I bought this receiver yamaha htr5140 on craigslist for $30 and let me tell u for 60wpc this thing rocks! I have it hooked up to my cerwin vega ve12f floor speakers and polk audio center speaker and rear speakers and a polk audio subwoofer and it sounds like your in the movie theater. ive looked up the number on the output transistors and there 80 watt transistors so this receiver is underrated its more like 80 watts per channel rms per channel not 60 anyway i love this receiver its high current so it drives my vegas good there 150 rms each but this receiver pushies them well it was a $30 well spent.

Easy to program
More than enough power
Doesn't heat up after long hours of use

Installation manual could be more thorough
Remote is a little tricky

After owning an Optimus receiver that didn't even have Dolby Pro-Logic, it took me awhile to get used to this Yamaha receiver. But after a few days, it is incredible the amount of power and definition of clarity it has.

The first thing I noticed was its awesome power. Although rated at only 60 watts per channel, I cannot take the volume above 3 for the sake of my neighbors. I had to dampen the dynamic range to its minimum, and also change its normal operation setting to -10dB's. That's power, and the sound is extremely clean.

I still do not own a DVD player; that' my next step. So I live and die with my vcr tapes. The real test came when I played last week's X-Files episode on the vcr. With my last receiver, I was used to a lot of hiss mainly because I have used the same tapes to record my favorite shows during the week. Know what? With the Yamaha and its dsp settings, the hiss was gone. It was pretty amazing to hear how well distributed the sound was, coming out of only two speakers. I could hear bells and howling wind coming from behind the system, which is impressive considering the crappy conditions.

It took me awhile to read through the manual. I guess it was written for hi-fi experts, but I got through it. Yesterday I underwent an extensive training period with my remote, but I'm already getting the hang of it.

Overall, for $299 ($330 with shipping) at J&R, you couldn't get a better deal on a Dolby Digital receiver.

Excellent high's, mid's, low's. Can't beat the sound for the price.

I purchased the HTR-5140 after having a Sony STR-DE435 for about a month. Let me just say that Sony receivers have no soul. (Or decent sound for that matter!) This Yamaha is the best buy for the money. You can't go wrong. I also think it puts out about twice the power thats stated.

Similar Products Used:

Sony and Kenwood products

DSP (is one of its strength, isn't it?)

close to none... $$?

Will (the previous post), give me a break. We do review to help others. What is your post all about? Do you just post for some free subscription, free money, free point or something???

Anyway, you are entitled to your oppinion, if people can call it an 'oppinion'.

Anyway, here is what I has with other models and this model.
Oh, first of all, I got this from other reviews too. One of them lists Yamaha as 1 of 8 brands that worths buying. And 5140 is one of its chosen model ... so I decided to give it a try. (Oh, the other brands are: Marantz, ...)

Technics SA-DX 930:
yes, it has 5x100 watts, sounds great. Agreed with other posters. The weekness is that it does runs hot. IT IS HONESTLY TRUE that it is hot. (due to cheap capacitor?)
Out of fear of broken down in the future ... I sold it.
Without this heating problem, I probably would keep it.

Kenwood 309:
After 2 months of using 930, I switched to this one. I really don't know the word to describe it. I read the review and I decided to give it a side by side comparison with 5140 with the experience from 930. Oh, it has 100 x 5 watts too. This model has S-video switching. But is doesn't has sima capability. So if you have video components from regular rca jack (vcr) and s-video (dvd), the pre-amp switching is not really helpful. By the way, I always emphasize audio part strongly on a receiver.

5140:
I can't criticize the components, functionality that a receiver doesn't claim it has. But I can compare its functionality with other models. It doesn't have s-video I/O. So, I can't say it is bad comparing to 309 based on this. I can compare its power 60 (or 70) x 5 with 100 x 5 in 930 and 309. Also, the overall audio experience.

yes 5140 is overall better than the other 2. Especially its DSP functionality. (I personally wish the power can be a bit higher ... but that smells $$).

Oh, I don't confuse the volume and power. BTW, the manual says 60 (7) MINIMUM RMS. The other 2 says 100 RMS and I suppose it means AVERAGE. This may solve one of the myth about the power.

Oh, you do see the comparison is based on the exactly same
speakrs system that I have. Same vcr, dvd player, cd ...

5140 does as it promises. So it deserves a 5. Value-wise, people tends to pick up receiver with lower price also with bell and wistles and less emphasizing the most important audio ... issue un-intentioanlly, so I give it a 4. Money does counts.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SA-DX930, Kenwood 309

Clean power reveals music/sound you did not know was missing in ProLogic. Digital is like night and day

Sorting/selecting Dolby options, remote could be better.

