What should be the determining factor(s)?

[shepsan]

During my research for a replacement AV receiver, I found many units whose specs and prices were about the same. The more I read, the more confused I became. I wonder how to determine which AV receiver is the best?

If features and prices are the same or comparable, what should be the determining factor(s) to motivate one to choose between say a Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, Sony or Yamaha?

Would it be the build quality, the ease of operation, the image or sound processing or simply the looks of the receiver? Or, what else?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Reliability history, Customer service, Firmware updates, Aesthetics (looks).

 

[m_vanmeter]

there really is no "best" a/v receiver if you are comparing modern quality manufacturer units. Each will have different feature packages, and as mentioned, each manufacturer will have a slightly different customer service history (but be careful here, most internet stuff is anecdotal at best ). Set your budget, and make a list of the "must have" and "think I need" features, and go from there.

 

[sholling]

You don't give a budget but the general rule of thumb is to first determine what your speakers need. For example power requirements and are they 4 or 8ohm, not every receiver will drive 4ohm speakers. Just keep in mind that power specifications are written by the marketing department and are usually "optimistic" to one degree or another. There are also different ways to rate power. Low end receivers are often rated "XX watts per channel at 1khz one or two channels driven". That's a pretty low bar. A step up is "XX watts per channel 20-20khz 2 channels driven". That's pretty common in mid-priced receivers. A very few are rated "XX watts per channel 20-20khz all channels driven". However if a receiver is rated at 120wpc and only weighs 17lbs when the competition weighs 50lbs it might be an indication that marketing as been massaging the specs a bit.

Only once you have figured out the power requirements is it time to go down the features checklist. Audyessy (Denon & Onkyo) room correction vs VPAO (Yamaha) vs MCACC (Pioneer)? The list is long.