Are there still good receivers?

TheNorthBridge · January 7, 2023

For the past 11 or so years I've used a Pioneer VSK-921K and I have absolutely loved it, it has worked as the centerpiece of my entertainment center flawlessly (besides ARC which is just fiddly) and handles all the game consoles, laptops and media devices I have tied to it just fine. However, as technology gets better I've been shopping around for something with support for all the modern protocols and audio standards my newer devices use but I'm having this issue where there just aren't enough inputs anymore especially RCA, SPDIF and PHONO. I have 7 consoles, a VCR, laptop, cassette deck and a turntable so I use every input I have, and I'm just wondering if there are still any mid to prosumer level amps that could handle that without adding a bunch of splitters or switch boxes in case my receiver decides to take the long nap some day.

tikker · January 7, 2023

Phono is getting harder to find in my experience. Optical should be easy and RCA as well, depending on how many you need. Denon, Marantz, Yamaha are my usual brands for receivers. Just as a completely random pick to see I, checked Denon's current offerings, e.g. the X2800H: https://www.denon.com/en-gb/product/av-receivers/avr-x2800h which has a variety of inputs: 1 phono (MM), 2 optical , 4 RCA and 6 HDMI. The units are there I'd say, but if you really want all devices, especialy older ones, hooked up all at once all the time you may end up in a bit of a more niche and expensive corner of the AVR market.

dalekphalm · January 7, 2023

13 hours ago, TheNorthBridge said:

For the past 11 or so years I've used a Pioneer VSK-921K and I have absolutely loved it, it has worked as the centerpiece of my entertainment center flawlessly (besides ARC which is just fiddly) and handles all the game consoles, laptops and media devices I have tied to it just fine. However, as technology gets better I've been shopping around for something with support for all the modern protocols and audio standards my newer devices use but I'm having this issue where there just aren't enough inputs anymore especially RCA, SPDIF and PHONO. I have 7 consoles, a VCR, laptop, cassette deck and a turntable so I use every input I have, and I'm just wondering if there are still any mid to prosumer level amps that could handle that without adding a bunch of splitters or switch boxes in case my receiver decides to take the long nap some day.

Can you be a bit more specific about which exact audio inputs you need? There are indeed lots of good receivers still, but having a large number of analog inputs is a bit niche.

The Denon AVR-X4700H for example has a lot of Analog inputs:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_033AVX4700/Denon-AVR-X4700H.html?tp=179

4x Digital Audio (2x Coax, 2x Optical)

6x Phono RCA

The Marantz SR5015 has similar numbers for their inputs:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_642SR5015/Marantz-SR5015.html

Depending on exactly what audio out each of your consoles and other devices have, some of these would likely work.

Here would be an example of a very high end AVR:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_642SR8015/Marantz-SR8015.html?tp=179

It has 7 RCA audio inputs.

TheNorthBridge · January 8, 2023

16 hours ago, tikker said:

Phono is getting harder to find in my experience. Optical should be easy and RCA as well, depending on how many you need. Denon, Marantz, Yamaha are my usual brands for receivers. Just as a completely random pick to see I, checked Denon's current offerings, e.g. the X2800H: https://www.denon.com/en-gb/product/av-receivers/avr-x2800h which has a variety of inputs: 1 phono (MM), 2 optical , 4 RCA and 6 HDMI. The units are there I'd say, but if you really want all devices, especialy older ones, hooked up all at once all the time you may end up in a bit of a more niche and expensive corner of the AVR market.

Yeah the plan is to keep building my console collection and leave them tied in at all times. Right now I'd need at least 6 RCA, 4 with composite video, one for a tape deck and a phono or line in for the turntable or preamp. Right now My Xbox One X and my laptop and use optical (laptop is passed through the TV) for audio, but only because my receiver doesn't support 4k (and ARC is just fiddly), if I had one that did I'd just use HDMI. Also my NES is tied directly to the TV because it's mono audio, and will probably stay that way. I really like the Denons, they're right in the range of what I'd want to spend but they don't have enough analogue video. The only ones I saw that was close were the AVR-X4800 and X6700 but they're way out of my price range, and I don't need all the preouts I'm only playing in stereo with front height.

I guess I don't understand why features that used to be pretty standard on $500-700 units is relegated only to extremely high end equipment now. TVs are the same way now, my 13 year old LG plasma had so many inputs, TVs in the same price range now are lucky to have two HDMI, one component and one composite RCA.

dalekphalm · January 8, 2023

15 hours ago, TheNorthBridge said:

Yeah the plan is to keep building my console collection and leave them tied in at all times. Right now I'd need at least 6 RCA, 4 with composite video, one for a tape deck and a phono or line in for the turntable or preamp. Right now My Xbox One X and my laptop and use optical (laptop is passed through the TV) for audio, but only because my receiver doesn't support 4k (and ARC is just fiddly), if I had one that did I'd just use HDMI. Also my NES is tied directly to the TV because it's mono audio, and will probably stay that way. I really like the Denons, they're right in the range of what I'd want to spend but they don't have enough analogue video. The only ones I saw that was close were the AVR-X4800 and X6700 but they're way out of my price range, and I don't need all the preouts I'm only playing in stereo with front height.

I definitely came across AVR's that have 6 RCA inputs, some even with dedicated Phono (the rest were Composite) and basically every AVR has at least one optical, often two.

But you're not looking in the low or mid-range for that. You're looking at $1500+ for these units. Frankly, this is just going to become harder to find over time.

15 hours ago, TheNorthBridge said:

I guess I don't understand why features that used to be pretty standard on $500-700 units is relegated only to extremely high end equipment now. TVs are the same way now, my 13 year old LG plasma had so many inputs, TVs in the same price range now are lucky to have two HDMI, one component and one composite RCA.

The reason why mid-range and entry level AV Receivers don't have a ton of analogue inputs anymore is simple: The vast majority of buyers don't want or need those features anymore.

You're in a highly niche use-case that doesn't represent the average buyer. The vast majority of buyers these days only have HDMI devices hooked into their AV Receiver (one or two game consoles, maybe a Satellite or Cable box, maybe a Blu-Ray player). And maybe they have one or two analog devices as well, perhaps an old CD player or record player.

As for TV's - most modern TV's in the mid-range or higher levels will have at least 3-4 HDMI ports, which is plenty for the vast majority of users. Most people just don't have that many things plugged into them.

IMO you're either going to need to look at the very high end (based on the inputs you described above, there definitely are AVR's that will do the job), or you will need to try and hunt down old, outdated discontinued AVR's - probably used or refurbished.

For AVR manufacturers, why include a bunch of inputs that 99% of the buyers won't use? Even if it only costs them a penny or two per input (or however much), that adds up when selling thousands of them to unnecessary cost.