TV Amp/Reciever Recommendation for a 5.1–7.1 System

[Terplover]

Hey everyone,


I’m at the point where I want to build a high-quality sound system in my living room for my TV / to hear music and I’d love to hear your approaches and recommendations. Here’s what I’m looking for:

• Surround format flexibility: Minimum 5.1 setup, ideally 7.1—and if more outputs are available for extra Atmos height channels or a second subwoofer, even better, though it’s not a strict requirement. 5.1 would be enough if there is a good budget solution.
• Dirac Live or fine-grained DSP control: Full support for EQ, FIR filtering and per-channel delay (time alignment), either via Dirac Live or another solution that lets me independently tweak EQ curves, distances and levels for every single speaker.
• Atmos decoding: Native Dolby Atmos support is a must.
• DIY speaker openness: I want to design and build my own speakers—active or passive—so I’m open to suggestions on both fronts.

what gear would you pick as the heart of this system, AV receiver vs. separate pre/pro, external DSP vs. built-in room correction?
I would be open to DIY solutions, but I’d like to avoid needing a PC for processing if possible.


Thanks in advance for your ideas!

 

[Mort]

Budget and location?

 

[Terplover]

Budget and location?

My budget depends on value and how future-proof the solution is. If there’s a reliable setup under €1 000, I’m happy to go with that—but I’m also open to spending more if it’s truly worth it. Right now, I’m not entirely sure what the optimal configuration is, so I’m gathering ideas on how best to achieve it.

Living in Germany

 

[ZolaIII]

Catch a Denon AVR for the price. Try to catch AVC-X4700H for less than 1250€.

 

[Mort]

If there’s a reliable setup under €1 000

That's not likely. Can you spend €10,000?

 

[Terplover]

Catch a Denon AVR for the price. Try to catch AVC-X4700H for less than 1250€.

The Denon AVC-X4700H was on my shortlist, but I'm uncertain whether Audyssey MultEQ XT32 meets my requirements. While it's a robust room correction system, it lacks the manual calibration flexibility I seek. User experiences suggest that Dirac Live offers superior precision, especially in time alignment and phase correction.


Given this, I'm contemplating whether investing in a Dirac Live license is worthwhile or if integrating a miniDSP Flex for comprehensive control is a better route. If I opt for external DSP processing, a more affordable receiver with preamp outputs might suffice, as I'd primarily utilize it for signal routing.

 

[Mort]

miniDSP Flex for comprehensive control

It's limited to 8 channels and doesn't do subs that well, but it will give you the DSP control you want. I would stick with an AVR.

Audyssey MultEQ is very good, maybe not as good as DiracLive but I could not tell the difference in movie content.

 

[ZolaIII]

There whose an app for semi costume EQ-ing and you lose ELC with Dirac while the price is still ridiculous (full, multi sub and on suported AVR's). You don't get Dolby's with MiniDSP and such.

 

[Mort]

If you are content with 5.1, and sure you want a Minidsp, you can use it instead of the AVR.
With an active monitor setup, this can be very cost effective.

 

[Terplover]

I think I’ll try a used AV receiver first to see if Audyssey is sufficient for my needs. If it turns out to be lacking, I can always upgrade to a miniDSP later.


Even with the miniDSP, I’d still need a device that handles Dolby Atmos decoding, since the miniDSP doesn’t support bitstream formats like Dolby or DTS. In that case, a more affordable receiver with preamp outputs would be needed anyway for signal routing.


If the setup doesn’t meet my expectations, I should be able to resell the equipment without significant loss. Thanks for your advice!

 

[Oddball]

The Denon AVC-X4700H was on my shortlist, but I'm uncertain whether Audyssey MultEQ XT32 meets my requirements. While it's a robust room correction system, it lacks the manual calibration flexibility I seek. User experiences suggest that Dirac Live offers superior precision, especially in time alignment and phase correction.


Given this, I'm contemplating whether investing in a Dirac Live license is worthwhile or if integrating a miniDSP Flex for comprehensive control is a better route. If I opt for external DSP processing, a more affordable receiver with preamp outputs might suffice, as I'd primarily utilize it for signal routing.

Audyssey is actually much more flexible than Dirac. You have a whole bunch of free apps from OCA (a member and contributor on this form as well) that apparently enhance calibration and work with $20 D&M app. Then there is the $200 Audyssey MultiEQ-X app that gives you almost ultimate tweakability, including importing REW filters.

