Are you on a hunt for a good AV receiver? And you want it to be under 500? We’ve got you covered. We did our best and found some great AV receivers that are worth the money.
When we wrote the reviews, we thought about connectivity options, the performance levels, and the additional features of these AV receivers. And of course, we didn’t forget about the most important thing, and that’s high-quality audio. Do you think that an AV receiver is good if it doesn’t have good quality audio? We think it’s not.
If you love to enjoy a good home theater atmosphere, you will find what you need in this article. And if you are here accidentally, and you never were a home-entertainment enthusiast, stop for a second and think about it. This year has been hectic, and we’ve all spent most of our time indoors. And a lot of people were deeply bored, and they didn’t know what to do. That’s when an excellent home-entertainment system comes in handy.
But, let’s introduce you to some great AV receivers that are under 500.
1. Yamaha RX-V685 AV Receiver
Source: amazon.com
We had to start our list with this product because it has it all. It has a perfect combination of all the essential features, and the price is excellent.
Yamaha RX-V685 AV Receiver comes with seven HDMI HDCP2.3 ports, one composite video input, three aux inputs, and two coaxial inputs.
It supports MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, MPEG-4 AAC, and other video and audio formats. Another great feature is the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and
AirPlay 2 makes this receiver a perfect device for streaming your most-loved services, like Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, and others. Another cool feature is Alexa voice control that will make your life easier, and MusicCastfunctionality.
The best feature of this receiver is the audio quality because the sound is impeccable. It has support for Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, DTS:X, HLG, and 4K HDR videos.
PROS:
- Amazing sound
- Great video
- Streaming options
- Great price for what you get
CONS:
- Doesn’t have any
2. Sony STRDH590
Source: amazon.com
If you want a receiver that costs even less and still has some great qualities, you will love this one. It doesn’t have so many features like the previous one, but it has everything you need.
The Sony STRDH590 will be perfect for you if you are not so keen on special features and technology widgets, and you only seek something that you can use on an everyday basis.
The receiver has just three features, DTS-HD Master support, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, and Dolby TrueHD. It also has support for 24Hz 4K videos, HDR, and 3D pass-through. It has five HDCP 2.2 compatible HDMI ports and one coaxial audio.
When it comes to sound and video, it’s great. The sound is clean and perfect, and the video quality is top-notch.
PROS:
- Easy to set up
- Affordable
- Great value
- Great video and audio quality
CONS:
- No Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support
- No fancy features
3. Yamaha RX-V485
Source: amazon.com
Yes, another Yamaha on our list, but it’s for a reason. This is a more budget-friendly version than the first one. It has many features, and possibly everything that you need.
The connectivity features are the same as the previous model, it has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, but it doesn’t have Chromecast, unfortunately. But you can still listen to Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Pandora, and other streaming services of your choice.
You can control it with Alexa or MusicCast voice control, and it also has five HDCP2.3 and eARC-compatible HDMI ports.
The audio performance is impeccable, and the sound delivered will be loved by many audiophiles. It’s compatible with Dolby Vision, Dolby Audio, Dolby TrueHD, HDR10, HLG, and BT. 2024.
PROS:
- Affordable
- Many features
- Great sound quality
CONS:
- No Chromecast
4. Onkyo TX-SR383
Source: amazon.com
Anyone who had this receiver was astonished by its performance. It’s not full of features like other receivers from the list, but you will get more than you need for the price you pay.
It’s the best option for you to buy if you look for something that will give you fantastic sound. It comes with Onkyo’s Advanced Music Optimizer that helps to save the high frequencies, and you can’t get that on other receivers that cost the same. Another exciting feature is the AccuEQ technology that helps you calibrate your speakers with this receiver to your room’s acoustic properties. That means that you will get the best possible sound quality for your full enjoyment of home entertainment.
It doesn’t have a Wi-Fi feature, and you can’t stream services from it. But it has something else that’s cool – the two-zone functionality. It means that you will be able to play the same audio sources in two different rooms, two different audio sources simultaneously, while controlling each room’s volume.
It has four HDMI ports that are not ideal, but looking for something simple will do its job. And it doesn’t support a 4K resolution. This can be a problem for some people because the video quality isn’t impeccable, but it’s still good.
PROS:
- Two-zone playback
- AccuEQ room calibration
- Advanced Music Optimizer technology
CONS:
- Doesn’t support 4K resolution
- Has only four HDMI ports
- What’s important to consider while buying an AV
Connectivity
You should be looking for something that has useful connectivity features, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and also something that’s been recently popular AirPlay, or Chromecast if you would love for your Av to be top-notch.
Features
Many are available when it comes to features, but some of them that you should look for in an AV are 4K reproduction, Dolby Atmos, HDR, and HLG.
The number of HDMI ports
This seems like something that it’s not essential, and because of that, many forget about it. But you should not, because it’s super important. It’s good to have more HDMI ports and for them to at least HDCP2.2 standard compatible.
Did you find what you were looking for?
