Price Inputs/outputs Lots of sound field choices Plenty of power Easy to set up "Died" at an opportune time

Weak in the bass department Product life

This was my first purchase of an AV Reciver, and so I did not have a lot experience to draw upon, so I listened to what others had to say, and read a lot of reviews. I used this site extensively, and still do, as I see there are a lot of very smart and descriminating people who contribute (my self not included). After reading reviews at this site as well as professional reviews, I felt Yamaha was the manufacture to purchase, and the RX-V630 appeared to have many of the inputs/outputs I was looking for at a reasonable price. Over all, I think this is a good entry level receiver. Set up was reasonably easy, and had plenty of power for my medium sized listening area. I had fun playing with the couple dozen sound fields, and they came in handy for some of the music I played. However, I used really only about 2 different ones, 90% of the time. I've had my system for just short of 4 years now, and really felt I needed to upgrade. My first thought was to improve my center speaker. I was not getting the deep mid-range sound I as looking for i.e. when James Earl Jones says the line in Red October "It's a big son-of-a- *&%^", I expect to hear the rich timber in his voice... I was not. I've been using the Athena AS-C1 for center, the Athena sub, and AS-F2 for L/R, and was happy with all but the center. OK... so how does it this all relate to this receiver, and what is your point? Well, just as I was trying to figure out how to get what I was looking for in a better center speaker sound, my RX-V630 blew up. It just stopped working as I was listening to it at low levels, it just went off. It appeared there was some sort of safety fuse the would not let me turn it back on, but after several attempts of punishing the on/off button the reciever came on for a few seconds, and with a loud snap, it sent up s small wisp of smoke and all life was gone (I never said I was too smart). However, this all turned out to be very fortunate. I now had a very legitimate reason to convince my wife we needed to upgrade our receiver. Again after consulting this site, I purchased a Marantz SR-7400, and cannot believe the difference in the sound. James Erl Jones voice can thunder, and the music sounds even better. What I though was deficit in my speakers now appears to be all in the reciever! So, bottom line... Maybe a entry level reciever should not last more than 3 years, 9 months, but I think most would want it to. Secondly, If you love music and rich timber in the voices, I think there may be better choices out there.

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Marantz SR-7400

Relatively easy setup. Numerous state of the art audio/video inputs. Configurable I/O. Reassuringly solid construction and classy, uncluttered face. Great value.

Bad remote (no backlight, tiny buttons, doesn't recognize any of my far from obscure components except DVD player). Single digital coaxial input, when my cable and DVD only had dig. coax out.

This is my first component system (as opposed to an integrated bookshelf system), and I did a lot of research into the components. Listened to a number of receiver/speaker combos at local audio shops, read a lot on the web. This Yamaha receiver, which I feel lucky to have found on craiglist (new and in unopened box) has phenomenal reviews everywhere I looked. It's also still retailing for $300, even on eBay. So far I am very happy with its performance both for music, movies and digital cable TV. The single coaxial digital input forced me to get a new DVD player, but you do get 4 optical inputs. Still getting the hang of the DSP, which has numerous (and confusing to a newbie) options, but even in "auto" mode for digital video inputs and regular stereo for my CDs it sounds great (bose 301s bought on the cheap, pioneer center, nothing to see here audio snobs).

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None purchased, but Onkyo, Denon and Sony sampled in audio stores and at friends'.

everything but remote

remote, throw it away and buy a touch screen lcd besst bet

great the 70mm digital si-fi brill 6ch stereo super just great sounds all round

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sony, kenwood

*Sound quality *Component video *Optical input on the front panel *Display can be dimmed *6 CH pre-out *6 CH input *Price/Quality exceptional

*no 192kHz/24 bit processors (not a huge problem for me, hardly enough to loose sleep over) *no tone defeat *no display OFF *no apparent source direct (None of these are show stoppers)

This is a preliminary review, and I believe that it will only improve from here. I hooked it up last night to my Vandersteen 1Cs and (oddly enough) Yamaha 685 CD player. Fired it up, and sat back with a cold one. I am burning it in before I move it to the quasi Home Theater room. The characteristics of this receiver are simply this: clear and detailed yet it had plenty of body. A very good compliment to the Vandersteens, as they are laid back a bit. I listened to Fleetwood Mac's The Dance CD for awhile then switched over to Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms. Both of these were in "Stereo" mode (no DSP). I did experiment with the DSP modes a little, but have not much exposure to them in the past. Overall, I am very satisfied of this purchase, esp. for 300 bucks ($500 retail). My current HT setup is: Boston Acoustics A-40s (c. 1986) main CH, a silly Quasar 32" tube, Panasonic DVD player, and a Toshiba VCR. My plans are to upgrade the speaker system or add on to the existing. Then a new tube. Cheers!

