Powerful, clear sound; good cinema modes; an exceedingly good value

User Interface (Remote)

I am quite pleased with my choice of the RX-596. I had originally shopped for the RX-V595a, last year's equivalent model. The 596 has three more inputs (significantly more), and 20w/channel more power. I picked it up for US$500 at Tweeter, mostly because if you don't buy your machine from an authorized Yamaha dealer, the warranty is void.

The 596 has fantastic sound quality. I hooked it up to my entry-level Toshiba 1200 DVD and I am more than pleased with the sound performance. The 0.04 THD certainly doesn't hurt. 100 w/channel is more than enough power, and it has discrete transistors on each channel - important for performance over the duration of a movie. I do wish it had posts for wire connections to the subwoofer and the center channel, and if they had sprung for 2 optical/3 coax digital inputs rather than 3 optical/2 coax, it would have been better. The FM tuner is exceptional. I haven't had a chance to try out DTS with it. The effects are surprisingly good, I like watching my Tom Petty concert DVD on "Rock Concert" setting.

My quibbles with it are mostly minor and user-interface oriented. As previously mentioned, there's the need for a light indicator on the volume knob, and the remote is unintuitive. I wish it could learn other brands' components. My biggest complaint in the useability department is the fact that the buttons are labeled on the receiver itself in a grayish-white, making them exceedingly difficult to read, especially at a distance. On the other hand, it's a pretty spiffy-looking unit overall. The wheel to switch the component input is quick and efficient.

For US$500, you can't go wrong with this Yamaha. Useability constraints are preventing me from giving the 596 five stars - but don't let that stop you from giving it an audition. It is without a doubt a solid mid-range receiver.

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An old, wicked cheap Fischer I got in college.. no comparison, really.

The Bang for your buck, optical and coaxial inputs, and the low impedance drive capabilities

The only thing that it needs is an Optical out.

When my old JVC stereo amp went out on me I decided to spend the extra money and upgrade to a power horse ... and the Yamaha did that for me. I looked into other models and manufacturers and found that nobody in the audio developing industry came close to the clarity and power of the Yamaha. It seems to be cheaper than some of the other Yamaha models, but has most of the features (inc. Optical and coaxial input, high power, dts sound, digital decoder, and much, much more). On it's arrival to my house it was instantly hooked up. I currently use a set of custom built tower speakers (8X4X1), a set of Boston Acoustics (6.25X1.5) and two center speakers (Vintage AR-7 (8X1). I run all of my speakers on the 4 ohm setting for better sound clarity and response. Soon after the installation I tested it with some of the Audiophile cds that I own (inc. Pink noise sounds, phase testing, and linear tests). Soon after that I tested a regular cd on it and it sounded beautiful. I decided to test out the Optical capabilities with my Playstation 2. Dvd's make the reciever screem high quality, with precise clarity. Overall the reciever sounds and pumps out the power. Honestly this reciever will make you heart fall in love with it and then shatter it with the bone crunching power. A definate MUST BUY ... If anyone has any questions at all on this system, don't be afraid to write and ask.

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RX (V1, V3000, V2000, V1000, V496, V396, V800), and various other systems from JVC to Pioneer, to Sony

Powerfull, tight sounds, DTS and all the latest decoders, remote is "user friendly" it control s all my components easily.

Too bright, no natural sound in stereo, irritating for ears when listening at 1/2 volume. Definately not a quality music reproduction.

i was expecting more from this amp, I'm an opened minded about any brand, I was looking at all the different amps from 400 to 700$. Finally I was at the store to buy the Yam, the salesman showed me everything abount it, he put a demo-dvd with music samples and movies in DTS, I was impressed, but then, i put the same DVD in a Marrantz SR-5000 hooked on the same speakers... the sound was warmer, better with more definition. I bought the Marantz. At my house, everything was great except it didn't have a front B speaker output, no 24/96 decoder, the remote was terrible.
I reurned the amp and bought the 596. I listened to the same cd's, same DVD's...it didnt sound as clear, as warm and it was irritating when you push it... too much DSP too many modifications to the sound...but, it has more features, more inputs, A+B speakers, better remote...i regreted so much my decision to return the Marantz... I don't know what to do???

The 596 is a good A/V amp but it's not the best A/V receiver, you have to choose between gadgets and sound quality.

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STR-945, Marrantz SR-5000, JVC.

Unbelievable, first-rate sound from a digital DVD source. Lots of power, good DSP effects

Poor remote design makes it confusing to switch sources and DSP modes. It's also a universal remote but it's easier just using the original remotes for the separate components

Definately the best bang for the buck in Yamaha's current lineup. It's worth the extra money to upgrade from the current RX-V496 model to this one to get 100 watts x 5 speaker power. Standard optical inputs for DVD, D-TV, and DSS. The sound quality is absolutely amazing with my $289 Panasonic DVD-RV30CA DVD player connected via optical cords. Definately worth to heed the recommendations of people who recommend Yamaha. It was $600 well spent.

The only thing is that the remote is so hard to use, I just use it to adjust volume

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Technics SA-GX490 Pro-Logic Receiver

Outstanding clarity, lots of power, highly customizable, plenty of inputs

The remote is absolutely the worst thing I have seen anywhere for anything, confusing tuner set up (both minor)

I tested several receivers in the $300-500 price range and this is by far the best that I have found. The sound is great in both stereo and home theater applications. The DSP's here are also not bad and I normally think that they are useless. The sound from this receiver is warm, there is strong seperation between sound elements and the dynamic range is wide. However, it tends to lack a little punch at low volume levels.

