Did manufacturers give up on AVRs?

[mhardy6647]

Which

There is the more recent "Atmos" mass market category otoh

From my perspective - which, admittedly, might be faulty - Atmos ups the ante considerably in terms of complexity compared to "first generation quad" or even Dolby ProLogic. "Quad" suffered from the confusion of too many, poorly understood/differentiated standards (plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, eh? ), but Dolby ProLogic was pretty darned straightforward, suffering only, I'd posit, from theangst of how do I get speaker wires to the back of the room unobtrusively and without drilling holes and fishing?

 

[Sal1950]

Aside from movies, there really isn't much content that is coming out in high fidelity multi channel.

OH No, again ??? Where are you looking and what genre of music do you like?
Start here,
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/2025-surround-releases.37224/ for so far this year alone
There have been so many multich releases each year for this decade, I couldn't afford to buy near as much as I'd like.

Unfortunately for some, the majority of our members there aren't into Classical and only slightly more care about Jazz.
But there are still plenty releases available, you just have to look a bit harder.
Try 2L,, SuperDeluxeEdition, Vocalion, ImmersiveAudioAlbum, ask @Kal Rubinson either here or on QuadraphonicQuad

Atmos ups the ante considerably in terms of complexity compared to "first generation quad" or even Dolby ProLogic.

Four more speakers and four more wires, I did it twice and didn't find it that big a deal

I'd posit, from theangst of how do I get speaker wires to the back of the room unobtrusively and without drilling holes and fishing?

With wire channels you get at Lowes or Home Depot? Look at the ones I used in my rig.
Just cut to length, peel off the backing, and stick em up.
And this is worst case since there was no way for me to route them in the ceiling.
They look just fine to me.

 

[polmuaddib]

For all those that have multichannel setupo and want to give up in favour of stereo, I did that temporarily. A few times. When selling AVR and buying newer tech,

And everytime we struggle when watching movies and TV shows. Remember, nowadays TV shows have cinema valuee production. The soundtrack is amazing and it often becomes an important element. And witht stereo, my wife and I have a hard time to understand dialogue. And I have very good speakers and stereo gear, trust me.

WIth music, it is less challenging. I agree that 2 channel music sounds great on a great system. But after a while starts to get boring for me.

Then, when I get new AVR and bring back my Atmos 7.1.4 setup in all it's glory, it is amazing.

So, I understand that sometimes downsizing can be a relief and almost a benefit, but in the end I think it is a bad idea

 

[Chr1]

The only thing I watch these days without a multichannel soundtrack is really the news.
Plus perhaps the occasional documentary. (Though many of these are now made in multichannel too)

 

[JustJones]

As a random example the Onkyo TX-RZ70 AVR ( still the flagship ?) was released in 2023. As long as they only do minor upgrades , firmware, software etc... then it isn't subject to the new FTC amplifier rule. They still show this model under the old rule of 2 channels driven. Perhaps AVP's will move on as you can connect your own amplifiers which as far as I can tell aren't really measured to the new standard either. I don't really see any reason for manufacturers of AVR to develop 'new' models just update the old.
My 2 cents.

 

[RickS]

While can tolerate off topic or crude to certain degree, when a thread gets reported for both, needed to get out some cleanser.

Now that I cleaned, let’s keep it that way please!

 

[RedCannon]

New models down in the future could provide ease of use functionality without taking away the wow and technical abilities you can do with an avr. This would actually make it more competitive in setup/usage aspect against soundbars, even i sometimes miss the convenience of.

Example i can come up with on the top of my mind is why not use wireless calibration mic using a 2v battery or aaa. I dont think it needs to be bit perfect for measuring speakers. Way better than having a tangled mess of wires you gotta store and you can place it in a room that doesnt store the avr.

And while at it why not include 3 speaker cables for LCR to help with basic understanding. Nothing too expensive, just some 9 feet cables already stripped(bonus points for included banana plugs preinstalled to the wires)

 

[respice finem]

While can tolerate off topic or crude to certain degree, when a thread gets reported for both, needed to get out some cleanser.

Now that I cleaned, let’s keep it that way please!

Sorry, I sometimes forget I'm not in my country when in Rome... (BTW, the Romans were even worse)

 

[Sal1950]

New models down in the future could provide ease of use functionality without taking away the wow and technical abilities you can do with an avr. This would actually make it more competitive in setup/usage aspect against soundbars, even i sometimes miss the convenience of.

