clean Yamaha sound, ease of setup and use

remote takes some time to use comfortably

I purchased mine at Sears since they matched the best price I found on the internet. I compared the Yamaha to the Denon 2801, Onkyo 676, and Harman Kardon AVR310. They all performed well for home theater and music, but the Yamaha sounded better to me. I've had the Yamaha RX770 sereo receiver for years and always liked the way it handled music. The fact that I could get this receiver at the low price at Sears (and get the warranty) made the decision that much easier. Others have listed the specs and inputs/outputs for the 5280 so I won't go into that.

I have some old Boston Acoustics A40 bookshelf speakers and just recently bought some Definitive BP8b's. Each have their own unique sound, and both sound very very good with the 5280. Neither speaker sounds harsh or bright, and the low end on the BP8 is well defined. The Yamaha easily handles the BP8's lower 4 ohm impedance.

For movies I borrowed a center channel and tried Matrix, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan. All of these sounded great, but I expect once I get a matched set of home theater speakers it will get even better. The Yamaha was set to direct LFE and small channel bass to the BP8's. The 5280 didn't seem to have any problems powering the BP8's and still delivering very impressive dynamics, even at high levels. The extra soundfields subtly changed both music and movies and did not sound overdone (except for Church mode).

The remote does take some getting used to, but it controls everything in my setup easily.

Considering what you get with this Yamaha it's a great deal, especially if you get it at a discounted price.

Similar Products Used:

auditioned Denon, Onkyo, Harman Kardon

TONS of connection options (s-video on all sources, component video in/out, digital in/out galore, 5 channel preout, etc.), binding posts on all speaker terminals, very clean power output, solid build quality.

Only one, really -- the remote. Even though it's a learning remote, I just can't get used to the awkward button layout and its overall feel.

Hey North, if you were such an audiophile (which I sort of question now), you would also know that the DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX formats are NOT true 6.1 channel formats, nor do they even claim to be. A true THX-certified receiver has preouts for all 6 channels, and the center rear is of course, discrete, NOT phantom like the Yamaha's.

And guess what? THX-certified receivers cost hundreds of dollars more than the HTR-5280 does. The problem with most of you self-proclaimed "audiophiles" is that you have some sort of sickness that makes you hurl if a consumer-level piece of home theatre equipment doesn't sound the same as equipment costing thousands of dollars. DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX was created for a reason. It is a cost-effective way to provide consumers with 6.1-like surround without having to shell out for an overpriced THX setup.
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Anyway, back to the review. Overall, the 5280 is a very good receiver. It's got a wealth of connection options and plenty of power. It's pretty hard to beat at this price range (especially when you only paid $502 for it, *grin*). It made a nice addition to my setup. In fact, the only thing that I think can really make this receiver a lot better is if it had a better remote. I was never really a fan of Yamaha's long, skinny remotes; I often find myself getting up to change settings on the receiver itself.

Similar Products Used:

Most of Yamaha HTR series, Sony STR and ES series, etc.

Power, Cleanness of sound, Features, Number of Inputs, interface, ease of use, etc...I could go on and on.

Learning remote won't learn certain functions on certain buttons of the remote, you have to choose a different button for the function. Not preferable, but does the job.

I just obtained this unit shortly after Christmas and it is by far the best gift I got over the season (even though it was from myself). My previous receiver had been a Dolby Pro Logic and I wanted to upgrade to Dolby Digital/DTS. I took a lot of time reading reviews of Sony and Yamaha receivers and the decision was made easy after completing that. The feel of the Yamaha, when pulling it out of the box, was one of solidity. It was weird, it just felt better than the Pioneer I had previously used.

This unit has more inputs than anyone I know could possibly use. Personally, I am using less than half the inputs available, so future expansion will be easy. The DSPs available on this unit are also very nice. The 5 channel stereo when used listening to music is very nice. I highly recommend it for when using the CD player and listing to the tuner. The various modes for watching films is also nice. I personally use the 70mm General for film watching, but did use 70mm Sci-Fi for T2: Ultimate Edition and I was very impressed. I have not had the chance to go through all the 32 DSPs, but the ones I've used so far have been really nice.

The On Screen feature for the remote is another major bonus that I like. Another feature, being able to adjust the volume by .5 decibel, is excellent in being able to adjust the sound for different times of day viewing( ie. lower volumes at night, but still able to hear).

