Good clarity, nice front panel switches and remote

A little short on video hookups, but not too bad.

I had the Kenwood unit (3090) and the 795a in the house at the same time. Please note that I did not listen to these with subwoofers. They are two very different sounding units. Kenwood 3090 is smooth, relaxing. The Yamaha is dynamic and "in your face" as another reviewer put it. I found I had to turn down my tweeter a bit (my speakers are also very "up front.") Call it a corvette versus a cadillac. Everything from the remote to the sound. Both sound good. But when I am hearing gun fire, I want it to scare the heck out of me. I kept hearing babies crying on a movie and had to remind myself that my youngest is now 4! That's how realistic it sounds. Hearing the growl of the lions in "Ghost in the Darkness" was cool too.
In all fairness, I did not give the Kenwood equal time. I just had no desire to.. All I wanted to do was listen to different things on the Yamaha.

I kind of wish that it had one more video hookup. It has LD/DVD and I have both. So for now I have it going into the TV/Cable connection rather than use the front panel connection (who wants to see wires sticking out in the front.. Those are for the canmcorder and/or computer connections.. both temporary)

As far as the remote, I like it. The buttons are a little small because the you've got a button for everything! The on screen display is nice too (but of course it only works with Svideo and composite video and typically I watch the DVD's using the 3 plug component video). Plus, with four kids, it's nice to have COMPLETE control over the unit from the front panel. With the Kenwood, if the remote hits the tile and explodes into a zillion pieces, you have no choice but to buy a new remote. (this grandaddy of remotes can't be cheap). Plus, with the Yamaha, you plug in everything and it works with little or no setup. With the Kenwood, this was not the case. It takes 15 minutes to figure out how to switch to video 4 and make it play in Dolby Digital..

In summary, I'm a happy camper and expect the unit to last me 5+ years (I'm sure that by then, some new technology will be out...)

These days, you can find this unit for around $400 online, although the only place in Mesa who sells it wanted $600.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood KR-V 8070 (6 years), Kenwood 3090 (1 day)
HK separates, Kensonic preamp, etc.

price, sound

lack of inputs, remote

I really liked this receiver. It works great, sounds fantastic and is very reasonable considering its list of features.

Unfortuantely, the remote control this thing comes with is pretty terrible. The buttons are puny and trying to figure out just what device you're controlling while you're watching a movie in the dark is impossible with the dumb selector wheel. Why they don't just through the 995's remote in the box, I don't know.

Also, there was a minor problem with the balance on the rear channel while enjoying music with the rock dsp mode turned on. The left rear channel was always slightly louder than the right rear channel. This only happened in the rock dsp mode, and I had to be really picky to even notice it. The other DSPs are great, especially the various enhanced dolby modes.

The only other problem I had with this guy was the lack of inputs on the back panel.

All in all, a really good entry level HT reciever.

Similar Products Used:

H/K AVR 300, Marantz sr7000

sound
DSP
power
build

This Yamaha is the best in its class. I've waited long enough to submit this review. The raings on the other recivers continue to rise and this is not on the hall of fame...where it should be.

The Sony is amazing. I think there are a lot of lemmings going over the cliff on this one. Before I even considered any of the above receiver I had to listen to them in stereo. The Sony was terrible and it was scrated from the list. I gave it several tries but it always sounded bad. I then tried the pioneer elite 21 and it was better than the SOny but didn't make me pull out my wallet.

Last was the Yamaha. It didn't have the bells of the others but it sounded great!! I bought it home and hooked it up to my B&W 601s and CC3 and Def Tech 15TL. The sound on movies is awesome. My wife was even impresse and she is NEVER impressed with this kinda stuff. Anyway, I give it five stars because I think it's an overall great buy. Get it.

John

Similar Products Used:

Sony DB930
Pioneer VSX-21
Denon ???-87

great sound, lots of surround modes, reliable

no option for four channel equal output, can't convert digital signal to analog

This was my first receiver, and overall I have been very impressed. Sound quality is excellant, and many inputs for a variety of sources. Service from yahmaha is excellent; I fried some circuits because I neglected to check the impedance of the speakers I was hooking up to the receiver, and two weeks later, I had the fixed unit back from yamaha, fixed under warranty at no cost. I happen to like the remote controller (as opposed to the opinions expressed by other reviewers), I find the dial convienent, and have not had any problems with it. One minor problem that I have run into is that there is no option for four (or five) channel equal output. There is a way to achieve this however, by plugging the rear speakers into the second main speaker inputs, but this is a hassle.

