Versatile, clean video, amazing audio wont be obsolete for awhile, if ever. Bass control for the six channel out, and the audiophile hasnt been forgotten

Difficult inital setup(reading the manuel isnt an option, its REQUIRED) remote stinks but is that any surprize? Nettune is included in the price and is something I'll never use(you cant get away with a bad CD on this thing, MP3S are positivly FLAT) makes me look like a fool for using Yamaha for so long!!!

Basically a full featured receiver with some ergonomic questions, outstanding preformance, and great versatiliy I got this receiver after my Yamaha died after four years. Usually the buying process, research, etc is half the fun off owning a receiver, but after reviewing the features and a long listening session I knew I wanted this one, had everything I needed so why look more? Later I looked at the Onkyo version, and to be honest for most of the pennypinchers out there this is the one you'll want, DTS neo and 12 volt triggers are all its missing, and it might have dts neo, and its a lot cheaper. But the gold plated contacts, detachable power cord, and five year warranty , and much improved styling are worth the extra to me When auditionong this unit try to listen to one thats broken in, this unit does seem to have a break in period I also looked at Marantz (first choice) and the outlaw pre-pro and amp combo, but the selling point that finally tipped me over to this one was componet upconversiion I miss the gays when you could tie in everything with your receiver and s-vhs cables, very convienent This receiver connects with one componet cable, composite and S-vhs are comverted to 480i componet. The higher def stuff isnt messed with and with a 70 mhz bandwidth are passed thru without loss But the setup is a bit of a prob, after the first time its easier(I moved this system to a dedicated room) You see, componet upconversion isnt automatic, you have to use the front panel display if all you have is a componet cable hooking up your system. Why do receiver manufacturers do stuff like this? And then it was "musical inputs " for awhile, Matching video with audio. The unstructured nature of this set is great as far as configuring your system, but it can be a bear when you first start. On every input you can configure video in digital in, componet out, and if you choose the wrong componet setting the picture goes off and you have to use the front panel to get it back! But the picture is beautiful through componet, and my system is a lot more elegant and ergonomic with one set of cables going to my receiver. Anyway I watched a dvd one night in pro-logic II reason being I had the wrong digital in selected, so it went to the analog in and choose pro-logicII to decode it! Like a lot of 7 channel receivers you can use the two back channels for "zoneII" which is what I use them for, having noticed no benefit from rear speakers. This works well, but if you have zone II on turning your receiver off will only turn off the display and mains, I though something was wrong with my unit when I noticed it was still on! Makes sense though So how does it sound? AMAZING And this set doesnt forget the hi-fi enthusiaist, I was delighted to see a phono stage for playing records, and a mode that turns off the video, and a mode that turns off the video AND the sub, giving you two channel stereo And this set upconverts digital signals to 96 khz, really nice The damping factor on the amps is a meager sixty, but they are still decent sounding, giving you a good preformance But I wasnt too concerned about the amps, my Yamaha was supposed to last until I could afford seperates, so when it went out I decide to get a unit that would make a decent pre-amp, providing a bridge to a decent seperates system, and this one has the credentials for a modest preamp, its not a Theata Casblanca or anything but it has 12 volt triggers, decent connectivity, a proam that is so quite I have yet to hear ANYTHING but what I want. Add a great digital section and what else do you need? Dont get me wrong the amps are good, right now I'm listening to Sanborn on the analog out of a sony CD player and the sound is pristine, my b&w 602s2's never sounded better. The pleasant surprize is the imaging, others who arent nearly as anal as I have noticed it too, even with the speakers not at their optimun placement , stuff is just THERE. dAVID SANBORNS horn is in my living room Yamaha has always been my brand, but this receiver embrasasses the bejeezus out of their stuff, it even beats a 2 channel B&K I was looking at beleive it or not. And remember, these are zone II amps, intended for REAR speakers! Afew more things, the remote is a joke, per usual, it doesnt even have direct acess to inputs, somethig the onkyo version does!. Theres a wheel you roll and push, I finally figured out how to get a signal to train my pronto with. Theres a push/joystick in the center, and an equal no of buttons on each side, forget trying to figure out which end is which in the dark, its tough enough in the daytime! Get a pronto or some other decent universal, no one has any business with a receiver of this caliber if they dont use a decent remote with it At this price you just wont get a decent remote in the box, its just not feasible. Recievers have gotten cheap, but those cheapies have compromises. With this receiver you get your moneys worth, and then some

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Denon, yamaha, sony (sob) pioneer Current system B&W 602S2 MAINS b&W 602 ZONE II Boston surrounds B&W ASW2500 SUB SONY SACD DVD PLAYER, SONY 300DISC CHANGER (CD) Dish PPV WITH dd , dish hd JVC S-VHS PANNY 47 IN HDRPTV