Home Audio Question

I have a Sony STR-DN1080, drives 5 speaker Polk Audio surround w/Polk subwoofer and has outdoor jacks that drive Bose 251 Environmental speakers. It does have AV capability & works great.

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I plan to add more speakers and a subwoofer at a later date.

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How many more speakers? 5.1? 7.1.2 (Atmos)? I would recommend deciding on the largest surround setup you can see yourself going to and making sure you pick a receiver with that many channels of amplification. If you think you’re going to use wireless surrounds, that’s another thing to take into account.

Also as others have said, make sure it actually has a phono input. Not all receivers do.

I’m partial to Denon receivers. Just checked and Best Buy has the AVR-S970H for $640 right now. The AVR-X1800H is $750 but you might find it for sale less than $700. Main difference between the two is that the AVR-X series has Audessey MultEQ XT (XT32 on the really high end versions) while the AVR-S series has regular Audessey MultEQ.

The main thing I like about Denon, other than good sound and the fact that they generally don’t skimp on features, is that they tend to give you a lot of flexibility with amp assignment (using spare channels as height speakers, rear surrounds, zone 2, etc.) and I/O (letting you mix audio and video sources). But I have an X3700H so can’t speak to the exact capabilities of the S970H in that regard.

You might not need a lot of those features, but my experience in the AVR world is that there’s usually not a tradeoff between features/sound until you get to really high-end hifi amps. In other words, the manufacturers all tend to put better amplifiers in their receivers that have more features. You don’t generally find opportunities to pay less for a “bare bones” AVR with better amplification but less bells and whistles. At least not for 5.1+ channel AVRs (2-channel is a different conversation).

You won’t need an external preamp with the AVR-S970H or the AVR-X1800H. Both have built in phono (phonograph - i.e. turntable) inputs.

For the TV, are you going to be using smart TV apps and passing audio back to the receiver from the TV? If so, make sure your HDMI cables are compatible with HDMI 2.1 for eARC (enhanced audio return channel). There might be a specific HDMI port you have to use on the TV as well. Generally if you’re using external devices, I would recommend using the receiver for input switching (ETA: preferably with all video processing turned off in the AVR) rather than switching inputs on the TV and messing with eARC to get audio back to the AVR. But that’s just my preference.

There are a couple of features in the AVR-X series (or at least my X3700H) that may or may not exist in the AVR-S series. You might have to do some research if these matter to you:

1. The AVR-X series support storage of multiple speaker configurations - meaning the Audyssey EQ parameters, large vs. small speaker settings, channel levels, and so on. This is handy because it allows you to have separate configs for 2-channel listening vs. home theater listening. For example, you can set your KEFs to “large” to run them full-range when listening to your turntable, but have them set to “small” and send your bass to the sub when watching TV/movies. You just have to run the Audyssey setup separately for each profile.

2. On my AVR-X3700H (I’m not 100% sure whether the 1800 has this) you have 3 “quick settings” that are tied to buttons on the remote. The quick settings let you immediately select a combination of volume, dynamic volume/dynamic EQ settings, speaker configs, surround format, etc. with one button press on the remote.

The way I use this, I have one setting for loud movies/TV with no dynamic volume/EQ controls whenever nobody is home or I don’t care about volume. I have another setting for late night TV where I’m using dynamic volume/EQ. Having these on quick selects is nice because some source material works with dynamic volume while some does not. My third setting is for 2-channel music.

Any receiver or AV receiver or Intergrated amp for that matter combine amplification and preamplifier. Receivers include a tuner and are stereo. AV Receivers have multiple channels and multiple zones. Most Integrated Amps are stereo.

Not sure what you are meaning by "preamp". As mentioned, any receiver or integrated amp (which is just a receiver without a radio tuner) will have one. A preamp is just the set of functions that don't include amplification to the speakers; so, volume control, input selection, signal processing (surround sound, EQ etc) and optionally a phono stage.

A phono preamp (or phono stage) is what takes the lower level output of a turntable cartridge, compared to other things like a CD player or other "line level" things, and steps it up to where it can be input to the amp that powers the speakers. All receivers have a preamp section, but not all receivers have a phono stage. If you are buying a receiver there's no reason to buy one that doesn't already have it, but if for some reason you did, yes you could add a separate phono stage.

I recommend taking a look at Accessories4Less, which carries discounted clearance items. Not the latest models but you don't need that. Here is a page for A/V receivers, with phono inputs. Lots to choose from.

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I recommend taking a look at Accessories4Less, which carries discounted clearance items. Not the latest models but you don't need that. Here is a page for A/V receivers, with phono inputs. Lots to choose from.

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Damn those are some nice deals on previous models / factory refurbs. I’m gonna have to keep that place in mind next time I need an AVR.