Universal remote

Dial on remote not backlit

I picked this up just over a month ago. I am very pleased with my purchase. This receiver is identical to the RXV-595a in every aspect according to Yamaha. The remote controls everything in my home theater including my Sony TV, DVD player and an old 5 disc changer that didn't come with a remote. I am still tweaking my system but I have watched several movies and this reciever works very well my Klipsch speakers. If you are looking for an excellent reciever at a decent price you certainly need to check this one out.

Crisp, clean sound.

Could have more a/v inputs

I recently switched to Dolby Digital after a few years of Pro Logic and the difference is incredible. The Yamaha reproduces sound with more clarity and detail than my old Kenwood, which had separate preamp and power amp with 150 watts of power. I can even hear the singers' inhaling in my choral CDs.
The DSP modes can certainly add ambience to the sound although they can go overboard at times.
The remote can control the basic functionality of my TV, VCR, LD, and DVD. I think it is not difficult to learn as long as you are willing to be open-minded.
Overall, I think this is a terrific value.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood

Clean, powerful sound

remote is not ideal

I must say I'm very pleased with the purchase of this unit.

I am very impressed with the enveloping sound this receiver produces in movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Apocalypse Now". I wish it included a 5.1 channel playback for music CD's, although I knew this going into it... I considered the Sony DE-835 but I found it difficult to compare prices and found lukewarm reviews on this site (and others).

Onecall.com did a great job at $390.00 (compared to $499 at Crutchfield). Consumer-Direct.com offers great deals on speakers, too.

The only fault I've found so far with the unit is that the remote does not include a fast forward or rewind button for DVD's. Also - the silver remote looks like a throwback to 1982.

As far as the remote functionality goes, I'm impressed that it can handle my cable box, TV, VCR, and DVD player with no problems (except the FF/Rew thing). It has a wheel to select the components that works well, but is difficult to navigate in the dark. I'm wondering if my wife will ever like the remote...

All in all, I highly recommend the unit -- especially for the price. The 75 watts per channel is more than ample for anyone with normal hearing -- you'll never (seldom?) use the full power for movies.

I give it an overall rating of 4 stars only because I'm not considering price in the overall rating.

TBD

TBD

This is a reply to "Casual Listener from Eastchester, NY"

I think you are right when you say that you can't route S-Video ins to composite outs and vice versa. However there might be a solution to your problem.

Connect the DVD player to the DVD S-Video input, the VCR to the VCR S-Video input and the cable/satellite tv to the composite input. Finally connect the monitor to BOTH the S-Video AND the composite RCA jacks). I have a Sony TV with 2 video inputs (Video 1 and Video 3) and I use the S-Video connector of Video 1 and the composite RCA of Video 3. Switching between these video inputs on the TV allows me to watch either S-Video or Composite video.

Some TVs have only one input with both S-Video and Composite RCA jacks. In this case you might be able to turn-off the S-Video in your TVs setup to use the composite input and then turn it back on for using S-video.
Hope this helps...

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Receiver

Very Clean sound, Built in DTS and Dolby Digital

None

Because I'm lazy, I'm going to include this summary for all my recently acquired components and give each component its own individual grade.

My system:
Receiver: Yamaha HTR 5150 (part for part same as RX-595A)
DVD/CD: Toshiba 2109
Main: Infinity Delta 40s
Center: Infinity Delta Center
Surround: Infinity Delta 30s

My listening room is approximately 25' x 22'.

The receiver is everything I need in a 'cheap' receiver. I found it at onesale.com for $405 shipped to my door and 1 year free financing. It is the cheapest receiver that I've found that includes decoders for Dolby Digital and DTS. It also includes inputs for 5.1 channels in case they come out with a new format in the future. The sound is very crisp and clean (like most Yamahas) and it has switchable speaker impedence out so that it can handle my 6 ohms speakers (I haven't found any other receivers in this price range that are switchable). All in all I highly recommend this receiver.

The DVD/CD player is alright. It has what I needed (component video out and digital sound out) and was very reasonably priced at $230 to my door and 5 free DVDs and 13 free rentals. The picture is crisp and the sound is awesome. I don't really believe in spending a lot of money on DVD/CD players, digital sound is digital sound. I trust the name Toshiba in the DVD world, as they invented it.

My main speakers, the Infinity Delta 40s, create an excellent sound. Great bass and great high ranges. The cabinets also exactly match the Toshiba 61" big screen I have. These 3-way, 6 ohms speakers really live up to the Infinity name. My only problem has been with poor quality recordings. I have one Christmas CD that I tried playing and you could tell that the CD was burnt off of a master album because you could hear every crack in the needle. The receiver/speaker combination almost recreates the sound too well in these instances. High quality recordings are no problem. I picked the pair up for $330 delivered at egghead.com. Not bad for $1360 original retail speakers.

