Enough power Good channelseparation Tone controls

(Remote) None for the price!

Great sorroundreceiver, though average sound when listening to music. This is the very best receiver you can get for this amount of money. Very good channelseparation and control. Handles my double 15"-partyspeakers without any trouble at all. The volume control is a hybrid of digital and analog, which works great. Tone controls are stable and you feel that it''s changing the sound. Pretty bad remote though... But still the best receiver for the money!

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NAD C350 (stereosound)

Great home theater , nice features. Very clean sound.

Lacks details and not very powerful with music. Lousy remote . No outputs for external amp to run separate amp.

For the money this is a nice little reciever. Especially for home theater. However with music it is a very big dissapointment. I went from a HK AVR 10. A small older pro logic reciever that was only 35watts /channel . The Yamaha is much more advanced for home theater and worked nicely but when listening to music cd''s , dvd audio , it was a huge dissapointment. The HK avr -10 little thing worked much better with music and was almost as powerful. I like more detailed and defined sound. I put the Yamaha in the bedroom and got a HK avr-520 to replace. The 80 watts per channel blows away the 100 Yamaha watts. The planar magnetic center channel is back to full detail. I was worried for a while when running the Yamaha.

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Infinity , HK , NEC , Onkyo , Marantz.

2 diff.treble levels{h.p.tone control,manually},3 different bass managing levels{tuning manually,h.p.tone control,bass extention}-i like the remote-the best sound effects like/5ch.stereo/spectacle/pro logic/disco/tv sports/mono movie/and effect{off}for pure power!has component switching,optical-coaxial swithching to any input.

none at this price but, my optical output burned out

its got the boom every way you look at it with 3 levels of bass,2 levels of treble thats more than enough more me to say this reciever kicks a-- the RXV-620 has the same amount of inputs as the RXV-995 but it doesent get hot and its midsized as apposed to "king" size hmmm.you can even connect an optical,coaxial,component cable by goingto menu and switching the h.p.control/or inputs.makes any room feel like a theater.its a must have for anyone with a slim budget can be found at crazy eddie for 365.00!

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yamaya RXV-995,RXV795

Very good movie reproduction. Visual setup using the monitor. A cryptic remote intitially... but I really got to liking it a lot!

Pathetic audio performance. My attic stereo amplifier (Hitachi HA-3800) does a much better job of music than this machine. Fair Bass. I prefer good, punchy, hard-hitting bass.

Hello Everybody, I had bought this amp/rec basing my decision solely upon the recommendation given by What Hi-Fi. They had chosen the RXV-620RDS for their product of the year in the 2001 Awards. I bought it from Richer Sounds and as soon as I reached home, I eagerly tore the packaging away and hooked it up to my system. I put ‘The Mummy’ into the DVD Player (Toshiba SD-210E) and set the receiver to the Rock Concert mode. I skipped a few chapters and set the volume conservatively at about -25db in the Rock Concert Mode. I almost skipped a heartbeat. I thought the receiver was ‘knakked’. I couldn’t hear a darn thing! I pushed the volume up a little, and now I could hear a few whispers. Halfway mark (-50db) saw me beginning to enjoy the thumps a little. I moved the DVD towards the sand-storm sequence and cranked the volume up to -75db and I was beginning to feel brave. -80db saw me firing the machine gun at the cloud and -85db was all about saving my butt from the bloomin’ cloud! What is the motto of the story, you may ask? This baby performs beautifully, but only if you crank its volume quite a bit. Also, I did not find distortion till almost -93db/-95db, after which the amp does a decent job of hiding the little distortion that it does produce. 5 Channel and Jazz Club are other notable sound modes, but I doubt you would want to move from Rock Concert. My advice is - stick to it, you may not really like the others! I then changed over to audio. That was the second jolt. The receiver was a real disappointment now. It does a good job when playing movies, but is a total waste of money when playing stereo. If you’re hoping to kill two birds (like I was) with one stone by buying the 620 to play movies and audio, you will be grossly disappointed with the reproduction of the latter. I do agree that I should not expect the world to be put at my feet at this silly cost. But I do believe that at least the basics should have been decently put together before building upon them further. I was hoping to get decent audio in the least and good video performance from this receiver. I’ve since then returned my receiver to RS and have now purchased a Denon 3802. Of course, its almost twice the cost… but I’m getting a much superior machine with a million more features! But most of all… I’m killing two birds with one stone now!

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I have demo''d a Marantz SR5200 (I still dream of it), a Denon 1802(PLII!), Yamaha AX-2(blows you away in video) and now own a Denon 3802. I decided the 3802 was the best.

Good clean power for HT. good features.

badly designed remote. I would have wanted adjustable crossover points, but that is a minor complaint really.

