Hello everyone! I have been spending way too many hours lately looking at specs and opinions on a new audio/video receiver for my living room to replace an old pioneer SX1250 running in plain stereo mode. The fact is I have a small house and my wife just doesn't want the big receiver and big 1977 speakers I have taking up half the room. That said, I can get away with buying a new large receiver but will be downsizing the main speakers. The main problem I have is after listening to many speakers and receivers they just sound hollow to me compared to having a simple pair of large 4ways. I mean to feel a similar sound you really need to have a full system and powered subs running just right and even then I always feel like the vocals are just out of place. Granted I've only tested a couple systems in my house of this type and listened to some on display setups at best buy so please educate me with what I'm missing 
So...currently I would probably only use the receiver for a 5.1 up to a 5.2.2/4 BUT definitely want the ability to go much higher or biamp so I'm leaning towards the 9.2 and up AVRS. The reason I haven't bought a newer receiver yet is because of the way technology is these days - spend thousands on something and 5 years later it's either obsolete or simply out dated leaving you not satisfied. So, I want to buy something that has plenty of power, can expand when I break out a wall to make my living room larger, and won't feel like a lemon in 3-5 years. From what I can tell HDMI 2.1 is a little ways off and even when it's available pricing could still make it a couple years down the road before I was even interested. So let's skip that particular tech that could be worth waiting for but anything else worth mentioning please do!
I don't have the ears anymore to appreciate certain subtleties. I feel like these days I prefer punchy bass and clear highs, sometimes highs that people would call too bright is ok with me as long as it's clean. Here are my current picks. Budget $800-1500 for receiver only.
Budget ones:
Denon AVR4400H
Marantz SR6012
Mid grade:
Denon AVRX6400H
Marantz SR7012
My wife is starting to enjoy things like alexa more so that's a bonus. And we will primarily use this one for movies, plex, netflix (and other apps), and a turntable. I will probably buy a new set of thin towers and use existing surround speakers I already own to complete the system. Sorry for the long post, all info and opinions is appreciated!
So...currently I would probably only use the receiver for a 5.1 up to a 5.2.2/4 BUT definitely want the ability to go much higher or biamp so I'm leaning towards the 9.2 and up AVRS. The reason I haven't bought a newer receiver yet is because of the way technology is these days - spend thousands on something and 5 years later it's either obsolete or simply out dated leaving you not satisfied. So, I want to buy something that has plenty of power, can expand when I break out a wall to make my living room larger, and won't feel like a lemon in 3-5 years. From what I can tell HDMI 2.1 is a little ways off and even when it's available pricing could still make it a couple years down the road before I was even interested. So let's skip that particular tech that could be worth waiting for but anything else worth mentioning please do!
I don't have the ears anymore to appreciate certain subtleties. I feel like these days I prefer punchy bass and clear highs, sometimes highs that people would call too bright is ok with me as long as it's clean. Here are my current picks. Budget $800-1500 for receiver only.
Budget ones:
Denon AVR4400H
Marantz SR6012
Mid grade:
Denon AVRX6400H
Marantz SR7012
My wife is starting to enjoy things like alexa more so that's a bonus. And we will primarily use this one for movies, plex, netflix (and other apps), and a turntable. I will probably buy a new set of thin towers and use existing surround speakers I already own to complete the system. Sorry for the long post, all info and opinions is appreciated!
