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At first glance, the SA-XR70's diminutive size and pretty face might encourage you to take it less than seriously. But that would be a mistake. It delivers 100 watts each to six channels, and it offers 6.1-channel Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES decoding as well as Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6 processing for upgrading stereo and other sources. It's also one of the first receivers to offer the hot new High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), which means that instead of running a bunch of cables for the audio and video connections from a DVD player, you could use only one. The small, rectangular HDMI digital connector can deliver images up to 1080p resolution plus six-channel sound. I have two things to say about that: 1) Sweet. 2) It's about time.
SETUP Given a spiffy new fully digital receiver, it only made sense to mate it with a correspondingly spiffy DVD player. So I selected a Panasonic DVD-S97 for the job. This slim player has all the bells and whistles I could want (like Faroudja upconversion to 720p/1080i) and, most important, sports an HDMI output. With two HDMI cables (one comes with the player, none with the receiver), I was able to quickly connect player to receiver and receiver to a 50-inch, HDMI-equipped Sam-sung HDTV.
Plugging in the HDMI cables, I checked out the SA-XR70's rear panel. I expected it to be pretty bare, because HDMI makes everything simple, right? Instead, it was jam-packed with RCA jacks and other analog and digital connectors, which is good because it lets you hook up all your “old-fashioned,” non-HDMI gear.
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On the downside, the onscreen displays are sent only to the composite-video output. Not a big deal — the menu is pretty sparse to begin with and mainly provides access to one-time setup choices. A more serious deficiency is that composite- and S-video input sources aren't upconverted to component-video or HDMI format. What goes in is what comes out, through the corresponding connector. That defeats the elegance of HDMI, because you'll still need to run wires to your TV for non-HDMI sources. It also means you'll need to keep your TV's source-selection button handy to switch inputs.
OPERATION Setup was quick and painless. The first order of business was to assign sources to appropriate inputs, such as telling the receiver that my DVD player was feeding the HDMI input. I also set speaker size (“large” all around, thank you very much). Had I needed them, there's a choice of three bass-cutoff frequencies for small front speakers (see “key features,” previous page), allowing for some flexibility in blending satellites with a subwoofer.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE I started my audition with the Blue Man Group's The Complex Rock Tour Live, a DVD concert video that marries the group's multimedia percussion extravaganza with rock & roll guitars and vocalists like Tracy Bonham. This is a stereo recording, which gave me a chance to check out the receiver's surround-processing modes. DPL IIx really kicked the concert into high gear. In fact, the sound field it created was better than some manually engineered mixes I've heard. It added realistic ambience to the rear without overpowering or muddying the front mix.
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Although I'm not generally a fan of simulated sound-field modes, the Panasonic's modes (Live, Pop/Rock, Jazz, and so on) sounded decent with this live recording. Playing stereo tracks also let me check out the DPL IIx Dimension, Center Width, and Panorama controls (not all receivers have these), which tweak the front/rear and front/center balance of a stereo mix. One negative: when you're using the HDMI input, you can't experiment with DLP IIx or other surround modes.
I can happily report that picture quality via HDMI was superb. This latest-generation connector is the best so far. The progressive-scan picture from the player was beautifully clean and detailed whether I took the HDMI signal directly from the player or through the receiver.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE After whetting my appetite with the Blue Man Group's live concert video, I figured their 5.1-channel DVD-Audio and DTS album The Complex would fully satisfy my hunger. The surround mix sounded awesome. It doesn't compromise for low-budget, small-speaker systems — in tracks such as “Above,” low-end percussion, guitar, and synthesizer are aggressively panned to all five channels. If you have an underpowered amplifier or dinky speakers in back, the sound just won't cut it.
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The SA-XR70 (and my M&K speakers) really delivered the goods on this complex (pun intended) music. On tracks like “Piano Smasher,” subtle sounds are moved circularly around the sound field. This continuum was evenly reproduced without gaps or hiccups in the field.
Even when I cranked the volume to near-concert levels, the sound was absolutely clean in all six channels. Pistol-shot percussion hits had realistic impact. The amps in home-theater-in-a-box systems don't have the juice, and while bigger amps might have played even louder, Panasonic's SA-XR70 hit the sweet spot. Most important, it had plenty in reserve and never distorted. Purists may scoff, but this new generation of digital amps is the real deal.
BOTTOM LINE If you just want to impress your friends, go ahead and buy a traditional huge A/V receiver. But if you want high-quality performance and easy setup at a budget-friendly price, the SA-XR70 has it all in spades — which is also pretty impressive. Sure, it lacks a few niceties you'll find in high-end receivers. But it delivers the basics, and then some, at a very generous price.