We read the published pre-out specification for 15 current AV receivers. Two of them cannot pass a single main-zone channel to an external amplifier, ever. One of those costs more than a model that can. And the spec line that tells you this is written in a way almost guaranteed to be misread.
Last verified: 8 August 2026
The spec line that means the opposite of what it looks like
Here is what Denon publishes for the AVR-X2800H, a $1,299 receiver:
Multichannel Pre-out — Yes (0.2)
Read that quickly and you conclude the receiver has multichannel pre-outs. It does not. The notation works like the layout notation: the first number is main-zone channels, the second is subwoofer outputs. Zero point two means zero main-zone pre-out channels and two subwoofer outputs.
There is no way to hand any speaker channel on that receiver to an external power amplifier. Not the fronts, not the centre, not the heights. The word on the spec sheet is “Yes.”
For comparison, here is the AVR-X1800H, which costs $450 less:
Multichannel Pre-Out — Yes (2.2)
Two main-zone channels. And Denon’s owner’s manual has a page titled Connecting an external power amplifier which says plainly: “You can use this unit as a preamplifier for front channels by connecting an external power amplifier to the PRE OUT connectors.”
The cheaper receiver can grow. The more expensive one cannot.
What we found across 15 receivers
| Receiver | Price | Amp channels | Main-zone pre-out | Sub outs | Can you add an external amp? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denon AVR-X1800H | $849 | 7 | 2 — front L/R only | 2 | Front pair only |
| Denon AVR-X2800H | $1,299 | 7 | 0 | 2 | No |
| Denon AVR-X3800H | $1,799 | 9 | 11 | 4 | Yes, fully |
| Denon AVR-X4800H | $2,799 | 9 | 11 | 4 | Yes, fully |
| Denon AVR-A1H | $7,199 | 15 | 17 | 4 | Yes, fully |
| Marantz CINEMA 70s | $1,300 | 7 | 7 | 2 | Yes, fully |
| Marantz CINEMA 60 | $1,800 | 7 | 7 | 2 | Yes, fully |
| Marantz CINEMA 50 | $2,800 | 9 | 11 | 4 | Yes, fully |
| Marantz CINEMA 40 | $3,800 | 9 | 11 | 4 | Yes, fully |
| Yamaha RX-V6A | — | 7 | 2 — front L/R only | 2 | Front pair only |
| Yamaha RX-A4A | — | 7 | 7 | 2 | Yes, fully |
| Yamaha RX-A6A | — | 9 | 11 | 2 | Yes, fully |
| Onkyo TX-NR6100 | — | 7 | 0 in North America | 2 | No, in NA |
| NAD T 778 | $4,799 | 9 | not published | — | Cannot say |
| Arcam AVR11 | — | 7 | present, count not published | — | Yes |
Three findings worth the price of the article.
One: only two receivers here have no path at all. The Denon AVR-X2800H, and the North American Onkyo TX-NR6100. On both, the bi-amp mode people bring up in forums does not help, because bi-amping reassigns the receiver’s own internal amplifier channels. It adds no external amplifier. The Zone 2 pre-out does not help either; it feeds Zone 2, not a main-zone speaker.
Two: at the $1,300 mark, the difference is total. The Denon AVR-X2800H and the Marantz CINEMA 70s sit within a dollar of each other. The Denon gives you zero main-zone pre-out channels. The Marantz gives you seven, which is every channel it drives. Same money, and one of them can become the front end of a much larger system while the other is a dead end.
Three: price does not predict this. The $849 Denon has a front pre-out. The $1,299 Denon does not. The $4,799 NAD does not publish the figure at all.
The Onkyo is region-split, and most articles get this wrong
The Onkyo TX-NR6100 sold in North America has no main-zone pre-out. But Onkyo’s own rear-panel documentation lists, verbatim:
PRE OUT FRONT jacks (European, Australian and Asian models): Connect to a power amplifier.
So the same model number has a front-channel pre-out outside North America and not inside it. If you are reading a review or a comparison that states flatly that the TX-NR6100 has no pre-outs, check which market the writer is in. We only make the “no path” claim for North American stock, and we say so.
Where we could not verify, and did not guess
NAD T 778, a $4,799 receiver: NAD publishes no pre-out data at all. Their specification table has a section headed “Preamplifier,” but it describes the preamp stage — frequency response, signal-to-noise, distortion, maximum output level — and never states how many pre-out connectors exist or which channels they carry. We checked the product page, the data sheet (whose URL 404s), the quick setup guide, and both press releases. Nothing.
We are not going to publish a channel count for it. If you own one or are shopping for one, the owner’s manual in the box will answer it, and we would be glad to be told.
Arcam AVR11: pre-outs certainly exist, because the spec sheet carries a dedicated “Preamplifier Outputs” block with output level and impedance, and because a receiver with seven amplified channels that decodes 7.1.4 must pass the other four channels somewhere. But Arcam publishes no jack-by-jack list, so we do not give a number.
How to actually use this when shopping
Count amplified channels and pre-out channels as two separate numbers. They are. A 9-channel receiver with 11 pre-outs is a different product from a 9-channel receiver with 2.
Decide now whether you will ever want more than the receiver drives. If you are certain about 5.1.2 forever, pre-outs are irrelevant and you can ignore this whole article. If there is any chance you will add height channels, move to a bigger room, or buy speakers that need real current, the pre-out count is the spec that decides whether that costs you an amplifier or a whole receiver.
If your speakers are hard to drive, this matters twice over. Handing the front left and right to an outboard amplifier is the standard fix for a receiver that cannot deliver enough current, and it only works if there is somewhere to plug it in. Fourteen of the eighteen speakers in our database that publish a minimum impedance drop below 4 ohms. Check your own pairing in the System Headroom Calculator, which tells you whether you have margin or are already at the edge.
Then check the layout you want against the receiver you are considering. The Atmos Layout Planner takes both and tells you whether the configuration is possible at all, how many channels need outboard amplification, and, on Denon and Marantz nine-channel models, which specific channels the manufacturer will let you route out. That last part is not your choice: the menu offers exactly two options.
What we are not telling you
We have not listened to any of these receivers and we will not tell you which sounds better. Competently designed amplifiers operated within their limits are very difficult to distinguish in level-matched listening, and our opinion would be worth nothing because we do not have one.
What we can tell you is which manufacturers publish which numbers and what those numbers actually mean. That is the whole of what this page claims.
Sources
Every figure above comes from the manufacturer’s own product page, specification sheet or owner’s manual.
Denon AVR-X1800H owner’s manual, pre-out page · AVR-X2800H · AVR-X3800H · AVR-X4800H · AVR-A1H info sheet · Marantz CINEMA 70s · CINEMA 60 · CINEMA 50 · CINEMA 40 · Yamaha RX-V6A manual specifications · RX-A4A · RX-A6A · Onkyo TX-NR6100 rear panel layout · NAD T 778 · Arcam AVR11 specification sheet
A correction we made to ourselves. An earlier version of our own database recorded the Denon AVR-X1800H as having no pre-outs and the Yamaha RX-V6A as having subwoofer outputs only. Both were wrong. The X1800H publishes a 2.2 pre-out and a manual page on connecting an external amplifier; the Yamaha’s “2” is the front L/R pair, with the two subwoofer outputs counted separately. We caught it while verifying this article and fixed the database. Fifteen receivers is not the whole market. If you know of a model that belongs here, tell us at corrections@hifisystems.net.
Related: System Headroom Calculator · Atmos Layout Planner · Which AV receivers publish a 4-ohm rating · How we work