The Yamaha R-N303 is much more expensive than the Sony STR-DH190, but all of our panelists considered its extra cost justified. Not only did it sound subtly better in our blind listening tests, but it also includes useful features that less-expensive receivers lack, such as Wi-Fi streaming and digital audio inputs. Yet it still comes in at a price that allows you to put together a very good basic audio system for about $500.

Both of our listening panelists picked the R-N303 as their favorite in our blind listening tests, and I agreed that it sounded better than the Sony STR-DH190. “It sounds a little richer, a little fuller and more enveloping,” panelist LeRena Major said. “The Sony is good, but it sounds a little tinny in comparison.” Panelist Dan Gonda agreed: “The lows and highs sound fuller with this one,” he said. I slightly preferred the smoother sound of the Cambridge Audio AXR85 because it made cymbals sound more natural and less harsh. But the R-N303’s extra features make it a much better value.

The R-N303’s strongest selling point is its network connectivity, which lets you use the receiver as part of a multiroom music system and also avoids the range limitations and slight degradation in sound quality you get when streaming via Bluetooth to your receiver. The R-N303 is compatible with Yamaha’s MusicCast system, a Wi-Fi streaming technology similar to that of Sonos, and it also works with Apple AirPlay and Google Cast.

To use this feature, you download Yamaha’s MusicCast iOS or Android app and then connect the receiver to your Wi-Fi network. MusicCast works exclusively with Yamaha gear and offers only a smattering of the streaming services that Sonos offers, including Deezer, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, and Tidal, although it does also stream Internet radio and can stream from hard drives and computers attached to your network. While I found the MusicCast app considerably less friendly and more complicated to set up than a Sonos network, the AirPlay and Google Cast functionality worked easily. And because those technologies are compatible with a wider variety of streaming services, I expect most R-N303 owners will rely more on those technologies than on MusicCast.

The R-N303 offers plenty of old-tech connectivity, too: coaxial and optical digital inputs, three analog line inputs, and a ¼-inch headphone output. The optical digital input is especially handy if you want to connect a TV set as a source because practically all TVs have optical digital audio outputs. Like the Sony, this receiver has a front-panel on-screen display that lets you adjust minor features such as input level trim.

Our measurements confirmed that the R-N303’s power output is similar to that of the Sony STR-DH190: 107 watts per channel into an 8-ohm load, 155 wpc into a 4-ohm load. (These numbers are for 1 kHz, 0.5 percent total harmonic distortion, both channels driven; results at 20 Hz and 20 kHz were similar.) However, the R-N303 does not reduce bass output at higher power levels as the Sony STR-DH190 does.

Although the R-N303 is generous in sound quality and features, it can be rather unfriendly when you try to use it. The long, skinny remote is packed with little buttons and hard-to-read labels. The front panel’s tiny labels aren’t much more accommodating. Wi-Fi setup through the app is clumsy and slow compared with that of a Sonos, Amazon Echo, or Google Home system. Incidentally, the R-N303 works only with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks.

I haven’t mentioned yet that the R-N303 is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home; you can configure it so that a voice command picked up by a smart speaker controls the receiver. However, the setup is complicated, and because the commands offered are of such limited utility—power on/off, volume, and input select—I didn’t find the effort worthwhile. I suggest getting an Amazon Echo Dot or Echo Input and connecting to that.