Yamaha RX-V1085

This Amplifier Can Do Everything - Loudly – One of the best things about this amplifier is the options you have to connect to it - Bluetooth / Airplay / 7 HDMI inputs / USB / Music Streaming (Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Deezer etc), and you can also control it with voice controls via Amazon Alexa! The best connection option is Yamaha's own app - Music Cast. It is such a simple app that just works, but not just for this amplifier - any other Music Cast enabled Yamaha product you have in your home. Music Cast really deserves its own review, it beats hands down anything else from any other brand. You can control multiple different devices, either playing different music to them all, or playing the same thing to every device or anything in-between. Anyway, back to the amplifier . . .

This amplifier is big and bold and in your face - 110 Watts to each speaker! What that means in the real world is that it is loud - so, so loud. You will have to ensure that your existing speakers can handle the power. It can send this massive power to 7 speakers, for true surround sound. If you want to use less speakers in your Home Theatre, you can send a separate output to a second area (Patio etc) - very handy.

It has the newest audio processing capabilities - Dolby Atmos, DTS, Cinema DSP which brings a true theatre sound into your own home. Compare the same movie on DVD in 5.1 with a copy on Bluray with DTS - you will hear new sounds, in different places, all around you. It's hard to believe it's the same movie.

The setup is so simple, you connect up all of the speakers, plug the included microphone into the amplifier and place it in the middle of your Home Theatre. It will begin a sound optimization analysis to account for reflection / acoustics / speaker positioning etc - it will even tell you if you have the speaker wires around the wrong way!

On the video side of things, this amplifier has 3 HDMI outputs so you can pass through any of the video inputs to 3 separate screens (TV / Projector / different room). It also has video upscaling if your source is a poor quality.

I could talk about this amplifier all day long, it really ticks every single box for an A/V Reciever. Unless you absolutely NEED 9.1 or 11.1 (and realistically, whose Home Theatre is big enough for that?) this amplifier will do everything you need at home, for many years to come.