Surprising power & punch; sound clarity; useful soundfields; PRICE

None yet.

Yamaha (and now others) finally woke up and gave us middle of the road guys who battle the "WAF" S-video inputs and dts in the sub $400-500 category.(WAF=Wife Acceptance Factor: besides "how much?" you get "explain to me again why you want/need this" followed by "I thought you'd be quiet for awile after you got that DVD player").
Anyways, this is essentially an upgrade of the 5140 w/ 2 S-video inputs, more DSP modes, & 70 vs 60 watts. I ordered it over 2 months ago from ecost.com at the teaser price of $252 w/free shipping. It hadn't even been relaesed/shipped yet by Yamaha, but I couldnt pass up the price. So I waited and waited, but felt better when Crutchfield and Best Buy started selling it for $399.
It's true what they say about Yammie electronics - their 70W is plenty powerful. I cant turn it up past halfway without risking permament hearing loss from the Polk rt55 front speakers.
This unit really reveals the quality (or limitations) of the source material - some CDs sound bright, some a bit boomy (i.e. Entwhistle on some Who stuff), but most sound pretty damn awesome, w/ details revealed that I didnt know were there. Certain DSP effects really enhance some audio sources, but most sound best w/ effects off (much fun to try out though).
On movies, the various DSP modes are quite useful, but the rear surrounds have yet to sound like they're doing much - maybe its just the DVDs viewed so far, and I need to fool more w/ the set speaker level pink noise test and/or placement of rears.
Bottom line: if you can get this for anything close to $300, BUY IT. I doubt that anything else at that price point can beat it in terms of features, performance, reliability, & ratings on this website.
P.S. the 5240 has rear phono inputs - dont know what Bob means in below review about having to "plug phono into front of unit" as a weakness.

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>10 yr. old Sony A/V receiver

YAMAHA, YAMAHA, YAMAHA, BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK, EXCELLENT QUALITY, DOLBY DIGITAL, DTS, CINEMA DSP, ETC..............

THERE'S ONLY ONE: CAN'T PLUG A LOT OF DIFERENT SOURCES, BUT IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF, YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BETTER. THE REMOTE IS KINDA CHEAP AND BASIC, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS BUY A BETTER ONE, LIKE THE HARMON-MICROSOFT.

Perfect !!! If you like to watch video, play classical, Rock, Heavy metal or watch some DVD, even DDS. I just finish installing mine, and I bought cheap. I went to Sears and tell the salesman that I saw on the web for $269.99 and they match the price. Unbelievable low price. From now on, always research prices and go to Sears. Just the remote is basic, but you can buy a better one. I have to say thanks to everybody from the forums, because this was the best advise you guys gave me.

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ALL OTHERS THAT HAVE DOLBY DIGITAL AND DTS.

Sound quality, many surround sound modes, DTS and Dolby digital decoders, great all around a/v receiver

Volume dial does not light up

Wow!! What a great product. I purchased this as part of the Yamaha YHT 23 HTIB system. Prior to my purchase I looked at all of the other sub $1000 home theatre packages. I finally settled upon the Yamaha YHT 23 after reading the reviews on this and other similar sites.

I can not believe the quality of the sound and the home theatre ambiance that is produced by this setup. The speakers may be small, but man do they sound great and the receiver itself produces more than ample volume (actually, I don't know how ample because I have yet to crank it past the 9 o'clock position!!). I have also noticed that there is absolutely no speaker hiss or distortion during DVD movies!! All in all I couldn't recommend it more highly.

One more thing, as has been noted here many times, Sears will match internet shopping prices! I found the system on sale for $545 at one of the Yahoo shopping sites (can't recall the site's name but just find the YHT 23 on the site and link to the compare current online prices section).

If you are looking for a home theatre solution, you won't find a better sounding or performing product in this price range. I could not be happier with this purchase!! Get it, I am sure you will agree.

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Yamaha 5230, a/v receivers of a similar price range manufactured by Kenwood, Pioneer, Onkyo, JVC, and Sony.

Excellent full sound. Easy controls. Adequate jacks on rear of unit. Great remote control.

No S-video input on the front of the unit. Flimsy cabinet, top is sagging already.

This is a very good product for the price ($500 cdn). I had no problems with my Rotel but I could not afford to upgrade to a current model that Rotel has out. Yamaha provides and excellent quality unit at a very reasonable price. The unit is very easy to use and control and I am very happy with it.

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Rotel

The sound is great. Nice features. I like the DSP modes

S Video inputs, S Video inputs, S Video inputs. Need I say more.

Wow, what a great receiver. There are plenty of DSP modes, you can customize your listening area, and a pretty decent remote. However, the lack of enough S Video inputs is sure causing me some trouble using 3 S Video Sources with 2 S video inputs. Someday I will get a subwoofer, but it sure put out plenty of power with my JBL's. It was inexpensive on ecost, but the customer service was abysmal (purely my opinion). If you pay the retail or near retail of $399, go for the extra 100$ and get the 5250 with more inputs.

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Older Yamaha, Technics equipment

KICK ASS SOUNDS WHEW! I can't pass 1/4 of the volume knob. Its starts to ROCK

NONE! except took me forever to figure setting up and remote.

