Yamaha RX-V665BL 630 Watt 7-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I chose the Yamaha V665 after careful comparison with other units, and was very impressed with ease of setup and features. The sound quality is excellent, and while I had initial concerns with power output, at 90 watts it demonstrates more useable power than my previous NAD unit at 100 watts. I particularly like the four "Scene" buttons which allow linked input sources and sound fields and switch the unit on with one action. Contrary to other reviews on Amazon you can easily assign whatever input you wish together with a preferred sound field and assign it to any of these buttons. On the downside, you cannot assign different tone adjustments to these four "Scenes" which means I have to manually attenuate the bass to listen to spoken radio broadcasts which tend to create disturbing bass reverberations at times.
However the one big disappointment, which because of its nature I only discovered too late to return the unit (and I would not have purchased this unit had I known beforehand) is evident when a TV input from some (possibly all?) cable boxes is connected to the unit and passed through using the receiver as a switching unit (one of the key features of any modern receiver after all). In this mode the signal is subject to frequent dropouts of sound and video. Some days these dropouts are hardly evident and only for a fraction of a second, other days they are frequent and last long enough to leave the screen blank for a second or two or to delete entire words on the audio track. This happens with every possible connection I have tried, whether HDMI or component video (I have also tried monster cables to no avail). I have since seen other reviews reporting this same problem on other Yamaha units. My cable box is Time Warner but there are similar reports with Verizon Fios, so the problem seems endemic. Updating the current Yamaha firmware seems to have no effect.
There are always so many variables that it is difficult to track down the source of the problem, and I would hate to criticize Yamaha unfairly, but as the problem apparently occurs throughout the Yamaha product range, it would seem wise to hesitate on purchasing Yamaha until this problem is resolved.

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Yamaha RX-V665BL 630 Watt 7-Channel Home Theater Receiver

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Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I needed to replace a couple of old receivers so I found a great deal on the RX-V1065 and RX-V765 on Amazon. I ended up getting both of them for aboout what 2 V665's would have cost me a a Big Box store. I first setup my Main Theate Room with the 1065, I thought it was somewhat difficult to get everything the way I wanted it but the automatic speaker setup was slick and the sound is fantastic compared to my old Sony I had previously. The Menu system takes some getting use to but once you do it's not bad to navigate. All in all I was pretty darn happy with my purchase, My JBL's sounded much better then before and although I didn't really notice any difference in video quality, it was as good as before and now I had everything coming thru the same box. Surround sound was a huge step up from my old receiver also, you are almost looking behind you now because you'd swear someone is behind you, where on my old Sony it was more or less a quieter front speaker.
I then went to hook up my 765 in my cave TV room, first thing that I noticed was that is basically identical to the 1065, sure the menu system is not as polished but as far as the functionality that I need it is the same. I have a few year old Bose surround sound in this room with a JBL center chanel speaker and what a HUGE difference this receiver made over my old Onkyo, the Onkyo was really good for music but surround sound was sub par, but it was 10 years old I guess. Granted I'm only hooking up a Xbox 360, blue ray and TV in this room but watching Vikes beat up the the Packers in surround sound with this receiver was great, I haven't figured out which sound field I like best but there are a couple perfect for sports.
One of the coolest things was when I grabbed the TV remote from my Samsung LCD by mistake to turn the volume down and it says RX-V765 un the upper corner and starts to tun down the volume of the receiver from the TV, displaying the volume the whole time it's changing. I guess that Anynet capability on the Samsung TV's with a HDMI reciever gives you a few more bells and whistles. Also really cool is when I turn on the Xbox or turn off the TV the receiver will come on or off accordingly. I haven't setup the remote for additionaly devices yet, but it seems to be easy to use and is exactly the same for the 765 and 1065, I actually expected the remote to be better for the 1065 so i was a little disapointed when I saw it, but in using it it seems OK/
One thing I do not like is the Zone 2 ability on the 1065, I almost wish is was more or less a A/B speaker selector, I have a normal 5 speaker surround setup, in addition to that I have 2 speakers in the kitchen, right behind the TV room which are connect to Zone 2 that when I'm listening to music we like to have on so that you have more sound. The problem is that Zone 2 running the same input as the Main Room is off by a few fractions of a second and if you stand right between the 2 rooms, it sounds like the song is a half a second behind in the kitchen, I tried the lipsync thing, which only made it worse, I haven't given up on it yet, but it's not obvious how to fix this.
Bottom Line -
Both the 1065 and the 765 have more inputs than I know what to do with.
Neither have HDMI on the front, I didn't want it anyway, as I think it looks stupid to set all your equipment up and then have a big cable hanging off the front of your system anyway. That's why the put the jacks on the back, right???
May not have quite as many sound fields as some others out there, but I pick the 2 or 3 I like for movies, sports and music anyway and don't care about the rest.
The YPAO is cool and works great to setup the speakers.
The onscreen Menu is better on the 1065 but adequate on the 765.
HI-DEF Radio sounds amazing on both.
Don't think I will ever use the remotes as universal remotes, but they are adequate for running the receivers.
I cannot comment much on the video conversion, as everything I am running is HDMI and looks the same as it die running straight into the TV.
Sound on both of these is fantastic, even at volumes that start to hurt, the sound is clear, the bass is crisp not slow and there is no distortion, my old receivers would make my speakers start to hiss at a much lower volume, and these receivers never do.
Save yourself some money though get the 765, once it's all setup and you don't need to go into the menu anymore, you'll never notice the difference.
I read a lot of reviews and narrowed it down to Onkyo and Yamaha, at last second I pulled the trigger on Yamaha and for what I paid on Amazon for the 2 of them I am thrilled with my purchase

