Yamaha RX-V1400 vs RX-v 640 (1 Viewer)

[carter]

Calling on the experts and oweners of these Yamaha's.
I was given the 640 for Christmas and have not really tested it much yet,as I returned the Bose speakers that were gifted as well, and have not replaced them yet. My dealer is willing to make the swap up to the 1400 which will cost me $200 extra. My question is, should I go for it considering that I'm still trying to save up for the new speakers(what I don't know yet). I know the 1400 is a step up, just wanting to know exactly what the significant differences are in these two models. I probably should mention that my room is 16x20 with trey/vaulted ceilings and hardwoods, which will probably make for some difficulties with acoustics. I'm thinking the extra power of the 1400 may help out some. Although I have not settled yet on speakers, I know I will be going with bookshelves. Thanks for any help.
** By the way, since finding this forum right after Christmas, I also returned the 4:3 60 inch Mitsubishi that my wife gave me for a 65413 widescreen. The upgrade -itis is killing me already.

 

[Jesse Sharrow]

Well I know for X-mas I bought a RXV-440 as a gift. I just now upgraded to the RXV-1400 and I have absolutly no regrets. I love it to death. It made my boston's sing. The sound is still the same. I just have more dynamic range and detail, with alot more headroom.

What I would personally do is this... Talk to the retailer/salesperson, explain your situation and still see if he is willing to let you upgrade even after you get your speakers. Get your speakers, maybe just one pair for now and listen to it. If you think you need more... upgrade!

 

[MuneebM]

Get the Yamaha RX-V1400, you'll love it and it'll definitely be more powerful and have more dynamic range than the 640. I have the RX-V2400 and I am extremely happy with it!

 

[carter]

Thanks for the input guys. I really didn't figure I would get much help on this one and that anyone who did would say go for the upgrade. I am just trying to justify it to myself since I am trying to save up for some speakers.
At any rate, I just don't want to have that remorse in a few months.
One question if I do go with the 1400... I have read on a another thread about the DPLII, and that apparently the newest manufactured 1400's have DPLIIx, right? Being a newbie to HT, that is pretty foreign to me. I know that my dealer has the 1400 in stock, though I don't think it is the DPLIIx models. Should I wait for that or just go with what they got? Any help?
Decisions, decisions:frowning:

 

[Roger Q]

You may be able to get the dealer to send the receiver to Yamaha. They'll do the upgrade for free. The problem for people who have the receiver set up already is that they have to break down their system to get the upgrade. It sounds like your dealer is accomodating.

You may not need it now, but for resale or for future proofing I'd get the upgrade done. In addition to 2.1/5/1 to 7.1 it's also got a gaming mode.

 

[ZachT]

Get the v1400. I looked at it then went cheaper and got the v540. Then upgraded to denon-1804. Then went back and got the v1400. So I lost alot of time with the v1400. Its a great reciever. Best bang for the buck. You will love it. It bought my speakers to life. Ty

 

[HarryPluta]

I was in a very similar position. I was gifted the RX-V1400 and had to pick speakers. After much listening I know what speakers I want, but will have to wait a bit to afford them. While I am waiting I first tried a set of Peavey Studio monitors I own, even though I have a funny shaped room, the YPAO in the Yamaha set them up perfectly and the sound was just too sweet, unfortunatly they are not shielded and really made pretty colors on my TV:frowning: .

I then "upgraded" to a couple of small bookshelfs and a Bose cube I had laying around. Reset the system to drive a 6 ohm set, run YPAO again and another pretty good sounding setup. However that was only three speakers. Finally I decided to purchase an inexpensive 6.1 speaker set, the Onkyo 510 set from BB. Reset to 8 ohms, run YPAO, and sit back to enjoy a few flicks. While the Onkyos have no where near the dynamic range I want, having a matched set of speakers and a subwoofer all balanced by the Yamaha amp has given me a system I can listen too while I browse eBay in search of the perfect speaker set up.

Being able to move the speakers around and then just run YPAO to rebalance them is fantastic. I tried doing some tweeks to the setup that it gives, but found that I could not really improve on the experiance. I have yet to even begin discovering what this receiver is capable of. In addition to DTS and Dolby Digital, the PLIIx is very impressive, even TV movies sound great.

Enjoy,
-harry

 

[Evan M.]

I would do the upgrade too. I went from a rx-v620 to the 2200 a few years back and the difference was pretty big. Like Jesse said, it "sounded" the same but added a lot more dynamics. If you returned the Bose you must be rolling in cash for new speakers because of the price of those things .