Although I was almost set on buying a Denon, I purchased the RXV 620 mainly because it was on sale at a very good price, even less than the Denon 1602 entry level. I just needed a decent av receiver for HT purposes mainly, so I was not expecting any audiophile power and clarity. To my pleasant surprise, I found the 620 performed well beyond my expectations, so far. POwer was sufficient to drive my relatively low sensitivity wharfedale floorstanders. I normally listen at -45 to -55 dB. I tend to agree with the other reviews that the DSP modes are totally unnecessary, except probably for the 5 channel surround for music - makes the sound fuller and enveloping. Hence, for movies I just use normal DD5.1 or DTS. Clarity was great. i found the 620 very clean sounding. This I found quite remarkable as I havent really optimized my set up yet because of my weird roon dimensions. However, I would have wanted more flexibility in controlling the crossover/filter cut offs for the bass management. The 620''s is set at 90 hz only. Another qualm would be the remote. Its extremely "unorthopedic". The designers at Yamaha must have fallen asleep when they taught remote control design. You have to contort your hand to properly press the volume controls. Otherwise, I''m quite impressed with this unit, especially for the price I got it for.

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Kenwood, NAD, Pioneer, Adcom

Great sound for movies....and CDs with 5 channel stereo. Good selection of hook-ups multiple tone adjustments

For $500 or less.....none

I got this reciever as a step up from my JVC RX-888V I must say that I am VERY impressed with this unit. I have run a wide range of speakers with it. From Bose 901 to AR-9s to Wharfedale Saphires with Definitive/ Boston acoutsics, and Wharfedale centers, and Sunfire MK IV, definitive 15, and Typmani subs. I do find that in 2 channel mode, the sound isn''t as good as in 5 channel mode....if you listen to it in 2 channel mode all the time, you wouldn''t know better, but it REALLY works well in 5 channel stereo. I don''t understand the complaints about power. For a while I have been driving my Wharfedales (89 DB 1w/m) AND a passive sub. At around -30 Db, the speakers are at their full range limits. Drop the mains to "small" and send the LFE to a powered sub, and you can go to -23 and that is louder than I can comfotably listen to (turn it to -23 to show off to friends...back up to -26 to fill the HOUSE with sound). I don''t use the DSP modes...as I find them foolish to start with....If the recording wanted it to sound like you are in a church...they would have recorded it that way! DVDs sound AWESOME! VERY good separation in both DTS and Dolby digital. Just leave the base boost off (makes things muddy) and you will be quite happy with this unit....for the money, you can beat it!

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JVC RX 888V Kenwood

Powerful sound Clarity of sound DSP modes Component video switching Sleep timer!!! Very strong signaled remote that I can point anywhere in the room and the receiver responds

The remote-- I haven''t been able to program it for any other devices

Before recently buying this product, I began doing my homework on A/V receivers a couple of months ago. We were doing some remodeling on our living room in the house and we were also purchasing a new VCR and a new TV. Circuit City had a closeout on their Pioneer bookshelf speakers and so I purchased 6 of them. Needless to say, I had everything but the receiver and so after looking around I had decided on buying the JVC 9000 series. About that time I went to Ultimate Electronics and heard the receivers. The man in the stoor switched between a JVC, a Pioneer, and the Yamaha 620. After he switched to the 620, I asked him if he had the surround sound modes on in the other 2. He said he did, but because of the difference in sound (much better) I didn''t believe him and waited until he left the listening room to try it out myself. He really did have them on similar settings. The Yamaha blew them all away! For some reason the television in the viewing room was not hooked up, but I could tell exactly where the actors were speaking from and the placement of the varios sounds of the DVD. I was amazed. Now that I have it here at home, I have it hooked up to the VCR, T.V., and CD player. Unfortunately, I do not have a DVD player yet to try it out with, but as I popped in the nearest VHS tape we had at the moment (Lion King) I had chills run up my spine. I have never heard anything so clear! So far I have been very impressed with the quality of the receiver. The sound is very lush and involving. You feel like you are in the middle of the action. The best part is that there is very little noticeable background hiss compared to other receivers of the same price. The hookups on the receiver have been more than enough for me. As far as the power goes, I have never been able to turn it up much past -35.0 db becasue my ears begin to ring. For me it has plenty of power even without a subwoofer. I am an especially big fan of the 5 channel stereo mode splits the R/L 2-way sound of the normal stereo tuner or CD player into all 5 channels. It does an amazing job, I have since heard parts of the music that I''ve never heard before. My mother (a pianist), came over to the house and listened to it and was amazed at the sound. It is a definite good value for the price!

