I couldn't agree more with the Bogey Man. Everything he said is what I was going to say in my review. Great bang for the buck. It has a lot of clean power. Who needs DTS? This baby is ready for any SIGNIFICANT improvements in 5.1 with it's 6 inputs. This receiver will keep me happy(and you if you buy one) today and tomorrow.

Great sound!

None that I have found yet

Great sounding uni, especially for the price range!!! I got mine for about $300 and it sounds as good if not better than some of the recievers I priced in higher ranges....even at $700. Has great clarity and warmth and the surround sound puts you in the movie. Pimarily because of it's great value I give it the highest rating.

good looks, simple operation, GREAT value for money :)

not dts ready....not that u need it that much anyway.

Rated for 60 watts/ch. but sounds like it packs more punch than u can imagine.....for the price.
the sound is crisp & clear..without being harsh. It's got just the right "blend"...voices appear clear & warm :). Makes listening a pure & simple pleasure...which by the way , is what it's all about.

Dynamic sound,price,quality inputs

none

I'd like to start off by stating I am a very critical consumer and researched this purchase for about a month and spent many hours making comparisons/reading reviews,etc. My budget was set for $300 for an introductory Digital Receiver. I considered Technics, Kenwood, Sony, & Yamaha.
I initially purchased the Technics SA-DX930 which had limited dynamics and ran very hot so I returned it. If I would have been fortunate to read the negative reviews on this site I would'nt of even bothered with the Technics. Home Theater magazine Jan,2000 issue recommended the Kenwood VR-309 over the Yamaha and the Technics. I bought the Kenwood and was satisfied, but to be sure I also bought the Yamaha RX-V495 and compared them back to back with CDs and movies. The Yamaha is about equal with the Kenwood with Cds but the Yamaha is the definite winner with movies. Impact and surround are both very realistic and powerful. By the way, I only have a Hi-fi Vcr feeding the receiver. I am graduating in two weeks and with gift money I plan on buying a DVD player to really experience what home theater is all about! I promised myself that after using the receiver for a few months I would write this review to help others as I was helped. This receiver sounds excellent and is worth every penny. Additionally, my cousin (engineering degree/car audio specialist) also has a similiar Yamaha receiver and is quite happy. He also said the components in the Yamaha are superior to the competition at this price range. If you look good and hard you can get this receiver for $300, I believe J&R was recently selling it for $279. Buy it, you can't get a better receiver for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-309, Technics SA-DX930

Good, warm sound...Yamaha's reputation for quality

No lighted dot on the volume control so you can't tell what the volume control is set to w/o checking it manually.The remote control didn't always work for the first few days but is fine now..

I got the Yamaha RX-V495 from Tweeter Ect. in Ma. for $399
I looked everywhere on the web for it before going to Tweeter but found most sites to have a poor selection of receivers to choose from..Note that if you do buy the 495 from mail order you void your Yamaha warranty..I also looked at the Rx-V595, the salesman told me it had 15 more watts, a 100% metal case instead of plastic in front like on the 495, and a bigger power supply.The remote control on the 595 is ugly and looks awkward as opposed to the very slim 495 remote.I would have preferred 1-10 number entries on the remote to change FM stations with instead of just going up and down with the plus and minus key..Like a previous reviewer, I too had problems with the remote not always working for the first few days I owned it.I have not had any problems with it since.I have it hooked up with Paradigm Mini Monitor speakers and a Sony Cd player.The music sounds nice and some of the movies played on it with my hi-fi vcr sound gorgeous..One minor but very annoying feature on the receiver is there is no lighted diplay on the volume dial like I had on my previous receivers..All it has is a tiny white dot on the volume control that you can't see from 3 feet away in a well lit room..This can be of concern if you are constantly switching from tv to cd, to mono movies ect. that all use different volumes.You don't want to go to tuner with your volume cranked and blow out your speakers..I have a flashlight with my remotes that I shine on the volume control when using the receiver.I think a tiny dot of ultra bright nail polish might help see the control easier..Other than that I am pretty happy.I also like the above described mono movie field which makes my older movies sound good on the receiver too..I was torn between the 495 and spending an extra 100 bucks for the 595 which is a very big, heavy, and wide receiver.I don't know much about stereo equipment so this site really helped me to choose my receiver and speakers.Getting a Yamaha receiver and Paradigm speakers because of product ratings here, was better than walking into circuit city blind and spending the same amount of money for a Sony receiver and Bose speakers.I went to a high end audio dealer and got the RX-V495 receiver for $399.Others should be able to get it for $299-$399.Be aware that you can get identical receivers as the 495 and 595 under Yamaha's Home Theatre line which they sell to mass market.The Rx 595 at Tweeter had the same price and features as the Yamaha Home theatre model at Circuit City a couple of weeks back...Good Hunting...Dave

