Why no cheap AVRs from Topping / SMSL etc.

[Vacceo]

Today I'm where you are, I moved to a house, I have a dedicated TV room and it's big enough I can pull the sofa off the wall and there is just enough space to have surrounds in a good location. I'm now focused on improving the sound, next step on that journey being room improvements.

But a couple years ago I lived in a small apartment in the city core, my living room served multiple purposes and there was simply nowhere to put surrounds and the sofa wasn't going to move off the wall - other uses of the room were a priority over HT.

I suspect many people live with those constraints and put their TV wherever they can, rather then designing a room for HT. Lots probably just using the TV itself for audio or else if they want to upgrade the sound they get a soundbar, maybe one that comes with a wireless subwoofer, and call it a day

But even a pricey soundbar can't match what you can get from a pair of proper speakers, if for no other reason than you can put the speakers further apart and create a proper sound stage. Add a center and a sub and anything with even a 5" woofer for LR and it's a huge step up from a soundbar, for potentially not much more money.

Plus buying high quality speakers gives you an upgrade path. If one day you move to a house, like I did, the bookshelf speakers that used to be your LR become your surrounds and you invest in a pair of towers. Ok, at that point you needed a full AVR.

But what if you could spend $200 for a little starter 3.1 AVR, invest your money instead in some good bookshelves, get yourself a nice sub?

That's a good place to start, and maybe for a lot of people all they will ever really need.

ETA - Plus they probably only have ONE input, either their Smart TV itself, or a streaming device like a Roku. Their "AVR" might not even need HDMI if it can do 3.1 or 5.1 from TOSLINK, or it has an HDMI that is a straight pass through from their steamer, except it splits out the audio.

I have my mother a pair of LS50 WII and a KC62 for a small living room with a TV.

The result is milles away from a standard sound bar and it does not have room correction or multichannel.

If adding extra channels were as easy as plugging them (a center would be quite nice), that could be quite an advantage.

Add room correction to the mix and you have a great, upgradeable path.

 

[TonyJZX]

20yrs ago when DVD hit you could see it was a mass confluence of "things done right"

DVD although only 480p 576p etc was a quantum leap over whatever mess came before

and 5.1 digital surround was a huge step over Pro Logic... also driven by DVDR sales on PCs AND with the same ability on consoles

and so there was a heap of reasons to go with DVD and 5.1 surround

but we are seeing a mature industry.... and BR did not take off as well as they hoped... and they kept up with advancing codecs to stage where 'normal' people couldnt keep up... let alone 'enthusiast' like us

I seem to recall that back then 'normal people' bought into to while Dolby 5.1 and dts 5.1 thing and that's what people needed at home... it was kind of not back by the source material... ie. the DTS format did not get the mass market that the sales of receivers had

but be that as it may, it did get into the public 'consciousness'

BUT can you say that about whatever the hell has been going on in the recent 7.2 atmos days?

 

[DLS79]

but we are seeing a mature industry.... and BR did not take off as well as they hoped... and they kept up with advancing codecs to stage where 'normal' people couldnt keep up... let alone 'enthusiast' like us

Dolby is a good example, the only way they stay in business is by selling new licenses to use their new codecs.

 

[tc2007]

20yrs ago when DVD hit you could see it was a mass confluence of "things done right"

DVD although only 480p 576p etc was a quantum leap over whatever mess came before

and 5.1 digital surround was a huge step over Pro Logic... also driven by DVDR sales on PCs AND with the same ability on consoles

and so there was a heap of reasons to go with DVD and 5.1 surround

but we are seeing a mature industry.... and BR did not take off as well as they hoped... and they kept up with advancing codecs to stage where 'normal' people couldnt keep up... let alone 'enthusiast' like us

I seem to recall that back then 'normal people' bought into to while Dolby 5.1 and dts 5.1 thing and that's what people needed at home... it was kind of not back by the source material... ie. the DTS format did not get the mass market that the sales of receivers had

but be that as it may, it did get into the public 'consciousness'

BUT can you say that about whatever the hell has been going on in the recent 7.2 atmos days?

Atmos requires messing with ceilings and most people don't want to do that. Unless we get small wireless speakers that people screw on the ceiling and they seamlessly integrate with the rest of the system it's not going to be in every home. Until then 5.1 is what 80% of people are going to stick with. Even that's good enough if we can get clean sound.

 

[DLS79]

Until then 5.1 is what 80% of people are going to stick with. Even that's good enough if we can get clean sound.

And all the major tv manufactures sell 5.1+ plug and play systems, so the audio industry really needs to come at this with a new angle.

 

[Kaakberg]

Chinese companies like Topping / SMSL / Sabaj etc. make excellent DACs, streamers, amps, power supplies, etc. They measure and sound excellent. These are building blocks for stereo integrated amps, stereo / surround sound receivers. So why would these companies not put together their DACs/Amps in one big box to build a decent 100W per channel integrated amp with HDMI or even a full 9.2 channel AVR with same wattage? A Fosi ZA3 monoblock capable amp sells for $130 retail with all the packaging and power supply. Wondering if they can come up with a sub $1000 AVR made from their own parts.

As we speak we can buy a second hand yamaha receiver for €!00 or $$. Maybe about 5 years? The small stuff fits a nomad/smallroom life, it’s an extension of the mobile phone -at best. Africa and Asia are their markets.

 

[TonyJZX]

a recipient of a lifetime achievement for service to arts here made a thread that details a lot of what the OP wants...

Lamenting the lack of good quality budget A/V Preamplifier/Processors

I use - and like - my $900 IOTAVX AVX1 7.1 4K "Home Theater AV Processor" with room correction (image #3 below), although I only use it for my 3.0 system (L-C-R, no subwoofer). My preference for music is still 2.0 stereo, but for movies with multichannel audio, a proper center channel anchors...

www.audiosciencereview.com

its well worth a look thru

i think it comes down to the fact there's a non zero percent of people who are after this kind of thing but its not a big enough percent for the trads to profit off

 

[Roland68]

Chinese companies like Topping / SMSL / Sabaj etc. make excellent DACs, streamers, amps, power supplies, etc. They measure and sound excellent. These are building blocks for stereo integrated amps, stereo / surround sound receivers. So why would these companies not put together their DACs/Amps in one big box to build a decent 100W per channel integrated amp with HDMI or even a full 9.2 channel AVR with same wattage? A Fosi ZA3 monoblock capable amp sells for $130 retail with all the packaging and power supply. Wondering if they can come up with a sub $1000 AVR made from their own parts.

The most important reason is that these companies can't get the software/firmware to work properly. Most of your devices could use better software/firmware and some devices still have errors that have not been fixed after months or years. But the list of failures is even longer.

Does anyone really want to buy such a complex device from one of these companies that relies so heavily on working software?
Great readings would be nice, but if the rest is a disaster then I'd rather stick with my Yamaha AVR.

 

[Kaakberg]

The most important reason is that these companies can't get the software/firmware to work properly. Most of your devices could use better software/firmware and some devices still have errors that have not been fixed after months or years. But the list of failures is even longer.

Does anyone really want to buy such a complex device from one of these companies that relies so heavily on working software?
Great readings would be nice, but if the rest is a disaster then I'd rather stick with my Yamaha AVR.

Wimm just works isn’t it?