There are a lot of reasons why sound bars are taking over home audio, but one of them is increasingly obvious: AV receivers are terrible.

I’ve reviewed a lot of them for CNET, and while receivers are fine for enthusiasts who know what they’re doing, they’re a frustrating experience for everyone else. Most technology gets better over time, but AV receivers seem frozen in amber, with giant chassis, thick inscrutable manuals, and onscreen interfaces that could only generously be called “standard-definition.” They’re embarrassingly backward compared with the rest of your home theater gear, yet they remain a begrudging necessity for those who want something better than a sound bar.

Read: Best AV receivers under $500  

AV receivers don’t have to be this bad, but they need to completely reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Here’s where they should start.

1. Make them smaller

While every other device gets slimmer and more compact, AV receivers look the same as they did 10 years ago. They’re massive, unwieldy machines that require tons of shelf space and are a pain to deal with.

But we already know they don’t need to be so bulky. Marantz has been making handsome, slimline receivers for several years now that sound great and offer plenty of features. The current “default” design that gets used seems more out of habit (or laziness) rather than any technical limitations.

2. Make them prettier

Even if AV receiver companies can’t (or won’t) make the boxes any smaller, they could at least put some effort into making them look nice. For some reason, all the major companies have decided that a giant, black box is the best look for AV receivers.

There’s no reason an amplifier needs to be so aggressively unsightly. Take Peachtree Audio’s Decco65, which actually looks like something you’d want in your living room, rather than an eyesore you put up with. Granted, the Decco65 at $1,100 is considerably more expensive than your typical midrange AV receiver, but there’s a workable middle ground between gorgeous curved rosewood and a huge block of black metal.

3. Get rid of most features

AV receivers are among the worst sufferers of featuritis. Features keep getting added because they look good on comparison charts, but we end up with receivers that can do everything, but nothing very well.

First to go should be built-in streaming-media features. AV receivers make poor media streamers, with sluggish navigation, lousy user interfaces, and rarely updated firmware. You’re much better off connecting a $100 Roku 3 or Apple TV box for your streaming needs.

Next, cut back on all the unnecessary licensing and sound processing. Dolby Pro Logic IIz — which adds two “height speakers” to a standard 5.1 or 7.1 surround setup — just isn’t worth the hassle. THX certification isn’t required for great sound. Nobody uses cheesy “Jazz Club” or “Concert Hall” modes on an AV receiver. These features and logos keep sticking around, despite the fact that no one really seems to want them.

Finally, the most radical step is to cut the niche features that are useful in some cases, but I’d bet go unused for the vast majority of buyers. The list is long: analog video upconversion, AM/FM radio tuners, component/composite video inputs, 7.1 channels, and multizone audio. There’s still a place for high-end receivers with the “kitchen sink” approach, but it’s frustrating that mainstream receivers include so much cruft that buyers don’t need.

Strip away all those features and your AV receiver would do two simple things: amplify your speakers and switch between your source devices. And that’s exactly what I use my AV receiver for.

4. Embrace wireless

For all the useless features AV receivers have, they shockingly lack basic wireless connectivity that would actually be useful: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Wi-Fi would let you update the firmware and control the receiver via mobile devices, while Bluetooth is the easiest way to wirelessly stream audio from your smartphone or tablet. For many people, mobile devices are the center of their digital music experience, so it’s crazy that most AV receivers don’t support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth natively.

Even worse, the companies have the gall to try and soak you for accessories that add these features after you’ve already spent hundreds of dollars on a receiver. Look at prices for these wireless adapters that should have been included in the first place:

Pioneer AS-BT200: $100 Pioneer AS-WL300: $130 Yamaha YBA-11: $70 Yamaha YWA-10: $100

The lone standout is Onkyo, which reasonably prices its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters at $30 and $50, respectively. And at least both Onkyo and Sony seem to have gotten the message and have recently included built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for some of their receivers.

5. Include a true high-definition interface

If you fire up your brand-new $400 Pioneer VSX-823-K receiver for the first time to set it up, this will be the first screen you’re greeted with:

How is that still acceptable? No other modern home theater device looks anything like that. Even the $50 Roku LT has a colorful, high-def interface. Granted, you don’t use the onscreen interface of an AV receiver that often, but it’s a bad experience right out of the box to be confronted with blocky text that harkens back to the MS-DOS days.

6. Make a usable remote

AV receiver remotes range from truly awful to barely acceptable. They’re typically covered with tiny buttons, confusingly labeled, with a haphazard layout that isn’t natural to navigate.