My center speaker, the Infinity Delta Center, matches voice with the Delta 40s perfectly. The 5 1/4" woofers provide just enough kick and I can't say enough about the emit-r tweater. Another egghead.com steal at $130 delivered for this $550 speaker.

For surround I'm using the Infinity Delta 30s, probably overkill but I just couldn't pass up the egghead.com prices and this also prevented me from having wires hanging down the wall from the speakers. Putting the wires in the wall would have been quite expensive as I have 14' ceilings and a finished basement. As I use the speakers only for surround, I cannot really testify to their quality. They reproduce the effects very well and I am quite happy with them. They are 3-way 6 ohms speakers that originally retailed for $1100 and I got delivered for $340 (yes, more than I paid for the 40s) at egghead.com

Still need to pick up a subwoofer.

Similar Products Used:

other Yamahas

S-Video ports and Built in DTS and DD decoder

That Remote!!

Well this is my first Yamaha reciever, and let me say this one kicks ass! I had all the big names before (Onkyo, Sony, etc.) but the sound system in this receiver is GREAT.. The remote is VERY troublesom...NOT user freindly at ALL! It has alot of different modes of listening. The surround sound is good. It outputs equal values to the front and rear and for the price you can beat it! 5 stars for the reciever and at best, 3 stars for the remote...This is a good one.

Superior quality / assembly / DD / DTS / Power

Remote takes some time to get use to.

This is my first HT receiver - Previous receiver was a 15 yrs old low tech PROTON stero unit with great dynamic range. I have not shop and compare all that much but i have always heard good comments about Yamaha receivers.
The unit is exactly the same - parts for parts as the RXV595a.
This yamaha was fairly easy to set up and has a good instruction manual. It has 14 surround modes but for movies, I play "the movie theatre" mode 99% of the time. Dolby Digital is fantastic but you really need to have the full set of Home theatre speakers to take full advantage of the technology. For almost two months now, I have watch (and listen to )the DVD version of most the good movies that have come out in the last 5 yrs. It truly enhances the movie experience ! You can set the listening level fairly high without ever getting annoyed by the loudness. Most of my listenig is at the 1/3 - 3/8th level.

I really enjoy listening to instrumental CD's in "enhanced Dolby Prologic mode" it brought back to life some Pat Metheny CD's. !!

All my HT speakers are "Paradigm" (see other reviews)
Sub : PDR 10 (traded down from PS 1000)
Mains : Monitor 3
Centre Channel : CC170
Surrounds : ADP 170 (traded up from titans)

DVD Player : Pioneer 525

This Yamaha/Paradigm/Pioneer combo is worth appprox. $3000 cdn and is an outstanding value.

If I had to start over ,I would by the same thing.

Similar Products Used:

none

Sound quality, Number of inputs and outputs

None

This is an unbelievable reciever. I went from Dolby souround to Dolby Pro Logic to now the Dolby Digital, and what a difference it makes. The number of inputs and outputs is plenty for me, and I really like the sound quality. sony can't even hold a candle to this reciever, and the techniques 930, although it is a nice reciever(someone I live with ownes it) it does overheat and the sound quality is not quite as good. Overall this is a good choice if you are looking for a high quality Reciever.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Pioneer, Techniques

WOW. DTS & DD are superior! Runs cool & solid build

Like everyone else, 1 need 1 more s-video. Remote has a learning curve

Here's the hookup:

hitachi 32in 600res tv
sony 530d dvd
jbl sc125a's

audioquest optical cable from dvd
audioquest coax to sub

Very clean. There are plenty of effects to go 'round. Everyone who wrote a review about this product was accurate. The remote is a little tough to get use to, but I'm working on it. The DD and DTS are incredible. Blows away my old pro logic unit. I mentioned the cables above because they really made a big difference in the clarity. The sub pre out is LOUD!! Thanks again for everyone's past reviews!!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Sony, Marantz

low distortion at high volumes

not enough digital inputs

I've had this reciever for a long time now, and have had no problems with it. I believe that Yamaha makes the best recievers. The was the first reciever that I have purchased and am planning on only buying yamaha in the future. This reciever makes watching DVD's awesome especially in DTS mode. The only complaints i have is that there isn't an optical input for CD's and the surround and center channel speaker outputs aren't binding posts. Other than that it is perfect. It is a great reciever for someone starting out. I recommend Yamaha recievers to anyone that askes me about home audio systems.