If I had to give one complaint about this receiver, it would be one regarding the remote control. When using the DVD option on the remote, some of the functions on it didn't work. So when this happened, I tried to make the remote "learn" the functions I wanted to use in their correct placement on the remote. The remote would accept the functions on those keys. So I ended up putting the functions on different keys and it did work. This is not a major complaint, but does make it difficult for someone other than myself to use the remote for components other than the receiver.

Overall, I believe that this receiver is by far the best available in this price range and considering the different options available. I maily took a look at the lower end ES line of Sony receivers and I wasn't as impresses as with this unit. I believe I will be happy with this unit for years to come.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer (don't have model number)

Incredible Natural Sound. DTS ES, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. No need for DSP except for the 5 channel stereo.

Could have had a 6th channel input but not that important.

Mr. North doesnt know what hes saying. This is an absolutely incredible receiver. I first came upon Yamaha when I saw fight club (DVD) on my friends audio system through a lower end yamaha. I was amazed at the natural sound it produced and how it didnt need tons of sound fields to sound good. That was the problem with my Sony STR 535. I had to tweak the sound fields incredibly to never get that "sound" I was looking for.

I then decided I wanted a Yamaha and this just happened to come out at the time. I sold a couple shares of stock (thank god ;) ) and had my friend who works at Best Buy get me this on discount.

It was the difference between night and day when I hooked this badboy up. The longest part of hooking this up was the multitude of components I have (lots of gaming gear). Tweaking sound fields didnt hardly enter the picture. Just some basic setup like telling it I had a subwoofer and such and I was ready to give my ears a feast.

For testing I popped in my newly purchased Gladiator DVD which has DTS ES. I was so surprised how much better this guy produced my sound. It makes you wonder why people waste their time at the theater when you have a receiver like this.

I didnt care too much about the DSP fields but I am happy to say that there is a multitude of options to choose from for people who have different tastes. I personally liked the 5 channel stereo which breathed new life in to my cable broadcasts, VHS tapes, and game systems. The 5 channel echoed the sounds nicely in my center and rears and gave me quite a nice surround effect.

The other feature that will attract people to this is the sheer number of inputs. I used one switch box for my older game systems but other than that everything is connected right to the receiver with real estate left over for future components.

The only reason this isnt THX certified is because it doesnt have the 6th channel input. I could really care less cause right where Id put a rear center is my door to my room. The second reason is the EX and ES of DTS and DD take pro logic ideas and echo some of the rear channel sounds. The last reason why it doesnt bother me is a company that goes around touting great sound and video but hasnt released a single DVD doesnt impress me. (yes thats you Mr. Lucas!)

Main Equipment used:
(All connected using high quality monster cable)

1. Yamaha HTR-5280
2. JVC AV-32020 Audio Review Here.
3. Sony SLV N50 HiFi 4-Head VCR Audio Review Here.
4. Playstation (for additional 5channel stereo testing).
5. Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder Card (computer based progressive scanning DVD Decoder. BTW Nothing under a grand for DVD Players beats this!) Audio Review Here.
6. Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM Drive.
7. Sony Playstation 2.
8. Infinity IL40 Front Speakers Audio Review Here.
9. Infinity IL36c Center Speaker Audio Review Here.
10. Infinity IL10 Rear Speakers Audio Review Here.

Well thats the main stuff. If you want any details of have any questions on the receiver or any of the equipment I used feel free to email me.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Str 535 and Sony Str 545 (think those were the model #s)

features

everything else

DTS-ES yeah right.I wanna know how they can get away with this crap.This reciever in no way has 6.1 sound and if you think otherwise youre completely stupid.Where is the preout where is the speaker output for the 6th channel oh yeah its phantom,it doesnt exsist.Hey I have a 15.1 surround its justall the other channels are phantom.Give me a break!Anyone thinking they are gonna get 6.1 anything look elsewhere I know I wish I had.

Pay no attention to John North. He is a bitter old man who has some issues which he chooses to resolve by trashing Yamaha products. If you don't believe me, see the Yamaha RX-V800 review section. Not to worry though as the webmaster will remove all his insubordinate posts by January 10th (including this one). This is an excellent product, if you want to see more reviews on it, visit the RX-V800 board, this is mechanically the same receiver as the 800, only cosmetically different.

Pay no attention to John North. He is a bitter old man who has some issues which he chooses to resolve by trashing Yamaha products. If you don't believe me, see the Yamaha RX-V800 review section. Not to worry though as the webmaster will remove all his insubordinate posts by January 10th (including this one). This is an excellent product, if you want to see more reviews on it, visit the RX-V800 board, this is mechanically the same receiver as the 800, only cosmetically different.

Good clean sound, lots of I/Os

The remote sucks.