Went through a lot of "what if", "should I " scenarios and reviews before I finally dialed Crutchfield. Had the Pioneer for Dolby ProLogic for 2+ years, I thought it was a great performer in its class and time. Had purchased Pioneers DV-525 DVD player two weeks ago. Nice sound in ProLogic but I knew i was missing something. Once I made the choice to go digital, I knew i wanted to start upgrading the entire system and this would be the best place to start. From reading reviews I decided high-current was the way to go. Shallow pockets dictated my choices to Onkyo 474 and the Yamaha. Also looked at the next level for both, but the extra hundred did not add up for me. I thought it was better looking, but the Onkyo reviews told of too many problems with hiss; had no problems with my old Pioneer and wasn't looking for new ones. Crutchfield has an easy-payment plan where they split payments over 4 months, great if your budget is extremely tight; also a long-time customer. they didn't disappoint. Ordered Thursday, it was delivered Friday morning. This was Virginia to Virginia, but I get the same results to Maryland also. Read the manual cover to cover, connected Saturday morning. Results? Believe the high-current hype. I was really afraid of loosing the "bass" from my Pioneer with bass-boost (passive sub for now; I didn't loose a thing. I tried my CD changer first, and could tell right away that I had made a good choice. Details I never knew existed were evident ( F/C/Sub/Sat speakers KLH, surrounds are Atlantic Technology). Went to recalibrate with the Video Essentials disc and ran into my only gripe. Compared to the Pioneer, getting Dolby set up was more difficult than I expected. Once I figured it out though, I never looked back. ProLogic was much better in prescence and range; bass was great without the boominess of my Pioneer with bass boost. Still plan to add a powered sub to round it out.Dolby digital was everything I hoped it would be; my surrounds sound much better now, very clear where with the Pioneer it was as if reverb was added. Went through Star Wars Episode 1 on VHS, Mortal Kombat 2, The Matrix and True Lies on DVD. If this receiver is on your short list, stop considering and go get it. You'll be glad you did.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-D454, almost 4 years

warm sound dsp modes

no s-video

great unit. worth the 399.00 at best buy. best dsp out of all others i tried. wish it had s-video but oh well. i tried the pioneer vsx608, the optimus stav3350 and the kenwood vr307. i had each in my home hooked up to my own system. it was a big pain but i took them all back. i then purchased the yamaha htr5140 for 399.00 and it blew the others away. i decided to upgrade to the 5150 for dts at 100.00 more but when i took my current unit back i found another 5140 as open box for 259.00 so dts will wait. the unit is dts ready but no decoder. i have paired it up with a toshiba dvd player and my home theater sounds great. im no "audiophile" but i have reviewed and demoed everything from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the line. if i were rich i would have purchased different but im not and i am perfectly happy with my gear.

Independent control on each speaker, doesn't run hot. Decent power for a small/average room. 5 analog inputs for future processor upgrades.

Highs not very clean.

I have been using this receiver for about 2 years now. Never had a problem. I initially bought a Technics SADX-940 which I returned in a week, due to 2 factors: it ran VERY hot, and it did not have the analog inputs that would allow you to use a separate sound processor, if you plan to upgrade or a new format appears. Overall I am happy with it, but I have to say that the Technics sounded much cleaner.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SADX-940

Great detail in the music and great DD from dvd's. Sounds louder than the 60 watts advertised. Even the hifi vcr sounds better than with my old prologic receiver.

I wish it was easier to control the subwoofer volume with the remote.

I have had 2 kenwoods, I bought a Sony and a Technics DD receiver and returned them, I didn't think they sounded good enough to merit replacing my kenwood. I went to a high end store and they played me a Yamaha , sounded great but they wanted $500. I found a previous year model the 5140 at best buy for $297. Took it home and sounded great. My medium priced speakers have never sounded so good.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood with a separate decoder, and Sony DD DTS receiver, which were both returned to store.

dd is outstanding

none

after many straining hours of demos, i picked this baby. i almost spent more $$ for the marantz sr5000 but it didnt sound any better. i love this receiver. dd is kick ass!!!this baby only sports 60 wpc but armegedon blew me right through the freakin wall!! vhs even sounds great with dsp modes (finaly some dsps that work well and enhance instead of hamper). hats off to yammi for their solid products. great bang for the buck.

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to many to count

More than enough power. Clean sound. Price.

Ha! Yah right!

I purchased the 5140 after using a jvc model. The 5140 has more than enough power. When watching a movie i can't turn the volume past 25% without scaring myself.The pro-Logic feature is awesome. Im going to purchase a sony dvd player soon. After watching my uncles sony dvd on his Yahama 5150, which is a higher model i was amazed at the sound. I have a pair of Yahama front speakers and Bose rear speakers and the 5140 really brings them alive. I really recomend this product.

Similar Products Used:

none