Good power and features for price

Strange remote, so-so receiver

Based on the reviews at this site had originally opted for the Harman Kardon pre-amp and amp combination (now discontinued). These units sure looked nice! However, the sub-out was full range. Also, no DSP or Dolby 5.1 modes. Therefore, had to opt for an alternative.
Decided to audition the Yamaha 5140 after some reviews posted here. My general impression is that this is a good receiver that packs many features for a moderate price. DSP modes are quite good and can often shock you as to their precision (try hearing a cowbell in the concert hall mode). Sub-out is low-pass filtered so no complications in setting up a subwoofer.
The receiver is adequate. Sensitivity is not as high as others, but only important if you are a discriminating listener of FM radio.
Had been considering the 5150, but did not feel the extra $100 brought that much more over the 5140.

Definitely the price. The sound. The features--Dolby Digital built-in. Easy to use remote.

None so far.

I paid $279.99 for this receiver from J&R Music World. I wasn't willing to spend more than $350 for a good reciever--so my choices came down to, the Yamaha, Aiwa AV-DV75 ($235), and Technics SADX 940($250). I picked the Yahama based on the combination of its raved reviews, the store sales rep. recommendation, and Yamaha's reputation for a solid/sturdy built.

I am not an "audiophile" but the receiver produces a great sound--and the program presets work really well outputing dolby digital surround sound and "tv-sports" sounds. I am very happy with my purchase.

Sound Quality / Price

None that I can find

Stop thinking about it and go get it!

I purchased this receiver at Supremevideo.com as the package theater YHT-22 for $550.(they sell just the receiver for $280) It comes with the HTR-5140 reciever (same as the RX-V495), five satalite speakers (four NS-A327 and NS-AC327 for the center chanel), and the YST-SW45 for the powered subwoofer.

I have been shopping for at least the last 5 months for a home theater checking everything on the way. I'm one of those that makes sure it's exactly what I want before I shed a single cent. Anyway, I went to every audio store and checked all over the internet for what was hot and what was not. I was lucky in that I had several friends buy their recievers in the last 6 months from other brands and I had them to compare to. They are all now envious of me and wish they did the research I did. (Refer to the list of similar products, that is what they bought.)

The Yamaha is nothing but the best quality, in sound and in manufacturing. Most other brands sound tiny (bright) but this receiver is very warm and full of body. The DSP fields are beter than the Yamaha site claim. What really struck me was that the sound out of this unit sounds complete even at low volumes.

Some have complained about the remote but I don't know what the are doing wrong because I think the layout and versatility of it is fine. I've programed it to control all my equipment and it even works with both my VCR's. (I use the cable spot for the second VCR since I don't have a dish)

Oh, and don't let the 60/70 watt rating fool you. This thing will blow you away. It is far better than the 100 watt rating of other receivers.

Be sure to do your research and make sure you are getting what you want and then BUY YAMAHA! Their line will have what you need. I guarantee that you will not be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Pioneer, Technics, Denon, Harman Kardon

Well Built! Very sturdy, does not make a vibrating,hissing noise like my old pioneer used too.

Needs s-video inputs!

After having a child and realizing that you can never leave the house again, my wife and I decided to buy a home theater system. We already had a hi-fi vcr. We bought a Pioneer DVD-525. Now we were searching for a receiver that came with the speakers(have a small child,have a small budget). We went with the Yamaha YHT-22. $711 @ our local Best Buy. Found it on the web ranging from $570-999. after shipping, the 570 would come out to close to $700, so I opted for BB. The YHT-22 comes w/5140 and 4 sattilites(2front mains and 2 rear surrounds)and a 70 watt powered sub! The setup was a very easy. I was surprised by the wieght of the 5140. It felt as heavy as 2 cynder-blocks(25 lbs) The remote was able to program all of my equipment. I listen to my cds,tv, vcr and dvd thru my 5140. The power and the clarity of this receiver is awsome! There are conflicting wording as to the output power(60 or 70 watts). personly I don't care, cause I still have not been able to turn the volume knob past the 1/3 point without seeing my daughters ears start to bleed! I am one happy camper! The 5.1 digital just blows me away! For those of you that have a 5.1 receiver and no DVD player.....Shame on YOU! I have not rented a vhs tape in over 2 months! DVD rules! My collection is quickly growing. My only consern is for no s-video inputs. My wife and I are looking into a satilite dish...I will figure out a way for my DVD/satilite to share the 1 s-vidio input on our 36" RCA!!!

Similar Products Used:

I am too embarressed to mention what I was using!!

sound, build quality,customer service

none

This was my first home theater reciever. I bought this a year ago last february. I wanted to do a review from someone who had used it for while.
The first impression the unit makes is build quality, this unit weighs about 35 pounds. It has the look and feel of a quality unit. The hookup was fairly self-explanatory with the hookups plainly marked on the back of the unit. That was a good thing because the instruction book left something to be desired. The remote has all the features you could want, but it is small and cramped, and I have given to just doing everything from the face of the reciever.
The sound was great, from the box. I'm afraid I don't see where a previuos poster was coming from when he stated a need to buy great speakers to get decent sound from this reciever. I have had 3 sets of speakers hooked to this unit, from optimus (radio shack), MTX, and JBL. I got good sound from the optimus, and great sound from the other two sets. It shows good separation from all channels when playing in DD. It even plays music very well. As far as power goes, I have a very small living room, but the 60 watts per channel is plenty. On several occassions I have had to turn it down for fear of ticked off neighbors. I don't know how Yamaha rates it's power, but it blows my brothers light weight 100 watt per channel Pioneer away in quality, and power!
I had this reciever about 4 months when I plugged the amplified sound card of my PC into the pono input on my reciever. I was ignorant of the fact that amplified outputs will fry most phono inputs, which are not meant to be amplified. I heard a pop, and from that point on I had a constant static pop in all analog outputs,(the digital output to the DVD still sounded perfect). I took the reciever to my local Yamaha service station, and they sent it off for repair. It was gone about 4 weeks. In spite of the fact that I screwed it up, they sent the reciever back repaired under warranty with a letter explaining my mistake. You can't beat that for customer service.
Make no mistake, this is a very good reciever for use in all but very large home theaters. If it is your first home theater reciever purchase, avoid being underwhelmed, by spending at least twice as much on your speakers as you do on your reciever. Also make sure the first DVD you buy, or rent has an agressively mixed DD soundtrack. Some great titles are Saving Private Ryan, Days of Thunder, U-571, and Gladiator. A good reciever cannot make good sound out of a rotten soundtrack, or bad speakers!
I just bought a DVD player with built in DTS decoding. I will be hooking it into the 5.1 upgrade jacks on the reciever. I will update with informationon how this works out later.

