If you are  in the market for AV Receivers I have 3 in mind for you, Yamaha RX-V671, the Onkyo TX-NR709 review, and Pioneer VSX-1021-K review. Now if you are looking for some information while going through the specs of these units that you do not understand, such as; Pioneer- 20Hz- 20kHz, 0.8% THD @ 8 ohm= 90Wx7 or 1kHz @ 6 ohm= 130Wx7 and similar items for the other 2 receivers. Another item is 1-2 channel Driven, if you are not sure what any of this means lets see if we can help out.

We recommend the Pioneer VSX-1021-K 7.1 and

Onkyo TX-NR709

AV Receiver Comparison Review as the best entry level receivers. Normally all receivers are rated at the 8 OHM, but they can handle the 4 to 8 OHM speakers. The lower rating the speakers have the more power the amplifier will have. The THD of 0.8% is the Total Harmonic Distortion rating of the receiver, the lower the number the better. Most of the time you would not notice the distortion unless you drive the volume of the receiver at the maximum. Normally the receiver will be driven in 2 channel when listening to the radio, again I would not really pay attention to this. Let your own ears be the judge.

The AV Receiver needs to power 5 speakers. But if they hook up only 2 speakers for stereo music – the system only has to run 2 speakers and those speakers have more power available. Make sure when comparing power numbers the measurement came from the line that says “all speakers driven”.

“8 ohms, 6 ohms, 4 ohms..”

The same amp can drive 8,6,4 ohm speakers but the closer to zero the more current the speakers will pull and the more power the receiver has to put out – but looks more powerful.

The same amp can measure it’s power all these ways:

8 ohms = 60 watts
6 ohms = 90 watts
4 ohms = 120 watts

When comparing power numbers – make sure you use the 8 ohm values from all the receivers to have an apples-to-apples comparison. ( Onkyo TX-NR709 manual )

(Note: Some crappy all-in-one systems use 3 ohm speakers to make the power numbers look larger.)

“20Hz- 20kHz VS or 1kHz”

It takes a LOT more power to create sound at low frequencies than at higher frequencies.

(This is why we have self-powered subwoofers)

More honest companies promise they will give you X watts per speaker across all the frequencies (20-20,000 hz). But to make the power numbers look better – some companies test at a 1,000 hz test tone. This makes the power numbers look better because this is easy.

If they only give you the power numbers at 1 Khz – this is a warning flag to run from this unit.

WEIGHT MATTERS

If all things are equal between 2 receivers and inputs/outputs – see how much they weigh and buy the heavier unit.

One of the heavier and more expensive parts in an Amp is the Transformer. This is a massive piece of metal and the receiver with the bigger Transformer will run cooler, handle transients better and last longer than the other.