Thoughts on the new line of Yamaha RX receivers… (1 Viewer)

[Matt_Smi]

As some of you may know (from a previous post) I am looking to replace my three year old Sony STR-DE545 receiver. My budget is $400; so far I have looked at and considered the Onyko 601, Denon 1804 and now the Yamaha RX-V650 which I found for $405 shipped (link below). It seems like a great deal and the receiver seems to be feature packed, 7.1 in a $400 receiver is pretty unheard of. I have e-mailed Onkyo and Denon and they said that new models of their receivers will be out by the end of the summer. So I guess I might want to wait and see what they have to offer in there new receivers. I can wait, it’s not like the Sony stopped working or anything. But some input from any owners of these new Yamaha’s would be nice, Thanks.


Link to Yamaha RX receiver lineup
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/R...R/REC_RX-V.htm


Link to RX-V650 for $375
http://www.bestbuyplasma.com/plasma/...REF_Y_DEALTIME

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Matt,

The following link taks you to the impressions I made regarding my new Yamaha HTR-5760 receiver, which is quite similar to the new RX-V650. Also, some other great contributions have been made from some of our other forum members here who have also purchased the same receiver:

Link to mini-review of HTR-5760

 

[Matt_Smi]

Wayne, thanks for posting that thread, lots of good info in there! And it helped with some of the confusion between the RX and HTR lines. I see that the HTR-5760 can be had for $350 from www.etailelectronics.com, seems like a very good deal, but the warranty issue concerns me, I am not sure if Yamaha would honor my warranty if I bought it from that site. And I am positive that if I bought the RX-V650 from the link in my above post that Yamaha would not honor my warranty. I could buy the RX-V650 from JR.com for $500, according to Yamaha’s website they are an authorized retailer. It is above my budget but maybe it would be worth it for the peace of mind? I also just realized that I could get it at Best Buy for $500 and avoid shipping costs. Onecall.com should be getting the new HTR-5760 in soon, so I guess I could wait and see what kind of price they have on it as well.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Matt,

Personally, I'd check with J&R regarding the HTR-5760. J&R is authorized to seel the HTR series of receivers on-line. I'd get them to match the price of Etail Electronics, so you'd still get the great price ($350 + approx. $20 shipping) and the warranty service would still be honored by Yamaha.

 

[Matt_Smi]

The price match is a good idea, but on J&R's website under there price match policy it states "J&R works hard to bring you low prices. If you have found a better price for an item at another authorized dealer"

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Matt, It's still worth a try. But, even at $399 for J&R and the free shipping, you are essentially only paying about $30 more to get a receiver with a warranty that's covered by Yamaha.

 

[John Brill]

Matt, you mentioned that you might wait until Onkyo and Denon release their new models... also, if you wait another 8-10 months, Yamaha will come out with the RX-V660 and, I've heard, in 16-20 months, the RX-V670! Can you imagine what that thing will carry?

Kidding aside, I was in a similar spot 5 months ago. If I wait, something better may come along. In the end, my AVR has lots of nice features that I've only used once when I set it up :b

When I came to the final realization that, for me, all that really mattered was 5.1 surround sound (though my AVR does 6.1) that could fill my room with sound. The rest really are just bells and whistles.

JB

 

[Wayne Ernst]

John, Very good point.

About the only time I'd wait on an item is if it was a pre/pro where the cost was in excess of $2k and the newer model had the "die hard" features that I truly needed ... and, I had a more than capable receiver or pre/pro on my shelf that could get me through the wait period.

If in the market for something for under $500, I would never wait for the next greatest thing. There are lots of good choices out there right now in this league.

I also believe Circuit City has the Onkyo receiver (601) for $399 on sale this week. $100 off.

 

[Matt_Smi]

I think I am going to stretch my budget to under $500. I found the RXV650 at an authorized online dealer for $450 and free shipping here http://www.abtelectronics.com/script....php3?id=15025 that seems like a good deal. But then if my budget is $500 it is tempting to go for the RX-V750, its $470 from etronics. But then again no warranty, but I suppose I could buy the 2 year service plan they offer for $30.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Matt,

I think either one will do you fine (650 or 750.) While these receivers don't have the Parametric EQ like the 5790/1400/2400/Z9 models, they still sound and perform mighty fine.

Also, thanks for the heads up on ABT. It's good to know of authorized vendors for these things.

 

[John Brill]

Hmm, the 5wpc more and phono input wouldn't be enough for me to take the step up to the RX-V750... The on-screen display might though but I've lived without it quite easily in the past. If budget is an issue for you, all the "upgrades" to the RX-V750 aren't worth it if you could use the money elsewhere with more bang for the buck (i.e. speakers and sub)

Cheers,

JB

 

[Matt_Smi]

John, I was comparing the two directly and there are not many differences between them at all, certainly not enough to warrant paying an extra $100 or more. Like you mentioned the 750 has 5 more watts (big deal) and a phono input (don’t need one). It also comes with an learning remote with an LCD display, which I would not even use since I already have a universal touch screen remote. And the only other difference I could find between the two is that the 750 can up convert to component, where the 650 can only do up to S-video. Both receivers actually have an on screen display however. The differences between the two are not much, nor at they groundbreaking and half the step ups the 750 offers I do not need or would not use, so in other words I’m sticking with either the 650 or the 5760. I thought that maybe the 750 would use higher quality internals, but since both receivers weigh the same 27.8 pounds, I doubt that it does. Anyway thanks for pointing out that the 750 is not much of a step up over the 650!