How much of the weight savings can be attributed to moving towards switch mode power supplies and class D amps? In those cases lighter doesn’t mean lower quality, you just don’t need a heavy toroidal power supply and massive heat sinks to cool inefficient class AB amps anymore.
I suppose some of the weight could come from the internal construction, faceplate, etc, and it’s possible that companies are cheapening things there. Onkyo makes their Integra line which is supposedly built to a higher standard, but I haven’t compared them side by side to see if there’s an actual difference or if it’s just marketing.
Song makes a lot of claims about the build quality of their ES line receivers, and they do offer a longer warranty than most others in the industry so they at least stand behind it. The big question mark for them IMO is the quality of their DCAC EX room correction system, I’ve read some hit and miss reports about it.
Onkyo’s proprietary AutoEQ was a big step down from Audyssey when it first came out, but from what I’ve been hearing it’s improved considerably since then.
Dirac is still the gold standard (aside from Trinnov which you only get on ultra-expensive gear) and that’s a big plus in NAD’s column. You also have the new Lexicon AVRs (as well as the Arcam units they’re based on) that offer Dirac and high quality amps, and with the Lexicon you get Logic7 which is still the best surround up mixer I’ve heard.
Emotiva has has a new receiver that should be landing late this year or early next that will use the very high end Pascal class D amps boards, have Dirac room correction, 11 channels of amplification, and will no doubt be built like a tank like all of their gear. It should have an attractive price for the specs as well.
The big bugaboo right right now is HDMI 2.1 looming on the horizon. Denon/Marantz have said that the Denon Avr8500h and the new flagship Marantz professor will have upgrade boards available to give them HDMI 2.1 later on, and Emotiva has said they’re going to offer them for most of their receivers and processors, but no firm time table on any of it.
