What is the best receiver to use with the A90J? Budget up to $2k

There are no receivers I can recommend to anyone. The only thing worse than a receiver is an AVR. There is nothing worse. In all of audio. Period.

wasn’t expecting an answer like that! lol 
I’m a novice but willing to learn!

If I don’t use a receiver to hook up speakers and run video sources to the television ... what would I use instead?

I’m truly confused but would really appreciate if you wouldn’t mind expanding on those thoughts :)

Well OP the issue is 2 channel play back for most audiophilers.  Most have one or the other. 2 channel playback can fill most of the HTs world with just very little effort. It's usually the type of subs used, and a center channel. Good stereo will have a wonderful phantom center. 

A small adjustment on the subs and you're HT ready.

There is an option for playthrough too. It lets you use your AV or Stereo and "Play through" the same speakers. TWO separate preamps. One for HT one for stereo.

The third option is to get an older HT with a GOOD 2 channel playback.
Mcintosh, and Krell had a good hybrid. They are OLDER now..

4th Get the best HT you can, I can't recommend one, because I don't know anything about them.

As far as Marantz, I have some 60 year old preamps that still work fine...
I love the look. Thirty Three and the 3300..

Regards

millercarbon posts the same exact message on every single home theater thread, so you can pretty much ignore because he is on a crusade to kill anything "multi-channel". 

That being said, stand-alone 2-channel gear is mostly going to be a step above multi-channel (not to say multi-channel is bad).  However, at your level with speakers that are under $400 a pair, you're budget is not going to be in the "2-channel area".

The Marantz receivers are good in the fact that they are the only AV Receivers that use a discrete analog output stage.  That being said, they are voiced on the warm side and the high frequencies are softened and rolled-off.  If that's what you want, then Marantz is a good choice.

The other direction is likely going to be very close to the sound of your Pioneer.  Many will recommend Anthem AV Receivers.  They are extremely high quality and have excellent sound, but on some systems the highs can have a bright edge.  You can get a new MRX 540 for $1600.   Alternatively, you can get a new/used MRX 720 for under $2k.  The MRX 720 is the previous model and will not have all the newest features (such as Dolby Vision, etc.), but it will have a larger power supply than the 540 and provide better sound.

terrible advice, as virtue signaling always winds up being:

millercarbon posts the same exact message on every single home theater thread, so you can pretty much ignore because he is on a crusade to kill anything "multi-channel".

That being said, stand-alone 2-channel gear is mostly going to be a step above multi-channel (not to say multi-channel is bad). However, at your level with speakers that are under $400 a pair, you’re budget is not going to be in the "2-channel area".

So in other words he agrees, I am right- he just wants to have it both ways, talking out both sides of his mouth: it is a step above, but "not to say the step below is bad". What a freaking joke!

For the record, you know what we call second place? First place LOSER!

So my advice was not what you expected. Of course not! What everyone expects nowadays is the same bland We Are The World palaver. You want to live the fantasy, auxinput will walk you down that aisle. You want reality?

Here’s reality: multichannel sucks. You are on a budget. The LAST thing you need is to be throwing money on something that can NEVER sound good!

Don’t take my word for it. Take your budget, whatever it is, go in some store, any store, listen to what that will buy you in a AVR. Then compare that to what the same money will buy you in a integrated amp. ANY integrated amp.

When you scrape your chin up off the floor, I got more!

Now take your speaker budget. Whatever it is. Divide it out into two speakers, go and listen to them. Any two speakers. Then do the same with the 5.1 or whatever dreck your AVR will get you into. Now if you don’t puke your guts out of realizing how close you came to blundering into multichannel you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din!

My advice is for the real world. We now return you to our regularly scheduled hand-holding validator enablers who will never for a minute have to endure the "step down" they so glibly advise you to buy.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I love to see the passion!

So, I just wanted to be clear I’m only using this for watching film/television. 
Listening to music is not a priority for this particular room. 
How does a 2 channel set up work when the output is like Dolby Atmos?

