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.

This post was edited on 5/19/24 at 4:18 pm