Denon Professional 7.2ch AV Receiver w/WiFi & BT Price: $529.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 3-5 business days (Monday, Sep 18 to Thursday, Sep 21) + transit Condition: New
I bought the AVR-4300H a couple of months ago for $799. If I hadn’t pulled the trigger I would have gone for this deal.
The AMP supports 4K @ 60Hz, Dolby Atmos, etc. Most of the latest good stuff.
If you are new to 4K then make sure that you also pick up a few 18Gbps HDMI cables. Older HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 cables do not have the bandwidth for 4K/HDR. The main symptom that your cables can’t handle 4K is a black screen and/or flickering.
Just as a general FYI, there is no such thing as a 4k hdmi cable (seriously, google it, it’s a marketing rip off, they did the same with 3D and 1.4) Although oddly you might need a new cable for HDMI 2.1, depending on the level of HDR you do. That being said, there certainly are CHEAP HDMI cables that cut corners with thinner than spec wire or bad shielding, they will certainly give you problems. (Not that you need to buy the $100 monster cables…)
I’d love a wifi stereo receiver but I cannot justify paying this price point. Any recommendations for a decent starter model under $200? Is this even realistic?
Definitely not realistic in new. Denon has a $250 model with WiFi, but WiFi wasn’t an option on the cheapest models until about 2 years ago.
You might consider buying a decent used receiver (Craigslist, etc) with an ethernet port, and add a WiFi adapter.
Although, this receiver supports 4k/60Hz which does require a HDMI 2.0 compliant cable (to support the higher bandwidth).
As he said before, it’s all the same wiring connection, but the cable is tested to comply with the bandwidth specs of a particular version of HDMI (depending on resolution and features).
So, if you have a short cable, it’s probably fine. If you have something over 3 or 4 feet long, you may need a new cable that’s tested to work with the 4k/60 resolution. Assuming that you have 4k/60 content…
If you don’t know: monoprice.com for cables.
This unit acts as a Bluetooth receiver, and does not send audio via Bluetooth. So you can play audio from devices through it via Bluetooth, but it does not output to other Bluetooth devices (headphones, speakers etc).
Better yet, Chromecast Audio. All you need is a stereo RCA input ala every decent stereo since the 60s. In fact, unless you need a new FM radio too, you probably don’t even need a receiver, just powered speakers and a Chromecast Audio or similar wireless receiver or even a Bluetooth receiver with headphone-to-RCA cord. Look for one with APT-X and BT-LE (4.0+).