Compare AV Receivers

18 ranked products · Two to 4 at a time · Updated 24 Aug 2026

Pick any two to four of the 18 ranked av receivers and read them side by side. This page opens on the board's top 3, Denon AVR-X3800H, Sony STR-AN1000 and Onkyo TX-RZ50.

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AV Receivers compared side by side. Each column is one product, each row is one measure taken from the same research that built the board.
Measure	Denon Denon AVR-X3800H	Sony Sony STR-AN1000	Onkyo Onkyo TX-RZ50	Denon Denon AVR-X4800H	Denon Denon AVR-X1800H	Anthem Anthem MRX 1140 8K	Denon Denon AVR-X2800H	Onkyo Onkyo TX-NR6100	Denon Denon AVR-A1H	Yamaha Yamaha RX-A6A	Anthem Anthem MRX 740 8K	Marantz Marantz Cinema 30	Marantz Marantz Cinema 70s	Marantz Marantz NR1711	Denon Denon AVR-S570BT	Arcam Arcam AVR5	Yamaha Yamaha RX-V385	Sony Sony STR-DH590
Tier	S	A	A	B	B	B	B	C	C	C	C	D	D	F	F	F	F	F
Rank on this board	1 of 18	2 of 18	3 of 18	4 of 18	5 of 18	6 of 18	7 of 18	8 of 18	9 of 18	10 of 18	11 of 18	12 of 18	13 of 18	14 of 18	15 of 18	16 of 18	17 of 18	18 of 18
Ladder points	899 LP	747 LP	686 LP	628 LP	596 LP	590 LP	515 LP	499 LP	472 LP	388 LP	363 LP	354 LP	269 LP	180 LP	176 LP	41 LP	23 LP	8 LP
Our verdict	Japanese build, years of proven firmware support, Dirac upgrade path, and the best reliability-to-feature ratio in the category. The default answer.	Solid hardware and Sony's service network, with a shorter warranty than the Japanese Denons costing it places.	Free Dirac Live and huge processing headroom; held back only by the brand's historical HDMI-board reputation, which this generation has not repeated.	Tom's Guide's best overall and every bit the X3800H's equal in ownership terms; ranked second only because the extra spend buys performance, not durability.	The cheapest ticket into the long-support Denon ecosystem; lesser build and power than everything above it.	Best room correction in the business and clean current stock, but the early 8K HDMI board retrofit saga is a real mark against it for long-term ownership.	Full platform support at a mid price, but with the X2900H announced it should only be bought discounted.	CNET's pick for most people and an honest, reliable value; fewer channels and less refinement than the top six.	Immaculate hardware trapped in a bad value proposition; the X4800H plus separates beats it on sense, heat, and single-point-of-failure risk.	The most likely receiver on this list to still be working in 2036; slower firmware cadence keeps it below the Denons.	Superb room correction and amplification; the price is high but at least it buys audible, measurable gains.	A fine flagship-class machine, but you pay a thick Marantz tax for sonic differences most listeners cannot pick out blind.	The right answer only if you need slimline; its compact chassis runs warm, a genuine longevity concern versus full-size rivals.	Genuinely pleasant to use thanks to HEOS, so it beats the traps below on livability, but it is a discontinued-generation product sold at current-generation prices. Buy the Cinema 70s instead.	Harmless but stranded: no network, no meaningful update path, basic calibration; the X1800H is worth the step up.	Dated platform, no Dirac at a premium price, and the weakest firmware support record among major brands; buy the Onkyo TX-RZ50 instead.	The weakest product here: pre-Atmos, pre-HDMI 2.1, and still marketed to beginners who do not know better. Any current entry-level receiver beats it.	A 2018 platform sold new in 2026 with no network features and no HDMI 2.1; every pick above it is a better ownership proposition.
What reviewers rate	Made in Japan at the Shirakawa works 9 channels of processing with Dirac Live upgrade path Sits on the Denon/Marantz platform with years of HEOS and feature updates Three-year warranty, huge dealer network, excellent parts availability	Well-built and sensibly powered Backed by Sony's excellent global service network Good firmware support, with 360 Spatial Sound Mapping added post-launch Owner reports describe units running rock solid for many years	Dirac Live included free at this price THX certification 11.2-channel processing platform that embarrasses rivals on paper Current RZ line has not repeated the old HDMI board failures	Japanese build with 9.4 channels Audyssey XT32 plus Dirac Live option Same long-tail firmware support as the X3800H Slightly better amplification and DAC stage than the X3800H	Entry point to the properly supported Denon platform Audyssey MultEQ XT and full network features HEOS updates for years Failure data shows no meaningful gap versus the Japanese-made models	Canadian-built with 15.2 channels of processing ARC Genesis remains the best room correction in the category for real-world rooms Anthem handled the retrofit program and current stock is clean	Seven channels with the same Japanese-platform