What were the best sounding mass market receivers of the 90's/00's?

The Onkyo Integra TX-970 was a really good sounding receiver with a decent tuner. Sony STR-AV1000 had a very nice amp in it but an average tuner. The problem with the '90's and after receivers was none of them have good tuners in them. Most used 3 FM gangs and they are susceptible to interference and multipath. If you live in an area with poor reception, do not get a digital receiver.
 
After 08 what did you turn to for curiousity sake?

Yamaha didn't get Audessy and at least for a while their in house room correction was far interior to the Audessy systems from Denon/Onkyo/etc. I'd guess that was the reason many jumped ship at that approximate date.
 
Use mine everyday. Plus they hold their value; recently sold one I bought 10 years ago for more than I paid Amazon. Not bad.
Honestly, I don't know what people are thinking with that. I'm sure it's a very nice receiver, but I looked at sold listings on eBay and some people have paid as much as $500 (including shipping) to get this thing. You can get nice separates for that kind of money, or a nice integrated like the NAD C370. I've seen those below $300.
 
Honestly, I don't know what people are thinking with that. I'm sure it's a very nice receiver, but I looked at sold listings on eBay and some people have paid as much as $500 (including shipping) to get this thing. You can get nice separates for that kind of money, or a nice integrated like the NAD C370. I've seen those below $300.

Agree, but I just couldn't bring myself to say "No!" to the money they were throwing my way. Character flaw from way back when...
 
The RX-V995 was the benchmark by which all mass market AVRs had to be measured in 1999 in my opinion. It may not have the nth degree of fidelity by our standards, but it was powerful and dead reliable. Mine's still chugging along happily nearly 20 years later.

Cheers,
Nathan

I have an RX-V992 from new that is still chugging along driving a pair a speakers via a Chromecast audio. My daughter loves it and its huge remote. The tuner was never anything great, but FM is sparse around here except for the CBC. It was a great buy.
 
I have an RX-V992 from new that is still chugging along driving a pair a speakers via a Chromecast audio. My daughter loves it and its huge remote. The tuner was never anything great, but FM is sparse around here except for the CBC. It was a great buy.

There's an rx-z1 on my local CL. I've been waiting for it's price to drop enough that I'm willing to snag it just to have a listen.

The Yammy controllers from that was are so gaudy and the functionality is... Okay. Mine lost its flappy cover long ago.
 
Agree, but I just couldn't bring myself to say "No!" to the money they were throwing my way. Character flaw from way back when...
I hear you. It’s like selling Bose. I’ve seen some Bose sell in the Facebook marketplace while some really good stuff languishes at the same price. Name recognition is huge, but there’s another component that shouldn’t be overlooked: aesthetics. When a receiver looks fancy and high tech, the masses will be impressed. There are also people who just plain love receivers. It just seems odd that people are seeking out 15-20 year old receivers and paying such a premium. I get the vintage 60’s/70’s thing. They’re like classic cars. But this is like paying $20k for a 1994 Mustang. Nothing wrong with that car, but there’s no reason to pay $20k for one.
 
Gosh. After looking up what some of these models still sell for, I’m seeing something I’ve never seen. I just paid $80 for a B&K Reference 30 pre/pro that retailed for nearly $3k back at the turn of the century. How can there not be much of a market for that while some of these AV receivers of that era command a premium price? I’m dumbfounded.
 
The RX-V995 was the benchmark by which all mass market AVRs had to be measured in 1999 in my opinion. It may not have the nth degree of fidelity by our standards, but it was powerful and dead reliable. Mine's still chugging along happily nearly 20 years later.

Cheers,
Nathan

I still have my Yamaha RX-V890 and my RX-V992, both with original manuals and remotes.
They both have an amazing sound with excellent bass too.
Extremely reliable.
 
Gosh. After looking up what some of these models still sell for, I’m seeing something I’ve never seen. I just paid $80 for a B&K Reference 30 pre/pro that retailed for nearly $3k back at the turn of the century. How can there not be much of a market for that while some of these AV receivers of that era command a premium price? I’m dumbfounded.

In the AV world, if it doesn't have the latest and greatest in connectivity and decoding tech it's basically a brick as far as resale goes.
 
I purchased my Yamaha RX-Z9 brand new. It has played 3 - 6 hours a day, every day since new. No sh-t!

We use it every night for primetime TV then the news, and I may take in a few disks during the day, prior to that. On weekends it gets used even more for racing and in season, the NFL network. It still looks and plays like new even though it gets really hot to the touch. Always has.

But the buttons on the remote were getting "dirty" and I found another remote with practically no use on the Bay a few weeks ago for <$90 shipped that was missing the battery door. No problem to take it off my old one. The RAV229 remote is a rare bird and hard to find compared to the remotes for their more popular (i.e., cheaper) models.
 
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In 2008 I was using totl 70s receivers.I discovered the early 2000s Yamahas a few years ago and I believe this is where my amplifier journey ends.I'm good with their level of performance and versatility.
For me the sound of yamaha is un arguably some of the best I have heard. But the looks and design is where it goes sideways for me. Yamaha's from 1979-90 are the lookers.
 
Most cost effective receivers will be AVR's such as the Uber receivers in the above post. I would add from my own personal experience Denon AVR-4806CI, Yamaha DSP-A1, Pioneer VSX-D1, Sony STR-DA4ES, Marantz SR4001, Denon AVR-2805. They are all over 100 wpc with the exception of the Marantz and the lesser Denon which are around 85 wpc. They are all surprisingly good in Analog Bypass Mode (no processor).
 
I recommend the Denon AVR3808CI. Handles all modern decodes (less Atmos and DTS-X) as well as SACD (stereo and multichannel) over HDMI. It also connects to local network for upload/download of different setup configuration files as well as full operation and configuration using embedded server instead of a remote or front panel. Comes with Audyssey room/speaker correction software. Killer sound quality (especially Direct and Pure Direct modes) plenty of power into 8-ohm speakers (I'd go outboard for 6-ohm and unders), tons of inputs (analog, coax digital, optical, HDMI). Only lack is inability to switch 4K (or 3D!) video. Got some heft too (about 40 lbs). Gettable at under $200 on the bay.
 
Not all AVR's are Phono capable. Almost all will be MM. My Denon's had Phono. Sony does. Marantz did not. When re-selling as a stereo receiver, Phono makes a difference.
 
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