Take the remote included with the Yamaha RX-V475. There are two different power buttons at the top — bad start already. That’s followed by a grid of small, numbered buttons. If the “1” button is in the HDMI section, it selects the “HDMI 1” input…and you have to remember which device that is. There are also two “star” buttons, but no one could reasonably know what they stand for without diving into the manual. (“Change the external device to be controlled without switching the input source.”) And that’s just the top third of one company’s clicker.

There worst part is so many of these buttons are unnecessary. I’ve never needed a numpad on my receiver’s remote. Different sound modes like Movie and Music generally do more harm than good, and they could be toggled using an onscreen interface. The bottom line is AV receiver remotes need to be a lot simpler if they don’t want to be completely intimidating to anyone who’s not a home theater enthusiast.

7. Include speaker cables in the box

AV receiver manuals are thick, labyrinthine affairs, but they all gloss over one of the most basic steps in connecting your speakers: terminating speaker wire. They operate on the laughable assumption that every buyer is comfortable using a crimping tool and banana plugs, which is out of step in a world dominated by dead-simple connectors like HDMI and USB.

The solution doesn’t seem that hard: include speaker wire in the box that’s already terminated with banana plugs (or pins), at least for the front speakers. Companies would need to do some market research to figure out a length that would work in the majority of setups, but there’s not that much variation for front speakers. This would add some cost, but it would make the experience much less intimidating for those new to home audio.

8. Embrace stereo

If you want a new AV receiver with basic features like HDMI connectivity, you’re pretty much forced to buy a 5.1 or 7.1 AV receiver, even if you intend to go with a two-channel setup. Manufacturers just don’t offer stereo AV receivers with modern features, which means many buyers are pushed to pay for a bunch of additional channels they’ll never use.

AV receivers should embrace a return to stereo as the best defense against the rise of sound bars. A basic stereo system is only slightly more complicated than a sound bar, but it offers much better sound, especially for music.

More importantly, a return to stereo fixes so many of the problems plaguing current models. Scaling back to two channels of amplification, versus five or seven, would mean receivers can be smaller. Stereo also eliminates a lot of the need for extra features like automatic speaker calibration and additional surround-sound licensing.

That doesn’t mean multichannel receivers should go away, but there should be simpler, but modern, stereo options for those who don’t want to deal with surround sound.

The future is already here, sort of: Integrated amps

A lot of these fixes seem obvious and simple, but I’m doubtful there will be any changes to the ossified AV receiver market anytime soon.

But if there is a ray of home audio hope, it’s the handful of compact integrated amplifiers with digital inputs that have trickled out over the last few years. These small amps are limited to stereo, but that allows them to be dramatically smaller than a full-size AV receiver. They also tend to have few inputs, but, as sound bars have proven, you really only need a single digital input if you use your TV to switch between devices.

Compact integrated amplifiers aren’t the right choice for everyone, but for many buyers they’re a much better — and simpler — solution than a full-size AV receiver. In addition to many new 2013 AV receivers, CNET will be reviewing several small integrated amps over the next few weeks. The result, we hope, will be one or more products that we can recommend, for people who want something better than a sound bar without the bulk and frustration of an AV receiver.

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Aereo promised a breakthrough service for cord-cutters: the ability to watch and record over-the-air TV without the hassle of an antenna or additional hardware for $8 to $12 a month.

Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision against Aereo means the company’s current service is effectively illegal. (CBS, the parent company of CNET, is one of the companies that brought the suit against Aereo.) But that doesn’t mean that cable cutters are out of options. Over the last year, several compelling over-the-air recording solutions have hit the market, making it easier for cord cutters to supplement streaming video services like Netflix with traditional network television, as long as you get reception.

I’ve reviewed most of the major over-the-air DVRs and the good news is the options are far better than they’ve been in the past. Each solution has its strengths and weaknesses, so which one is best for you will largely depend on your budget, viewing habits, and level of tech savvy.

Let’s take a look at what’s available.

TiVo Roamio: The best, if you’re willing to pay

If I could only recommend one over-the-air DVR, it would be the TiVo Roamio ($200 list price).

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It has a whopping four tuners, which is more than enough for the limited over-the-air (OTA) programming options, and a 500GB hard drive built-in, so you don’t have to tack on your own as you do with other OTA recording solutions. TiVo’s software and interface remains best-in-class and incredibly easy to use, plus it’s been overhauled to be much faster than previous models. There’s even built-in Wi-Fi and a handful of streaming media apps, so you can watch more than just network TV.

The big drawback is the price. Add up the lifetime subscription ($500), the hardware ($200), and some incidental costs, and you’re looking at about $750 for the three-year cost of ownership.

