PinwiZ said:Nope, no HDMI. Its a fairly base model Yamaha receiver. But that being said, Yamaha's base model stuff is generally much nicer than other lower end stuff. I have an older version of this receiver and I love the sound it produces. I "upgraded" it to a mid-range Onkyo to add HDMI support, and found the Yamaha sounded better. So I took the Onkyo back and will just live without HDMI for awhile longer. Interesting. My sister has the 2002 version of the Yamaha receiver several models up from this one, the RX-V620 (MSRP $500) that claimed to have "100w/ch." Hooked up to a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7 floorstanding speakers, it started audibly distorting at only a moderately loud level (there's nothing wrong with it as far as being defective). I swapped out the Yamaha for my 30w/ch. Rotel receiver I bought in 1986 and it played at least a third louder without distorting than the Yamaha. I've driven those same speakers to the edge of tolerance/the brink of the neighbors calling the police with my 110w/ch Marantz SR880 (MSRP $1600) and when the video on that died, I replaced it with a 85w/ch. Onkyo 602 that I got a good deal on, paying $300 ($500 MSRP). My Onkyo can duplicate the volume levels, without distorting, of the Marantz, although with a bit less authority. It has one hell of a lot more real (not statistical) power than the same-priced competitor from Yamaha. This is a good price and a decent deal on a HT receiver if that is all you have to spend. I personally do not like lower priced Yamahas because they are underpowered. Yamaha spends too much money on 20+ useless digital soundstages you will never use when they should have devoted that money to a better power supply. Yamaha receivers also have poorly designed remotes with too many tiny little buttons jammed together inconveniently. However, they do sound quite nice at lower levels and although slightly different, in my opinion, Yamahas are very comparable to the sound quality of Onkyos. I have a friend who has a lower level Yamaha receiver and I will admit that both it and my sister's Yamahas had better (i.e. clearer and more pronounced) surround channel sound than my Onkyo - the arrows and bullets seemed to whiz by closer and more realistically. If you can stretch your budget a bit, uBid's got refurbished Onkyo 604s - last years model receiver with HDMI switching but not upconversion, MSRP $500 - for $240. It's a much better receiver than this Yamaha and comes with a one year factory warranty from Onkyo: Onkyo 604 for $240 @ Ubid As for the guy comparing Yamaha HTR and RX-V receivers, you don't know what your talking about. I spoke with a Yamaha engineer and he told me that if they appear similar, they are the same receiver, with exactly the same parts inside, the only differences being the number on the front of the case, the criteria they use for the specifications (they would be the same if they were testing for the same thing, but they advertise different specs using different THD levels, etc... to make them seem different), and the method of marketing. HTR receivers are sold by national chain stores and mail order firms, RX-V models are only sold by A/V specialty stores. They are exactly the same receiver, not withstanding the BS some hi-fi salesmen try to spew about superior parts in their RX-V line of receivers. If you spot an HTR cheaper than the corresponding RX-V model, save your money and buy the HTR. |