I was hesitant to purchase the receiver due to the reputation Yamaha has for tending towards the bright side of the musical spectrum. This isn't so - The receiver is just honest in its reproduction of sound. After listening with this receiver, the mixing and production value of discs comes through loud and clear, the good, the bad and the ugly. If an album wasn't mixed well, you will be able to tell. Case in point, the bass on one of my Red Hot Chili Peppers discs was almost non existent, but it boomed from a live Dead cd. When the quality of the source is there, the bass booms form this unit.

The remote is a peice of garbage. In addition to being totally confusing, I programed it with codes to all my components. When I hit the power ro turn on my TV, it turned off my VCR, It won't control half the functions on my DirecTV receiver and it won't control my DVD player at all. So, until I spring for a good universal, I'm stuck with a bunch of remotes.

As far as digital inputs, there are actually 5, but two are redundant (optical and digital for same source) and they are not assignable. 3-4 was enough for me and competitive with everything else in the price range. The phono inut was a nice feature. Pleanty of S-Video inputs, too.

The presets for the tuner are arranged in a confusing manner, but that is a very minor gripe

Bottom line - I'm thrilled, this is a fantastic receiver for the money ore more money, but if you are looking for something that will make everything sound more or less the same, regarless of the production quality, go with something else.

Knockout fidelity and sound, minimal controls on front panel, front panel inputs.

Remote could be better, but packs a lot of control.

There are many good reviews here which sing the praises of this excellent receiver. My two cents worth - if you are thinking of upgrading an older midrange receiver, this is the one to get. The thing runs circles around my old Kenwood KR-V87R - which was not a bad receiver. The DTS mode will knock you out if you've never experienced it. I looked at Kenwood (yuck - cheesy looking), Denon (seemed to have a higher price for the features than Yamaha), Sony (awful reviews and lower fidelity) and Technics (nice looking, but they seem to run very hot). I think you will find the Yamaha's reviews keep it on top, and they are validated by listening.

I don't find the remote as bizarre as some here do, but putting the volume controls at the bottom is horrible, I'm going to get carpal thumb syndrome from trying to one-hand it. But that's about all that I can find lacking with this unit.

I couldn't be happier, it's certainly everything it claims to be and what most of the reviews here say as well.

PS: late 30-somethings and 40-somethings will be bowled over by "The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over" as a DTS showcase. A must have if you liked the band and a great demo of DTS for music.

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Kenwood KR-V87R

rear surround channels are loud and clear...nice for pop/rock.

like som say, thin sound. way to thin midrange. no grip around the low frequencies. TERRIBLE surround terminals that barely holds a thin hair. headphone jack is terrible sounding.

in movies the voices seemed dimmed cause of the thin midrange. its harsh at top and seems to have no control.
iv heared better and worse. my old cheap onkyo sounds better.
think im going for a stereo amp instead, id rather live with good stereo than cheap surround.
"natural sound" as yamaha labels it, yeah right. this sound is tampered with.

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onkyo 474

Plenty of power, numerous inputs, clean sound.

Remote is difficult to use, composite inputs are not sent to S-Video outputs

I am still breaking in my receiver, but this far I must say that after looking at the Onkyo 575x and several other brands of comparable receivers, this one impresses me the most.

I am using the receiver with a set of Klipsch KG2.5s and I haven't noticed the sound being any brighter with this receiver than any others I've used. The Klipsch speakers are inherently bright-sounding.

This receiver automatically chooses the "best" surround sound encoding, which is quite handy. It seems to be well-constructed and runs quite cool.

As others have stated, the remote needs work. Fortunately, there are no problems using a Pronto with this receiver. With a few minutes of work, you can have your Pronto remote ready to go... much simpler than the included remote.

I would strongly recommend this receiver. I feel I got the best value available. We'll see how things sound after a few months...

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Onkyo, Kenwood

Top notch sound, clean looks, lots of inputs. Good power - light up any room... heck you could probably weld with this thing!

I can't think of any.

I bought this reciever with the Yamaha CDC-575 CD player and Energy exl28p main speakers (gotta love the neon-blue LED on each speaker) and the system sounds amazing! I don't have rears and a center yet so I can't comment on the surround features (DD and DTS) except to say that it sounded like a movie theater in the store.

Musicwise, instruments and vocals are gorgeous and the background is enveloping. The sound reproduction is very clean and accurate at low or high volume... I'm hearing sounds on my old CD's I've never heard before. My 28p's have integrated 8" subs which were easy to configure on the rx-v596 with the bass out set to main. They make a huge difference. If you don't have a sub - get one (the reciever has a seperate sub out, LFE channel). This should get rid of any "brightness" complaints (which probably have more to do with the speakers and configuration). The dsp modes are nice (I suggest listening to all your live CD's in Rock Concert mode - just close your eyes and you're there). Top notch soundwise. My friends don't like their systems anymore.

Inputs are plentiful, including optical/coax and s-video for several sources. Nice gold plated video aux inputs on the front including s-video. Simple and clean looking. No lame "lightshow" here and just the right amount of buttons. I love rotary dials and the orange digits - classic yet modern!

The remote isn't that bad (I figured it out in less than five minutes without the manual) but could be more "solid" and less plastic.

Overall you get a lot more than you pay for here. Just buy it!

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Sony

smooth sound,inputs & outputs, bass,good quality in disco dsp, looks, dolby digital+dts, bass!!

remote

i have front speakers POLYWAY center STORM and sur.SHARP
and it sound very very good.
it sounds so much beter then the pioneer 409 and the pioneer 509.
the bass is excellent and i dont have a sub woofer.

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