The TiVo Roamio certainly costs too much, but its mastery of the over-the-air TV experience gives you the best chance to avoid going back to cable — and that will save you so much money in the long run, it almost makes TiVo seem like a bargain. Almost.

Read CNET’s full review of the TiVo Roamio.

Channel Master DVR+: No-frills recording at a budget price

The Channel Master DVR+ ($250) hits most of the major points cord-cutters have long been looking for. There are absolutely no subscription fees and the DVR+ comes with free premium program guide data from Rovi, which is a big step-up from the guide data that’s embedded in over-the-air signals. It has dual-tuner functionality and support for Vudu, plus its image quality is excellent.

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Still, it’s not perfect. The DVR+’s upfront cost is low, but you need to add a lot of your own accessories (antenna, hard drive, Wi-Fi adapter), which can drive up the price. Its software and user interface is decent, but rough around the edges, lacking basic options like the ability to only record new episodes of your favorite shows. And while the DVR+’s image quality is typically great, I experienced a few glitches during playback.

None of that is enough to sully what the DVR+ has accomplished; it’s the “good enough” DVR without subscription fees that many have been looking for. If your primary goal is to save money, and you don’t mind its imperfections, it’s hard to beat the Channel Master DVR+.

Read CNET’s full review of the Channel Master DVR+.

Nuyvvo Tablo: Innovative option that’s best for techies

Nuvyyo’s Tablo ($220) is the most exciting OTA recording solution to come out in years.

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It uses the same concept Simple.TV debuted at CES 2012, but Tablo implements it better. Most impressively, its image quality looks excellent, even with sports, which has been a sore spot for similar devices. The box feels responsive and can stream to a growing list of supported products, including iOS and Android devices, Roku boxes, Apple TV (using AirPlay), and Chromecast. Sure, Tablo comes with a $5 monthly fee for program guide data, but it still ends up being relatively affordable compared to other OTA DVRs.

But Tablo isn’t quite ready for mainstream adoption. It’s too hard to add recording time to sporting events, so games can get cut off when you care the most: the final minutes. Also the best way to watch Tablo in the living room is by using a Roku box, but the Roku interface is clunky and lacks essentials such as an easy way to fast-forward through commercials.

Those flaws are enough to keep me from wholeheartedly recommending Tablo, but there’s no denying that Tablo is a thrilling device, especially for a newly-launched product. If you’re an early adopter willing to live with some growing pains, Tablo is well worth your $220.

Read CNET’s full review of the Nuvyyo Tablo.

Simple.TV 2: Improved, but with competition

Simple.TV 2 ($200) is the only product here that CNET hasn’t reviewed yet. It’s the successor of the original Simple.TV, adding some key features like dual-tuner support and more compact hardware.

But launch of the second-generation product has had some issues and early customer feedback was harsh on retailers like Amazon. The exterior hardware has been modified to address early complaints and Simple.TV says the early problems have been addressed.

After some initial delays, I have my hands on a Simple.TV 2 review sample now and will be checking it out soon. But it has an uphill battle against Tablo, which uses the same concept, but adds built-in Wi-Fi and has truly impressive image quality.

Over-the-air DVR math: Total cost of ownership

I mentioned the high cost of ownership for the TiVo Roamio above, but each of these solutions have costs beyond the initial purchase price that add to the total cost of ownership. The chart below tallies up the three-year total cost of ownership of all four devices, with the assumptions that you’re starting from scratch and need to buy accessories like a hard drive, antenna, cables and Wi-Fi adapter. (Adjust accordingly if you already own some equipment.)

This is where the Channel Master DVR+ really shines, coming in significantly cheaper than the alternatives, even after you include the cost of accessories. If you’re purely looking to save money, the DVR+ is the best choice if you can live with the limitations.

Other options: Skip the DVR or roll your own

If none of these options seem particularly appealing, you can always opt to skip the DVR functionality completely. Every modern HDTV has a built-in over-the-air tuner, so you can simply connect an antenna to the back to watch live TV, assuming you get a reception. You won’t be able to pause live TV or make recordings, but if all you want to do is watch an occasional live football game or award show, it might be enough.

The other option, for the more technically-savvy, is to build your own over-the-air DVR using a PC. This requires a good deal more tweaking and technical savvy than any of the devices above, but there are many that swear that it’s ultimately the best solution. Just make sure you do your research before jumping into what could be a relatively involved project.

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Dolby announced that its Atmos surround-sound format is coming to home theaters earlier this week and now Pioneer is ready to detail its new Atmos-enabled speakers.