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Carver HR-742 stereo receiver (basically nil)

-sound quality -4/8 ohm switchable -all channel pre-outs -price -lots of inputs -quality

-orange display -slow volume knob

excellent receiver, i listened to h-k, denon and onkyo, nothing comes close for the price

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several kenwood receivers, most recently a vr-409

Power Looks Clarity Sound stage imaging Low THD best DSP Programs

hummm....none

I work with live recording , and I work with audio for about 8 years now . I love Audio , High end stuff.... I have had a pro stereo System until now. I had a Mackie Mixing Console , Plus Alesis Matica 900 Power and dvd , cds etc. Amazing stereo sound , Professional sound . But I needed My 5.1... So , after doing some Home theater projects , with Mcintosh power , Meridian speakers , conrad Johnson dvd...I thought I never could Have something like that for less amount of money . But I have ! Yamaha Rxv-630 is awesome ! Amazing true power , clear sound , low THD , amazing... I have now The Yamaha with B&W Speakers , MK Sub and Toshibas Dvd-A . Buy it !!

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Denon , Rotel , Pioneer....

Well powered Great effects Sci-Fi, Spectacle and others Good build quality Many inputs/features Stereo mode very good Surround mode exceptional DTS, DD etc

Plastic volume knob lets down the overall good build quality Initial setup is difficult you must dive into the menus to setup speakers, delays etc (This is set and forget though)

Having a listen to the competition Harmon Kardons AVR3500, Onkyo and Denon and Marantz 5300 and sizing up all the features, the Yamaha stacked up the best. Great features such as Sci-Fi mode and others add some abience to the sound lifting your Movie watching experience. The Amp also runs well in Stereo mode, not quite as soft and natural as the Marantz but the amps other features such as transient attack (How fast the effects hit you) and Yamahas Home theatre research and inhouse development gives this amp the edge. You can hear the difference! Paid $1050 Aud

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I initially bought an Onkyo SR-700 and was dissapointed with the loud noise floor which was a major let down on an otherwise tidy amp. Tried all the competition as mentioned above

Solid looks. Solid performance. Great pricing. Great audio playback no matter the source.

Speaker terminals.

Price in euros.I have seen and heard many receivers in my time and yamaha has to be one of the best brands available in terms of my very own formula : "performance/quality to price ratio".I linked dvd,sat,vcr and even an old betamax to the 630 with out any need to refere to the manual.All sockets are well marked and easy to understand so even a dodo could set one up.The one and only problem i had was the speaker terminals, its about time they invent user friendly terminals.I am very pleased with its audio playback even when watching an old betamax movie.All in all i think its a great product and i think any person who whants to set up small or even a large cinema should consider using yamaha products.

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JVC. Denon. Linn. Sony.

Price -- ProLogic II 5preouts

Accessing the Options / adjustment Menu

I wasn't planning on buying the Yamaha RX-v630, because I was going to buy the Denon avr1803 to go along with my new surround system for my Apartment. What changed my mind? I tested both receivers at the same time with the same cd (Joe Satriani -live 2000). 1) Yamaha was 14db louder. If the Denon had a cleaner sound, my brother and I couldn't tell. 2) Yahama had 5 preouts compared to Denon's 2 preouts for the mains. (I figure that I will pick up an amplifier once I move into a house, which isn't for another year) 3) According to the salesman the remote should have a better layout than the Denon. (The salesman likes Denon, just doesn't care for their remotes) I would recommend picking up banana plugs, because I didn't, and it's tedious and a pain in the butt when you connect the speaker wire to the receiver. Only other negative is that I don't care for the way you have to scroll through the Options Menu to adjust surround speakers. My set up Mains: Paradigm Titan Rears: Paradigm Atom Center: Paradigm CC 170 Sub: PhaseTech Power 8 Even with the few negatives I don't regret buying this receiver.

Well Built Ample Power Easy of Setup & Use Good Multi-Use Remote Its not a BMW, but I'm not a BMW type of Guy

None so far. Everything I hoped for and more

Setting up my first 'real' HT and wanted to purchase the receiver first. Visited several stores and listened to sales rep's point out the things they liked about the different models. The more I looked, the more I kept coming back to Yamaha. It was interesting to hear salesmen try to steer you away from the Sony's, Pioneers, even some of the newer Denon models, but I never did have one say anything negative about the Yamaha's. Just the same things, over and over. Well Built, not flashy, easy to set up and use, don't have complaints after the purchase, on and on. I decided what the basic specifications were that I was looking for, then purchased the model above what I was looking for. Figured that way in 3-4 years I wouldn't be looking to replace it already. To date, everything that I had been told about the Yamaha is true. Set up and use are extremely easy. For me to say that, it must be. The remote is a little big, but you can operate everything (TV, VCR, DVD, RECEIVER) from it. Even the buttons are grouped to where you can operate it without haveing to get the instructions out each time! I am still completing my 6:1 setup, but even with my old, abused speakers, running off the Yamaha, they never sounded so good. In closing, I am just an average Joe, not an audiophile, but I did do a lot of research. Read all the reviews over and over. Went to the stores and looked and listen and asked questions. In the final analysis, the Yamaha 630 was my choice and I have not had one moment of reqret.

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Denon 1802 Onkyo SR600 Sony 975