Not setting impedence switch, otherwise no weaknesses at all

Hi all,
Since I bought my RX795a I've been totally happy with it.I thought I would share a couple of points with you on some more real world user features of the receiver that a lot of other reviews seem to gloss over.

1. The RX795a has some great switches to use that other brands don't have such as:
Impedence switch - make sure you set this switch to match the impedence of your speakers, it gives you 2 options, 4 or 8 ohms.If you have any speakers in your setup that are rated lower than 8 ohms flick the switch to 4 ohms.(I have KEF speakers that run at 6 ohms, I made the mistake of leaving the switch on the 8 ohms setting and I found I cooked one of my tweeters). Setting the switch to 4 ohms makes it easier for the amp to drive my speakers.
2.Bass Extension switch - great for enhancing low frequencies only, (loudness switches enhance low and high frequencies which is undesirable).Good if you haven't got a subwoofer.
3. Tone Bypass - bypasses all the cicuitry that denigrates sound. Makes it sound warmer.
4. A/B speakers - this is great, I run another pair of speakers outside near the pool and it works great!
5. PHONO input - Hey I can still play my records

In general the sound of the amp is great, clear and powerful, with no distortion, just don't turn the volume up too quickly as this is one powerful amp, you're speakers will get a shock! I think all the sound DSP fields are great too, but after a while you tend to stick to one or two that sound best,the TV Sports field is great when you're watching sport, it enhances the crowd noise to make you feel like you're there!
Two channel stereo is great, with plenty of power and clarity, the amp would be described as slightly bright sounding, I use British KEF speakers and these tend to be a good match as the speakers have a warmer sound than American speakers, I have considered buying a ROTEL power amp for the stereo channel but I would need to do some serious listening comparisons to see if this extra expense is justified.
I have owned 3 previous A/V receivers, an Onkyo, A Pioneer and a Harmon/Kardon, all were good in their own right, but none of them had all the features I was looking for. When the Yamaha RX795a was released I had finally found what I was looking for!
The remote seems to get a lot of attention, but I think it's great, stylish, ergonomic, unusual shape, and my wife borrowed it and it turned up in her bedside drawer!(just kidding).
I'm totally happy with it and would highly recommend it or any other Yamaha product to anyone.
A final piece of advice, don't rely on magazine reviews to make you're buying decision, as they are often biased towards certain products, (I bought the Pioneer on a HIFI magazines' review without even listening to it, and then realised that the magazine was full of Pioneer advertising on nearly every 2nd or 3rd page!!)USE YOUR OWN EARS AND EYES NOT SOMEONE ELSE'S

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Pioneer, Harmon Kardon

Excellent power
Great features for the money

Like everyone else says, the remote kinda sucks

This is my third Yamaha receiver, but first home theater receiver. Once again, I am impressed with the quality of my new Yamaha. I decided to go with the 795a over the 795 for obvious reasons. The heavy duty binding posts for all surrounds was a big thing for me.
I'm very pleased with all the inputs it has. I have about everything in my room hooked up to it...my TV, VCR, computer (for MP3's), minidisc player, Sony Playstation, CD player, Nintendo, the whole nine yards. As soon as I get a DVD player, I'll be all set.
The power of this thing amazes me. I hooked my Velodyne sub to it thru the line level sub out, and does it ever rock my dorm room! My previous Yamaha had only 70 watts/ch so the 85 on this one made a huge difference. I can't wait to get my new P'digm Studio Ref. 20's for Christmas to see what this thing can really do. If you've read anything about Yamahas, you know they tend to be a little bright and the 795a is no exception. It's not a huge deal though.
As far as movies goes, I have not had the chance to try out the DD or DTS yet, but Pro Logic performs flawlessly. The Matrix sounded great!
Couple all this great stuff with the fact I got it for 500 bucks, and I don't think you can go wrong. Like I said, the only "major" problem is the remote. The notorious "wheel" is kind of annoying, but you get used to it. Also, the buttons do not light up in the dark (exept for the volume controls which glow in the dark), but also, not a huge deal. Not worth passing it up.
Hope this has helped you in some way. Email me at mmead@nd.edu if you have any questions about it! GO IRISH!

