As far as I can tell the newer onkyo avrs have earc. I have a few different avrs I’ve been testing in my house. Denon 6700, denon 4500, onkyo rz920, pioneer 704 and Yamaha 3070. Audyssey is a mess and I prefer manual eq. Denon osd seems really old now, the denon 4308 had better osd. Denons get really hot as well so put them with a fan or two. With audyssey turned off they do sound better but still come in bottom spots behind others. Also the 6700 sounds the same as 4500.
Yamaha peq with rew sessions will always win. Pioneer and onkyo have strongest amp section and sound excellent too. The pioneer and onkyo preamp mode is by far the best and most adaptable.
These are all higher end models though and if I was looking for something cheaper I’d jump on eBay and buy something like Yamaha 1060 for $500 used. Or pioneer elite 502 for around $400. Denon I’d only buy if you don’t like to eq manually and have bad speakers in a tough room. The denon 3600 is fine if you run power amps and need more channels but then again I’d buy onkyo rz830 or pioneer 503 over that denon. If you only need 5-7ch and don’t have separate amps that Yamaha 1060 is the one.
I've been repeating myself on my past couple of post that Yamaha RX-A1080 is better product if you aren't gonna use amps, but this die hard Denon fans seem to be stuck to their little Denons.
Denons are mostly made in China and some in Vietnam, whereas Yamaha is made in Malaysia. They are heavier than their denon counterparts and have a beefier amp section.
Even if I were to optimize the Denon with the audyssey XT32, i doubt that it would sound as good as a Yamaha.
Infact ypao rsc in Yamaha does a much better job then what audyssey did to my speakers.
The center channel for me always sounded thin and harsh on audyssey, which I never liked on my Denon.
With the yamaha aventage, the center channel has become livlier with great bass, mids and as alltogether produces a more robust sound.
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