Dirac does have time alignment and phase correction as you note - but nothing that you could not adjust with MultiEQ-X and REW. REW is also recommended to check Dirac calibration results.

If you are concerned with the budget, 3800H is the king of value and offers much of the same as 4800H.

 

[Oddball]

I think I’ll try a used AV receiver first to see if Audyssey is sufficient for my needs. If it turns out to be lacking, I can always upgrade to a miniDSP later.


Even with the miniDSP, I’d still need a device that handles Dolby Atmos decoding, since the miniDSP doesn’t support bitstream formats like Dolby or DTS. In that case, a more affordable receiver with preamp outputs would be needed anyway for signal routing.


If the setup doesn’t meet my expectations, I should be able to resell the equipment without significant loss. Thanks for your advice!

Mini DSP was primarily used to manage more than 2 subs which was limitation on most AVRs. With Dennon 3800H and above, this leaped to 4 subs, so many people decided to simplify the chain and eliminate Mini DSP. This will work for most use cases, but some might still need Mini to increase delays that are very limited with Audy (and more generous with D&M Dirac implementation).

 

[Buckchester]

https://www.newegg.com/coby-tfdvd777-7/p/N82E16882136344

 

[Terplover]

Audyssey is actually much more flexible than Dirac. You have a whole bunch of free apps from OCA (a member and contributor on this form as well) that apparently enhance calibration and work with $20 D&M app. Then there is the $200 Audyssey MultiEQ-X app that gives you almost ultimate tweakability, including importing REW filters.

Dirac does have time alignment and phase correction as you note - but nothing that you could not adjust with MultiEQ-X and REW. REW is also recommended to check Dirac calibration results.

If you are concerned with the budget, 3800H is the king of value and offers much of the same as 4800H.

Thanks for the tip about the app. I'm planning to get my hands on a Denon 3600, 3700, 3800, 4700, or 4800, depending on availability. I've already found a 4700 in good condition for around 700€

 

[mns3dhm]

For that budget, I’d consider a stereo system and add a sub when you can. I’ve never heard a 5.1 setup in that price range that came close to replicating a theater like experience. Your surround speakers are doing nothing 90% of the time. Last, but not least, many music surround mixes that were based on an original stereo recording are laughable.

 

[Terplover]

For that budget, I’d consider a stereo system and add a sub when you can. I’ve never heard a 5.1 setup in that price range that came close to replicating a theater like experience. Your surround speakers are doing nothing 90% of the time. Last, but not least, many music surround mixes that were based on an original stereo recording are laughable.

You misunderstood me - I'm way beyond that point now. I'm absolutely in love with immersive sound and already have a Setup in a different room. For TV/movies, some decent Atmos is great for watching films tho. Budget isn't really a constraint for me - the ~€1000 I mentioned earlier was just a rough idea for the receiver (or whatever solution I choose), not including any speakers

 

[middlemarch]

For your application I'd add the x4400 and x4500 to your list. More than adequate, and still supported by all the cool OCA tools. All the 4000 series amplifiers are the same

 

[vsch]

For your application I'd add the x4400 and x4500 to your list. More than adequate, and still supported by all the cool OCA tools. All the 4000 series amplifiers are the same

I would definitely give @OCA's A1 Acoustica a try. It's much better than Audyssey and quite straightforward to use. Some say it's on par or even better than Dirac.

 

[Terplover]

I would definitely give @OCA's A1 Acoustica a try. It's much better than Audyssey and quite straightforward to use. Some say it's on par or even better than Dirac.

Read about it too the last days. Audyssey One seems to be exactly what I’ve been looking for in terms of room correction and flexibility. Thanks for the Tipp

 

[anphex]

Get a Denon 2800 (550 €) or 3800 (about 900€ sometimes on sale für 600-700€). The X3800 has better audyssey (128 vs 512 filters) and Dirac Option.
Both can be used with OCAs A1 Neuron Acoustica to get Dirac-Like performance or even better. The bass will be far more optimized than what stock Audyssey does. And it's free.

As long as you use a subwoofer and free the tops from heavy LFE/Bass, the ~150 Watt per Channel are more than enough, even on power hungry speakers.
And that's basically it. Even with the Denon X3800 you're below 1k €.

Luckily, with the latest receivers having powerful FPGAs and HDMI 2.1, I don't think there are grand upgrades to come on AV receivers. Hence those two models are very good long term.