clear crisp sound, ease of set up, lots of input and output placements, quality product

Not sure haven't used it enough to know..personally im not one for all the different effects...however I don't have a dvd hooked up to it yet.

I don't have a lot of audio file experience...i just upgraded from they sony av control center that I bought 12 years ago from 47th street photo and then it was top of the line sony!!

So far I am enjoying my yamaha receiver 795a. After reading all of the reviews on here it seems as if this was they way to go. I had looked at onkyo, dennon, and sony products that were similar to the yamaha. I listened to all of them and found this one to offer the most for the price!

In the future I will be hooking up a dvd player and surround sound speakers to this unit.

I have to thank those of you who reviewed this product and others which in turn helped me make one of the best decisions ever. You made the searching a lot easier.

I also purchased the yamaha 905 cd changer which goes very nicely with it.

Similar Products Used:

sony av control center (12 years old)

Great sound, on-screen menus, S-Video switching.
DTS support, I guess - but there aren't that many titles with it yet.

Silver remote? What kind of weird idea is that?
...and what about that lousy wheel selector?

I just got my RX-V795a (the store had lent me an RX-V495 for two weeks - the 795a wasn't in stock) and I must admit I'm quite pleased with it so far.

It *is* more powerful than the 495 (I felt it as soon as I plugged it in) and I must admit the on-screen menus and S-Video switching features are greatly appreciated here.

The receiver's display panel is much better than the RX-V495's but I must sadly conclude that the 495's remote control was a little better (smaller, no lousy wheel selector and, especially, no silvery cargo ship look). Furthermore, I haven't been able to get my Sony 27" TV to power on/off with the universal remote - it worked with the 495's - although I tried both listed codes. The rest of the features work though (changing channels, video source, etc.). And has anyone actually figured out a nice way to navigate the menus on a Toshiba DVD player? I always have to switch between "DVD/LD" and "DVD Menu" to accomplish anything.

Anyway, as you don't usually buy a receiver for its remote control, and considering that everything else about this specific model pleases me to a great extent, I guess this one could be described as a great product.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX-V495

Front AV Input, Compact size, Good versatility

Remote and sound

Well this was the replacement for the HK AVR-45 that sounded OK, but was very kludgy in setting modes and had no phono preamp. The Yamaha was a terrific improvement, but it sounds rather harsh and the remote is very confusing as the wheel is easy to get wrong. I am using the Yamaha with an external Moscode power amp for the front speakers (Infinity RS 2.5) as there's no way the receiver is going to drive these low impedance power sinks. Even so it gets harsh when I listen carefully. Sigh.


BTW- great FM tuner in this unit, and I got it for $502 after coupon discounts and rebate through local Circuit City.

Similar Products Used:

HK AVR-45, Denon 2800

Dolby digital and dts, 85Wx5, 3 digital inputs

remote

Brought my Yamaha595a back to the store and picked up the 795a after a only a week of use. Reasons I stepped up to the 795a are: speaker binding posts for all speakers, the 595a only had binding posts for main speakers. Digital input for my CD player, 595a didn't have one. A little more power (85Wx5 compared to 70Wx5). This one may sound strange to some but the 795a has a lighted volume knob where as the 595a does not. And last was price,it was only a $100 to upgrade to the 795a (thanks to a store coupon). Overall I don't have a bad thing to say about the 795a ( the remote is a diffrent story). It has plenty power, the dolby digital and dts sound awesome, it has more than enough A/V inputs and outputs(for me anyway), it has great FM reception, and the cinema dsp function is a nice feature. The only disapointing thing is the remote. It is not backlit only a few glow in the dark buttons and the selector dial is a joke. But remote aside I give the 795a 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 595a