In a home theatre, the receiver plays the most important role. It bridges the gap between your TV and your speakers, and it also connects everything from gaming consoles to cable boxes and record players. There are a lot of different receivers to choose from. To help you narrow your options, here are a few of Best Buy’s top receivers under $1000.
Understanding channels on receivers
One of the first things you’ll need to know when shopping for a receiver is what a channel is. A channel refers to speaker channels, and a normal home stereo receiver has two channels that plug into the left and right speakers. A common home theatre setup has 5.1 channels, plugging into four speakers and a subwoofer. You can read more about home theatre channels in this post.
Best receivers under $1,000
Whether you’re looking for a stereo receiver for your record player or to stream music or you’d like a home theatre receiver that will function for both music and movies, here are Best Buy’s top receivers for under $1000. If you’d like to read more about other home theatre components, take a look at the home theatre system buying guide.
Sony STR-DH190 2.0 Bluetooth A/B Speaker Stereo Receiver
If you’re choosing a receiver to set up your first home theatre, the Sony STR-DH190 is a great choice. It’s a 2-channel stereo receiver with Bluetooth and it supports up to 4 speakers. You can connect a subwoofer, bookshelf speakers, tower speakers, and more. With A/B speaker setup, you have the flexibility of placing speakers in different rooms or using them in one room together.
Each channel on the Sony STR-DH190 gives you 100 watts of power (8 ohms, 1 kHz) so it’s a great choice if you’re setting your home theatre up in a large room. There are a lot of features on this receiver including FM radio with 30 station presets, Pure Direct mode for improved signal clarity, and Bluetooth connectivity so you can stream music from any Bluetooth device. It’s Hi-Res certified, and there’s also a volume offset mode to automatically adjust the volume if you plug in a record player.
Pioneer SX-10AE 2.0 Channel Stereo Receiver
The Pioneer SX-10AE stereo receiver is also a 2-channel stereo receiver with 100W of power per channel. For vinyl collectors, one of the best features of this receiver is the Phono Aux input that lets you plug in a Phono EQ-equipped turntable. You can also stream music via Bluetooth 4.2 or tune into 40 AM/FM radio presets. If you’d like to listen solo, you can plug in a set of headphones. There’s also a Direct Mode for high-fidelity sound.
Marantz NR1510 5.1 Channel 4K Ultra HD Network AV Receiver
The Marantz NR1510 is a 5.1 channel 4K Ultra HD receiver with 50 watts of power per channel. With 5.1 channels you can connect up to five speakers and one subwoofer. It has 4K/60Hz full-rate pass-through with 4:4:4 colour resolution and 6 HDMI inputs with HDCP 2.2 support.
For listening to music, the Marantz NR1510 has an 8-ohm impedance with 0.08-percent total harmonic distortion at 20Hz – 20kHz. For video, it supports cinematic surround sound via Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, HDR10, and BT.2020 format compatibility.
You can connect to your gaming consoles and different streaming services with dual-band Wi-Fi. It’s also compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri so you can use voice commands to control your receiver. If you’re an audiophile and want to enjoy music the way the musician intended, you’ll love having lossless file decoding up to 24-bit/192-kHz for high-resolution listening. There’s also an integrated phono input for vinyl collectors.
Pioneer VSX-534 5.2 Channel 4K Ultra HD Dolby Atmos AV Receiver
The Pioneer VSX-534 5.2 channel 4K Ultra HD receiver is one of the best deals you’ll find on a Dolby Atmos AV receiver. You get 5.2 channels to plug in 5 speakers and 2 subwoofers. Even if you don’t add ceiling speakers to your surround sound set up, this receiver has Dolby Atmos Height Virtualizer and DTS Virtual:X so you still feel as though you’re in the middle of a virtual 3D surround field.
Some of the features on this receiver include 150 watts of power per channel with 6ohms and support for 4K Ultra HD resolution with HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision. It has Bluetooth, 4 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output, and a USB port so you can plug in any USB device you’d like to. It also offers MCACC auto room tuning with Phase Control so it can adjust your output depending on speaker placement.
Onkyo TX-SR393 7.2 Channel 4K Ultra HD AV Receiver
There are a lot of receiver options if you’re looking for more channels, and the Onkyo TX-NR696 is the perfect choice if you’d like a high-performance receiver. It offers a discrete 7-channel amplifier with up to 100 watts (RMS) per channel. With those 7.2 channels, you can set up a full 7-speaker surround sound with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. There’s also Dolby Atmos Height Virtualizer, DTS Virtual:X 3D sound processing, and Theater-Dimensional virtual surround sound for the feeling of audio projecting all around you.
The Onkyo TX-NR696 has THX listening modes for movies, music, and games and the DSP Sound Enhancement Modes including rock, sports, action, and RPG for immersive gaming. For movies, this 4K Ultra HD receiver can upscale over HDMI so all of your 1080p Full HD content looks better than ever. It has 7 HDMI inputs and 2 outputs, 2 digital audio inputs, and connects to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi so you can stream from your devices.
Don’t forget your cables
One of the most important accessories when bringing home a new receiver is HDMI cables. Although some speakers will connect to a receiver wirelessly, a gaming console, cable box, or media streaming device will need an HDMI cable. Not all HDMI cables are created equal, and for the best video and audio performance, you’ll want to choose a cable that’s compatible with your receiver. For example, if you’ve picked a 4K home theatre receiver you’ll want to use a 4K HDMI cable as well. It will support 4K Ultra HD resolution and Dolby TrueHD sound.
Find receivers on sale every day
If you’re shopping for a receiver under $1000 you may also want to take a look at receivers on sale and open box deals on receivers. Inventory is added all the time, so be sure to check back frequently for the best deals.
You can find the perfect receiver for your stereo or home theatre at Best Buy.
Minor correction, of the stereo receivers mentioned, the Sony is the only dedicated 2 channel stereo receiver, with line in/out to allow for tape recordings etc., and only FM radio reception. The Pioneer SX-10AE and the Onkyo TX8220 (not mentioned) are actually 2.1 channels, where the Onkyo also includes a dedicated line-out for recording among other features. (best value and sound in my opinion)
There are some great ideas in here! I need to look for a new receiver. Thanks for the suggestions!
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