Great sound and power. Multipe settings and adjustments. You can adjust to your listening position.

Remote Performs duty but not practical.. You need a self-powered sub.. Orange color display is not clear from couch distance and it throws off my entire Blue "S**Y" theme. No 5.1 stereo mode. No volume knob light or db display.

These reviews were the reason I purchased this reseiver. I have always been a S**Y fan for home entertainment until I whent out and did some research. I started by reading reviews such as these and whent all the way to actual testing. I'm amazed at what great quality in both build and performance this Yamaha has. With 100wts per ch there are endles possibilities as to what speakers to use and tweaking settings to accomodate for room size.

I will not even go into the remote due to endless complaints about it in the other reviews. (I bought a universal remote; problem solved)

Out performs many similar and higher priced competitors. I rarely if ever use the sound files but to me they are worthless. Not to say they are bad or anything like that but since I don't use them I could not care to compare to the ones in other receivers.

It performs flawlessly for my spesific uses which are DVD, cd and radio.Over all this is an outstanding receiver. For the price you can't beat it. If I really cared about the weaknesses I would have bought another receiver. I will keep this one for a long time or until I win the lottery in which case I will stick to Yamaha and get the "big boss".

Amazing sounding DTS and DD5.1. Good overall sound and power, relatively easy to set up.

No volume knob light. No component video connectors. DSPs not very good.

For the money, this is a good value receiver. The DTS sounds amazing, I couldn't be happier with it. The other normal sound modes are good, as well. It runs warm, no overheating problems at all as I had with my Sony.

However, frankly I don't see how anyone could actually commend this receivers DSP modes. The "Enhanced" Pro-Logic is easily the worst of them. It *tries* to do so much and make it sound so realistic, it often completely distorts the sound. If the track calls for just a bit of echo, say even in a small room like the bridge of the Enterprise, the receiver makes it sound like they're in a symphony hall. Way overdone.

The rest of the DSP modes, of which there aren't really that many, are not a lot better, but are nicer than nothing. My old Sony had more, and they sounded much better.

Although I had read reviews about the lack of a volume indicator light on the knob, I didn't think it would be quite as annoying as it turns out to be. The remote I like, though it takes a bit of getting used to.

If you're looking for a cheap DTS receiver with good power, I recommend this one to you. But if you want nice DSP, I'd go elsewhere.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE825

Excellent overall. Clean natural sound and design.

Remote... really sucks.

The power of this unit is extra-ordinary. The various different field effects are easily distinguishable. The bass is EXCELLENT... and the higher notes can be easily enhanced by the TREBLE control. Overall, quite satisfied with this receiver compared to the extreme low price I paid. You can't go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, JVC

Power to spare, does not get so hot that it can't be touched even after being pushed, customer service via email, very clean and crisp sound.

Initially the remote but I got used to it, the display is a litle too dim (but don't let this make or break your decision to buy), digital inputs are pre-determined (you can't select what goes where), dial has no LED and the display does not use numbers to represent volume level. These are all minor deficiencies that you just get used to.

Hello all,
Before I get into my opinion on this unit, I want to thank ALL the reviewers below from mid-September and prior. Without your submissions it would have made the task of purchasing my audio equipment even harder than it already was. It took me almost 2 weeks of countless hours of reading and scrolling and reading some more. Thank you.
Now to my review of the Yamaha HTR-5250.....

This unit kicks some serious ass and you should buy it.
Thank you.

No, no, no I just wanted to break the ice. In addition to the comments in the Strengths and Weaknesses section, I would like to say that this unit has so much power to spare it's almost frightening. The volume dial starts out at 7 o'clock position and 12 o'clock high is as far as I can go; it's just so loud and yet so clear it's too scary. Having the Pinnacle Gold Tower speakers connected to the nervous system of this unit shakes my whole damn house, not to mention, my chest cavity when I get too close at higher volumes. No sub-woofer needed with these speakers and this receiver.

Another thing, I connected my PC's audio to this bad boy and let me tell you this, you'll wonder why you've been listening to MP3s any other way.

One solution to the unlit volume dial is to paste or paint some glow-in-the-dark stuff from a craft store on it.
It works well.

I do not use the video portion of it so I have no opinion of them. I am not a fan of routing any video through another box to get to the display. I run everything directly to the display like it should be.

Here's my Multimedia A/V system as it stand now:
- Yamaha HTR-5250 receiver (reviewed above)
- Yamaha CDC-575 CD player (see it for review)
- Yamaha EQ-70 equalizer (reviewed???)
- Toshiba SD-6200 Progressive DVD player (see it for review)

- Pinnacle Gold Tower front speakers (see it for review)
- BIC Venturi bookshelf front speakers (reviewed??)
That's right, this receiver has 2 sets of binding posts for 2 sets of front speakers. Cool, huh? Just make sure to slide over the impedence switch to 4 ohms when connecting and using all four front speakers at once.

