Great sound and build quality. Plenty of power on tap at the top end like Japanes cars!

Binding posts

Having read many of the reviews on this site i agree with some and am amased at others. I am an 18 year old student who has a keen interest in Hi Fi equipment. I also DJ in my spare time. As a result i am used to loud music. I bought the rx-v800 in order to replace my old amplifier primarily because it was a such a bargain. Initially I too thought the amp was under powered however as i have played around with it I have realised that this is not the case at all. In order to get the best out of this amp you just need to turn it up!! At above -35db the volume increases exponentially! For those of you complaining about lack of power i suggest you bite the bullet and turn your amp up. The huge heat sink is there for a reason! This amp has many strengths. I would agree that the worst thing about it are the low quality binding posts. Other than that it is sensational!

sound quality, number of digital inputs, power

I hate the wheel on the remote

I have had an RX-V800 for over a year now and am extremely happy with it. I agree with most of the reviewers in regard to the quality of sound this receiver produces - excellent. However, for those who keep questioning the 100W per channel spec your ears are pretty good because as far as I can remember they are only rated at 85W per channel RMS. Also the DSP settings are great especially for ES 6.1 HT, but I still prefer to turn of the effects settings when listening to music - especially classical. I paid quite a bit when I bought this baby so I can't really call it a bargain.

Very good surround programs Nice sound Plenty of connections for audio & video Very Good value for money

The remote control.....

I have my RX-V800 for approx 3/4 year now and I am very happy with it. It has all the connections (digital, analogue and video) that I can ever wish for. The surround programs are very good, escpecially the "enhanced" programs and the once that use the fantom rear center speaker. Only thing it misses compared to the Yamaha stereo receivers is the variable loudness control (It has no loudness at all, by the way). The remote control is a complete disaster. Enouigh said abouth that allready. I was a bit amazed to see that some reviewers claim to have too little power. In my opinion the RX-V800 has enough power. And really: does it matter if the display tells you the volume setting is -50DB or -1 DB?

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Sony QS, Onkyo (Integra), Harmann Kardon

Everthing! sound is amazing, # of out/inputs, 6.1 phantomed

the remote is a little awkward to control the volume (this receiver is so good that this is the only weakness). the remote is still very good.

This is an amazing reciever. I upgraded my 4 yr old Sony reciever with this and my god, this sounds sooo much better. Crystal clear trebel, great bass, nice on screen programming. Having a good amount of digital inputs is very nice to have! I have my progressive scan DVD player and my CD player hooked up to the fiber optics. Sound quality is amazing. The price is right too. This thing smokes all recievers in its class. It is worth double what it costs.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo, denon, Harman Kardon etc.

This is my first reciever. I chose Yamaha because my research showed it to be the best for reasonably priced recievers.

Superb audio quality. An abundance of inputs and outputs. Support for all the current digital audio streams. Clean, simple and elegant looking. Very good user manual.

Clunky remote control. Option menus that remind me of programming a 1980's VCR.

I bought the RX-V800 primarily for listening to music. Home theater and future expandability were only secondary requirements. In terms of musical quality, this receiver is as good as or better than any other mid-grade Yamaha unit. In other words, it's amazingly accurate and vivid, if a little on the bright side. The treble is somewhat overstated, but that can be compensated for by using the tone controls. I bought this receiver mainly for its digital inputs, which get along nicely with my Yamaha CD player and my PC's digital output. The RX-V800 was a very worthy upgrade to my long-toothed Rotel RA-1412 integrated amplifier. It brought new life to my 10-year-old Axiom AX2 speakers, which I eventually hope to replace with a pair of B&W DM601's. As for the home theater features, I honestly haven't had a chance to fully use them. I have no doubt, however, that I'll take advantage of the bountiful inputs, outputs and DSP modes once I get a house with a living room that's large enough to hold an actual home theater setup. I plan to keep this receiver for at least 10 years, and I'm confident that it won't let me down in the way of expandability. My only real complaint has to do with the remote control. One would think that Yamaha would have at least tried to make such a high-quality receiver easy to configure. Sadly, this is not the case. Even for a software designer like myself, it took quite a while to get used to the wheel selector and the cryptic menus. Thankfully the user manual explains the menus in great detail, and once everything is set up, there is rarely any need to use the menus again. This is an excellent product, which meets or exceeds my expectations for the price I paid ($775 CDN). A definite 5/5 for value. However, due to the annoying remote control and menus, I can only give it 4/5 overall.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RA-1412

As mentioned above, warm sound, flexible settings, adjustments, etc. and powerful enough to make my neighbors ask "What were you watching last night!"

