AVR Manufacturers Announce Spring Product Releases, Firmware Updates

It’s announcement week in the AV receiver category, with Denon, Marantz, Onkyo and Yamaha posting debuts and refreshes to their 2016 product lineups. Yamaha bowed four AVRs due to ship over the next several months: RX-V781 ($849, June), RX-V681 ($649, May), RX-V581 ($549, May) and RX-V481 ($449, April). The top three 7.2-channel models pack Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based surround formats, and the 5.1-channel RX-V481 has Dolby True HD, DTS Master Audio and HD Audio, Yamaha said. Additional features: MusicCast multiroom music streaming capability; HDCP 2.2 compliance to work with copy-protected 4K media streaming devices and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players; support for 4K Ultra HD at 60p 4:4:4; and HDR and BT.2020 compatibility, Yamaha said. Denon said it’s adding Auro-3D to its AVR-X4200W and AVR-X6200W AV receivers in a premium firmware update users can download from the Denon website for $199. Auro-3D adds one or two additional height channels, depending on the size of the room, Denon said. Denon AVRs containing the Auro-Codec decoder can decode an original Auro-3D mix, and the Auro-Matic upmixing engine allows existing collections of music and film soundtracks to be rendered in 3D sound, it said. The Denon receivers also incorporate Dolby Atmos and are DTS-ready. Denon’s sister brand Marantz also announced an Auro-3D upgrade for its SR7010 premium network A/V receiver and the AV7702mkII network preprocessor. Auro-3D firmware upgrades for both brands were to be available Tuesday. Onkyo introduced three network 7.2-channel AV receivers, due in April, for the high-end audio and custom installation markets. The TX-RZ810 ($1,299) and TX-RZ710 ($999) are Dolby Atmos and are DTS-ready, Onkyo said, and the TX-RZ610 ($799) have custom-spec capacitors and discrete non-phase-shift amp circuitry, a high-current design that's said to deliver music signals down to 5 Hz, Onkyo said. All three receivers include Onkyo's AccuReflex room correction technology, are 4K Ultra HD-ready and can stream content via AirPlay, Google Cast or Bluetooth, the company said.