I feel the only option now left it to upgrade my existing A/V receiver to a better one?
It’s a balance approach. I would want the best within my budget that I will be proud of for EVERYTHING - AVR, speakers, subs, etc. Heck I’m proud of my speaker cables too.
They don’t have to be the most expensive or least expensive.
Here’s a thing about everyone- everyone will recommend to you what THEY would do personally. Dealers may recommend what they want to sell or what they would do if it were their money. People will also recommend what they own. If they own a Denon X3800, they recommend it. If they own an Anthem, they recommend it.
Before you buy anything else, definitely do more research because you don’t want “gimmick” from dealers or “compromise” from someone. Don’t want to go “too high” and don’t want to go “too low”. You don’t want to feel like you’ve listened to bad advice from anyone - dealers or other consumers. Everyone has their own reasons.
Life would be a lot more simple if we were billionaires and $6K, $10K, and $25K AVR’s were pocket change.
Here are some things to consider.
1. Don’t worry about DACs because even the lower-end DACs will have awesome specs that are INDISTINGUISHABLE from the most expensive DAC in terms of sound quality. Humans simply cannot hear the difference between THD+N of 0.0001% vs 0.001% or Dynamic Range of 150dB vs 110dB.
2. Giant companies like Denon/Marantz and especially Yamaha will have a lot more money allocated to research/development and customer support. Their products will usually have less “bugs” and if you ever need support, there is a lot higher chance of being able to speak to someone about it today, not in a few days or weeks.
3. Some people feel that Room Correction is a MUST-HAVE, and some people don’t even use any room correction (RC) because they feel it doesn’t do much for them. Just because someone loves RC doesn’t mean you will and vice versa. But if you want RC, Audyssey XT32 and DIRAC seem to be excellent options. According to
@PENG our local expert who have used RC from Anthem ARC, Audyssey XT32, and Dirac, Dirac seems to be #1 overall, but Audyssey XT32 is #2 and not too far behind. So if RC is a must-have, then Denon/Marantz is a good option.
At the end of the day, YOU have to be proud and happy with EVERYTHING you own.