The remote is not my favorite but does the job. It controls everything.

I would like to confirm what the last reviewer said about the volume and power of receivers. I own the RX-V800. In addition, I work at a custom home theatre store that sells the Denon 2802, 3802, 4802, and 5803 series receivers and have heard volume progressions that are very similar to the RX-V800. The unit is NOT underpowered. Do not be mislead by those who do not understand this. As a matter of fact, I have often thought that I would take my RX-V800 to the showroom to do a side by side comparison since I feel that the output of my 100 watt receiver competes with the more expensive Denon's. I am not discounting Denon. These receivers are excellant. But the power and flexibility of the 800 is outstanding for the money that I paid. If you have the extra money for other receivers, spend away, but if you want a warm, flexible, and powerful unit that will have you constantly increasing movie and music libraries, this unit sets the bar.

Similar Products Used:

Older Yamaha units.

Build quality, sound quality, flexibility

Remote

First off to all the assjacks who are complaining about the "lack of power" on this unit -- IT HAS A DIGITAL VOLUME CONTROL! The sound level gain is controlled such that it is more linear than with an analog control. Your method of rating power output based on the position of the volume knob has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER ON HOW MUCH POWER THE THING PUTS OUT! Especially MacLeod -- you''re going to run into this issue with any receiver that has a digital volume, including the AVR-2802 that you''re now running towards. IMO, that''s an inferior unit, but if you want to pay more for less performance be my guest. Yes, we do know something that you clearly don''t. Most people who own home theatre receivers will tell you that things don''t really start getting noticeably loud until you get around -40dB to -30dB. With that said -- I''ve had this unit for over a year and it''s positively the best receiver in its price range. I auditioned it compared to the Denon, Marantz, and Onkyo models in its competitive price range, and the Yamaha stood over all of them. The sound quality is very dynamic yet imparts a very nice sense of realism, especially with movies. With build quality, nobody can touch Yamaha. Don''t believe me? Ask people who sell and fix equipment for a living, they''ll set you straight.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, NAD, Marantz, Onkyo

Clean sound, user-friendly setup, does not overheat, powerful, adaptable to various speaker & room configurations

must connect s-video cable in order to utilize on-screen-programming

Cristal clear sound production, distortion free at high volume (using Mission M74 150W speakers & 150W subwoofer), superb 5.1 ch performance, highs are crisp and bass is deep and warm.

Connectivity, Flexibility, Power, Beautiful Sound Quality, 6.1 Decoding.

Maybe the binding posts if I was being picky, but I use banana plugs.

Why did I choose the Yamaha RXV-800 over the equivalent Pioneer, Sony & Denon? Build quality, the DSP selection and most importantly the sound. There have been some who have cast aspersions on the power output of this unit. Well, my standard listening level for TV is between -50db & -45db which is heaps and the loudest I''ve ever had it is -35 db when I wanted to rock the whole neighbourhood during the podrace of Star Wars Episode 1. Our home theatre room is approx 5 metres by 7 metres and this thing would crack the walls if I turned it up much louder. The power output is heaps better that the equivalent models of the brands mentioned above. I have heard people say that Yamaha amps are too "bright", but for me the beautifully crisp, clear trebles that are produced by my system are a joy to the ears, the midrange is warm and rich and the bass is tight, punchy and pure. Hotel California on Eagles: Hell Freezes Over in DTS is a sublime experience. The DSPs available are excellent and you can really change the atmosphere of the movie/concert/game you''re watching or the CD you''re listening to by choosing different DSPs. It took a while to set the receiver up and I have tinkered with some of the settings for some weeks and am now extremely happy with the result. The remote takes a bit of getting used to with the selection wheel, but after a short while it''s very easy to use and it runs every component I have. Six remotes have become one. If you can still get one of these, grab it because for the price you''ll be able to get it for (as it is now superseded) will be a steal. My system is: Receiver: Yamaha RX-V800 DVD Player: Pioneer DV535 VCR: Sony VX 925 Hi Fi Stereo Cassette Player: Yamaha KX 393 CD Player/Recorder: Pioneer PDRW839 TV: JVC 69cm Flatscreen Mains: Aaron ATS-3 Centre: Aaron CC-120 Rears: Aaron Sat-50 Sub: Aaron Sub-120.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Pioneer, Denon.