If I’m understanding correctly, the consensus is to only have 2 speakers for the entire home theatre?

...and that putting the money into quality 2 channel will be better than “surround”?

I’m open to the idea for sure — I just never heard of this before (my current gear is 10 years old and that’s probably the last time I thought about it lol)

Thanks again for all the info I’m learning a lot !

PS I only planned to spend $2k on just the receiver... but I’d be open to spending $3-5k to do 2 channel HT... but I don’t have amps or anything. I’d need to sell my current speakers and start from scratch... which is cool if that’s the better way to go. 

Brands/models aside, what all equipment would I need? (Any additional resources you could offer so I can educate myself more would also be appreciated!)

If you really want sound quality over all, then you definitely want a stereo integrated amp and 2 speakers. The performance gap is so great literally any integrated, the worst one you could find, will sound a lot better than the very best AVR you can find. No contest. You could even spend 2X on the AVR, still not match stereo. There’s good technical reasons for this I will be happy to go into if you want.

The Polks you have are $179 speakers. About the quality level you would expect if having to buy 4 speakers plus a sub. A much higher quality stereo speaker would be something like the Mini-Lore for $600 https://tektondesign.com/product/full-range-speakers/monitors-loudspeakers/mini-lore-monitor/#color Tremendous improvement.

The Mini-Lore is highly efficient, 95dB, so you won’t need a lot of power. This opens the door to incredible high quality in a low power amp like the Decware integrated amp https://www.decware.com/newsite/SE34I.htm

Take the time to read carefully. Do not be put off by the low power. The Mini-Lore with this amp will have your head spinning with sound quality you will not believe, all for $2200 speakers and amp. You mentioned 10 years. Decware offer a Lifetime Warranty! You will probably replace tubes a couple three times in 10 years.

You are willing to spend up to $5k. Split the remaining $2800 between speaker cables, power cord, interconnect, and some Townshend Pods, you will have an absolutely incredible system. Guaranteed beyond your wildest dreams. You will be hard pressed to find anyone with better that didn’t spend $25k. Or more.

This system will be highly expandable. The main thing missing is powerful bass. Which you probably don’t want in an apartment anyway. But down the road, add subs, boom now you have it all. Upgrade speakers some day, as long as you stay with high efficiency speakers like Tekton you are golden.

Big leap, nobody else here got the nerve to come up with this. Or the experience. They would, sadly, rather complain, or lead you down the well-trod primrose path. One thing you will notice, the stuff they recommend you can buy anywhere any minute 24/7/365. Tekton and Decware you will have to order and wait. That right there in itself is a clue who is recommending desirable quality and who has the same old same old. I waited 3 months for my Moabs, totally worth it. We got a guy here now 2 months into his Decware. There’s a reason we say these things are worth the wait: they totally are worth it!

So in other words he agrees, I am right- he just wants to have it both ways, talking out both sides of his mouth: it is a step above, but "not to say the step below is bad". What a freaking joke!

Wow, this is the first time millercarbon has gotten really personal and insulting.  I generally try to help with the questions people ask here instead of slamming down and destroying any multi channel approach.

If you really want to listen to millercarbon, go ahead.  In the end, if all you are doing is 2 speakers than buy the best 2-channel rig you can.  If you want your center channel and surrounds, then you have to go AV Receiver or processor/amps.  Millercarbon is going to argue against this all day long with the statement that this scenario is ALWAYS bad and always sucks.  The truth is that many low to mid level multi-channel systems can sound good.  Millercarbon just has a prejeduice against this.

You do not see this kind of argument in other sections/threads where somebody asks "what kind of good preamp can I get for less than $1,000".

Contrary to the belief that there are no quality 2 channel receivers.

There are those that do prefer simplicity 

Although a bit pricey..

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/receivers/MAC7200

Click on the link. I have happily owned the GCC 250 since they were first introduced well over 10 years ago
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisaa3b9-ps-audio-gcc-500-stereo-integrated-amplifier-gcc500-remot...

for $2K you can get a real nice 5 channel amp and processor...the prices on processors drops fast so many excellent used ones are quite inexpensive...I have separate 2 channel and home theater, but still feel i get much better performance from home theater separates...

