The Audio Industry Free Market is Failing Me.

 

I'm feeling pretty disappointed after looking for a receiver upgrade for my home theater system.  I recently ran across a spreadsheet comparison table I made ten years ago when I last thought about upgrading my 15-syear-old-so-obsolete-it-doesn't-even-have-HDMI-inputs receiver.  At that time, I decided it was not worth spending the money on a receiver that would probably be obsolete in another few years.  I was right! [pause for applause.]  That table showed that even the most expensive receiver I looked at, the $2K Denon AVR-4311CI is woefully out of date today.  It only supported HDMI v1.4!  That wouldn't be much use with my current 4K TV and computer.  In addition, none of those receivers were prepared for the rise of music streaming and wouldn't be able to play music from any of the streaming services available today.

I recently struggled, and failed, to get the on-screen menus from either my receiver or SACD player (another obsolete piece of equipment) to show up on my TV.  That rekindled my desire for a new receiver.  Time for a new spreadsheet!  It turns out the situation is even worse now than it was ten years ago.  Due to consolidation, there are less manufacturers in the market, and it appears that most of those that are left use the same JDM partner to build their box, because their features and port layouts in the back are often identical between brands.  

The state-of-the-art is 8K capable HDMI inputs, full Ethernet/Wifi/Bluetooth capability, app-based control and way more speaker channels than anyone really needs.  I don't need all those speaker channels; therefore, nobody should need them 😉.  I'm perfectly satisfied with 5.1 for movies and 2 channels for music.  I'm not going to pay extra for a 9.2.4 system (seriously, 9.2.4!)  

What I really need is a low-end preamp/processor with some HDMI switching and all the network and remote features. 

This is where the market is failing me.  Separates are all crazy expensive and nobody makes an inexpensive processor (that I can find).  It makes no sense to have to replace the expensive amplifiers built into every receiver whenever the electronics go obsolete.  Since I already have powerful amps and multi-channel line-ins on my old receivers that still work great, I would be happy with a low-end receiver to use as a processor and use my old receiver as an amp.  I would be happy with that, but none of the manufacturers put pre-outs on their inexpensive receivers.  The cheapest receiver with a 5.1 channel pre-out is $1200!  At the same time, you can get a $400 receiver with multiple 8K HDMI inputs and outputs, full Ethernet and Bluetooth- everything I need except for a zone two output- but it only has a comparatively wimpy 75W/ch amp which may struggle to drive my large speakers.  

Hey Denon, Marantz, Yamaha and Onkyo: If you can sell a receiver that does all that for $400, you ought to be able to make a standalone processor using the exact same boards just without the amplifiers and big transformers for even less!  Or at least put some pre-outs on your low-end receivers.   Expecting your customers to replace the big, expensive amplifiers every few years just because a small portion of the electronics are out of date is ridiculous, not to mention environmentally inconsiderate.  I can't be the only consumer who feels this way.  Don't make me organize a boycott.

I ran across one company that sort of has the right idea.  Emotiva has a processor box that is about 1/3 the price of where other entry level preamp/processors start: Emotiva BasX MC1.  My issues with this box are it is not state of the art- no 8K HDMI support, and it is still more expensive than I want it to be.  That probably is because this company doesn't have the economies of scale that the Denon and Yamaha enjoy with their millions of units sold.  Emotiva has to amortize their software development costs over a much smaller number of units.  They even show a picture of the inside of this box showing how simple the hardware is.

I see no reason why one of the large consumer audio manufacturers can't make a similar box for a couple hundred dollars and reuse the exact same software already developed for their receivers.  I would be much more amenable to replacing a box like that every few years rather than a much more expensive complete receiver with processor and amps.

Now that I think about it, if software is the problem, maybe we need an open-source movement with standard hardware and software.  I'll volunteer my hardware design skills!

Ultimately, I found a great deal on an Onkyo TX-NR6050 for $360 that should do everything I need it to.  It should be delivered next week!  It still has no 5.1 pre-outs, just the sub and a zone 2, but it has a 90W/ch amp. That is closer to the 120W Yamaha I am using today than most other low-end receivers.  We'll see if it's enough.  If not, it reportedly has the ability to configure an extra set of speaker outputs for bi-amping, so I could drive the woofers in my main channels with their own 90W channel if the power is lacking from a single output.  With 8K HDMI support, hopefully it lasts at least one upgrade cycle for me before becoming obsolete.  And if not, at least it is l/2 to 2/3 less expensive than my previous receiver purchases and won't be as painful to watch slowly age into a heavy paperweight.

For those interested in my setup, I have a pair of Klipsch KLF-20s for main L/R speakers, a KLF-C7 center channel, a pair of KSF-S5 surround channels and a KSW-15 subwoofer.  My screen is an LG 86" 4K LED.  My current receiver is a Yamaha RX-V2400 and I still have a 45lb RX-V2092 beast on the downstairs TV.  The speakers are all about 25 years old and still performing great!  The receivers still perform great as well, but their connectivity is just obsolete.  I've gone through 4 different TVs/Projectors over that same timeframe.  I'm less upset about the relentless upgrade cycle of new TVs compared to receivers because at least with TVs I have received tangible benefits at every upgrade (36" CRT TV --> projector --> HD projector --> 4K flat panel).  With receivers, the benefits from upgrades are just the ability to connect evolving sources.  There isn't the same level of improvement to the sound or experience as you get in the picture in TV generations.