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Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver

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Yamaha BD-S1065BL Blu-Ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)When Dorothy and crew approached the castle of the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, she encountered a old, dilapidated wooden sign that read . . . "I'd go back if I were you", and this expresses my sentiments perfectly for anyone considering the Yamaha BD-S1065 Blu-Ray Player. As a diehard Yamaha fan, I truly wish that I could offer prospective buyers of the Yamaha BD-S1065 something 'positive' about this particular player, because I've been a staunch supporter/consumer of all things 'Yamaha' for many years. The fact is, they make some of the finest home "audio" components available anywhere, but I'm afraid the same cannot be said of their "video" gear including the BD-S1065.
Let me say at the outset that I own the Yamaha RX-V863BL A/V (home theatre) receiver ($600) and its an awesome unit! I also own a full line-up of Yamaha home theatre speakers including the Yamaha NS-C444 center speaker ($150), two Yamaha NS-B750 bookshelf speakers ($1200/pair), and a Yamaha YST-SW315 sub-woofer ($250), all of which operate flawlessly for me. So it seemed to make perfect sense to trust in the purchase of a new Yamaha BD-S1065 blu-ray player ($400) for our developing home theatre system. But unfortunately, that trust was completely shattered when I connected and evaluated the BD-S1065.
The first unit I received had more problems than I care to articulate (right out of the box), but the single most troublesome flaw was that it took the player "eons" to load a new (standard issue) blu-ray disc. I mean it took literally 4-5 continuous minutes of scanning the disc before anything at all appeared on the television screen, and even then, it would re-enter yet another secondary "reading" phase that made the unit completely unusable in practical terms. I tried it on multiple discs of variable manufacture, and it misbehaved the same on each and every one of them. However, it also had a grossly outdated version of firmware, so being the optimist that I am (i.e., thinking that this might be the source of the problems), I foolishly went to the trouble of downloading the newest version of firmware from the Yamaha website to a CD/R disc via home computer and then transferring the new firmware to the BD-1065. Unfortunately, despite the firmware update, the problems all continued. In fact, some additional issues arose after the update including completely random stoppage of blu-ray discs right smack in the middle of viewing a movie (almost like a screensaver event)! Weird! Very-very weird. And significantly, the faulty behavior could not be duplicated using the same discs with a PlayStation 3 (PS3) or other (Samsung) blu-ray player.
Fortunately, Amazon has always been great about returns, so I sent the unit back for a replacement. A week later, the second (new replacement) BD-S1065 arrived, so I plugged it in (just as before). To my utter dismay, all of the same issues or problems with the first unit were present with the 2nd (replacement) unit including protracted load times, excessive and multiple disc readings, random stoppage of the disc in the middle of playback, etc., etc. And believe me, the list of headaches goes on from there! In each instance, I used brand new blu-ray discs all of which played without incident on a blu-ray equipped PS3 and similar Samsung unit, and in each instance, I was able to repeat the problem by returning the disc to the Yamaha BD-S1065. End of story.
Bottom line? This unit is NOT worth considering for your blu-ray needs. Sorry Yamaha, but I'd recommend that people look elsewhere for their blu-ray needs.

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Yamaha BD-S1065BL Blu-Ray Disc Player

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Yamaha RX-V367BL 5.1 Channel 500 Watt AV Receiver (Each, Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)We had a very old audio only receiver and were looking to replace it (almost 10 year old technics). We picked up the Yamaha RX-V367, even though there were no reviews, since the receiver was just released, and it was in our price range (200 to 300). So far we are happy with the new receiver; it is connected to the satellite box, xbox, and blu ray.
Speaker set up: Set of Polk Rti8 (left right and center), and klipsch Klipsch Synergy Series SS.5 rear surround (left and right). The sound coming from the speakers was MUCH better than from our ancient receiver.
Not a fan of the Sound Field Programs, seems too much like a gimmick, and only adds an echo depending on what setting (one setting might effect the vocals more, or another setting might effect the music), but I imagine some people would enjoy that. Has many audio processing options, works great with Netflix streaming, set it to 5ch stereo and it will work great; can clearly listen to what's playing (netflix only streams in 2ch stereo). Mainly use the "Straight" audio processing setting (for xbox and blu ray), I assume the receiver doesn't add any extra "audio goo", and plays direct from the source.
Good video quality, no noticeable video deterioration. Yamaha says it's compatible with HDMI 1.4 and will support 3D (with a firmware upgrade). Not that interested in 3d TVs anyways.
Clear and easy to use menu system (compared to my old technics receiver), competent directions, fairly user friendly.
Has 4 HDMI inputs which was much better than many of the competitors in the same price range. We didn't test the FM/AM tuner, and only connected HDMI and RCA from computer. We were also swayed by the extra bluetooth adapter so we can listen to music (and hopefully stream Hulu audio) wirelessly from the computer (and get rid of the airport express). Will update review after getting bluetooth.

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The Yamaha RX-V367BL 5.1-Channel AV Receiver is a great value-priced receiver to help take your home theater experience further. It features the latest HDMI specifications (4 inputs/1 output) with 3D-readiness (with firmware upgrade), 1080p HDMI repeating, and renowned Yamaha technologies like SCENE and CINEMA DSP. Expand your options even further with optional docks (sold separately) to add your iPod, iPhone, or Bluetooth sources.

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