Pioneer announced several Atmos-enabled home audio components this morning, including three Elite AV receivers and an Andrew Jones-designed speaker system. The 9.2-channel AV receivers and Elite-branded speakers are the first full Atmos system to be introduced to the market, capable of playing back the Atmos-enabled Blu-ray and streaming content that Dolby promises is coming in the fall.

The speaker system has the same basic layout as a 5.1 surround-sound system, but the big difference is that the floor-standing speakers and bookshelf speakers feature a top-mounted 4-inch driver. This is designed to deliver the overhead sound effects that Dolby is promising with the new Atmos format.

The floor-standing, bookshelf, and center-channel speakers have a three-way design, with 5.25-inch woofers, 4-inch midrange driver, and a 1-inch tweeter, while the subwoofer features a 10-inch driver.

As you’d expect, the Elite AV receivers are packed with features, including HDMI 2.0 support, Roku-Ready certification, multiroom and multisource support, and a new MCACC Pro automatic speaker calibration. The back panel of even the entry-level SC-85 has extensive connectivity features, including eight HDMI inputs, three HDMI outputs, and a slew of legacy analog and digital audio inputs.

More detailed information for both the AV receivers and speakers can be found on Pioneer’s newly launched Atmos-focused home theater website.

From these initial products, it appears that putting together an Atmos-capable home audio system isn’t going to be cheap. If you combine the entry-level $1,600 SC-85 with two floor-standing speakers, a center channel, two rear bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer, the total US pricing comes to $4,750, which is far more expensive that what it would cost to put together a traditional surround-sound system.

Prices and availability are not yet available for the rest of the world, but we’ll update when we hear more. $4,750 converts to around £2,800 or AU$5,100.

The SC-85 ($1,600), SC-87 ($2,000) and SC-89 ($3,000) will be available in the US in the fall and require a firmware update coming before the end of the year to unlock its Atmos-capabilities.

The Elite speaker system will be available in the late summer and consists of the SP-EBS73-LR bookshelf speakers ($750 per pair), SP-EFS73 floorstanding speakers ($700 each), SP-EC73 center channel ($400), and SW-E10 subwoofer ($600). Again, when we hear specific prices and dates for other countries, we’ll update this article.

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Dolby Atmos launched back in 2012 and since then the new surround sound format has been used by an impressive list of movies, including blockbusters like “Gravity”, “Frozen” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”.

Today, Dolby announced that Atmos is coming to the living room, thanks to Atmos-enabled speakers, receivers, and other home audio components. Atmos supports up to 64 separate speakers — up from the eight speakers currently supported by Dolby’s current top-end home format, Dolby TrueHD. Notably, Atmos also delivers overhead sounds, in addition to side and rear channels, using ceiling speakers and other sound-processing technology.

Denon, Marantz, Integra, Onkyo, Yamaha, and Pioneer all announced high-end Atmos-compatible AV receivers, which will either debut in the fall, or require a firmware update to enable the Atmos functionality. Pioneer also introduced a new series of Andrew Jones-designed Elite speakers; details are scarce at the moment, but Pioneer intends to release more information at a press conference on Wednesday. On the Blu-ray side, Dolby says that existing players will support new Dolby Atmos soundtracks and that compatible movies will be coming out this fall, in both Blu-ray and streaming format.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Dolby’s announcement is that Atmos-enabled speakers will be available, which are capable of creating overhead sound without the need for ceiling speakers. There will also be “Atmos-enabled speaker modules” to add onto existing speakers you already have to create the overhead Atmos effects. While avoiding the need for ceiling speakers is certainly welcome, especially for apartment dwellers, the requirement of such specialized speakers is a break from surround formats in the past, which largely worked with the speakers you already have.

And the big question is whether buyers will be interested in a more elaborate and expensive surround sound format like Atmos when home audio has been trending toward smaller, cheaper speakers like sound bars and Bluetooth speakers. Dolby arguably already has a hit on its hands when it comes to theaters, but Atmos in the home may be a tougher sell.

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Logitech’s Harmony remotes can control nearly every device in your living room, but Sonos’ components have always been left out of the remotes’ near-universal device support.

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Logitech’s latest firmware update fixes that omission, enabling volume and playback control for Sonos devices on the Harmony Ultimate and Harmony Smart Control remotes. Harmony owners will be able to access their Sonos favorites from the Harmony app or the remote’s touchscreen, if their Harmony remote has one.

The new update also adds voice recognition capabilities to the smartphone app, making it (potentially) easier to search for content on the Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku, as well as PCs and Macs.

It all adds up to a solid update for a pair of remotes we already highly recommend, especially the Logitech Harmony Smart Control, which is frequently on sale for $100 in the US.

