If your room is less than perfect, then possibly the biggest upgrade to your system could potentially be a good RoomEQ system with an appropriate tuning app...
In the budget / mass-market (ie sticking to below US$1800 !!) - categories, this will pretty much limit you to Denon/Marantz and Onkyo/Integra/Pioneer.
Both of these use substantial sharing of components between their brands, making their AVR's to a great degree interchangeable (functionally) between each families brands - Hence the Onkyo RZ50, Pioneer LX505 and Integra DRX 5.4 - are different in some functional details, but not in any major aspect of performance (and similarly for Denon/Marantz pairs).
Having said that, pricing varies depending on market and retailer. In the USA, Denon is cheaper than Marantz, in EU I believe that they are similarly priced to each other, and sometimes Marantz is cheaper than Denon....(for equivalent performance/spec models) - same for the Onkyo family, where in the USA the pricing is RZ70 (cheapest) then Pioneer LX805 (middle) then Integra DRX 8.4 (most expensive) - but in Australia they are all priced at exactly the same price!
So it pays to shop around in your own region... also the midrange models have been out for a while, and periodically get discounted, sometimes quite deeply discounted.... again this is a regional thing, and sometimes limited to a specific retailer/chain - so shop around.
I have excluded from my shortlist Sony and Yamaha - this is because Sony's EQ/tuning system is designed to optimise for less than ideal speaker location - a spatial tuning, rather than for sound EQ, impulse performance etc... - so it is focused on lifestyle, people who have their speakers in less than ideal locations and need the software to work its magic to place things properly.
Yamaha's YPAO has had very variable reports.... although the reliability and quality of the components has always rated very well.
Denon/Marantz come with Audyssey, and for an extra US$20 you get a smartphone app to tweak the EQ - using this excellent results are definitely possible - for an additional US$200 you get a PC app, that is even more sophisticated. - In this current incarnation, with the tuning apps, Audyssey is competitive with Dirac (without the apps, I found Audyssey to be disappointing, and Dirac to be a substantial upgrade) - Dirac Live is available on the D&M AVR's as an optional upgrade (US$350 ?)
Onkyo/Integra/Pioneer come with Dirac Live, which in my opinion is the best option currently on the market. - even using the fastest 3 point tuning, using the Dirac smartphone app - which took me about 15min - there was an immediate improvement over my previous Audyssey.
The mid models in the series (RZ50, LX505, 5.4) all have pre-outs, the lower range models, only the Integra 3.4 has pre-outs, in the upper range models only the Integra 8.4 has Front L/C/R and SW XLR outputs - but the upper range is probably outside your price range (circa US$3000)
Within your budget you could do the mid range RZ50 and its brethren, which at times recently has dropped as low as US$1000.
You may also, if you shop around, find that you can get an Integra 3.4 at a reasonable price.
Hope this helps
Wow! Thanks for very informative reply! The more research I do, the more overwhelming all of this is! Lol!
Having had my Sony DA3100ES AVR so long (2007), most of my other gear has been upgraded. I bought my Sony 65" 4K TV last year, & all of my speakers have been upgraded, as well.
Just connecting the new Sony 4K along with my Sony Blu-ray to the DA3100ES, and getting everything to work was just about enough to get me to upgrade my Sony AVR! What a pain! No HDMI back in 2007.
Lately, I've had issues with certain DVDs (on my Blu-Ray player) offering video, but no volume. This just started, too. Very random. Never a problem until recently. All my DVDs & Blu-ray disks ran great!
Initially, I thought my Sony Blu-ray deck was going bad. Speaking with Crutchfield tech support, they think deck is fine, and the DA3100ES might be the issue.
Another thing that began a week or so ago is some of my YouTube TV channels work great. But, others, the video is fine! But; no volume! Crazy! Netflix and others are fine! We use a Firestick 4K. Everything has been rebooted, and any updates completed. Strange goings on, for sure!
Keeping in mind that I am essentially running 2 complete systems in my living room; my AVR is only used for TV viewing, and 5.1. For Hi-Fi 2-channel stereo (playing records & CDs), I run my Jolida integrated tube amp, Merrill PolyTable, Hagerman phono stage, & Oppo DV-980H. What my 2 systems do share are my Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers. My Mirage subwoofer is not used for stereo listening. It is connected directly to my DA3100ES along with my Ascend center & rear channels.
For DVD or Blu-ray audio/video or movies, I switch on the HT Bypass on the Jolida! Presto! I have 5.1, and the Sony takes control. The RCA cables run from Bypass connection on the Jolida to the Sony's Pre-Out.
For TV viewing in the evening, unless it is something special, we just run 3.1 - center, rears, and sub.
Right now, my journey so far, has led me to the Onkyo TX-RZ50, Marantz Cinema 60, & possibly the Sony ES STR-AZ5000ES. I'm thinking however, my smart money might be on the RZ50.
Something to note; after all these years, my Sony DA3100ES still performs admirably. Reading and watching some of the reviews on certain newer models, the quality seems less, and more problems..
- Greg