I don't agree with the review that said the two channel stereo sound is bad. I don't mean any disrespect, but perhaps it's the speakers that are creating the sound you don't like. Yamahas usually get criticized for being too bright, not for being muddy. Personally I don't think either is true, at least not for me.

Realizing this was a mid-level receiver, I was lucky enough to find some fantastic value-priced speakers, and probably because of this I have NO complaints about the sound in 2 channel stereo, DD/DTS, home theater and 5 ch stereo. I'm not so crazy about the other DSPs as I feel they echo too much and thus get on my nerves easily. But it's a personal choice, obviously.

Basically, the receiver does everything it's supposed to and does it reliably well. The only real complaint I have is that the remote is not a true "learning" remote because it could not learn ANY of the functions from my Pioneer DV-C503 DVD/CD player. This is a pretty popular player, so I was pissed to no end when I realized the remote wouldn't operate the player. Plus, the learning remote is one of the reasons I bought the thing. So beware - don't buy this for the remote. Plan on buying a separate universal remote if you get this receiver, because it's way too complicated to program another component's remote (like the TV or DVD player) and trying to use 2 or 3 different remotes is a pain in the you know what. Actually, I thought about suing Pioneer for misrepresentation that their remote is "learning," (I'm a lawyer) but it would probably cost me less money just to go out and buy a REAL universal remote.

More digital and s-video inputs than you'll know what to do with. Home theater sound is great. Great looks!

Pure stereo sound without any sound field modes is terrible. And this is not a real 6.1 receiver.

This receiver has everything going for it but the one big, big, big problem is the terrible muffled sound that this thing produces in the 2 channel stereo mode. The sound fields are ok but it gets really annoying to listen to everything with that phony digital echo.

Home theater sound is excellent and the on screen guide is very good. This receiver has outputs for only 5 speakers plus the sub out and it CREATES a magical invisible center rear speaker. (that's the 6.1 matrix) It sounds just like a 5.1 receiver, don't be fooled.

Had to return it because the stereo sound is so, so, so bad!!! Etronics has it on sale for $589 and Sears will match internet prices plus the shipping cost, not a bad deal.

Went with the Onyko 787 and this thing is literally twice the receiver. It has 6 speaker outputs plus the sub out and it has a seperate amp and outputs for a second room, way cool! It even has pre-outs for 7.1 sound, all you have to do is hook up a seperate amp, this is only found in receivers costing thousands of dollars. I have looked at every receiver in this price range and the Onyko is by far the best...

Good luck.

Similar Products Used:

Sony str-1011, Onyko 787

All the inputs I need, including some for the future. Solid construction. Powerful bass when needed.

Level settings must be made fast. Awful remote. Possible center channel glitch?

This is more of a question for you admirers and users of this excelent receiver. This because I tried technical and the answers were not satisfying.

I noticed, that compare with my Sony, the Pro-Logic processing of the Yamaha is less spacious...less audio is sent to the mains and a lot to the center. Digital processing is out of this world, and I'm not planning to buy anymore VHS movies; but a lot of good audio quality TV programs are coming from companies like FOX and Sci-Fi. Programs like the X-Files and mini-series like DUNE are broadcasted with great surround sound. But for most of us, processing is Pro-Logic. If any of you have done a cool combination of settings for obtaining the most of this kind of programs, please offer suggestions.

For me, 2 things are awesome in this unit. First, quantity and type of inputs, all audio can be optical, all video is S-Video and 2 are component. The other is low frequency effects. WOW, Man! I don't use a subwoofer because my mains are Adevent Legacy III with 10" woofers and work wonderfully with the low effects sent through them. Also, if the recording or program has low level bass, a push of the bass boost and/or a turn of the bass control brings anything up to a vibrating situation, cool.

OK, the situation. As a lot of you suggest, I bought the Radio Shack digital SPL and helped a lot in setting the speaker levels. But, the center channel output came out 2-3 decibels higher than the mains, and this with the level at it's minimum (-10). Anybody that has noticed this?

I switched the impedance of the mains from 8 ohms to 6 ohms, which I've been told is OK, and they steped up 2-3 decibels for a match. Still, center was at minimum. Seems like a design glitch, isn't it?

Testing movies, when dialog came, for some this level was OK; for others I had to take it up. For example, for Star Trek:First Contact the level was -7.0 and for The Matrix was -5.0. This seems fine, but got to admit that going with the SPL, was a weird behaviour.

Any comments?

Similar Products Used:

My only surround experience was a pre-digital Sony Pro-Logic receiver.