Similar Products Used:

instruction booklet, remote

I was just wondering if anybody knew the true specs on the htr-5140. Yamaha's web site says that the htr-5140 produces 60watts x 5 while my local best buy says that its 70watts x 5. I want a reciever that can produce at least 70watts of clean power. If its 60 then I think I'll go with the Rx-V595/Rv-905. Thanks for any input.

it's a Yamaha!

no S-switching, no fan

After owning the JVC 888vbk for about a month, I decided
to return it. It was then that I stumbled upon an open box HTR5140 for $279.00!!!! When I hooked it all up, I was amazed. Those 70 watts hit twice as hard as the 100 JVC watts. The low THD assures clean and crisp power, capable of pushing 250 watt polk towers. With the volume up only about 25%, my walls were shaking! I've never heard such crisp sound, even from marantz or onkyo, before! The various DSP's are neat and the design is handsome.

Now for the negatives, which are quite negligeable:

Although it does not have a DTS decoder, that is not an issue as DTS will NEVER catch on. DTS can't claim to be the most widely accepted format, as Dolby Digital holds that honor, and DTS can no longer claim to be the best sounding 5.1 format, as MLP is hitting low-end receivers this summer. Added to the delays and the extra disc space, and the fact that LD's have abandoned this format, and DTS is dead.

No cooling fan is found, however, at a cool 70 watts/channel, I can't see this unit ever overheating. I watched a 3.5 hour DVD last night, and to the touch, I could barely tell if the receiver had been on.

The only legitimate gripe is the lack of S-cable switching. It does, however, have RCA switching. This shouldn't be a concern, as S-switching boxes are coming down in price. Sears has one for $29.99 (5 inputs).

This receiver, undoubtedly, is the best receiver for its MSRP ($399). If you overlook this one, then you don't know what the hell you are doing!

Similar Products Used:

JVC -888vbk

Clean and accurate sound. Very sturdy construction. Runs cool doesn’t get hot. Plenty of power despite power ratings.

None.

This unit is the best boom for the buck I could find. I had listened to many other brands of equal and higher price ranges and none of them sounded any better. The quality of sound is very good for both music and movies. I own a DVD player (Toshiba 2109) and have caught myself turning around to see who was behind me during several movies. The Dolby Digital will fool you. As far as the power rating goes I cant turn up the volume very far before the house starts shaking. I could afford a more expensive unit but just didn’t see the need in spending more. But then again I use standard 16 AWG wire instead of spending a fortune on expensive audiophile cables. Living in the real world can save you a lot of money.

Similar Products Used:

Technics, Sony, Onkyo

Sound, quality and style.

DTS Decoder and lack of inputs and outputs. Useless external decoder RCA inputs. Why not digital input for external decoders?

WARNING 1: Do your research. Do not expect sales person(especially in BEST BUY) to help and understand your needs. They are after selling the product.
WARNING 2: There is a reason for price difference. Investigate yourself. Do not ask sales person. Go to all the Web sites you can find for the product you are interested in and analyse. Compare your findings with your needs. Then look at the price in your budget. If you can spend little extra to meet your needs. You do not want to be disappointed later.
WARNING 3: Compare the equipments you will put together. Try to buy all at once and test for comparability. If does not work the you want return.
YAMAHA HTR-5140 is a very good reciever with lack of outputs and inputs(especially digital). If you are beginner you will spend a lot of money and change many equipment until you learn and get what you need. This is exactly what all the companies are after.
HTR-5140 has one of the best sound quality out there for the price. Actually you get more than what you pay as far as sound quality. The sound you will get is not over processed. It is natural as the product named after. This quality will allow you to listen for low or high volume and for short or long time without headache. Nothing beats that.
I can understand the makerting strategy after creating many models(with small differences) to cover every buyer. However, as a consumer, I like to see less models with more flexibility. In the long run consumer appreciates that and goes back to the same brand.

Getting DTS work with SONY DVD player DVP-NC660? Forget about it. First mistake I made I did not get the YAMAHA with DTS or looked for digital decoder input for future formats.

YAMAHA HTR-5140 discountinued but under different model number same strategy is still exists. Get the upper models or consider different brand name does not play this game. Perhaps hard to find MARANTZ, AKAI, ADCOM. If not, YAMAHA recievers way better than PANASONIC, KENWOOD, DENON, AIWA and all the other junk.

Similar Products Used:

Poineer, Akai, Sony, Panasonic, Marantz, Adcom, Dennon.

Price, Sound, Features

No DTS, Small Remote, Manual could be a little better.

This was the first reciever that I ever bought and I am sure glad I bought it. I never have had a problem with it, and like previous reviews it has great sound for the power that it puts out.

If your just getting into the game and are on a low budget you can't go wrong with this reciever.