Excellent starter AV receiver with 70x3 and 20x2. Sounds great with Energy Take 5 system. Best AV receiver I could find for under $300.

I recently ventured into buying a Yamaha receiver. I was pleasantly surprised with the sharp audio clarity of this particular receiver. For a receiver that retails for just under $300/-, this is an exceptional buy for a person who is just starting out. I highly recommend this receiver as it has good punch to it. I have 4 10inch speakers (Atlantic Design) with tweeters on them, and a 15inch powered subwoofer, and it doesn't have any problems at all keeping up with the speakers, which mind you are running at 4 ohms.
A must get for those wanting to start out in the field of home entertainment with a smaller budget.

Just purchased this reciever over the holidays a gift to me. I am replacing my old Pioneer VSX4900s(a very good reciever at the time and almost sad to replace it)as I do not have Dolby Digital ready capability on it. Looking at quite a few brands, I opted for this DD ready reciever over one with a decoder at a equivalent price because of the sound(my DVD player has a built in DD processor). I was oringinally considering the Kenwood 209. I must say that hooking this up to the old Paradigm 5se's has brought new life to these speakers. They are not as harsh in the highs as they were before. The 70wx3 across the front seems to be plenty of power. I stress music a little more that movies so the choice seemed logical and this unit matches very well with my H/K 710 CD player. The remote is easy to handle ,though it could us a few more buttons such as mute. The volume control could also have a more visible level indicator such as and LED like my Pioneer has, it is difficult to judge volume in the light levels of my listening room. The DSP sound modes are a nice touch but I don't usually us them for anything other than for fun. I like the sparse display panel and is quite a contrast to all the lights and buttons on my Pioneer. The front panel also seems to be metal which is a nice touch and suggests a slightly higher quality. The sound of this unit is incredible, quite clear with excellent imaging. This unit also pumps alot of bass as I had to crank down the sub-woofer level after switching recievers. For someone buying in the $500CAN level and is more biased towards music than movies then this unit is definitly one to look at. It also has a cheaper sibling with 50wx3 and lacking a few other features.

For the past 3 years we've been looking for a good rx to replace our old denon/pioneer rx, just recently some local retailers offered us RX-V493 to review to replace the 492(Yupangco's Stocks). We expected the price to go around the prices of high-end models bec. to its natural sound reproduction but to our surprice this unit cost half the price of its predecessor. Wow! E-mail us and we'll buy your unit if your not satisfied.

Ditto all other compliments!!!!ONE complaint about this unit, rear channel hiss.In DPLogic and/or DSP there is noticible hiss. My rears are HECO so its not the speakers fault. Up front my Energy's sing like the wind, but the HISS!!!
So i'll buck the trend and give this unit a 4/5 SORRY!!!

I purchased this reciever back in May and am now ready to review it. All I can say for the price I paid ($199 on sale), this is an excellent addition for those on a budget. I'm using it with my Toshiba SD-3109 DVD with no problems..

Great product at a great price!

before buying this reciever i compared it to the denon 1100,HK and Onkyo. i was considering buying the denon but the Yamaha is such a great bargain. I am using this reciever for 90% audio and quit pleased with it. Although many people have told me yamaha lackes in bass i notice a increase in bass vs my old kenwood. I like the dsp but really do not use them. I also only paid 457 taxes included because of the price and sound i will give this product 5 stars

I bought the 493 quite a while ago. I have been extremely happy with it. Before buying I compared it with several other recievers including Denon, Sony,
Pioneer, Harman Kardon & Onkyo but for the price I paid this was the best I found.It has really good tuner section compared to many other receivers around the same price. Sound is clear and well defined. Good bass and highs. I don't
use the DSP modes except for fun. If you are on a low budget then this is a good receiver to get. For the money I paid I give this five stars.

I bought the Yamaha RX-V493 for only $250US and have been laughing all way ever since. I have it coupled with a Technics SH-AC500D Dolby Digital/DTS processor and the results are simply fantastic! This would make a great addition to a secondary home theater. I use a Pioner DV-414 DVD, Energy Pro 4.5 for fronts, 2 Wharfedale Modus Micros for centre (Yamaha has 2 centre channels), Energy Pro 2.5 for rears and PSB Subsonic II for sub. Absolutely incredible sound for the buck!