High-End, High-Performance AVR Examples?

[pozz]

If the general stack of AVR companies are mediocre at best, what does the best represent? What are the price ranges, features and specs? This is not an area I know very much about.

There are the one-box AVR products that you can find in any electronics retailers. There are upscale versions of that (some examples below), and then custom integration products that aren't so much AVRs as commercial/professional audio processing hardware which can control a very large number of channels and other downstream gear. I'm not sure if the latter even belong here, like the Trinnov Ovation2.

Having never really done it before, I looked into the flagship and TOTL products. It seems like @amirm has covered a lot of ground already.

AVRs

ASR-Reviewed Products

• Arcam AV40: ASR Review
• Arcam AVR390: ASR Review
• Anthem MRX1120: ASR Review
• Emotiva RMC-1: ASR Review
• Marantz AV8805: ASR Review
• Monoprice Monolith HTP-1: ASR Review
• NAD M17 V2: ASR Review

Products

• Bryston SP4
• Datasat RS20i & LS10
• Denon AVR-X8500H
• Krell Foundation 4K
• Marantz SR8012
• Meridian 818v3 & G65
• Onkyo TX-RZ3100
• Storm ISP Mk2
• Yamaha CX-A5200

Product Series

• Audiocontrol Maestro
• JBL Synthesis
• McIntosh MX
• Steinway Lyngdorf MP
• Theta Casablanca
• Trinnov Altitude

Custom Integration

Products

• Datasat AP25
• Trinnov Ovation2

Companies

• BSS
• Xilica
• Indy Audio Labs: Acurus

 

[jhaider]

If the general stack of AVR companies are mediocre at best, what does the best represent? What are the price ranges, features and specs? This is not an area I know very much about.

There are the one-box AVR products that you can find in any electronics retailers. There are upscale versions of that (some examples below), and then custom integration products that aren't so much AVRs as commercial/professional audio processing hardware which can control a very large number of channels and other downstream gear. I'm not sure if the latter even belong here, like the Trinnov Ovation2.

• Bryston SP4
• JBL Synthesis series
• Trinnov Altitude series

I have no idea about the measured performance of Bryston SP4 or Storm siblings, but it is a superior product. Review here:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...ton-sp4-16-channel-surround-processor-review/

The DAC hardware is pedestrian, though Dr. Rich was complimentary of the balanced output hardware. Ultimately you’re paying for software not hardware. The bass management is as flexible as I’ve seen (never used Datasat or Trinnov). There are PEQ filters abs high/low pass filters you can apply before Dirac, so you can optimize multiple subwoofers or design filters for multi-way active speakers. The web interface is complex but flexible. (I think Monoprice has learned a lot from products that came before HTP-1.) Storm also offers AVRs that I assume have the same capabilities.

JBL Synthesis seems to be a mix of (to date) buggy upgraded Arcam hardware and Trinnov hardware with custom software.

No experience with Trinnov.

The other to add to your list is Lyngdorf. While I’m having issues getting my review sample measured (no fault of the product, rather computer issues and pandemic + baby related circumstances) I believe Marc Alexander took electrical measurements and found the hardware excellent. RoomPerfect I’ll discuss more shortly.

 

[pozz]

I did some research. Like I said, I don't know AVRs or home theatre well so the list is definitely not very representative of what's out there.

It seems like the main differentiator in AVRs or their ilk is, like @jhaider says, their software. The features, ease of use and workflow being the main thing (edit: and both customers and manufacturers seem to take analog performance for granted).

 

[Sancus]

https://hometheaterreview.com/trinnov-altitude16-home-theater-preampoptimizer-reviewed/

The spatial remapping stuff that Trinnov is capable of doing(and convincingly, at that, apparently) is pretty unique and not something I've heard about others doing. They must have some very good engineers to pull that kind of stuff off, so I also wonder just how good their room correction and bass management are too. Seems possible that it might be the best out there.

On the other hand, a $17000 processor with a 1 minute *boot time* sounds extremely annoying. And no standby mode to reduce this. To me that is borderline unacceptable.

 

[pozz]

https://hometheaterreview.com/trinnov-altitude16-home-theater-preampoptimizer-reviewed/

The spatial remapping stuff that Trinnov is capable of doing(and convincingly, at that, apparently) is pretty unique and not something I've heard about others doing. They must have some very good engineers to pull that kind of stuff off, so I also wonder just how good their room correction and bass management are too. Seems possible that it might be the best out there.

On the other hand, a $17000 processor with a 1 minute *boot time* sounds extremely annoying. And no standby mode to reduce this. To me that is borderline unacceptable.

I don't know. One minute boot makes sense given the intense processing going on inside those units, especially for the room simulation/compensation software like Trinnov's.

 

[Sancus]

I don't know. One minute boot makes sense given the intense processing going on inside those units, especially for the room simulation/compensation software like Trinnov's.

Sure, cold boot, but there could easily be a low power standby with a recover time of <10 seconds. I mean, my desktop PC has that And Trinnovs are just Intel PC hardware with add-on boards and custom software at their core.

 

[Dimifoot]

On the other hand, a $17000 processor with a 1 minute *boot time* sounds extremely annoying. And no standby mode to reduce this. To me that is borderline unacceptable.

Doesn’t bother me at all.
I switch it on, it triggers my power amps, and by the time I am settled and decided what to watch or listen to, it’s ready to go.
I never thought of it as an enjoyment obstacle.

 

[Sancus]

Doesn’t bother me at all.
I switch it on, it triggers my power amps, and by the time I am settled and decided what to watch or listen to, it’s ready to go.
I never thought of it as an enjoyment obstacle.

I switch on my system(in the living room) and listen to a couple songs and then switch it off all the time, and I'm particularly irritated by long startup times. I found my old plasma bothersome about this and it was only like 20 seconds or so. My current system with a Denon X4500H and LG 65C9 is ready to play from standby in 8 seconds and I appreciate that very much.

That said, I do realize the Trinnov stuff is really more targeted at serious, separate home theatres, where people are probably going to settle in for a few hours every time they use it, so it's not a big deal there. But I would certainly be very bothered by it in my use case. And I kind of want perfection from my $17000 purchase, you know