great clear sound.

1. Coaxial digital input can only be used when you select CD as input. 2. So much heat is produced by this receiver. 3. Sound signal is often distorted when I turn on my TV (it never happened to my pioneer or yamaha before) 4. This is a low-end receiver, yet it is much more expensive than mid-end pioneer or kenwood.

My setup: audio source 100 watt project one speaker for fronts. JVC for rear, center, and subwoofer. The sound is clear at low volume, better than pioneer and kenwood. If you turn it up at high volume (around -30 db), the sound is not good. Some DSP mode in this receiver are good, but some are useless & make it sounds bad. It could be the speakers that can't handle the receiver, anyway I am getting two wharfedale emerald 97 for fronts and wharfedale valdus center, and let see whether this receiver can or can't do the job. Kenwood receiver works much better than this yamaha receiver at high volume for the same price $284 (kenwood VR-6050). I recommended this receiver for slow music listener, not for movie watcher. Nothing is perfect for LOW-END product.

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Pioneer, kenwood, JVC

- Great Yamaha sound - Great looks (got mine in Titanium) - Useful DSP modes - Goddamn LOUD. Ignore the 65/75W rating, this baby will make your neighbours (college-roommates in this case) hate you. I mean it. I've been told already.

- The remote is rather poor, would prefer one of those new Yamaha ones with a rotary knob. Not learnable either. - Still set me back £200.. but hey! - Not much I can think of, really.

Decent looking unit, fares well with my DVP CX850D Sony DVD changer and pioneer SV50 speaker set, great sound on music and movies, never thought that DD and DTS would be worth it, but this has made me change my mind. Also use it for games with an Audigy2, Hitman2 and NOLF2 never sounded so good. Lack of S-video inputs doesnt worry my, and digital coax and digital optical input is enough for me.. except that I'd want a digital out as well.. Oh well, cant have everything. The DSP modes I rarely use, just the 5Channel stereo for the CD's (which mixes it all up into 5 channels, obviously), and usually Sci-Fi/Adventure modes, which are actually quite useful. Separation is good, no massive bleeding. Overall a good budget solution for the casual listener. Like me, then.

Price, performance, DSP's

None so far

This is a wonderful unit. I listened to several different receivers such as Onkyo,denon,and even a few harmon kardon but nothing sounded as warm as the Yamaha. It has served me well for 5 months now and has never had a single hint of a problem. At this price you would have to spend several hundred dollars more to get something noticeable better than this. I love it and remember watts don't mean a thing when it comes to a quality receiver. The pioneer I had before was rated at 110 watts per channel and it could not produce half as much volume as the Yamaha.

Thank you all previous reviewers. This is a real stuff. Chrispy and with vary DSP choices much better than a JVC model I paid for more than 10 years before(it just burned out recently). If you have a budget for price around 300 this is a best buy. do not worry about the LIMITED inputs. How many of us really have more than SEVEN aduio/video components?

Clear and versatile.

Lose the remote and many functions not operable; Remotes are only ever lost for a short time however. A little background hiss at extreme volumes but who wants an eviction notice or loss of hearing?

Wow! For the price,unbeatable. Three speakers were thrown in with the purchase. I am driving a set of Wharfedales and they have never sounded better. Low distortion and crisp natural sound makes this comparable with much more expensive units.

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compares to units much higher in price!

Price and Performance.

Remote only controls the receiver. Wish it would control my other A/V systems.

I have read up on Panasonic, Sony, Yamaha, etc. With a family, I didn't want to spend too much. My father who is into HiFi, the expensive stuff, recommend Yamaha for my dollars. This receiver is worth the money! Sound is terrific!

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Many others

Clean, crisp, sound. Very polish. phantom rear center a plus without adding that extra rear channel.

Limited input/output in the back. All you need are the audio input/output. All video are directly to the T.V. (best connections are always directly to the T.V. anyways...if you want switching buy the HTR 5560. You'll pay extra though.