- Pinnacle AC-Widescreen center (see it for review)
- Advent 575 rear speakers (if reviewed I will write one)

- RCA MM52100 52" Digital Hi-Res rear projection display.
PC monitors should all be this BIG!!! (I'll write a review on this too even if I have to start the section for it.)

Well, that's it. I think I went on long enough. I hope I was helpful to at least one person out there driving themselves nuts like I did a few months back with all this stuff. Thank you AudioReview.com for the forum and many thanks to all who have written reviews in the past.

They sure did help me make some solid decisions.

Similar Products Used:

-n/a-

Yamaha

havent used it yet

Just wanted to let everyone know the sears price match works. Used a print out from Electronics e mall for $369. I expected some resistance but got none. Looking forward to hooking things up.

Good features for the price.
Plenty of power for the average user.
Remote works as universal remote.
S-video connections for every input.
Digital connections for some video components.
Flexible back panel can take wire, bannana connectors, or RCA jacks.
Solid construction.

Remote is too small and often confusing.
Documentation is unfriendly.
May still not have enough connections for people with video games, computers, etc.
Default FM antenna is extremely wimpy.

As a casual listener, not an audiophile, I wanted a receiver that would serve capably as a centerpiece for any inputs/ouputs I would ever want to add to my A/V setup, but didn't want to spend more than I did on my house. Since my TV and DSS systems support S-video connections, this was an important point for me as I wanted to get the best picture I could. With a DVD purchase on the horizon, I also wanted to make sure the receiver could handle numerous components and potentially digital connections, as well as support both Dolby Digital and DTS sound.

I looked at some of the Sony and JVC units, but it seemed that few of them had enough S-video connections for all the inputs (in the < $500 price range I was looking), and other reviews on this site indicated that the ones that did had other negative tradeoffs such as heat problems, poor audio due to crossover, or the lack of DTS. Friends told me the Yamahas were better about using discreet signals so I also considered this when purchasing.

The unit I purchased was bundled with Sound Dynamics speakers at Onecall.com (bundle is US$850, receiver alone is US$391). The folks there were fairly helpful and all items shipped quickly and were well-packed. Installation was easy thanks to the 5250's very accomodating back panel which is well-labeled and easy to decipher. Too bad the same things can't be said of the remote, which my wife wants no part of and called "too complicated".

My ear is obviously not as trained as an audiophile's but I'm impressed with the clarity of the non-enhanced sound. The 5250 can drive a lot of power through the 100watts/channel, but I don't hear any hiss or buzz. My primary uses at this time are for stereo music, satellite TV, and regular TV. I've got to finish setting up the surround speakers to finish evaluating the DSP modes, but in just tinkering with them, some seem to produce a lot of echo. This may be normal, and the effect may be more subdued with all the speakers and the center channel kicking in, but it bothered me a little and I will need to explore this more.

In other respects, however, the 5250 appears to be the answer wanted. The price I paid was about US$100 more than I'd have paid for the common shelf units of Sony, HK, or JVC found at the local stores, but the Yamaha is clearly of higher construction quality and has superior strength in the areas I need it most: connection and growth capability.

Similar Products Used:

None

none that I have found

remote, lack of clean natural sound in all soundfields.

I have owned the above mentioned amp and reciever since 1983
and have greatly enjoyed listening to them, so as I started
to proceed into the Home Theater realm I was a Yamaha man.I
had auditioned the RXV 995 and the Dennon 3300. The only difference between the 2 recievers was the type of speakers
that they played through. I heard each reciever at different
stores. I have Boston Acoustics A100, Micro 100x,and a VR
910 currently at home. The Dennon was played through similar
Boston Acoustics speakers and sounded great. But being a Yamaha man I thought that the Yamaha 995 that I heard at the
other store sounded somewhat worse because of the different
speakers that it was played through. So I figured that the
Yamaha would perform great attached to Boston Acoustic speakers,first mistake! So I continued to research for a
new A/V amp, and in my searching through the Yamaha section
at this site I had though of purchasing a RXV 2095, 995, or
the HTR 5250. In further reading the reviews of the 5250 I
decided to purchase the 5250, as almost all review of this
A/V reciever sugjested, awsome clean powerfull sound at reasonable price,(second mistake).
I have found though listening to this receiver though my speakers that it is not a very natural sounding receiver. It
reproduced stereo far worse than my origanal A-700. The sound is muddled, base heavy, and far from clean, clear, and
powerfull. There is a .09 distortion level in the specs under the RMS power rating, and this is noticable. My A-700
amp is .04 in RMS power. In the effects part of the 5250
all the music sounds very unrealistic. You can have your "try field prosesing". In 5.1 channel sound it again does not sound good. Nothing flows very well, even after adjusting speaker levels. I am very disatisfied with this
receiver and it is going back to Sears. I am planing to
audition the Dennon 3300 at my home before purchasing.
I do not know the quality of products that the previous reviewers have to compare against, but before you purchase any stereo equiptment see if you can try it out in your home
before buying it. You will be much happier.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha A-700 amp and Yamaha T-500 tuner

