AV Receiver Reviews

Though my reviews of three competing $600 AVRs wasn’t technically handled as a product face-off, the editor asked me to add a few summary comments to help compare and contrast. These receivers—the Sony STR-DN1060 reviewed here—and the Pioneer VSX-1130 and Onkyo TX-NR545 were all good, but not in precisely the same ways.

Ease of use was one differentiator. Pioneer had the best control app, though Onkyo’s couldn’t be judged, not having been available at press time. Pioneer also got points for its network setup with iOS and Android devices and for AVNavigator5, its Web browser control. Sony had the most attractive graphic user interface.

Pioneer offered one more HDMI input than the others: six regular plus one MHL for smartphone streaming. Sony’s six HDMI ins included two MHL, while Onkyo offered no MHL at all. Sony went out on a limb and omitted the component video interface, which might inconvenience owners of early-generation HDTVs, though we expect others to go the same way shortly. Sony also bumped AM radio; does anyone care?

All three supported HDCP 2.2 copy protection for Ultra HD signal sources. All supported UHD passthrough. Onkyo was the only manufacturer to omit UHD upscaling, though it was also the only one to support HDR (high dynamic range) video.

Streaming services got variable support. Onkyo boasted several exclusives including SiriusXM Internet Radio, Deezer, Slacker, and TuneIn. Onkyo and Pioneer offered Pandora, and all supported Spotify. Sony’s Bluetooth implementation included NFC, or near field control, which allows pairing by bumping devices.

Room correction schemes, when actually used, strongly affect sound quality. All three used homegrown systems. Of them, Sony’s room correction brought the greatest benefit with the least harm. Pioneer’s helped more often than not. Onkyo’s helped sometimes but was less effective with the other two, which have been through several generations.

When you’re buying a receiver, you’re buying a power amp. See our Test Bench measurements to find out how much power these products really muster.

Moving from objective to subjective judgment: To my ears, Sony was a cut above the other two, as its five-star Performance rating attested. Onkyo pleasantly surprised me by coming in a strong second. Pioneer didn’t sound bad, but the VSX-1130 ranked a full star below last year’s VSX-1124. Like vintages, receivers sometimes wax and wane from year to year, though whether this is due to deliberate decisions about voicing, availability of parts, other changes in design, or sample-to-sample variation will always be a mystery.—MF