Similar Products Used:

Sony receivers which died on me prematurely

SOLID CONSTRUCTION, HIGH POWER AMPS, 96db S/N RATIO WITH CLEAN PRECISE SOUND

NO LED ON VOLUME KNOB AND LACK OF ANY S-VIDEO INPUT/OUPUTS

AFTER OWNING A SONY STRD725 DOLBY PRO LOGIC RECEIVER FOR MANY YEARS I WANTED TO EXPAND INTO THE WORLD OF DOLBY DIGITAL AND NEEDED A RECEIVER THAT CARRIED THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY ONBOARD AS WELL AS THE ABILITY TO EXPAND IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
MY REQUIREMENTS.
THE RXV495 FIT THE BILL IN ALMOST EVERY WAY. FIRST OFF YAMAHA HAS DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB IN THE BASIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE UNIT. IT IS SOLID AND WELL MADE WITH ALL OF THE CONTROL BOTTONS CEARLY MARKED ON THE FRONT PANEL. THE LCD DISPLAY WINDOW IS DONE IN A PLEASING ORANGE TO COMPLIMENT THE NEAR JET BLACK SMOOTH LOOK OF THE CASE. ALL FUNTIONS CAN BE CONTROLED FROM THE FRONT PANEL, INCLUDING SETUP AND DELAYS, SO THAT IF YOU MISPLACE YOUR REMOTE YOU WILL NOT BE FOREVER LOST. THE INPUT KNOB IS A GREAT WAY TO ROTATE YOUR WAY TO THE CORRECT INPUT SOURCE, BUT THE VOLUME DIAL IS OF THE STANDARD FIXED VARIETY AND WITHOUT AN LED LIGHT TO BOOT.
THIS MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL THE VOLUME SETTING WITHOUT BEING LESS THAN TWO FEET FROM THE UNIT.
AROUND BACK THIS RECEIVER HAS ENOUGH CONNECTIONS TO KEEP EVEN THOSE OF US WITH LASERDISC PLAYERS HAPPY. YOU HAVE A CD, TAPE, VCR, AUX, PHONO, DVD/LD AND TV/DSS INPUT. THE TAPE AND VCR ARE IN A LOOP TO PROVIDE YOU WITH HASSLE FREE RECORDING AND EDITING. ALL A/V CONNECTIONS HAVE RCA INPUTS FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO BUT NO S-VIDEO INPUT/OUTPUTS. THE DOLBY DIGITAL SECTION INCLUDES ALL OF YOUR STANDARD 5.1 INPUTS AS WELL AS (1) COAXIAL DIGITAL INPUT AND (2) TOSLINK INPUTS FOR DVD/LD AND TV/DSS. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH THE INPUTS IS THE LACK OF ABILITY TO ASSIGN YOUR OWN NAME TO EACH ONE. SO IF YOU HAVE BOTH A LASERDISC AND DVD PLAYER YOUR STUCK USING THE TV/DSS TOSLINK FOR YOUR PLAYER.
THE SPEAKER CONNECTIONS ARE MADE BY BANANA PLUG TYPE FOR THE FRONT A/B SPEAKERS AND SPRING TYPES FOR THE CENTER AND SURROUNDS. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH THIS SETUP IS THE FACT THE SPRING CONNECTORS ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE BANANA CONNECTORS AND YOU MUST HAVE CHILD SIZE HANDS TO MAKE A GOOD CONNECTION ON THE FIRST TRY.
AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED HOOKING UP ALL OF YOUR A/V CABLES THE SETUP PROCESS BEGINS. HERE IS WHERE THE EXCELLENT YAMAHA REMOTE COMES IN HANDY. DESPITE WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID, THIS IS ONE VERY COMPACT AND COMPLETE REMOTE COMMAND UNIT, BUT YOU MUST READ AND UNDERSTAND YOUR MANUAL BEFORE YOU USE IT OR YOU WILL BE LOST. BUT THE MANUAL HAS A LOT TO BE DESIRED IN THE SETUP AREA FOR DOLBY DIGITAL. SO HERE ARE A FEW TIPS ON HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS UNIT. FIRST MEASURE THE DISTANCE FROM YOUR FRONT RIGHT SPEAKER TO YOUR LISTENING POSITION. DRAW A MAP OF YOUR ROOM WITH ALL OF YOUR SPEAKERS LOCATED ON IT AND THEN DRAW A CIRCLE WHICH HAS THE FRONT RIGHT AND LEFT SPEAKERS AT ABOUT THE 2 AND 10 POSITION OF A CLOCK (12 BEING YOUR TV). THEN MEASURE THE DISTANCE FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE CIRCLE TO THE CENTER OF YOUR CENTER CHANNEL SPEAKER. IF THE CENTER IS CLOSE TO THE OUTSIDE EDGE (12) ON THE CLOCK THEN YOUR "C DELAY" WILL BE SET TO "0"MS. BUT IF IT IS ON THE INSIDE OF THE CIRCLE TAKE THE NUMBER YOU HAVE WRITTEN DOWN AND DEVIDE IT BY 13" (13" = (1)MS) THEN USE THAT NUBER FOR YOUR CENTER DELAY. REPEAT THIS PROCESS FOR YOUR REAR SPEAKERS AS WELL.
WITH THIS SET JUST RUN YOUR TEST TONES AND ADJUST YOUR SPEAKER VOLUME. ALL OF THIS CAN BE DONE FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR COUCH WITH THE REMOTE CONTROL.
A HANDY FEATURE WHILE YOU ARE USING A DOLBY DIGITAL FORMAT IS THE DYNAMIC RANGE CONTROL. THIS ALLOWS YOU THE CHOICE OF MIN, STD, OR MAX SETTINGS. THIS HELPS TO TAILOR THE DIFFERENCE FROM THE HIGHEST TO LOWEST SOUND AS IT IS FILTERED THROUGH YOUR DECODER.
ALSO ON THIS UNIT IS A SUBWOOFER OUTPUT (90HZ AND BELOW)AND A BASS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. THE BASS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ALLOWS YOU TO MIX THE CENTER AND REAR CHANNELS OF BASS BELOW 90HZ INTO THE FRONT MAIN SPEAKERS OR THE SW OR BOTH. THIS ALLOWS FOR GREAT FLEIBILITY WITH OR WITHOUT A SUBWOOFER.
WELL NOW WITH ALL OF THE TECHNICAL STUFF OUT OF THE WAY I CAN ONLY TRY AND TELL YOU HOW IT SOUNDS. THE HIGHS ARE CRISP AND CLEAR AND THE BASS IS VERY LOW AND SMOOTH. WITH THE MAX SETTING SELECTED IN DYNAMIC RANGE AND A DOLBY DIGITAL MOVIE SUCH AS "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" IN THE PLAYER THE EXPERIENCE IS SIMPLY BREATHTAKING. FOR MY MONEY I DO NOT THINK THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND A UNIT THAT IS AS COMPLETE, WELL BUILD OR CRISP AND CLEAR AS THE RXV-495. SO GOTO EBAY OR SHOP THE WEB FOR A GOOD DEAL ON THIS UNIT OR GOTO YOUR LOCAL HIFI SHOP AND BUY THE NEW RXV-496. I KNOW THAT YOU WILL LOVE IT.