Great sounding receiver that easily rivals those that cost hundreds more, easy to hook up, DSP modes are a nice addition, multiple s-video and composite switching for running all your sources, and it runs cool

None that I've found

I did extensive amounts of research when looking to upgrade my Pro Logic receiver to a Dolby Digital/DTS model. Kudos to Audio Review and all the great guys on here who helped me out, and now it's my turn to provide my two cents.

To start this receiver has all the hook ups you'll ever need. Three optical and coaxial digital audio connections never hurt either. There is s-video switching and composite switching too which is really nice for me, b/c my television only has one s-video jack.

The receiver pumps out a true 100 watts due to the discrete power amplifiers that Yamaha uses, not the IC chips as found in some of the lower priced models. The power is really felt b/c of these through all five of my speakers too.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of DSP, but after playing around with the various DSP modes I found it to be a welcome addition to the plethora of other options this receiver has. For instance, when watching T2 Special Edition in DTS with the DTS Adventure DSP enabled the sound really encompasses the whole room, and it makes my little room sound like a huge theater, really neat stuff! I wish there were more than three DSP modes for radio/CD listening though.

The remote is slim and uncumbersome. I know others have complained that it's a bit confusing but I got the hang of it in five minutes and was rolling with it ever since. The rotary dial is a nice feature too, once you get used to it.

The sound quality is crisp and clear. Music and sound effects flow naturally from one speaker to another and voices and instrumental clarity exist that I never heard through my old receiver.

One remark, bass output is not as deep as was my old Pioneer Pro Logic receiver, but still rumbles if you adjust the bass knob. My bass and treble settings are 0 and 0 respectively.

This receiver is a fantastic deal for the money. I had the chance to listen to Denon, Onkyo and Pioneer and the Yamaha blew them out of the water. If you are in the market for a quality receiver that performs well for the price I would look heavily at this receiver.

My listening setup:
T.V.: Panasonic 27" CT27SF-23
VCR: Panasonic HiFi PV-6881
DVD: Pioneer DV-525
CD: Pioneer [5-disc magazine changer (old and free!)]
Speakers: JBL! all around.
*Center: N-center
*Mains: N-38's
*Surrounds: N-26's

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-456, Pioneer VSX-506s, Denon 1801, Onkyo TSX-575x

Warm sound (at least compared to my Sony), Pre-Amp outputs, 96khz-24 bit decoding (for when I actually need it), runs cool.

Remote is difficult to use, only one Subwoofer output.

I have only had this unit for a very brief time, but am very pleased so far. Both the Dolby Digital and DTS decoding are crystal clear and thunderous. Pro Logic decoding is also quite nice with a noticeable range improvement over the Sony unit this replaced. This is my first personal experience with Yamaha equipment and I have to say that, so far, I am quite impressed.

After jumping into a DD/DTS receiver with the Sony without really doing any research, I found out how quality equipment can sound. This time, I did some research and auditioned a few receivers within this price range (Sony, Denon and Pioneer). I have to say that I was most impressed with the sound from the Yamaha.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE835

Amazing power and versatility for the price, SVHS inputs on ALL video sources, high-quality construction.

Same ackward remote as the previous model (HTR-5150), LCD screen difficult to read at long distances (a blue LCD instead of orange could have fixed this).

Considering the HTR-5150 cost about the same last year, all I have to say is WOW at how improved the 5250 is. It powers my JBL Northridge NSP-1 setup + sub (4 N-24 satellites, N-Center, and Yamaha SW90 sub) with brilliant sound. Not bad at all for $320 (a little lovin' from Best Buy employee discount). I haven't got to try DTS yet (no DTS movies), but the Dolby Digital decoding is very clean and defined across all channels. The SVHS inputs on ALL video passthroughs comes in very handy, especially if you have a DVD player, satellite receiver, SVHS VCR, and camcorder all on the same setup.

The remote packaged with this unit is the same one that was included with the old 5150, except that it's black instead of silver. The rotary dial for device selection is very ackward to say the least. But if you comb through the manual, the remote isn't terribly bad.

Overall, a great value, even if you have to pay full retail. This model even rivals their R-V1105, which only adds 5.1 channel outputs, a few more sound modes, and far less SVHS inputs. That's what $200 more gives you. Big deal.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha HTR-5150, Yamaha R-V1105