Dts rocks, manny dsp modes that you can actually use

remote blows chunks , i use a sony macro remote

All in all this thing blows my old pioner out of the water the 606 was also 100 watts per ch but never seemed to cut it
looked at sony 945 before hand and relized i would have to be nutz to take sony over yamaha ( still belive sony has got to big for quality). this unit is same unit as the 1000 buck yamaha just not as manny conections on back! big deal i say get the 596 and show your sony friends what sound is all about

My system
hitachi 53 inch sbx {this tv rocks) ultravision
pioner 434 dvd (progresive scan) optical
yamaha 5 disk cd palyer (optical)
rca dss system
hitachi vcr
quest 8 inch powered sub
jbl 500 rear speakers
sound dynamics fronts and center
SONY macro remote
i really feel for my neighbors! hahahahah NOT!

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pioner 606

Rocks in hometheater

Sound is too thin.. It is very harch in the higher end.. It hearts my ears.. Sound is not enjoyable... Lack of bass... No 5 channel stereo

The sound is good in hometheater, but when you listen to 2 channel music it is very bright.. VERY BRIGHT with my klipch speakers... Maybe it's because klipch speakers are very bright.. Well well.. It hearts my ears and the receivers lacks bass... THe bass is too thin and not deep... (I don't have a subwoofer...) Maybe the bass can be better if I buy a subwoofer.....

Great power plenty of features

Remote - small volume all the way at the bottom

Excellent receiver for the price (under 400$)
movies sound awsome w/ Energy Take 5 speaker system

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Technics

WELL EVERYTHING.THIS THING ROCKS!!!!! GREAT BASS WITH OR WITHOUT A SUB.

TOO MANY SETTINGS (IF THATS A WEAKNESS) REMOTE? GET USE TO IT. ITS NOT BAD AT ALL FOR THE MONEY.

GREAT 5.1 GREAT BASS. LOTS OF POWER!!!!! EASY INSTALLATION

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ALL YAMAHA AV85Y REC.

AV inputs on front, very clear sound, lots of inputs, high quality, reputation

boring looks, clumsy remote, quite sharp sound, cheap connectors for rear & center speaker, cannot use rear speakers for music (except in DSP mode)

I'm using this receiver with a lot of different brands of speakers so it's a good thing it allows compensations for each individual speaker. The test tone generator also helped me to balance the sound. The sound is really good compared to my previous receiver, but then again it's not in the same class so I can't really compare them. it is a bit bright though that got solved by adding an active subwoofer. I'm not sure whether the sound is too bright or just very revealing, it is true that this receiver lets me hear things (on the same speakers) that my previous one didn't.

the inputs on the front are very convenient if your TV or video recorder doesn't have this.

The rear speakers can not be used as extra speakers when playing music (unless you use DSP, I will talk about that later). My rear speakers are good quality speakers too, so I would like to use them for music too. It bothers me that I have paid so much money for them only to use them during movies.

The remote is a real pain in the ***, for example, why doesn't the wheel light up when you turn it? you have to push the 'source' or 'effects' button first. Strange. What's more, if you push these buttons, the according buttons (having inputs and effects under them) don't light up. People complaining that not all functions work on different brand equipment should maybe try another brand code. Sometimes, certain codes work but other codes work better (I had this with my sony CD player, the first code I tried only operated play and stop, another code gave me all the functions). Another thing, the remote is an *ugly* mother to look at.

DSP effect are very good for movies but they really are not usable for music. maybe the concert hall effect is OK for orchestra music, but otherwise the rear speakers are wasted. I'm thinking about building a small switch box that will allow me to hook up by rear speakers to the B speaker outputs on the receiver and just switch between rear speakers and B speakers outputs.

in general, this receiver is very good value for money, I have listened to a lot of brands and none offered the same quality for the same money; five stars for value, but only four overall due to the remote.

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Sony integrated amp & Sony receiver

Perfect sound , inputs/outputs ,

Remote.

I can't compare to my previous reciver,they are not in the same level.
Very good reciver with perfect sound even in stereo.
good price for hige quality reciver.
Take it in close eyes.

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Old Marants Amp DT200.

Punchy sound. Plenty of outputs on backplane for connecting all manner of A/V devices. DTS.

Rotary dial on remote is a pain.

This is my first A/V receiver, but I did a lot of research first, particularly on this site. Thanks to all preceding reviewers!
Output stages appear to deliver genuine rated power. This baby really has some grunt - running through KEF Cresta 3 fronts, Cresta 2 Rears and Cresta C Centre, and Yamaha YST160 sub. Start of Toy Story 2 absolutely rocks my walls and rattles my windows.
Very accurate soundstages can be set up using the balancing of L to R speakers, and balancing of Front to Rear, with programmable delay on rears to compensate for distance between your seating position and the rear speakers.
When Buzz Lightyear flies toward you in the opening sequence, your sound stage has the sound going over your head in the same trajectory as Buzz is flying ( Front L to Right Rear).
I've been able to program all my devices to operate through the remote - Phillips CD, Teac TV, Toshiba DVD, Panasonic Stereo VCR - without any problems. The thick paper reference sheet that comes with the manual is all I've used to familiarise myself with the controls once I set the devices up. 95% of programming/operation can be done with the one remote.

There are many effects you can play with, although I tend to set mine on one default.

The tuner requires a bit of messing around with to set all your favourite stations in the one "group", and I would prefer it if I could have all AM on a couple of groups, and all FM on another couple, rather than a micture of AM & FM on each group (there are 5 from A to E).

I'm really happy with it. A friend bought almost exactly the same system after auditioning mine.

