awesome sound for power rating

remove takes a little time ti get used to

For the money this is a fantastic receiver, I have this attached to bose speakers, jbl n-center speaker, jvc dvd player, ect ect. this receiver has performed flawlessley for the lst 9 months. I have never heard hissing or noticed any problems. You will be hard pressed to find a similar receiver in the same price range with this low a percentage of "total harmonic distortion". I would purchase this receiver again tomorrow if I had to buy another.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, jvc, sansui, harmon kardon, kenwood, rca, pioneer

Excellent, *clean* sound. Easy to set up. Unbelievable bang for the buck.

Phono amp not strong enough. No digital input for CD player.

After living a sad life driving some excellent 10 year-old AR TSW410 speakers through a thoroughly overmatched Sony receiver, I decided it was time to upgrade. My interest primarily lay in the quality of regular old 2-channel audio; I had no interest whatsoever in home theater. Having a number of friends who've had great experiences with Yamaha receivers over the years, that's where I started my search. Turns out the HTR-5240 was the least expensive model to have a phono input (A major consideration for me, since I have hundreds of old records and a vintage Dual turntable) and I was very impressed with the overall sound quality, features, and the build quality -- and I was blown away by the price.

I bought it and took it home, and was amazed by what came out of my speakers -- it does an exceptional job driving the 4-ohm, 3-way AR's. CDs sound a thousandfold better than they used to, though the limitations of the source are much more apparant than they used to be. Records sound wonderful, but the phono output level is lower than everything else so I have to bump up the volume a little bit. I hooked up two 20 year-old Radio Shack Minimus metal bookshelf speakers for rear channel output (Don't laugh! They're excellent compact bookshelf speakers that do a great job for rear channel) and I now have a very formidible home theatre system that's almost too much for the 12x12 room it resides in -- I don't even have room to accomodate a center channel speaker, but the center channel simulation across the two main speakers does a good job.

I don't mind the remote. I like that it's thin and comparatively compact, yet has most every control you'd need. It controls all my other components with ease.

I recommend the HTR-5240 without hesitation. If you need a little more power (and the 70 watts per channel rating of this receiver is very conservative) or, more likely, more digital inputs, consider the higher-end model.

System:
Yamaha HTR-5240 receiver
Sony KV-27V42 TV
Sony DVP-S560 DVD player
Sony CDP-CE535 CD player
AR TSW410 speakers (front)
Minimus-7 metal bookshelf speakers (rear)
Dual 721 turntable

Similar Products Used:

> 10 year old Sony AV Receiver

Great Sound

None

I love this receiver and would recommend it to anyone on a budget wanting high quality performance.

Set-up to a pair of Phase Technology floor standing front speakers, Yamaha center and surrounds, 12 inch Infinity powered subwoofer and a new Panasonic RP31S DVD player (previously used a Kenwood) I never encountered "hiss" on 5.1 or DTS as reported by others - when sound is low, or there is a pause in audio, the room is completely quiet. The sound itself is clean, powerful and room-filling in both home theater and music modes.

When purchased it was Yamaha's entry level 5.1/DTS receiver and priced at other websites for under $275. However, it compares nicely to other brand name receivers I have heard selling much higher.

Similar Products Used:

Dennon ac-3 ready w/yamaha 5.1 decoder

Very nice receiver; Clean and powerful! Flexible.

No volume level indicator other than HI/LO; but easily forgiven. Remote is a little tricky until you get used to it.

When I was in the market to buy a new receiver after my Sony Pro-L blew up, I did a lot of research; I reviewed this site and others. Most importantly, I went and listened to them all. I was considering a Sony DD/DTS receiver (I had always been a "Sony Man"). However, after side-by-side comparisons with Sony, HK, Onkyo, Pioneer, etc, I was blown away at how superior the Yamaha was for both music and HT! It was cleaner and had a fuller sound. More "punch" per watt for sure. I am sold on Yamaha receivers. Until someone can show me something better at this price, I'm now a "Yama Man" (receivers) all the way. Helpful hint: Yamaha markets their receivers through two distribution outlets - "high-end" specialty stores and dept (Best Buy, Sears) stores. Each distribution has the exact same physical models, however they label them with slightly different model numbers (this model, HTR-5240 is the dept store number, I can't remember what the specialty store number is). THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME PRODUCT INSIDE REGARDLESS OF WHICH DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL YOU GO THROUGH! I called Yamaha and confirmed this. You can also verify by the spec sheets from the specialty stores and Yamaha website. You will pay a higher price at the specialty store for the same piece of equipment that you can get at the dept store. By the way, Sears does match internet pricing. Just print the webpage and take it in. That's how I got this at the incredible price of $289! Even the salesperson couldn't believe how good a deal it was. Don't let them tell you that they don't match the internet...it's listed in their computer (register) as "e-commerce" price matching.

Similar Products Used:

Sony pro-logic

I can't add anything to the other reviews here, I am very pleased with mine. It was well worth the money, and has plenty of power (I can't go much past 10 o'clock on the volume dial).

What I want to know, is: Am I the only one that actually read the instruction manual????

The Center and Rear connectors WILL except bananna plugs!!
(leave the lever in the open position). That's how I have mine hooked up. Works great.