So there's this huge argument that says "2-channel audio is the way to go".  If you look at spending $2,000 and have a choice between a 2-channel integrated amp and an AV Receiver, it is very likely that the 2-channel integrated amp is going to sound superior.  That is the entire premise for millercarbon's argument.  If you are going to use this system for 70% or more "music only" listening, this could be the way you want to go.

However, there are problems with the "2-channel only" approach if you are heavy into watching movies.  Whatever source components you have, the entire 5/7 channel source has to be down-mixed into only 2 channels.  This presents problems.

This is a VERY EASY experiment to make. 

1. Pick an action movie that you are very familiar with and watch a 10 minute progression where there is a lot of sound going on.
2.  Go into your Pioneer receiver configuration menu and disable the surround speakers.
3. Re-watch the same 10 minute progression.
4. Go into Pioneer configuration and now disable the center channel.
5. Watch the same progression.

This will show the type of sound you will get when playing movies through a 2-channel only system.  If you are okay with this type of sound, then by all means go with a 2-channel only audio rig.  The compromises are basically the following:

no center channel - Basically you lose a lot of clarity and solidness in the dialogue and anything coming.  Millercarbon's argument that you don't need a center channel is all based on absolutely perfect room acoustics and sitting your butt down EXACTLY at the center point between the left/right speakers.  However, just move to the side 5" and you're whole center channel image is completely lost.  You can try this experiment in your own situation.  This is compounding by the fact that the center channel dialogue is cut by 50% and then sent to each left/right speaker, so if you are off center, that "center channel dialogue" will be quieter and actually harder to hear.

no surround channel - I have had problems on 3-channel systems that do not have actual surround. If you down-mix the surround channels to your left/right speakers, what happens is that the left/right become increased in volume and will have an "echo" type of effect.  The second problem that occurs is that your center channel dialogue becomes extremely difficult to hear/understand because the overall volume of the left/right speaker totally overbears any sound coming out of the center.  You can fix this if you use an HT processor just by enabling the surround speakers (even if nothing is connected).  You will obviously not hear the surround effects, but it gets rid of this problem.  However, the surround speakers actually make the entire sound stage much bigger.  If you disconnect the surround speakers and listen, the whole soundstage becomes smaller since your soundstage is only the front of the room (almost like converting a stereo music song to be played as "mono"). 

Hi OP,
I'm not sure what your trying to accomplish.  It sounds like you just want to update your surround system while you watch TV.  A new AVR would probably have better room correction with the addition of Dolby Atmos. Atmos will require more speakers.  How much two channel music do you listen to?
If you just want better surround for TV with no Atmos, I think I would use your budget to replace your front two or three speakers.  Move your L/R to the sides and create a 7.1 or use them to upgrade your rears.  A lot depends on the size of your room and 5.1 might be plenty.  A couple of subs are nice, too, but your neighbors might disagree. Go used if you can find the right deal.   Hope some of this helps.

Despite the 2-channel bias this site tends to have (me included), I can certainly appreciate the benefits of watching movies on a decent 5.1 system.  Toward that end, and considering your speakers, you could easily get by with a Yamaha RX-A780 AVR you can get from accessories4less.com for only $550 — and, frankly, your speakers don’t warrant spending much more than that anyway IMHO.  It can do 7.2 or ATMOS if you ever decide to go that way, and as your speakers are 90dB efficient it has enough power to drive your system (especially since you have a subwoofer) and will likely sound better doing it than your current Pioneer.  Yamaha also has the distinction of producing the most reliable mass market AVRs so you should be good to go for another 10 years if you so desire. 

If you have the itch to upgrade your system you can look at the RX-A2080 at $1299 (from the same store) and look at the SVS Prime line of speakers for a significant upgrade in that area as well without breaking the bank.  Anyway, hope this helps and best of luck in your search.