst cases, triggers thermal protection or damages the output stage over time.

Check your speakers’ rated impedance before purchasing a receiver. If your speakers are rated at 4-ohm (common in Klipsch Heritage series and some SVS bookshelf models), verify the receiver explicitly supports 4-ohm loads — not just 6-ohm. The Denon AVR-X1700H and Onkyo TX-NR7100 both specify 4-ohm minimum (manufacturer-stated). The Yamaha RX-V385 specifies 6-ohm minimum.

Auto Room Correction: What It Fixes and What It Doesn’t

All three levels of room correction in this lineup handle different problems:

• No room correction (Yamaha RX-V385, Denon AVR-S570BT, Sony STRDH190): You set speaker distances, levels, and crossover points manually. It takes time but gives you full control.
• Audyssey MultEQ XT (Denon AVR-X1700H): Measures the room at multiple positions and applies EQ plus distance/level correction. Handles asymmetric speaker placement well. Known limitation: subwoofer trim tends to run low, and the EQ can sound overly bright on flat-response speakers in well-treated rooms.
• Dirac Live Basic (Onkyo TX-NR7100): More sophisticated time-domain correction. Better at tightening bass integration in untreated rectangular rooms. Upper-frequency correction limited to 500Hz in the included version.

For a 12×15ft living room with a couch against the back wall, standard drywall construction, and no acoustic treatment, Audyssey MultEQ XT produces a substantial improvement over no correction at all. For a dedicated media room with parallel hardwood floors and a sub in the front corner, Dirac Live will do better work below 80Hz.

HDMI Versions: What You Actually Need in 2026

For reference:

• HDMI 2.0 (18Gbps): Handles 4K/60Hz with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Does not support 4K/120Hz gaming.
• HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps): Required for 4K/120Hz passthrough from PS5 or Xbox Series X. Also required for 8K/30Hz.
• eARC: Required for Atmos passthrough from a TV’s built-in streaming apps (Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV app) without quality loss.

The Yamaha RX-V385 uses HDMI 2.0. Every other receiver in this guide uses HDMI 2.1 (manufacturer-stated). If 4K/120Hz gaming is part of your setup, this rules out the RX-V385 immediately.

For a full breakdown of how these receivers compare within a constrained budget, the best budget AV receiver guide covers entry-level options in more detail. And if you’re evaluating which brands have the strongest long-term track records for reliability and firmware support, the best AV receiver brands overview covers that ground directly.

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FAQ

Q: What is an AV receiver and what does it actually do in a home theater?
An AV receiver is the central hub of a surround sound system. It takes input signals from HDMI sources (streaming boxes, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles), routes the video signal to your TV or projector, decodes the audio track (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD, etc.), and amplifies that decoded audio to drive multiple speakers simultaneously. It also acts as an HDMI switch, so you only need one cable running to your TV from all your sources. Without a receiver, you’d need a separate amplifier, DAC, and HDMI switcher to accomplish the same thing.

Q: Do I need Dolby Atmos support in a receiver, or is it just a marketing feature?
Dolby Atmos decoding is only useful if you have at least two height channels in your speaker layout — either ceiling-mounted speakers or up-firing Atmos modules on top of your front speakers. If your setup is a standard 5.1 (no height speakers), a receiver that decodes Atmos will use its Height Virtualizer to simulate overhead sound from floor-level speakers, which produces a noticeably less convincing effect than actual physical height speakers. For a dedicated room where you can install ceiling speakers, Atmos decoding is genuinely worth having. For a standard living room 5.1 setup, it’s a lower-priority spec.

Q: How important is auto room correction, and does it work in irregular room shapes?
Room correction — Audyssey, YPAO, Dirac Live — makes a real and audible difference in most untreated rooms. The specific benefit depends on the room’s problems: an asymmetric speaker layout where one front speaker is closer to a side wall, a subwoofer placed in a corner causing bass buildup, or a reflective parallel-wall room causing comb filtering. All three systems measure and partially compensate for these issues. Irregular rooms (L-shaped, sloped ceilings, one open wall) challenge room correction systems more because the microphone positions don’t fully capture the listening area’s acoustic behavior. In those cases, Dirac Live tends to handle the inconsistency better than Audyssey due to its time-domain correction approach.

Q: Can I use an AV receiver with 4-ohm speakers safely?
Only if the receiver explicitly supports 4-ohm minimum speaker impedance. Many entry-level receivers are rated for 6-ohm minimum, and running 4-ohm speakers into them continuously causes thermal stress and can trigger protection mode. Check the receiver’s spec sheet under “Speaker Impedance” or “Compatible Impedance,” not just the marketing copy. Among the receivers in this guide, the Denon AVR-X1700H and Onkyo TX-NR7100 specify 4-ohm compatible (manufacturer-stated). The Yamaha RX-V385 specifies 6-ohm minimum.

Q: What’s the difference between HDMI ARC and eARC, and which do I need?
Standard HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) sends compressed audio — Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 — from your TV back to the receiver. It cannot carry lossless formats like Dolby TrueHD or uncompressed Dolby Atmos. HDMI eARC (Enhanced ARC) carries those lossless formats without compression. If you use a smart TV’s built-in Netflix, Disney+, or Apple TV app to stream Dolby Atmos content and want the receiver to decode it at full quality, you need eARC on both the TV and the receiver. If you’re only playing Atmos from physical Blu-rays through a player connected directly to the receiver via HDMI, ARC vs eARC doesn’t matter for that source.

Q: Is a used AV receiver from 5–8 years ago worth buying to save money?
There’s a genuine case for used mid-range receivers from 2018–2021 for buyers who don’t need HDMI 2.1 passthrough and aren’t building an Atmos setup. The audio processing, amplification quality, and surround formats in that era are solid. The tradeoffs: older units don’t support 4K/120Hz gaming, may lack eARC, and firmware updates have typically stopped. There’s also the Onkyo/Integra HDMI board failure history — units from that era’s Onkyo lineup have a documented track record of board failures under sustained load. Denon, Yamaha, and Sony units from 2018–2021 have generally better reliability reputations secondhand. If the use case is purely movies and TV streaming at 4K/60Hz through a 5.1 setup without gaming, a used Denon or Yamaha from that era is a reasonable option.

Q: How do I know if my room is too large or too small for a given receiver’s power output?
Receiver power output matters less than speaker sensitivity in most home listening situations. A 70W-per-channel receiver driving speakers rated at 88dB sensitivity (1W at 1 meter) produces roughly 106dB SPL at one meter — well above reference listening levels. In a 15×20ft room with a high ceiling, the question is less about receiver watts and more about whether the speaker can project to fill that volume without compression. A higher-sensitivity speaker (90dB+) in a large room compensates for modest receiver wattage more effectively than a low-sensitivity speaker (84dB) driven by a high-watt receiver. For rooms over 300 square feet, focus on speaker sensitivity alongside receiver power specs.

Q: Should I buy an AV receiver if I only have two speakers and no plans to add surround?
If your permanent setup is two speakers and a subwoofer, a dedicated stereo integrated amplifier will typically deliver better two-channel sound quality per dollar than an AV receiver at the same price, because the AV receiver’s budget goes partly toward unused surround processing, HDMI switching, and room correction circuitry. The Sony STRDH190 in this guide bridges that gap — it’s priced as a stereo receiver and performs accordingly. If there’s any chance you’ll add a center channel or surrounds in the future, a 5.1 AV receiver preserves that option. If there genuinely isn’t, skip the AV receiver.

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For a full roundup of top picks at specific budget tiers, visit our AV receivers category page or jump directly to our AV receivers for home theater guide for setup-matched recommendations.