An AVR can be a great tool with a lot of functionality. But that also means a lot of variables that can mess with your sound quality.
Here are a few tips that will help with better stereo playback (works with movies too!)
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Symmetry: always make sure your speakers are placed as symmetrical as possible and have the same distances to the walls and the listening position.
- Speaker distances: this ties into the first point. If the auto-calibration measured different distances from your main speakers to the listening position, even though you checked and both are equal, you need to change that immediately. Having different distances will kill a lot of your virtual soundstage performance and should only be used when absolutely necessary.
- Enhancer/EQs: basically all AVR manufacturers have enabled some sort of enhancer by default. (be careful this applies to all inputs individually). They are meant to help with bad-quality streams, but have no purpose with good-quality recordings and should be deactivated.
- Direct/Pure Direct: if your AVR has this function, try it. In some cases, it can sound a bit better, as all processing is deactivated. But that also means the room correction and bass management (subwoofer) are not working. This is just for people with good acoustics and speakers that can play a full-range signal.
- External amplifier: with some midrange AVRs, big rooms, and high sound pressure levels you can reach the power limit. If you do, you should consider adding a power amplifier, especially for the main channels. This will help take the strain off the AVR and help to control the speaker better and in return help with its stereo perfromance