Sherwood RD6513 100 Watt 5.1 Dolby Digital Receiver (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was a little leery of purchasing a Sherwood product, since I'd never owned one, and You don't see their product on a lot of store shelves.
This unit is top notch. If I had actually seen this in a store, I wouldn't have flinched at a price double what I paid for it.
It's got features I'll probably never use, but to sum it up, You can probably route every bit of your Entertainment center through it, and at least to some degree control all of it (on off, volume, station selection, Play, ff, rewind, etc. . .) It has automatic and manual Surround speaker balancing, and the mic for balancing is included.
I would buy it again, and if You're warranty minded, Beach offers their own warranty, which you can purchase within 30 days of original purchase for under $25.

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Yamaha HTR-6230BL 500 Watt 5-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I recommend this unit highly. It would get five stars if it was a bit less complicated. But it does so much so perhaps that is inevitable. The remote has fifty-nine buttons! So far I have used about ten. Maybe when I get around to controlling my CD player from this remote I'll use some of the others, and need one less remote too. Currently I am using it as a stereo receiver with a Yamaha CD player, with two Polk side speakers and a Polk sub-woofer.
I am very pleased with the sound [I do not consider myself an audiophile but I do enjoy my music, classical, opera and rock mostly]. Plenty of volume, more bass available than I need but that part is easy to adjust. The room where I have this unit is 20' by 25' with a 12' celing, and there's no problem filling it with sound. Rock on!
I am impressed and consider it very good value for money too.


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Yamaha HTR-6230BL 500 Watt 5-Channel Home Theater Receiver

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Yamaha HTR-6140BL 525 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)Since the time of my review, there are only two reviews, a 5 star and a 2 star, the 2 star being based on a supposed bad remote and manual. I thought I had to set things straight. I've owned many other brand receivers and both Yamahas I've owned are great. The sound quality is excellent and the only problem I might see with someone not liking the manual is that Yamaha has so many features and options it might scare away the type of person that likes to use it out of the box without barely any set up. As for the remote I see no problem with it... it's attractive, functional, all features on it work so I don't understand what's not to like. Sound quality and construction of the unit are also superior. After having other receivers in the past that burnt due to overheating and had a dry, radio like sound, I think I'll stick with Yamaha from now on. Their "music enhancement" setting makes all sound including voice sound so incredibly warm and rich that I use this setting for everything and prefer it to any other setting. Yamaha receivers are also extremely low distortion. You will be very plesantly surprised with this receiver as long as you can follow instrucions and read a manual, even if you don't like doing this, the pay-off is worth the initial effort.

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The Yamaha HTR-6140BL 5.1-channel digital home theater receiver offers a wealth of entertainment features that will enrich your audio and video experience. This high-performance home theater receiver boasts 1080p-compatible HDMI, and it's ready for XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio. The Yamaha HTR-6140BL is also iPod and Bluetooth compatible. Other innovative features include CINEMA DSP for full surround sound, YPAO sound optimization and speaker setup, and 4 SCENE buttons for quick setup of audio sources.

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Yamaha HTR-6130BL 500 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)First I confess. I am technically challenged--I have trouble working a cell phone. But the manual was VERY detailed, if somewhat overwhelming, and the connections were easy because of labels and diagrams. As mentioned, the HDMI connection only passes the audio through to the TV--will not route it to the surround sound speakers.
So I knew I needed a second audio connection for my dvd and cable inputs, but I still had trouble getting any sound from the speakers from my DVD player and had to call tech support. They explained that this unit was designed before HDMI and that the connections were added later as a pass-through for convenience. I wondered why they would have designed it that way to start with--turns out they didn't! But all is well that ends well.
Tech support was EXCELLENT. Although I had connected everything properly (digital coax audio cable for DVD), they walked me through the set up menu choices to get the sound working properly. They even helped me with the settings on my Sony blue ray player! Saving the setup via scene buttons will allow me to to recover the settings without remembering the details.
The first movie I watched, I thought I was in a theater!


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High-value receiver with an impressive array of features and technologies to enhance the audio/video experience, including HDMI switching with 1080p video pass-through, iPod and Bluetooth audio compatibility, CINEMA DSP, Compressed Music Enhancer, and four SCENE buttons.

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Yamaha RX-V765BL 665 Watt 7-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I had been looking at several of the Yamaha models through the spring of 2009, as well as its competitor's (Sony, Onkyo, Denon), for an upgrade of my ancient Sony receiver (one of the first Pro-logic receivers). I just installed a set of Definitive Technology Mythos speakers ordered through Amazon.com, including a power-hungry Mythos Three center channel. I wanted this receiver to be the core of my Home Theater as it's primarily use for improving my Sony Blu-ray and TiVo Series3 HD DVR experience.
Sports, such a baseball is vivid with the upscale feature from 1080i to 1080p (although it has not yet improved the performance of my Seattle Mariners). 1080i broadcast shows such as Chuck, both sound and look great.
The optional YDS-11SL iPod dock works well with both a 4th generation Nano and an 80G iPod Classic, including the videos.
What is worth the wait is the clean layout on the back, the heft of the discrete amp, and the Blu-ray friendly support with both the scene button and the Decoders for HD audio formats: Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Yes they do make a difference in your home theater experience.
The audio calibration microphone works as advertised. Silent Cinema (headphone mode) is also a nice feature.
What could be improved - You need to keep the manual next to you for the first week to figure out some of the controls such as accessing all of the iPod controls with the dock. I was also sorry to see HD Radio(tm) missing from this "top of the mid-range" Yamaha's. The older RX-V863 has it, but this one doesn't. Also the four scene buttons are not programmable. I wanted to program the TV scene button for my TiVo (HDMI #2), no luck.
In the end, if you are looking for a quality receiver that performs well on both movies and music, and can drive your amp hungry speakers to their potential, look no farther that this RX-V765. It really was worth the wait.

