The best AV receiver and amplifier, or HIFI home cinema systems for your living room 2023

Remember the days when every household had a home HIFI and a pair of high quality speakers in the living room. Those times are coming back again. Here is a new generation of AV receivers and speakers that will once again bring real bass and clarity of sound to homes.

If you want really great sound, it's worth switching from a sound bar or sound bar to AV receiver with separate speakers. We have selected all the information you need to know to be an informed buyer.

Sound quality has dropped considerably in recent years due to cheap portable bluetooth speakers. All of a sudden, many homes were satisfied with an average device. A soundbar next to a television is often superfluous. With which there is nothing wrong in principle. However, it must be admitted that only a good pair of speakers and an amplifier can bring us a real sound atmosphere full of sound aroma. Even when watching movies, it's a completely different feeling if the sound comes from a concrete sound system.

This is also why we decided in the editorial office to check the evaluations of the evaluators and create a common shopping list of AV HI FI components with which you can build your best home HIFI system, just a home cinema, which will also be able to play some vinyl. At the same time, we write down some basics that will help you when buying this type of device, or a home AV HI-FI system.

What we looked for when choosing AV HIFI systems for your living room 2023

Since we buy these types of systems mostly amateurs, we focused on a list of devices that are of good quality and have good recommendations from those who test them. In three categories you will get AV - HIFI receivers, speakers and sound systems as well as turntables. But it's up to you to check things and put them together.

Making the right decision about which AV receiver to buy can be difficult, as each model has tons of logos and technologies that are not easy to understand if you are not an audiophile. Features like Dolby Atmos, 8K, HDR10 Plus, eARC and more. That is also why we will highlight only the most important ones. And they taught you to flaunt them.

Wi-Fi, Airplay and Bluetooth connectivity - AV - receiver or HIFI system

Built-in support for wireless technologies such as multi-room audio, AirPlay, Chromecast and Bluetooth is extremely useful. We all use them. And if your music libraries are on your smartphone, your AV receiver must support this.

It is important to know that most AV receivers connect to your home's Wi-Fi. Some even have their own applications - Yamaha's MusicCast or Denon's HEOS, and some can be installed or connected to popular platforms such as Spotify.

Bluetooth, AirPlay and Chromecast are very similar, but they have some key differences. Bluetooth works with almost every smartphone and tablet at a distance of about 10 meters. However, this type of audio transmission has a reduced quality. AirPlay is designed for Apple devices. It offers lossless CD audio quality, but requires your receiver to be connected to your home network - ie local Wifi, while AirPlay 2 adds multi-room capability. So listening to music on multiple speakers throughout the facility.

Connectivity HDMI - AV - receiver, or HIFI system

If you play games, then connect your console via HDMI 2.1 if you want to take advantage of the latest features available on Xbox One X/S and PlayStation 5, namely 4K/120Hz and VRR, but HDMI 2.1 is not mandatory for the new receiver. In general, we recommend that you connect these consoles directly to a compatible TV, not a receiver, and use an eARC or optical connection to transmit audio to the receiver. Which is possibly the best solution.

So you bought a 4K TV, don't worry. Some new receivers, like the Yamaha above, support 8K via HDMI 2.1, but think rationally about them unless you plan to buy an 8K TV in the near future.

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With new receivers, you have eARC connectivity, which is the ability to stream Dolby Atmos and other high-resolution audio formats from your TV to your home theater system. You can use this and if you have a compatible TV, you don't have to worry about the number of HDMI ports on your receiver.

Summary of abbreviations, for better understanding

Description of the device you will find on the shelves:
7.2 Channel AV Receiver, Hifi Amplifier with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 6 HDMI Inputs and 1 Output, 8K HDMI, Bluetooth, WiFi, AirPlay 2, HEOS Multi Room, Alexa Compatible, Black

When you come across the above description, you can now interpret it quite easily. 7.2 is the number of channels, i.e. speakers, that can be connected to the system itself, Dolby Atmos is surround sound support, as well as DTS:X. The device has as many as 6 HDMI ports, supports 8K HDMI - i.e. the most expensive and most powerful 8K televisions, has Bluetooth, WiFi and transmits sound with the AirPlay 2 system for Apple devices...

And the prices of AV - receivers, amplifiers - so yours

You can get an AV receiver or home theater amplifier for as little as 250 euros. Usually these systems do not connect well with the Internet. But they serve a basic function. In the class of around 500 euros, you get all AV functionality, Wi-Fi, supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 4K HDR. With a higher price, of course, more power. There is another rule when buying such devices. That the speakers are actually more important than the receiver. So, if you buy a receiver for around 500 euros, we recommend speakers - or a sound system worth around 1,500 euros. A receiver worth 1,000 euros, and a sound system worth around 2,000 euros and more.

We chose the selection of components and devices from the largest German retailer Amazon.de, which delivers the products exceptionally quickly to Slovenia.