Not very often would I purchase something knowing it doesn't measure well. There is a tool for every job, and all in all, for what it delivers, the X3500 is pretty good. I have been working on a new living room setup-Revel M106/Rythmik L12 sub. The only sources would be TV (Dish Network), Apple TV, and Roon for music streaming connected to a basic 4K display. I have a seperate HT and a seperate 2 channel listening area. What I was looking for that the X3500 did competently enough:
-Room correction-XT32 with App does a very good job
-Audio sync-For whatever reason our dish and apple tv have different audio delays. Receiver does this will
-Loudness compensation-We don't listen at reference volume in this room. Audyssey DEQ does a very nice job compensating for lower volume listening. In a surround layout, it boosts the surround levels too (which I find very annoying) but in a 2 channel system this isn't an issue
-Amplification-Pretty good amp section. Using in a 2.1 system. 115W into 2 channels (beating spec of 100W). 5W SINAD of 84. Good enough.
-DAC-While 2V output is pretty bad, up to 1.2V is actually plenty good at a SINAD of 96.
-Airplay 2 streaming.. I'm using Airplay 2 for multizone streaming. One device is a sonos and this actually works very well. I'm using Roon to do this which I enjoy using.
-Zone 2 support and amplification-Running a second zone for streaming to outside
I didn't really want a receiver with its size/form factor in our living room... but there just isn't anything that combines so much functionality in 1 box. And the things that matter most... room correction, loudness compensation, ample power and Streaming. All this for $499 delivered with full manufacturer's warranty I think makes it a very good choice. I think when you add the "V" in AV things get more difficult and more expensive. And in the receiver pre/pro the $'s don't seem to get you much more performance in many cases.
-Room correction-XT32 with App does a very good job
-Audio sync-For whatever reason our dish and apple tv have different audio delays. Receiver does this will
-Loudness compensation-We don't listen at reference volume in this room. Audyssey DEQ does a very nice job compensating for lower volume listening. In a surround layout, it boosts the surround levels too (which I find very annoying) but in a 2 channel system this isn't an issue
-Amplification-Pretty good amp section. Using in a 2.1 system. 115W into 2 channels (beating spec of 100W). 5W SINAD of 84. Good enough.
-DAC-While 2V output is pretty bad, up to 1.2V is actually plenty good at a SINAD of 96.
-Airplay 2 streaming.. I'm using Airplay 2 for multizone streaming. One device is a sonos and this actually works very well. I'm using Roon to do this which I enjoy using.
-Zone 2 support and amplification-Running a second zone for streaming to outside
I didn't really want a receiver with its size/form factor in our living room... but there just isn't anything that combines so much functionality in 1 box. And the things that matter most... room correction, loudness compensation, ample power and Streaming. All this for $499 delivered with full manufacturer's warranty I think makes it a very good choice. I think when you add the "V" in AV things get more difficult and more expensive. And in the receiver pre/pro the $'s don't seem to get you much more performance in many cases.