I can't disagree with you, but it would add to the expense and everyone's always whining about the rising costs. So?

 

[RedCannon]

The price of avrs are high especially when you have to consider the price of speakers to go with one. Before soundbars hometheaters in a box were a thing from all the major tv and avr brands. I assumed they included their own wires but may be wrong as ive never seen or owned one when they became popular.

From how much avrs cost at msrp they sure do go on sale frequently and sometimes huge discounts when buying at retailers. The cost of adding small little things like wireless mic would be dirt cheap to manufactures compared to end users. I can only imagine the cheapest base model to have very little margins, but if they can sell more by adding appeal to the casual market I would consider it a win win.

 

[Chrispy]

Example i can come up with on the top of my mind is why not use wireless calibration mic using a 2v battery or aaa. I dont think it needs to be bit perfect for measuring speakers. Way better than having a tangled mess of wires you gotta store and you can place it in a room that doesnt store the avr.

I'm trying to imagine the advantage of a wireless over a single wired measurement mic....but I've never had a tangled mess of wires for a measurement mic with any of my avrs....

 

[RedCannon]

Its a minor detail . I just dont like having to pull it out, un wrap it, wrap it back up. Got too many cords and not enough storage. More of a me issue.

The main benefit will be if your avr is in a different room on a rack, or tucked away somewhere hard to reach. If I'm paying 3000+ for a device in today's world and age it better make my life easier.

 

[Oddball]

Wireless mic at this point is a no go, but good suggestion.

 

[Sal1950]

Before soundbars hometheaters in a box were a thing from all the major tv and avr brands. I assumed they included their own wires but may be wrong as ive never seen or owned one when they became popular.

How many 2ch receivers have you bought that came with their own wires ?

I'm trying to imagine the advantage of a wireless over a single wired measurement mic....but I've never had a tangled mess of wires for a measurement mic with any of my avrs....

My main beef is, at least for the D-M AVR's I've owned, the mic wire was never long enough and I hand to use an extension cable.

 

[Chrispy]

How many 2ch receivers have you bought that came with their own wires ?


My main beef is, at least for the D-M AVR's I've owned, the mic wire was never long enough and I hand to use an extension cable.

Many components don't come with "wires"....maybe some disc players? A tt?

I've not been so far away from the avr that my mic wire has fallen short....and that's where perhaps a wireless mic might work as long as they accommodate inherent delay....but was more thinking a multitude of wires for a mic that RedCannon made it sound like....

 

[polmuaddib]

My main beef is, at least for the D-M AVR's I've owned, the mic wire was never long enough and I hand to use an extension cable.

How I wish I had that problem. Lucky you.

 

[RedCannon]

I can't be the only one that sees these little bluray players with little rinky dinky speakers and plugs all over facebook marketplace.

 

[dlaloum]

How many 2ch receivers have you bought that came with their own wires ?


My main beef is, at least for the D-M AVR's I've owned, the mic wire was never long enough and I hand to use an extension cable.

Actually - back in the day... My family purchased a Sanyo combination console, with speakers, TT, Cassette, receiver, and the speakers had wire coming out the back (hardwired) which then got connected at the console/receiver.

So yeah... at the basic, cheap, mass market end of the market, complete systems came with the speaker wires!

Seperates, including more upmarket receivers, didn't....

But if you purchased a complete "system" made up of seperates (a Marantz "system" which came with cabinet, all the seperates, and a pair of speakers at the HiFi store I worked at in the mid 1980's comes to mind) - then you got a kit which included the speaker wires as well as interconnects etc...

I think it has always been the case that if you purchased a complete "turnkey" system, all the bits and bobs were included.

 

[Sal1950]

But if you purchased a complete "system" made up of seperates (a Marantz "system" which came with cabinet, all the seperates, and a pair of speakers at the HiFi store I worked at in the mid 1980's comes to mind) - then you got a kit which included the speaker wires as well as interconnects etc...

Oh yea, I can remember those days. A nice mid-level dealer of the time like Pacific Stereo might throw in a bunch of wire with a complete system.
Even if you were just buying something like a nice FM tuner or cassette player you might get a pair or two of those generic interconnects thrown in.
And then Monster Cable speaker wire came along and the dealers began to learn that wire could be a HUGE profit center and the days of free wire was
over and the fleecing of the clueless buyer began.

"That's a great amplifier your getting sir, but if you don't get this set of $350 silver interconnects with it, you'll never hear the full range of inner detail
and bass slam it's capable of."