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Pioneer Speakers: (6) S-H152B-K Pioneer Cd Player JVC VCR JVC Television

Value Surround sound Has all the basic things you need Simple, easy and cheap, yet not crappy Reasonable build quality

Musicality, punch Remote Doesn''t have extensive options and connections

This unit is very similar to the higher 800 and 1000, but with some significant differences. I''ve had this unit for a few months, and in the end I decided to trade it for the rx-v1000. It is one of the best buys one can make, as far as value for money goes, but as far as quality, it leaves something to be desired. The surround performance in movies is quite good, but when you listen to music from CD, it just doesn''t cut it. Sound is very natural and clean, though some may call it clinical. Note that in spite of manufacturer''s listing of 100W RMS, this is a 90W receiver - and that''s noticeable. It just doesn''t have the punch (or kick) that you can get from power amps. I''m not talking about volume, but rather about livelyness and spunk. Don''t get me wrong, this unit will be perfect for 99% of the population, but if you are looking for some kick, in addition to accuracy and cleanlyness, you should go up to the 800/1000/2200 models, or have a look at the Denons. As far as connectivity and options go, this unit is pretty good, but not fancy. It doesn''t support any pre-outs, multiple subs, pre-mail couplers (equalizer), rear center, front effect, or dual switching (rec out/zone 2 - record from one source and watch/listen to other.) All these can be found in higher models. But it does support more than enough input devices, display overlay on composite and s-video, component switching (why just two?!), assignable inputs and outputs (only some), and 5 channel input - tremendously important! (for DVD-A and SACD.) You can also use the component switching to switch RGB (in Europe). Ask me if you want to know how to do it. The remote control is pretty, but quite useless. It has an increadibly stupid jog dial, which means there''s no way for you to know what you''re doing in the dark, and you have to look very closely to see what it stands on. It is not luminescent or learning. If you want a decent remote, got o the rxv-1000, which has a truely great one - a world of difference from the Yamaha remotes or ten years ago, and better than most expensive universal remotes. The remote of the 600 is good to control this unit, and pretty much that''s it.

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Yamaha RX-V690 Yamaha RX-V1000

Sound is absolutely stunning for HT!

Really needs a subwoofer. Can''t switch HDTV component video (higher bandwidth) and no Pro Logic II.

I posted a review on this product shortly after I bought it. Having owned this for some time now I think I can offer some more knowledge and experience. The unit was priced quite reasonably so value is high. For home theatre you simply won''t find a better receiver in this price range than the Yamaha''s. Believe me I did my homework. Looked at Denon, Marantz, NAD etc. The sound of this unit continues to amaze me even after owning it for over 6 months. I have had absolutely no technical problems with it. I use it mainly for theatre and I would have to say that for music, its not as good as some other receivers (like Denon) might be. The sound from CD''s or FM tuner seems flat to me. A subwoofer will fix the problem. I added a B&W ASW500 and it was like having a whole new HT system - the sound from movies is shocking! Some reviews here complain about the power of the 620. Maybe, I don''t know. This unit is 100 watts x 5 channels and like I said, sounds awesome. I will admit that at low volumes you lose some of the detail but I use it for home theater and you don''t listen to home theater at low volumes typically. Another couple of things to consider when purchasing: This unit apparantly cannot switch true HDTV component video (as I understand the bandwidth is too high). I am not 100% sure about this - be sure to ask. Also, this unit does not do THX or Pro Logic II. If this is important wait a month or two as Yamaha has a new line of receivers that do Pro Logic II. In summary, for home theatre there is no better choice than the Yamaha receivers unless you plan to spend a ton of money for the higher end amps and receivers. For the rest of us, Yamaha will continue to rule the HT world in this price range (look how many reviews there are for Yamaha). If you are a music lover you might want to look at other receivers or add a sub woofer to this unit to beef it up.

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None.

Accurate sound in DD/DTS. Musically great.

Remote has a learning curve of 2-3 hours. But becomes more natural after a while. Manual could be more in depth.

I bought this receiver after returning a Bose LS28 unit. I wanted something that delivered great sound for audio and HT. I fell into the Bose marketing scheme....but thats another story. This A/V receiver delivers great sound. The sound that comes out of my speakers is just amazing. I watched the Fast and the Furious and was amazed at how accurate the sounds were from all fields. Using the receiver to play CD''s and listen to the radio is very good. In fact you really do not need to turn up the bass or treble. The factory settings are more than enough when listening to music. This unit also produces a variety of music options from Rock concert settings to Jazz to concert hall (opera I assume). (Although I do have to say that the receiver is week on getting radio stations, but that may be because my setup is in the basement.) Well worth the money. Mt System: Yamaha RX-V620 Polk Audio Lsi7 (main speakers) Polk RT 25i (Rear) Polk CS245i (Center) Polk PSW350 Yamaha CDC-685 (CD Player)

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