I upgraded more than a year ago from a RX-V800. This was a really nice upgrade. I choosed between 2 or 3 other brand. Finally choose this one for it's largest set of inputs (still has a phono jack that I use), for the remote function from an IPhone and for a better warranty. I have read many review on other brand about problem after a year or two. This receiver has a 4 years warranty. This tells me that the company is more confident about the reliabiliy of their product. New electronic do not use lead anymore, or less lead, in their soldering circuits. It good for the environment, but the circuit break sooner because the tend to crack. Not sure if renewing product is more environmentally friendly than have a product that last a lot more. I was told by the vendor that I should expect no more than 3 to 5 year on new product. My old RX-V800 still work perfectly, except the display is dimming. I took bet on this one.

What made the most difference was the sound quality. The video processing is great and does all it needs to do (talk about it later). But after doing the calibration with the provided microphone, the difference in my listening room was awsome. The sound is now more natural and precise. There is always the needed power and listening to music or film is a lot more enjoyable. I use old Mirage OM-10 speakers as main, OMR2 as back, OMC2 as front and a S10 sub. My speakers are giving me a lot more and it's like I upgraded all of them. It's not THX certified, but THX is a certification. It does not mean that uncertified product are not good. It means they did not pay to certified it.

It also enable me to acces hi-definition music (96KHz/24bits) on my computer and play it accros the network. This make such a difference! There is also a network function to listen to thousans of chanel on the net freely (you need to have the bandwith, but they do not need that much).

There is a pure direct mode to listen to music. Pesonnally, I find the calibrated mode doing a better job for me. I do not have a perfect listening room and the calibration with the mic seems better to me.

The video scaling is very good. Even old VHS for the kids were not so bad on the big screen. It convert from about any format to any format. The video processor is great. And there are 7 hdmi inputs!

The setup, network, firmware update work ok to me. I'm IT, so, no issues here. There is a multi room function. I wish that the fonction for the second or third room control would be easier on the remote. You have to open the little door on the bottom or the large remote to click on the zone button to activate the zone you whant to control. This button should have been put on the top at least! But it's easy with the IPhone app. The IPhone apps also enable to play wirelessly your music from the IPhone or about any sound comming from it. No need to add the iphone docking station.

I bougth it on special, a little more than 1000$ after the holidays and it worth all of it. New models RX-A2010 and now RX-A2020 are in. The RX-A1000 is about the same with less video scaling feature and a little less power. But if you don't need, it's a little less money.

It has all the feature you could wish on a AV receiver and a great sound amplifier for the price. I recommend this one or any one from this new RX-A* serie from Yamaha. (the A stands for Audio I think).