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Samsung is making a big push into the wireless home audio market, but it’s hard to compete the extensive app library that Sonos has built up over years.

That gap is narrowing a little bit more today, as Samsung announced that its Shape wireless audio platform now supports Spotify Connect. Not only does that add another support service to the Shape, but it also means Shape users will be able to use the native Spotify app, rather than the Shape app, to queue up and play songs.

The update will apply to all Samsung Shape speakers, such as the Shape M7 and Shape M5 , as well as Shape-compatible sound bars, Blu-ray players, and other audio components. The intent to add Spotify was initially announced back in March, and it’s a big addition for the platform, given its initial, more meager streaming audio lineup, which included Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, Rhapsody, and TuneIn Radio.

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Simple.TV owners are getting another outlet for streaming their over-the-air TV.

Chromecast support was added to Simple.TV’s app for iOS and Android today, enabling the ability to “cast” straight from the app to a Chromecast. The Chromecast joins Roku and Apple TV as supported living room devices, although Roku remains the only option with its own onscreen interface.

Simple.TV also announced that offline viewing is now available, letting owners download recorded material to a Mac or PC and also transfer that content to mobile devices. Offline functionality was a feature that was promised (and demonstrated) back at Simple.TV’s original announcement at CES 2012, but it’s just now making its way to the second-generation hardware.

Both offline access and Chromecast support work only with the second-generation Simple.TV box at the moment, although the company says it’s working on bringing both features to the original Simple.TV box.

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NPR is ready to make its first official entrance on Roku.

NPR Music is planning to roll out a dedicated Roku channel for its Tiny Desk Concerts series later this month, which features short musical performances from the cubicle of “All Songs Considered” host Bob Boilen. This is NPR’s first dedicated app for the Roku platform; live NPR content can currently be accessed through some third-party channels like TuneIn Radio, but NPR doesn’t have its own app at this time.

While many of the Tiny Desk Concert videos were are already available on Roku through YouTube, the dedicated app offers an even wider selection of content (nearly 300 videos) and some new functionality, including editor’s picks, search, and a separate playlist for new content. Although the Tiny Desk Concerts channel won’t officially launch until later this month, Roku users can download an early version of the app using this link.

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Sony’s been making a push with high resolution audio since late last year, labeling its own products with a “High-Res Audio” logo to indicate compatibility.

Today Sony announced the latest product to get the “High-Res Audio” treatment: a new line of speakers called the Core Series. The new line consists of a traditional 5.1 speaker system, with the SS-CS3 floor-standing speakers, SS-CS5 bookshelf speakers, SS-CS8 center channel, and SS-CS9 subwoofer.

The tower speakers feature two 5.25-inch woofers in four driver design, while the subwoofer packs a 10-inch woofer and a 115-watt amplifier. The bookshelf speakers have a single 5.25-inch woofer, while the center channel has a smaller 4-inch driver.

While the Core Series speakers look nice and are reasonably-priced, the “High-Res Audio” label is a bit of stretch, as no special type of speaker is needed to playback high-resolution audio, unlike with other components. (And surely no human will be able to hear the SS-CS3’s “50 kHz maximum frequency response.”)

The new CS speakers will be available in May at Sony Stores and Best Buy. The SS-CS3 speakers will be sold individually for $240 per speaker, while the SS-CS5 bookshelves will sell for $220 per pair. The SS-CS8 center channel will cost $170, while the SS-CS9 subwoofer will sell for $240.

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YouTube has long been a thorn in the side of Roku, but that’s officially coming to an end.

Roku announced that YouTube is now available on all of the company’s current-generation streamers in the US, Canada, UK and the Republic of Ireland. YouTube was first added to the flagship Roku 3 box in December of 2013, and the new Streaming Stick was the first device to ship with YouTube from launch.

Roku defines “current generation” as any box the company released after July 2011, which includes, “the Roku LT, Roku 1, Roku 2, Roku 2 HD, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2 XS, Roku 3, the Roku Streaming Stick (both HDMI and Roku Ready versions), and the Roku HD model #2500.” While that levels the playing field in terms of app availability, don’t expect all of the boxes to perform similarly. In my review of the new Roku Streaming Stick , I found YouTube to boot up pretty sluggishly compared to the Roku 3, and some quick tests with the older Roku LT showed similar performance.

On the upside, all of the boxes will support Chromecast-style control for YouTube, letting you use your mobile device’s native YouTube app to “push” content to your TV. It’s an especially nice feature for YouTube, where frequent searching really benefits from being able to type on a mobile device versus a clunky onscreen keyboard.

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