RTFM

DTS decoding & Cinema DSP technology

User interface & 70W power output

A bit pricey for what you actually receive, the 5240 falls just a bit short from the finish line. The 70 watts per channel tends to grow weak as the home theater expands, and left me wishing for a true power rating of over 100 watts per channel. The simple display and Cinema DSP modes are a big plus, but the incredibly worthless remote is a joke. How Yamaha created such a product is beyond this user! It's almost as if they took some monkeys and let them engineer the remote, because it makes little sense to the average human consumer in our home! The fact remains though, that you buy an A/V unit for the sound reproduction ability. In that arena, the 5240 delivers the goods. Originally, the Cinema DSP modes were not used, as a purist perspective was observed. Eventually, on the DVD "Last Man Standing", the Cinema DSP modes were attempted and they are now the standard for DVDs in our home. I have heard excellent reviews of the Sony enhancements as well, so it seems that there are other players on the block other than Yamaha. The bottom line is that this unit is worth installing in most novice home theaters, though it is not really worth more than $400.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer A/V unit, Phillips A/V unit

Value, clean sound, clean design

Only 2 digital inputs might be limiting for future devices

This receiver was an upgrade from my Pro-Logic receiver. I purchased it in tandem with a new DVD player (Onkyo 601). With the wife factor, I didn't have a lot of money to spend, so I did a fair amount of shopping around and comparing different models. I eliminated Sony because I don't really care for their confusing front panels. I was close to getting another Kenwood (they have a $299 model with a lot of good features), but my brother just bought one and I didn't really like the build quality. Plus, no DSP on it. I narrowed it down to the Yamaha 2540, 5250, a Denon model and an Onkyo model. Out of all three manufacturers, the Yamaha seemed (to me) to have the best sound and value. Plus, I'm a big fan of clean, uncluttered A/V equipment design, and Yamaha looks great to me.

PRICING: In reponse to many suggestions on these boards, I found an online price of $299 and tried to get my two local Sears stores to match it. They both said that they wouldn't match online prices. I ended up at Best Buy, which currently (end of January 2001) has a promotion going where you get a free set of $100+ Yamaha speakers with the purchase of a 5240 or above. Their shelf price was $399, but I showed them a printout from Best Buy.com where it was selling for $349, and they matched that (how could they not? It was their own Web site!). My brother was in the market for a set of main speakers for his new Kenwood, so I sold the free set to him for $50 and got my $299 price anyway :-)

SOUND: The sound is clean and has plenty of punch even in my mid-sized living room. DVDs sound great, of course (Gladiator, Private Ryan), but CDs sound good as well. As others have noted, the Disco DSP reproduces multi-speaker stereo quite well. To me, it sounds as good as the 5-channel stereo modes I listened to on other receivers. The 70 watt rating is really deceiving, as it has as much punch as 100 watt receivers from Kenwood and Sony (which friends and family own).

REMOTE: Yeah, it's a little annoying. I do like the amount of other manufacturers that Yamaha supports with codes. I was able to get my Onkyo and Mitsubishi equipment working with it just fine. I would actually prefer more buttons rather than less, as more things could be controlled. Not all function of my DVD changer, for example, are controllable.

FYI, the system I'm running is not high-budget but does a pretty good job:

Yamaha 5240 receiver
Onkyo 601 6-disc CD changer (Crutchfield, $309)
NHT SuperZero mains
NHT SuperCenter center
Advent powered sub
A/D/S l300c surrounds (great speakers, but out being refoamed right now...)

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood Receiver

Dolby digital & DTS at a great price
Clean, crisp sound

no volume light

This is a great unit that I picked up after Christmas as an open box buy. Retail is $399, it was on sale for $349, they took off 20% and I got it for $279! What a deal. Sound is very clean. No hiss except in my cheapo surround speakers(they will be replaced soon).

To the guy asking about DTS external decoder- this unit has a decoder built in. I have the same Pioneer DV-C503 unit fed into my HTR-5240 and have great sounding 5.1 channel audio. Check the DVD's Setup menu - you have to tell it to output DTS digitally in that menu or it won't work. Use a RCA cable or Toslink - they both sound great. The Toslink you really got to push in all the way or it will fall out.

If you're looking to buy a low cost Home Theater system, I recommend this unit very highly.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-C503

GOOD CLEAN POWER

Remote, speaker spring loaded connections

Just a great value for the price. Bought it with ARHC2 speaker system to power Home theater system. Clean clear power, plenty of options for low cash audio fans. Speaker connections need to be upgraded. I'm 51 years old, and a lot of the new technology seems to befuddle me. Sorry, but the Remote is a nitemare. My 19 year old just laughs and has her will with it, so as long as I can keep her from going back to school, I'll be okay! I'm kind of a nut about low cost high value Audio stuff, and this machine is far superior to anything in it's price range. Honestly liked the sound better than the more expensive Onkyo. Bought this to primarily watch movies, but am using it more and more to listen to CDs. Great for small combo Jazz recordings! Above average tuner as well. Just a great overall value.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo575; JVC

Clarity (THD), heavy, solid construction, spacial effects, price

Display could be better and as mentioned before, the volume should have some type of indicator. Other than that, no other weaknesses.

This is an all-around excellent HT receiver! I purchased it as part of the YHT-23 package (which also includes 5 speakers and the YST-SW45 active subwoofer). I am very picky when it comes to choosing audio equipment. I looked through many models from Sony, Harmon, Kenwood, Philips, etc, in the $300-600 price range. Although I liked the display from Philips the best, the Yamaha, by far, kills everyone of the brands in terms of sound. The 0.09% (or 0.06) THD, to me, is definitely noticeable compared to Sony's 0.9%. If you need an inexpensive receiver with high-quality sound and effects, this one is for you! BTW, be careful with Sears, they do Internet price-matching, but they also match SHIPPING and TAX. Best Buy did not add the shipping cost in. Just shop around (ElectroLine is a good one as is Smile Photo-Video).