Brand new 2002 model. Clean, Crisp, sound. Just look at all the reviews of Yamaha receivers...most all of them are rated from 4.3 to 5.0. Impressive. This model is all of the above and more. Wanted the HTR 5560 but thought I don't really need all those "bells and whistles". Just wanted a excellent receiver that will give me the decoding plus enough extras to choose from. I don't need a 1,000 settings just enough for me to enjoy the movies...remember speakers make the system.

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Harman/Kardon AVR 20

High quality sound. Plenty of power. LOTS of DSP options. Features for the price.

Not many digital inputs if you happend to need a lot of those.

I should first note that the model number I have is actually the Yamaha RX-V430. It's the exact same thing as the Yamaha HTR-5540. They just sell them under different model numbers to different vendors. I was originally going to get the HTR-5540 at Best Buy (or Sears), but after Best Buy made me wait FOREVER and then seemed more concerned with selling me their extended warranty plan I said forget it and went to Tweeter. Very professional (they actually knew what the product offered and how to work it) and they told me they don't push extended warranties since you hardly ever need them as the manufacturer has 2-year coverage anyway. But on to the receiver . . . I decided it was time to upgrade from the old 100 watt Technics Pro Logic receiver I've had since college. I was originally looking at entry model Dolby Digital/DTS receivers from Panasonic, Pioneer, and Sony. But when I started reading reviews on this one I had to check it out. First of all, forget what you read about wattage ratings. This thing may be rated at "only" 75 watts, but it has more than enough power to fill my 15' by 30' living room. For comparison my old 100W Technics had to run the volume halfway cranked to really start shaking the room. This one can do the same thing at only 25%. Anybody who needs more power than this must live in a stadium. Another thing I noticed was how clean everything seemed to sound. I was skeptical at first after reading reviews that you could actually notice a difference in sound quality. But after listening to this thing with other current models side-by-side in the store as well as at home in compairson to my old receiver there IS a significant difference. It was NOTICEABLY cleaner at the lower and more moderate volume levels that I primarily use. It also seemed a lot smoother at higher levels when you really crank it. I should also note that I don't have a subwoofer yet. I have a nice set of JBL center channel and surrounds with some very nice Infinity tower speakers for my mains. With this system the Infinitys seem to be really flexing their muscles now. Undoubtedly my favorite feature of this receiver over ANY competitor from another brand is all the different DSP modes (offering FAR more than other competitors.) With all the choices Yamaha gives you, you can find the right feel for virtually any movie, TV show, or music.

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100 watt Technics Pro-Logic system

5-channel surround receiver with Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Matrix 6.1, DTS-ES Matrix 6.1, and Dolby Pro Logic II processing 75 watts per channel x 5 channels Offers 5.1-channel analog audio inputs (compatible with multichannel DVD-Audio or SACD players), Auto Priority Input Selection, Auto Decoder Selection, 40-station AM/FM presets Silent Cinema, Virtual Cinema DSP, Quad-Field Cinema DSP, and 21 other surround algorithms 4 composite-video inputs, 2 outputs; 2 digital-audio inputs (1 coaxial, 1 optical); spring-clip speaker terminals

Sound Quality, Features, DSP modes, ease of set-up.

More digital in/out would be nice, but if you don't use them, no point in them (same unit as the 5550 really)

Guys and Gals. I was so close to buying the HTR-5550. I decided to save the extra $100, having no need at the moment for the extra digital inputs, and s-video. I'm truly amazed at the distortion-free sound quality i've gotten out of this unit. I've been using a Sony (about 4 years old now) with my Bose Acoustimass system, and it really hasn't impressed me at all, but this unit is amazing in value, sound quality, features etc. The DSP modes for music are great. Both the Dolby ProLogic II, and the Entertainment-5channel are fantastic for just clean, warm sound. Really awesome for a low end receiver! Watching movies on the thing is even better. I've heard some pretty expensive home theater systems, and this thing is quite comparible (assuming you have decent speakers). Works great with Bose! Further, no powered Sub, and the bass on films blows you away!

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Sony STR-something