Pro Logic II, tons of DSP's. Silent cinema is also cool!

Sounds become indistinct at near maximum volume.

I work the audio department @ Best Buy. We use only Yamaha recievers to push our speaker equipment, nothing else compares. One of the new things from Yahama this year is Pro Logic II. It takes sound from ANY 2-channel source and makes it discrete 5.1 surround!

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Yamaha HTR-5490

lots of features, price (285+tax), good looking, auto-detect DTS/DD, stay slightly warm over 5 hrs straight. Overall, good strong sound quality

No front a/v or S-Video. Only one coaxial input but I guess not alot of rec. have more than one. Kinda bright in sound, rumbling unclear bass

I just got interested in audio but not terribly interested that I am willing to spend a fortune on it. So I decided to find a receiver around $300 but with enough features to accomodate my needs - DVD player, Playstation2, VCR. While I was almost convinced that $300 could only get me a Sony, JVC, Pioneer or such, I came across this Yamaha 5540. This one is the rebirth of the 5440 so whatever you found on the 5440 you would find it here, except the front A/V which at time I really really wished I had because of video game consoles. But the 5540 includes an RCA cable for you to connect it on the back and run it to front. It won''t look pretty but it does the job. Anyway, go on to the sound quality/power, I use this re. to drive two JBL ND310(250w) and one BIC 175w speakers. The connection process is a no-brainer. I was able to hook everything up at first try and tried the radio. Yamaha sound, as I have read many times before, is a bit bright and it''s true. I wish it could be made to feel warmer, more confidence in loudness. But that''s not to say it will distort when played loud. In watching movies, I always have to turn the volume up to 2/3 (-96 (mute) to 0), I use between 20-30. I guess this is due to driving many hi-wattage speakers. On the high, the sound is crisp and clear, gun firing sound is particularly appealing. The base is a bit rumbling. It ain''t like the bass sound I find in theatre on the smaller scale. The rec has DD/DTS/6ch input/ PL/PLII, etc. and it''s very good at decoding the surround sound. Yesterday I watched "Behind the Enemy Line" and I love it. You can really see the sound running from side to side as the super hornet dodging the missiles. I tried the scenes 3 times in DTS and DD and still impressed. Anyway, this yamaha rec is already excellent right out of the box, imagine how it can be if you tune it a bit. I recommend it for its class (quality/price/feature-wise) Sorry if this is too long.

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Aiwa 3piece stereo - this beast lasts!

dts, dd, dpl2, 6.1, various dsp modes

at loud volume, sound not as clear as denon 1602

I wrote this review but it''s in the htr 5440 section. My mistake. It is a very good receiver. Read my review located in the 5440 section.

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denon avr 1602