Smooth, clean, sound. High power.

The CD-Direct & Pure-direct features are peculiar - why not make cleaner sound PERMANENTLY, rather than an option!?! Oh well.. was that a weakness?..

I would concur with much of the possitives already mentioned. Ample, clean power. The frequency response is particularly good in the low and high ends, but not over-done. The "CD-Direct" feature seems to actually have a noticable affect on the sound of CDs, things seem more up-front by just a hair - it switches to a dedicated amp when this option is on. The motor-controlled source selector and volume knob are in-audible when operating - which suggests a sign of good build quality.

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Connected to PSB 2B speakers, & Yamaha CDC-585.

Even sounding. Instruments sound like themselves. Convenient. The best sounding receiver I've found.

Lacks dynamic punch and ultimate clarity.

This is the best receiver that I have found. It has an even frequency response. With orchestral music all the instruments have correct tonality and no certain instrument (frequency) is overdone. For its price I don't think this receiver has any faults. Bright rock and bad recordings are all played very well without any edginess to set off my ears. On an ultimate scale I see two problems. First is a lack of dynamic punch. This receiver is best used with efficient speakers. With Vienna Acoustics Bach and pounding rock music, the speaker needed more punch. Kick drums and leading edge transients (which could be considered detail) could be better. This receiver does not have a torroidial transformer. Instead it uses a "dual mono" power supply setup. I think this is what causes the problem. The lesser problem is lack of clarity, imaging, and leading edge crispness. Singers and instruments are a little hazy both in detail and sounstaging placement. In summary, for a cheap receiver it sounds really great! Get some efficent speakers and the dynamics should be fine. On most music this is not really an issue. In comparison, Cambridge integrated is not even sounding. Denon is dead sounding. Sony etc. is bright and not natural as Yamaha. Teac would be my only thought as a competitor to this receiver. So if you want a receiver because you don't want the hassle of separate integrated and tuner and all the remotes the Yamaha should definitely be on your list. In my case my speakers aren't real efficient so I will go the integrated route. Probably NAD or used.

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Denon, Teac, Cambridge Audio, Sony, other mass market Japanese stuff.

natural, open and accurate from the midrange up. good imaging. great entry reciever for the begining audio junkie.

somewhat muddy mid-bass on down (although to be fair, I was listening to the reciever through bookshelf speakers). switchgear doesn't feel as robust as the Denon's. some might think the high end is too bright.

I listened to this receiver at the local Magnolia HiFi in an A/B comparo with the Denon DRA-395 through Klipsch SB-2 bookshelf speakers, audio source was a Denon CD player (DCD 1650AR ?). Source material: instrumental jazz music(not mine). These two recievers are a good comparo set as they both have similar specs, rated at 80 WPC and are in the same general price range. I started with the Denon and was fairly impressed with it's relative detail and imaging (remember we are talking basement priced components here). Next I had the saleman switch to the Yamaha. At first I thought it sounded a bit harsh, and my reaction was to lean toward the Denon. Not wanting to be hasty, I luckily continued to listen to both recievers back and forth. Why luckily? Because the more I listened, the more I realized my initial reaction was wrong. While the Denon had a more accurate mid-bass, the Yamaha was much more natural sounding in the spectrum above that level. Some might argue that the Yamaha was slightly bright in the high end, but I think it still sounded much more accurate, clear and open than the Denon. Now for the bad news, the Denon had an overall build quality that felt tactily superior to the Yamaha. That's not to say the Yamaha has cheap parts, but the volume and button switchgear felt of a higher quality on the Denon. The Denon was approximately $50 USD less in cost than the Yamaha, but I feel $50 well spent. Thumbs up to the Yamaha. If you are considering a low cost stereo reciever, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try.

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Denon DRA-395

Sound, device imputs.

Remote, no LED on volume.

I purchashed this product new after my piece -o- crap Sony gave out. I started my search by looking at Best Buy, Circut City, and ABC Wherehouse for a $199.00 special. After listening to a bunch of Onkyo, Sony, and Techniques recievers, I decided to go to a "high end" audio shop to see what they had. I listened to the Yamaha R-XV 596 and was hooked! I spent about $250.00 more that I planned, but I feel it was well worth it. I have the reciever hooked up to a complete set of Energy speakers. I have EXL-26 for the mains, EXL-16B for the rears, and a EXL-C1 for my center. I also run a JBL 12" powered sub. My movies are played through my Toshiba DVD on to my Toshiba 50HX81 widescreen 16:9 TV. Thus far-the reciever has worked great. The only real complaint is that while performing pink noise tests, I can here a small bit of bleed over into the rear speakers while testing the fronts. I spoke to the place where I purchased the unit. They told me to bring it in and they would take a look at it. The sound in DTS is, in my eyes (or ears in this case) perfect. I sometimes end up pausing the movie because I swear that there is someone in the room with me when the rears are kicking! I watched "Top Gun" on my old Sony. When I upgraded to the Yamaha, I noticed a bunch of new sounds that the Sony could not pick up. Bottom line; I am far from a "AudioPhile" but I do know what sounds good to me - this Yamaha is perfect.

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Some Sony junker

Sound, device imputs.

Remote, no LED on volume.

