Showing posts with label hdmi receiver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hdmi receiver. Show all posts

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

Yamaha RX-V367BL 5.1 Channel 500 Watt AV Receiver (Each, Black)
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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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Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver (Black)
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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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Sony STRDG920 7.1-Channel Audio/Video Receiver Review

Sony STRDG920 7.1-Channel Audio/Video Receiver
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I needed a relatively inexpensive AV receiver with at least 3 HDMI inputs and able to send *all* inputs through the HDMI output to the TV. Onkyo TX-SR606 was the only other receiver I was able to find that met these specs, and since I have an Onkyo, I wanted to stay with that brand. The catch was that the Onkyo would upconvert non-HDMI inputs to 1080i. This Sony upconverts to 1080p. That was pretty much the only thing that swayed me. It is quite minor but I do have a 1080p LCD.
The Sony is very easy to set up. The HDMI handles every pretty seamlessly and my non-HDMI (component) items just needed the video and audio port selection done and that was it.
I like the fact you can rename any of the ports via "GUI Mode" and the speaker set up was a breeze. The microphone worked like a charm (all 1 minute of use.) Performance is pretty good for the price point. I will probably upgrade this in a couple of years when I am able to get back to a true 7.1 setup.
Highly recommend this product. I would not go as far as saying this has better audio than a Denon or Onkyo but it handles itself well..and it allowed me to rip out about 8 cables.
Connections used: three HDMI in, one HDMI out, two component (with one analog and one optical for audio) and one analog audio (soon to be optical)

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