Receivers

The booming soundbar market has attracted more casual consumers away from the “home-theatre-in-a-box” style packages that took up space on shop floors and in living rooms for arguably too long, but for the consumer chasing something more high quality with a premium feel the best option is still to opt for a receiver paired with some decent speakers.

Not only do the traditional home theatre facilitators offer large power for hungry speakers, they also consolidate your ever growing collection of set top boxes, streaming receivers and gaming consoles into a manageable system to give you easy control over your entertainment experience at your fingertips.

MARANTZ NR1711

Marantz' audio receivers have decades of pedigree and with this slimline unit have packed plenty of capability into a compact form factor that will discreetly fit into your home entertainment set up. Despite their importance receivers aren't always the nicest thing to look at but the diminutive form factor of the company's slimline receivers have provided a touch of class to the market. The NR1711 might look underpowered compared to bulkier rivals, but the 50 watts of power it delivers through each channel is enough to fill most living room or home cinema spaces adequately. This receiver can power a 7.1 speaker and subwoofer configuration, or a 5.1 home theatre while outputting to a separate stereo configuration. It sits on the lower end of the market so there are a few compromises. The included Bluetooth won't handle higherres codecs, still using the now outdated SBC codec, but for wireless music streaming it can tale advantage of the higher-quality and more reliable HEOS platform using your home Wi-Fi network. The true advantage of Bluetooth in this unit isn't for streaming to the receiver however, but rather transmitting audio to Bluetooth headphones for those wanting to immerse themselves in a movie or video game without disturbing cohabitants or neighbours.

Price: $1599