The amp stages are fairly neutral, and in combination with the KEFs and the Yamaha sub I've heard things on music CDs I haven't heard before, like an strumming error on an Otmar Leibert "Nouveau Flamenco" CD, which I had never noticed on any other system. First time I played it on the new system, I heard it clearly for the first time.

This a punchy amp which suits my speakers which are very efficient 90+dB S/N, and I've auditioned them with cheaper, less efficient speakers, which they had enough grunt to drive very nicely.
I'd by a Yamaha receiver again, without doubt.

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Nil

5 S-Video inputs!

remote control is a little confusing, can't send signals between RCA and S-Video

This unit, from everything I have researched, appears to be identical to the Yamaha HTR-5250. I found this out by accident while searching on the web, and it has been confirmed by several other source. I found the RX-V596 was less expensive, however. $370 from Crazy Eddie was the best price I found on the Internet.

Comparing against the Sony STR-DE945, the RX-V596 has 10 W less per channel, but it has two more S-Video inputs. The Yamaha can also take an extra coaxial input for digital audio.

Overall, I like the remote control. I listed it as a weakness since it still needs improvement. For example, why does it need separate buttons to turn on/off the receiver? The AMP/TUN and DSP/TUN wheel settings also seem redundant.

My DVD player is still in the mail, so I have not used the DVD functions on the remote, but I can already tell that the two DVD wheel settings (DVD MENU vs. DVD/LD) will annoy me. I'll probably end up using the DVD remote instead.

That being said, the wheel on the remote control is not hard to figure out, and it does light up in the dark, so at least you can tell what you are controlling. The Yamaha remote is good enough to replace the one I use for my TV, but I still needed my VCR remote to program my VCR. I leave the Yamaha remote set to TV (unless I'm listening to the radio) and use it to do everything except set the timer for my VCR.

In comparison, the Sony remote was even less intuitive to use. I do not feel that one is required to study a manual to program a remote control. It is sort of gadgetty, and appealed to my tech side, but in the long run I just want to have a remote so I don't have to get off the couch. I have better things to do then spend time programming a remote. I get paid to program computers, so I don't want to do it at home. =)

After reading other reviews on AudioREVIEW.com, I sort of expected the receiver to sound really bright. Since cost was a factor, I purchased the harman/kardon HKTS1 speaker set for $399. At first, I just had the subwoofer plugged in "speaker level" - inline with the L/C/R speakers, according to the harmon/kardon owner's manual. Later, I found another "line level" diagram. The speakers sounded much better with the subwoofer connected to directly to the subwoofer output. Finally, I tried to balance the speakers with the test tone. This did make a difference, and it balanced out the surround sound. The speakers still sounded bright. I thought it was merely because "you get what you pay for" with the little speakers in the set. I made sure that I set the receiver so it knew that the satellite speakers were "small" and it would redirect low frequency signals to the subwoofer. I feel stupid for not figuring this out sooner... The biggest difference was to merely turn up the volume a little on the subwoofer so it matched the satellite speakers. It made all of the difference in the world. The harmon/kardon speaker set is adequate for my late-night movie watching in my apartment so I don't wake the neighbors, but it is also great for listening to music with the volume cranked on the weekends. The lesson is this: the receiver may sound a little bright, but with a good subwoofer and proper tuning it should be solid.

Finally, I think the last part I have to add is that the receiver doesn't switch between S-Video and RCA video connections. None of the receivers I looked at in the < $500 price range did. I didn't think I would need all those S-Video inputs, but now I'm glad I have them.

You see, my TV has an RCA input and an S-Video input, but if the S-Video input is used, the RCA one is disabled. If I had a better TV, I'd be able to have both connected to the TV, but I'm not willing throw away the $700 I spent on the TV. Instead, I had to convert all my components to S-Video. My PlayStation (One, not PS2), my VCR, my DVD player, and anything else I'd want to connect. The VCR doesn't have a S-Video output, so I have to watch it with the TV on channel 3. I plugged the VCR audio outputs to the VCR inputs on the receiver so at least I can get Dolby Pro Logic surround sound. (With the TV using channel 3 to watch a VCR, you only get mono.) I figure when the VCR breaks, I'll make the change to a SVHS system with S-Video input/output.

Even though it was only a PlayStation, there was a still noticeable difference with the S-Video cable. I can't wait 'til I get my PlayStation 2.

I also want to recommend www.smarthome.com for cabling. You can get quality gold end S-Video and A/V cables for those on a budget.

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comparison shopped against Sony STR-DE945, Yamaha HTR-5250

This is one of the best amps ive bought Great power and its very clear. Good clear bass

the remote big time. Its really long and skinny and its only lighted at the top

This is a great amp. its the best for its money
live in canada and i paid 600 for it and it has way more power and is way more clear then NAD's 1000 dollar one.
its better then technics 1000 dollar one and better then or equal to harmon kardons 700 dollar one.

If anyone is looking to buy an amp in the 600 dollar range noth beats this amp

i have no sub and it has great bass
this is the best all around amp for its money

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NAD's 750 dollar one

This is one of the best amps ive bought Great power and its very clear. Good clear bass

the remote big time. Its really long and skinny and its only lighted at the top

This is a great amp. its the best for its money
live in canada and i paid 600 for it and it has way more power and is way more clear then NAD's 1000 dollar one.
its better then technics 1000 dollar one and better then or equal to harmon kardons 700 dollar one.

If anyone is looking to buy an amp in the 600 dollar range noth beats this amp

i have no sub and it has great bass
this is the best all around amp for its money

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NAD's 750 dollar one