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Yamaha RX-V765BL 665 Watt 7-Channel Home Theater Receiver

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Yamaha RX-V463BL 525 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this reciever based on a review I read from audioholics and I figured why not just post it for everyone to read. I couldn't agree more with their review. It is a solid receiver for the $299 amazon price.
2008 has started off with some amazing prices and features being offered on budget A/V receivers. Just as the new high-end receivers gain new features and new technologies, so do the receivers on the low end of the price spectrum. This is the first time that basic HDMI functionality has been offered on receivers for under $350. This is a winning situation for everyone. Most would think that $350 would not get you anything of quality and in the past that would be correct; Not so anymore. The RX-V463 is a feature laden piece of gear that far from your budget receiver of the past.With impressive audio processing power the Yamaha RX-V463 dives into territory once occupied by receivers costing twice as much or more.Those features include things such as 192kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels, 6-channel external decoder input, iPod and Bluetooth compatibility (via optional Yamaha YDS-10 YBA-10 docking modules) and YPAO for automatically optimizing the sound in your room. And if thats not enough for you then how about 3 HDTV compatible component video inputs, 8 DSP programs, a compressed music (MP3) enhancer, and the ability to view iPod song titles displayed on the front panel and OSD, Dolby Digital and DTS processing, and XM- and XM HD-ready. That is one heck of a feature set for a sub-$350 receiver.
With a rated power of 100 watts x 5 the RX-V463 is no pansy when it comes to power either. Yamaha has offered more bang for your buck than most for a while now, and this budget receiver continues in this tradition. And with Yamaha's power ratings being very conservative, it is not unreasonable to think this little receiver will beat its rated specs. In short, there is more than enough power being offered here.
In addition to dual HDMI switching inputs, there are three component inputs, three S-video inputs, and three composite video inputs - each with one output as well. For audio, five analog stereo inputs, 6.1 analog inputs, two TOSlink inputs and one coaxial digital input round out the receiver. The RX-V463 also has real binding posts instead of those cheap spring clip terminals that so often plague other budget units.Like all of the newest Yamaha receivers, setup is could not be any easier with the addition of the on-screen Setup menu. This is a noteworthy feature in itself on a budget receiver. While it is not as advanced as the system found on more expensive Yamaha receivers, it is accurate and easy. Also offered is a new feature called SCENE buttons. SCENE buttons are like macros that are preprogrammed to launch a variety of commands. Build quality is very good and the unit weighs a solid 17.6 lbs. This is a great budget receiver.


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High-Performance Home Theater Receiver offering many advanced functions including 1080p-compatible HDMI, XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio ready, iPod and Bluetooth compatibility, CINEMA DSP,YPAO sound optimization, and four SCENE buttons.

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Pioneer VSX-920-K 7.1 Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I got this to replace the VSX-820-K, which I liked but had few shortcomings, such as the requirement to use an analog video connection to the TV if you want to use the on screen menu. Got this at a non-Amazon retailer for well under the $399 MSRP.
Looks and design: Classy black - got the spouse approval. However, like the 820-K, the cover of the front USB and video/audio ports is not connected to the receiver - it's a piece of plastic that you have to take out completely if you want to hook up a USB device or any source to the front connectors. I wish it had a permanent connection because I can completely see it getting lost. Reduced one star for this.
Sound: Great. I used to have a 10-year old Denon 5.1 receiver which I loved. I think that sound quality of this Pioneer with movies is pretty much the same as my old Denon. The sound quality when playing plain music though is much much better than the Denon - just cleaner. I don't consider my self an audiophile, but I'm very happy with the sound (connected to a 5.1 Onkyo speaker set up).
Video over HDMI looks good. My Wii is connected through analog RCA cable to the receiver and the video is up-converted (if that's the correct term) and comes through the single HDMI connection to the TV. Motorola Cable box and Media Center PC are also connected through HDMI and work great with no issues at all. No need to switch inputs in my TV anymore which simplifies life and the macro operation of my universal remote control.
Setup is pretty usual for receivers, you will not understand many features and setup options unless you bother reading the instructions.
Power: Seems to have to crank up the volume much higher than I used to with my Denon receiver and the sound is not even with that of my Home Theater PC (i.e., same volume level can hear the PC great but when I switch to cable I have to crank up the volume to get a decent sound - it may be a problem with the cable box outputing lower levels but I wish the receiver was capable dealing with that and make the volume level even with all sources).
Overall for a little over $300, to get a 3D capable receiver from a reputable manufacturer such as Pioneer, with 7 channels, up-conversion and USB support is pretty amazing value. I am very happy with my purchase.

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Key Features are 110 Watts X 7, Dolby True-HD / DTS-HD Master Audio, 7 Channel Configurable Amplifier, Surround Back Dolby Pro-logic IIz or B Speaker MCACC with room EQ. Phase Control, Auto Level Control – 2 Channel, Advanced Sound Retriever – 2 channel, iPod Digital USB / USB Memory Audio / OSD, Front A/v inputs,Sirius Satellite Radio w/OSD,HDMI 1.4 Repeater (4 In / 1 out). Analog to HDMI Video Conversion , HDMI to HDMI 1080p Scaler, PureCinema Video Processing. It has 3D Noise Reduction and3D Y/C Separation.Component Video (2 in / 1 out),On-Screen Display,Preset Remote Control

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