I have run my RX-770 almost 24 hours a day for over two years now, and it hasn't hiccuped once. As others have noted, the tuner and power amplifier are great, far above what you could expect at the price. The pre-amp seems to be the weak link. Even in Pure Direct mode it is a bit harsh.
I got around this by paying almost as much as I gave for the receiver for a Musical Fidelity X-Pre and a couple of Tesla 6922's. Now I've got an incredibly smooth, clear sound and a killer tuner to boot! The power amplifier carries enough current to thrash my Maggie 1.5's real good. My little B and W DM601's sing like birds.

I auditioned an AA Puccini, and it came nowhere near this combo, to say nothing of being short of a tuner. The thing you have to account for is the power amplifier's low (10K) input impedance. No problem for the X-Pre.

Five stars for value.

I bought the RX- 770 after waiting a month for Yamaha's AX-592 to come in. It is a wonderful amp. It makes my Polks sound great. I have nothing bad to say other than the Pure Direct switch bypasses the Pre-out/main-in connection, which I use because I get a slightly better sound when I use an external crossover for my sub.

I bought one of these three years ago to power my "back-room" system [which has a pair of inefficient AR "Classic 18" acoustic-suspension speakers]. This is an impressive receiver. It drives those [nominally 4-ohm] speakers effortlessly. The specs sheets give 8-ohm and 6-ohm ratings, but it has no problem with those speakers. The only improvement I would have liked is a kill or dimmer switch for the panel lights---I intend to keep this jewel for many many years, and don't relish burning out the display! I like it so much I also just recently bought another one for my daughter's new system.

An excellent receiver, I bought one 8 months ago to replace a 15 year old HK (which I passed down to my daughter). I use the Yamaha with a pair of SF Concertinos and Sennheiser 580 earphones, and I get excellent results. Clean sound, detailed stereo image with that combination.
As for receiver features, MW and particularly the FM tuner section are outstanding! Even with a simple wire aerial I can pull in stations I've never heard before. Variable loudness control is nice, although I generally listen with all tone controls defeated. Being able to listen to one source while recording another is also a nice touch.

My only criticisms of the RX 770 are: 1) I wish the balance control were still active even with the "Pure Direct" feature engaged; 2) I wish the tuner had a rotary tuning knob; and 3) I wish the receiver had an overall "mono" selector switch for poor quality input. Currently only the FM tuner has a mono/stereo option.

In summary, an excellent stereo receiver. Definitely worth considering.

I bought the 770 last summer, it is an excellent receiver. I have since moved it, as it was underpowered to run my Magnapans. For running my cone speakers (Infinity and Pioneer together), it had no trouble at all (85 w/Ch.). The Main In and Pre Out were an important factor in my choosing it (it made hooking up my subwoofer a cinch.) I am most impressed with its FM reception (From Phoenix, I can get Flagstaff stations 140 miles north, and Tucson stations 120 miles south most of the time.) It puts my Macintosh tuner (with the same antenna) to shame! My Receiver will come out of retirement to run my home theatre (through the pre out and main in) which is currently being planned. Note: (I haggled down the price to $500 tax included, from $550)

The Short Story:
The Yamaha RX-770 Receiver was rated by Audio/Video magazine as Best Reciver of 1997.

The Long Story:

I first purchased an RX-V592 AV Reciever to replace my collage Sansui amplifier and to allow me to upgrade to an AC3 (Dolby Digital) DVD home theater set-up when prices come down on DVD players. However, I was not impressed with the sound of the AV receiver and reprioritized my list of what I wanted in a receiver. (home theater, audiophile quality sound and price)

Well putting price first, i decided to buy a Kenwood. Then i discovered that my AV receiver was only exchangable. So reluctantly, i purchased a Yamaha RX-770 hifi receiver and spent twice as much as i would have on the Kenwood. Well was it worth it though. The Yamaha sounded five times better than it's AV sister, and the variable loudness control really impressed me. As far as receivers go, this one is top of the line.

What can I say other than for $500 and some change you can't beat this unit sonically. I must admit that I bought this unit with some hesitation. Unfortunately, my Denon PMA-700V integrated amp fried out after eleven years. The prospect of having to replacing this unit was something I didn't want to do. I didn't believe that I would be able to find another unit that could touch it performance wise especially for what I wanted to spend. After visiting quite a few stores, I was disappointed to find out that almost nobody makes a Hi-Fi Integrated Amp or if they did, the stores didn't carry them. So as a last resort and the need for a new amp, I decided to but the 770. The 770 is a close rival to my old Denon unit in almost all areas not to mention this units got a receiver! The Stereo seperation is clear and crisp and has no audable distortion. The dynamic headroom of the Yamaha is there but not in the same measure that I'm used to. At times I find that the 770 doesn't drive the low end like I would. However, this is still a very good unit that I would recommed especially at this price point. Currently, I'm using this receiver to drive a pair of Boise 601 Series II Speakers (Which I Love and would reccomend if they still made them). I'm also using a Adcom 515 Line enhancer (another must).