SYSTEM:

SPEAKERS: KLIPSCH KG3.5 FRONT, KV2 CENTER, AND KG1.5 REAR
WITH A LW-10 CERWIN VEGA SUB
DVD: TOSHIBA 5190
LD: SONY 550D
VCR: SONY 640HF
CD: SONY CDP CX335
TV: TOSHIBA 36" CINEMAVIEW

Similar Products Used:

VARIOUS STERO ONLY MODELS AND SONY 725 DOLBY PRO LOGIC RECEIVER

RXV-495 or 793...help :( which is more "worth" the money? pls. reply ASAP...discussion area was almost always empty :(but I think Yamaha makes very good receivers ...always :)

I just bought this reciever 2 weeks ago and i'm very happy with it. At 500 Dollars I think i got my money's worth.

less attractive surround. no dts.

great value for money.
sounds great with my other components: 2*valdus 400, 2*valdus 200, bose vcs-10,technics cd player.

I bought this from Myer & Emco at $379. This is pretty good machine for the price. Its remote control is good, too. It runs with my spkeakers (B&W 601 S2, CC6, Velodyine and Bose 201 II) well. This is my first time buying HT. I have been a dedicated stereo listener with HK, and McIntosh. I tried to have HK, it served me well for my bedroom for 7 years, but they cost about $200 more for the comparable item. I'm happy that I picked up Yamaha. I connected Toshiba SD2109 with Monster coax cable and Sony CPD-557 CD player with Monster Tos-link cable, and it works great. I prefer Coax digital cable, b/c it is cheaper. When I listen music with my Sony CD player. It sound very bright and detailed with digital link. I prefer listening CD with analog input, b/c it is warmer. I have researched for a couple of month for HT. You can not go wrong with this.