Outstanding two channel sound.

Wish it had a little more lighting to the front and a tuner signal meter like the old 70s units...

I finally found a two channel unit that can rival my old Marantz 2275 receiver. This unit is great. I use to think, "they Don''t make them like they use to". As far as sound, Yamaha did it with this unit. Power, Warm sound, highs, nice deep bass is the only way to describe it. If your a ture audioPhile and you don''t have thousands to spend, this is it.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 2270, 2275, Pioneer SX1250, Onkyo 777, and a bunch of other units (I lost track).

Sound ! Powerful ! Very Low Distortion !

NONE ! (remote is not that serious of a problem)

Tim gave a very good review. QUOTE:"If you want to listen to FM stations in stereo, you have to ensure that the signal strength of your station is quite high. In ''auto'' tuning mode, if the receiver can''t tune the station in stereo, it cuts out all sound." That is true.I had my old roof TV antenna hooked up,but accidently cut the cable when I did some remodeling,so I used the antenna that came with the receiver.I found the right spot for it, so i have had no stations cut out on me. I''m getting a very strong signal.The receiver picks up stations very well to beging with,so its not a problem.The tuner is pretty sensitive. The remote is very basic,but not many products come with fulll learning remotes now anyway.I have a learning remote so thats taken care of. The "pure direct"and "CD direct" buttons bypass the Bass,Treble,and Balance for a more pure sound.I never use them cause I like tone in my music.These buttons actually make the sound "flat" to me.Other than that,this thing sounds great.I had an Onkyo TX-8511,took it back as soon as I heard this baby.This thing gets very loud,not distortion,and the variable loudness are nice.Its worth the money.I have it hooked with a 7-band EQ,but its really not needed.The Bass,Treble,and the "variable loudness" do a really nice job without an EQ.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer vsx-d509s About 5 different Sony Models (never again)

Excellent sound, simple to use, very low distortion, quite powerful, priced right.

The remote sucks and the tuner cuts out completely if signal strength is anything but optimal.

Yamaha makes a great product here, hands down. I only have two complaints about the unit. First, the tuner. If you want to listen to FM stations in stereo, you have to ensure that the signal strength of your station is quite high. In 'auto' tuning mode, if the receiver can't tune the station in stereo, it cuts out all sound. If you leave the unit in Mono, it works fine, but who wants to listen in mono?

Next complaint, the remote. It sucks. Half of the buttons are dedicated to a Yamaha CD player and tape deck using the wire link. I don't use any other yamaha components, so the remote is a waste. They put the A/B buttons on the remote, right above the volume. I've turned off the speakers several times trying to turn the unit down. The remote is not programmable and is not backlit. But the range is good on the remote, you can change sources, control volume, turn on/off the main, manually tune, and set a sleep timer. I'm using my old Pioneer programmable remote until I decide to get a different one.

Those complaints aside, the unit is great if you're looking for no-frills, great sounding audio. Right out of the box, any source sounds alive. I'd avoid setting the bass/treble dials at all. The 'pure direct' button seems useless. Who knows? But the unit is great.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-D702S (still used as the tuner).