firmware ecosystem and update cadence as its bigger brothers Full platform support at a mid price	CNET's pick as the best receiver for most needs Full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all inputs Dirac-ready architecture Strong reliability record for this generation	Beautifully built in Japan Five-year warranty Fifteen channels of Class AB amplification Same firmware platform and Audyssey/Dirac options as the rest of the line - nothing here is unreliable	Aventage line is the category's reliability benchmark Conservative thermal design and anti-resonance chassis Reputation for surviving a decade of daily use Ample power and top-notch processing	ARC Genesis is arguably the best bundled calibration in the business Amplifier section embarrasses most Japanese AVRs at the price Performance is real enough that the value case holds at this level	11 channels of amplification with 13.4 processing HDAM circuitry Full Dirac Live availability The sensible ceiling of the Marantz range for one-box buyers	Slimline half-height option for buyers who cannot fit a full-size chassis Sound United platform support and warranty match the rest of the family	Nothing recorded	Not junk - harmless basic hardware Includes basic Audyssey MultEQ room calibration Sits at the cheap end of the Denon lineup	Still widely available through dealer shelves Brand remains active, with new Arcam AVRs announced	Very cheap entry-level pricing Simple option aimed at first-time buyers	Simple hardware can be reliable hardware Budget-class pricing
Where it falls short	Nothing recorded	Two-year warranty is the main knock against Denon and Yamaha's longer coverage Occasional early failures reported, though handled under warranty	The brand's 2009-2014 HDMI board failure history still weighs on its ownership reputation	The extra cost over the X3800H buys performance, not extra reliability	Vietnam-assembled build is a step down from the Japanese-made models Lesser build and power than everything ranked above it	Early 8K units shipped with a flawed HDMI 2.1 board that required a hardware retrofit program The retrofit saga cost the brand goodwill	Successor X2900H has been announced, so buy at a discount, not at full price	Fewer channels and less refinement than the top six accuEQ is standard, with Dirac only via update in some regions	Buys the same firmware platform and room-correction options as the far cheaper X4800H, with only incremental gains Enormous heat output from fifteen channels of Class AB in one chassis A single point of failure for an entire theater	Firmware cadence is slower than Denon's	Price is high; Reddit buyers agonise over Anthem's pricing Value case frays higher up the Anthem line	Expensive, with a thick Marantz tax for sonic differences most listeners cannot pick out blind	Half-height design means less heatsink mass and it runs warm A genuine long-term ownership concern versus full-size siblings	Nothing recorded	No network connection means no HEOS and no streaming Effectively no firmware update path beyond USB service updates Only basic Audyssey MultEQ rather than the XT versions The disposable tier of the lineup in a category where software longevity is half the value	Ships without Dirac Live at a price where Onkyo includes it and Anthem's ARC Genesis embarrasses it Weakest firmware support record of the major brands Slow bug-fix cycles with features arriving late or never Arcam's own new-AVR announcements underline how dated the AVR5 platform is	Eight-year-old 5.1 design - buyers in 2026 are paying for 2018 technology No HDMI 2.1 No Dolby Atmos No network streaming	A 2018-era design still being sold new No network features at all No HDMI 2.1 Basic DCAC calibration
Evidence behind it	56 sources across 44 outlets	15 sources across 12 outlets	35 sources across 33 outlets	20 sources across 18 outlets	35 sources across 27 outlets	6 sources across 5 outlets	31 sources across 27 outlets	33 sources across 29 outlets	18 sources across 18 outlets	29 sources across 23 outlets	11 sources across 11 outlets	37 sources across 31 outlets	47 sources across 41 outlets	11 sources across 10 outlets	43 sources across 32 outlets	13 sources across 11 outlets	70 sources across 37 outlets	29 sources across 26 outlets
Flagged as one to avoid	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	Not flagged	1 of 4 research runs	1 of 9 research runs	Not flagged	Not flagged	1 of 5 research runs	Not flagged	1 of 5 research runs	3 of 9 research runs	1 of 6 research runs	3 of 5 research runs
Announced	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded	Not recorded
Where to buy	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it	Check it

Every column is the same research that built the board. Nothing here is a specification sheet copied from a maker. Read how we rank for what a tier and a ladder point mean.