First of all. If you are using this for DVD make sure the DVD player is set to digital signal output otherwise the DOLBY DIGITAL won't light up. If it doesn't light up you aren't getting the best sound, its analog. Forget the Optical Link, go use the Co-ax instead. The Coax are just RCA with 75 ohm video cable. Don't spend more on hype. This Yamaha pushes like a Pioneer 125 watt per side. The specs says 70 watts , but WOW is it clean and loud. All I can says is that this BABY kicks ass for what I paid. More than enough feature than I would ever want except maybe COAX input for the DVD. Email me if you want to know whwere I got mine. The store has got three left. $353 CDN

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Pioneer 4 channel Dolby Surrounds

The sound is excellent. The price for a quality piece of equipment.

Remote

The reciever is of high quality, I read all the reviews that were posted, so I decided to go out and purchase and all I have to say is THANKS for the information that made me decide to buy this receiver. I looked and researched for a long time before buying and I have no regrets. I highly recomend this unit to anyone looking for all the features of DTS, and Dolby Digital. The sound is crisp and clear and for 70 watts of power do not under estimate this unit.

Dolby Digital, DTS for a very affordable price. CLEAN, CRISP power, numerous sound fields, really nice remote

No light on the volume control knob

First off, thanks to everyone at this web site for the info about Sears price match policy. I would have never even considered buying from Sears until I learned about this. The cheapest price at local stores was for $379 at Best Buy. I then found the receiver on the web at www.moreaudiovideo.com for $299. Sure enough, Sears matched the price. Saved myself $100 off of their list price.
The receiver is great. I am still breaking it in but I could immediately tell the difference over my Sony Pro Logic receiver. The sound was much more clean, clear, and crisp. It puts out so much power that I don't even turn it past the 11 o'clock position with fear of damaging my Paradigm 3seMKIII's.
Music sounds great on it, but the bass seemed to have less punch than my old Sony receiver, but I'm sure after the receiver is broke in I will not be worried about it.
I then tested the receiver's ability for movie soundtracks. I threw in T2: Judgement Day with DTS surround and almost crapped in my pants when I heard the opening THX logo introduction. If you are reading this and hesitant whether to upgrade to Dolby Digital and DTS, don't be. It is well worth it.
The remote is really nice. It controls everything except for my Playstation 2, which I use as my DVD player. My only complaint about the receiver is that the volume know does not have an indicator on it that you can see in the dark. A minor complint though on an awesome receiver. For the price I paid, you will not find a better receiver with Digital and DTS capabilities. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

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Sony, Onkyo, Pioneer receivers.

It was an open box PRICE!! Great theater sound when used with DVD.

Remote should light up since I use it in the dark while watching movies. Sub has to be turned on seperate.

Best Buy did a really good job on the pricing they had it on display for 1 week and put it back in the box to sell to me at a great bargain. It was a package deal, with all matching speakers 4 little ones, 1 center and the matching sub. I couldn't believe the sound that came out of this system. I hid the little speakers and everyone thought that I was still using my old 14" criterian speakers. I can tell the differance but they couldn't. I hooked it up to a Toshiba DVD with optical sound connection and played Matrix, Gladiator, etc... It is unreal. Just like being in the theater. You will impress a lot of people with this system, even your self. I have had it for 1 year now and no problems so far. It was a great bargain for me at that price with speakers they forced me to buy it. As far as Overall rating if you want to pay a lot more you can get better sound. I have friends that have built theater rooms in their houses and are paying thousnds for their systems. To put in your living room or great room this system is a 4.8 out of 5.

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Lafayett Criterian Mark VII with Criterian 2002+ speakers.

Sound, style

Remote, speaker connections

I just hooked this up a few days ago and it's my first home theater system, so I'm a novice. That's the viewpoint I'll take with this review. I also ordered this unit through a Sales Incentive program at work. It was actually the YHT-23 Home Theater in a Box.

First, the manual is easy enough to understand. I had no trouble getting all the proper settings and the book took me step-by-step through the more complicated stuff.

The unit has an adequate number of connections for most (80%) of us that have a TV, DVD, CD, VCR, and Satellite. The speaker connections, however, are not up to par. The binding posts for the left and right mains are adequate, but the Center and Rears are served by spring clips! Why would you build binding posts for some but not all connections. I only have the Center speaker connected to its spring clip but everytime I pulled out my unit to adjust a connection, the wires would loosen and cause a short in the system. Everytime I would turn on the unit, it would shut off at any level of volume as part of its control mechanism. A good feature that I know works, but it's annoying because of its own connections. Anyway, I have it steady now and the problem has gone away. Who knows what will happen when I move it next?

The power is good enough to fill my room of 20' x 20'. I've watched Matrix, Gladiator, and Gone in 60 Seconds so far and each one has impressed me.

I've never had a remote with so much stuff on it, so it's confusing at first, but the basic functions are easy enough to find. Backlighting is a negative but I don't watch in the dark so I can live with it.

I'll give this unit a 4 out of 5 on Overall rating. While the spring clip problem was annoying, at least the unit didn't just short and blow up on me. My cheapo speaker wire could have contributed to this as well. Still, the unit has given me smiles ever since and I've not had one issue with it. The value is a 5 because the cost for this in stores is a great buy for what you get.

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