I purchashed this product new after my piece -o- crap Sony gave out. I started my search by looking at Best Buy, Circut City, and ABC Wherehouse for a $199.00 special. After listening to a bunch of Onkyo, Sony, and Techniques recievers, I decided to go to a "high end" audio shop to see what they had. I listened to the Yamaha R-XV 596 and was hooked! I spent about $250.00 more that I planned, but I feel it was well worth it. I have the reciever hooked up to a complete set of Energy speakers. I have EXL-26 for the mains, EXL-16B for the rears, and a EXL-C1 for my center. I also run a JBL 12" powered sub. My movies are played through my Toshiba DVD on to my Toshiba 50HX81 widescreen 16:9 TV. Thus far-the reciever has worked great. The only real complaint is that while performing pink noise tests, I can here a small bit of bleed over into the rear speakers while testing the fronts. I spoke to the place where I purchased the unit. They told me to bring it in and they would take a look at it. The sound in DTS is, in my eyes (or ears in this case) perfect. I sometimes end up pausing the movie because I swear that there is someone in the room with me when the rears are kicking! I watched "Top Gun" on my old Sony. When I upgraded to the Yamaha, I noticed a bunch of new sounds that the Sony could not pick up. Bottom line; I am far from a "AudioPhile" but I do know what sounds good to me - this Yamaha is perfect.

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Some Sony junker

Easy to use, well laid out. Clean and powerful sound. No extraneous crap, just plenty of input/outputs, amp direct, and a volume knob.

Wish volume knob had led so I could see it when using the remote. Volume buttons on remote could be a little bigger or something. Minor minor complaints.

Any friend I show it off to smiles and wonders how much I "paid for all that."

I went in for a home theater and came away with this Yamaha RX-596, a Yamaha CDC-575 and a pair of Klipsch RF-3 speakers and I don't think I could have done better for the money I spent. Home theater in this price range blew chunks for audio and was way too gimmick laden. This set-up rocks and the stupid TV sounds fine.

I guess I'm audio first, TV second.

The Klipsch speakers are efficient, so I don't see the need to go past about halfway an the receiver. Even there it can induce paranoia and make you look outside to see if the cops have shown up to tell you to "keep it down."

When listening to more normal rock/jazz/classical music, I think the soundstage, clarity, and depth are fantastic. Everything from Big Black's "Songs About *ucking" to Bach's "Mass in B Minor" sound great, especially voices and typical drum shots. Very clear. I partially credit the Klipsch RF-3 with a lot of this, but the Yamaha delivers.

When I listen to rap/hard dance I wonder if my bass gets low enough. Probably could use a sub for music that really targets the lows, so may be out of luck there. I actually suspect the speakers more than the amp in this situation. Regardless, it's minor as everything sounds really good so far and the music of which I speak is extreme anyhow. For example, the popish Jay-Z sounds really really good, whereas the thugish Mobb Deep really gets too low somwtimes.

I listen to NPR and some radio baseball, so I got the receiver. With the antenae I can also get a low power left end station downtown that I covet, but usually have trouble with, so I assume the tuner is somewhat sensitive.

Systems work together, so I felt a need to mention all components. This is a great music set-up that will do fine for TV/Playstation in a non-surround capacity.

everything one would require from a mid-range stereo receiver at an incredible price.

I admit to not being an audiophile but I do love the clear sound of great music. My previous experience was with mid-range Pioneer gear from the early 1980's. Replacing that equipment with the Yamaha RX-596 mated with the Yamaha CDC-775 CD player into Celestion Ditton 130 speakers is the best purchase I have ever made. The Yamaha units were being cleared out, but I had already decided on them, regardless of price. At $244 USD it was an absolute bargain. The sound is so crisp, the bass wonderful and ease of use terrific. Compared to my old Pioneer gear the sound is like night and day. The reproduced detail coming from my Celestion's is music I have never heard before! The jerk from Soundsurround who sold me the gear gave me a good price but gave me the wrong remote and despite letters to his manager they have never come clean. Avoid Soundsurround, but do not avoid this receiver.

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Pioneer

Record out feature, transparent sound, CD and pure direct features, banana speaker outputs. Great amplifier in general.

No subwoofer output, requires deep shelf space.

For those who choose not to upgrade to home theater, this reciever is remarkable. It provides clean power and good dampening with little effort.

I immediatly saw an improvement in the quality of the sound after purchasing this unit. I compared it with Yamaha and Onkyo units in the same price range with similar features, and I thought that this sounded the best and had the nicest features (the separate record output is especially nice).

This monster has great sound, features and plenty of muscle.

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Onkyo, other Yamaha models.

great sound for the price, nice tuner, PHONO input, EZ to use

not the best fit/finish (what do you want for $300), too big

I agree with most of what's been posted. Originally I wanted to get a higher-end int.amp.& tuner separates system, opted for this instead because it was easier to deal with and probably sounds nearly as good. And cheaper by far. Has great punch, and also that nice detailed sound Yamaha is noted for. Tuner has signal strength display, missing in most, although I wish it could tune in finer increments. Also an acceptable phono input if you still spin vinyl. Excellent value!

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NAD (early 80's model)

cheap and easy to find

horrible customer service and poor sound quality

from the day i bought this unit it emitted static through the speakers when using the remote control. eventually the volume control motor began to rattle like something was loose. when i called the autherized yamaha service center i was told that this was considered normal and not covered under warrenty. the sound quality of this reciever is barely above that of a $100 technics reciever ( very harsh). next time i will buy marantz.

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marantz stereo reciever