Best AV Receiver - connected to a kodi/OSMC device?

General Discussion
1

Hi all,

I was a happy user of a AV-Receiver Kenwood KRF-X9050D - when suddenly the onboard processor died, thus it was not usable anymore.
I then went for a KRF-9300D receiver, which when I received it, avered to be a big mistake. Imagine, those *&%$& did put a Fan into it! (Yes, a FAN) because some components where actively working on the data (Video data).

The one thing I always liked about the Kenwood receivers was that the sound/audio was always coming through clean (tried Yamaha but that one was an even bigger mistake, Denon/Bose amplify Bass too much IMHO, Onkio didn’t have the power reserves so that when listing to a good beat, audio got distorted) for a decent price (~500 euro price tag).
Everyone who is an audio “purist”, knows that a well balanced setup is more important than the best components that do not play well together, and especially a decent source (SACD, Vinyle disks).

I however want to replace that one Kenwood receiver because every time I power it on, I can’t stand hearing the FAN.

So here my request to you folks:
What would be a good AV receiver, that has the following:

  • Price tag around 500 euro (Ok, I would go to 1000, but very honestly, when I see the setup of friends which are way more expensive than mine, I don’t know where that money went into).
  • 5.1 output for Home-Cinema (7.1 is Ok)
  • Decent Stereo playback
  • 4 HDMI in, 1 HDMI out
  • 100W per audio-channel min
  • No FAN
  • No network stuff

It does not require to be very fancy, preferably no Network and no stupid app for configuration. The less electronics inside, the better (from experience).

Any advice?

2

I like the pioneer vsx series. Good powerful sound and models in every budget range.

Yes, they have networking and stuff, but you can decide not to use it.

3

I have a Sony amp and found it far too complex to set up. Even now changing basic options requires consulting the manual. It seems I am not alone (suggested in reviews as well); but I cannot fault the sound itself.

Onkyo amps are pretty good, but a bit weak on the per-channel output.

4

Lately I bought the Denon AVR-X2300W and must say, no regrets. I’m a huge fan of Denon because of it sound. At this moment I have the rspi3 with OSMC installed playing over the receiver, no problem at all.

Most new models do have network/wifi, it’s your own choice if you want to work with it. For me it works outstanding, I plugged in an ethernet cable for a soled connection, works great.

Every device (tv receiver, blu ray, atv3 and raspi3) are plugged into the hdmi-in ports of the receiver and one hdmi cable is connecting the receiver with my Sony smart tv out-port (ARC).

Maybe you can look at the Denon receivers, you won’t regret it!

Good luck with your choice.

5

Thx folks.
I’ll check out what would be best here for me.
I need to find out what receiver would be the simplest (usage and setup), not requiring an app… :}

6

Just checked a little more in what exists and would suite me.
Decided to go for the NAD T 758. Ok, double of what I wanted to spend, but I prefere to be p* about the price I pay, than to be pissed for the duration I have the item (as with the current kenwood receiver)…