20 Best Yamaha Home Theatre System (2023 Updated)

Really nice value for what you get. I knew what I was getting into when I purchased this. I wanted something more than just a small TV speaker for what is now becoming the “kids cave. ” I cleaned up/moved around some stuff in a room so now the kids can have their own “movie theater.

” I paired this with a cheap-o Westinghouse 50″ TV from Best Buy. I really like that is has all the HDMI inputs and handles the sound in one package. Since I don’t have a smart TV, I use this to connect my Wii U (yeah, it still works), a FireStick, and a Chrome Cast.

I can select the ‘input’ from this receiver and then not have to worry about changing any input settings on the TV. Since this receiver handles all of the Pro-Logic and Surround, there is no reason to have to run any cables back from the TV.

The included remote easily allows me to change the input and volume, so I never have to touch the TV remote. The menu system is decent. There are “two” different menus you wind up using when setting it up.

One is the global settings and the other it specific to the input. Just keep that in mind when first setting it up. The speakers are nothing great. They do the job. With some subwoofer crossover point changes and being sure to put the sub in a corner, you can get OK bass.

You won’t fall off your couch watching a movie with explosions, but it does the job. The satellite speakers appear to be a single driver/speaker. They sound OK, but are just too small to move any amount of air for loud listening levels.

I’m sure if you wanted to do it differently, you could just get this receiver and then run some really efficient speakers like some BIC America. (Not a shameless plug, I have those in my living room.

) If you want a quick-and-dirty home theater system, you can’t go wrong with this. It took me longer to figure out how remove it from the box that actually setting it up. Well, except for running the speaker cable.

Speaking of speaker cable, they do include what looks like about 60 feet of speaker cable. It is OK. I used it for the front and center speakers, but did not have enough to run the back surrounds. I had some 16 gauge cable sitting around and decided to use that.

The only “problem” is that the cable clips where you connect the wire on the back of the speaker is so small that I had to flatten the 16 gauge wire to insert it to clamp down. Oh well. use smaller wire.

Keep in mind that this is not a $3,000 home theater system. This would be great in an apartment or in a smaller room (like the size of a bedroom). It does not shake the walls and does not get loud. It works perfectly if you know the limitations.

Again. it all comes in one box and sounds fantastic for the price. If you want something to shake the walls, then you need to get better speakers and more power than what this offers. I have been very pleased with this purchase.

I don’t think you can beat the price for what you get.

Do not be fooled, this is an entry level home theater in a box solution. This is a $300 Yamaha RX-V385 receiver paired with speakers and a subwoofer that would cost $200-250. Do not expect audiophile quality sound just because it is from Yamaha.

The sound quality is good enough from its price point. The subwoofer requires an active power source, a nice touch, in case the speakers are not to your liking. There is no output for a “B” set of speakers, which does bring the cost of entry down.

There are also no audio streaming services built in, you must stream from your phone. Yamaha has a step up model that includes streaming for Pandora, SXM, etc. The jump is $150. If this is going in a man cave or the kids game room???? I installed this system in my friend’s rec-room at his vacation rental.

It filled the space well. I really did not tweak the sound at all after the setup mic. Everything sounded “fine” out of the box. But a bigger room would overwhelm the speakers otherwise. As far as video, you may see there are yellow RCA inputs for standard definition video signals.

Don’t let that fool you, at all. The receiver doesn’t convert analog video for the HDMI/ARC signal. So if you are looking to use this receiver to hook up a VCR, you will need to buy an analog to digital converter box, which are roughly $15.

The other work around is if your TV still has an RCA input, you can hook the “monitor out” to that. The remote feels kind of cheap, but then again, many remotes now days feel cheap compared to the wonderful ones of the 1990s.

I tried out the FM radio tuner. It is hooked to an amplified TV antenna. The Yamaha tuner performed better than the Onkyo FM tuner upstairs, hooked to the same antenna. Sony’s kit got over looked by me, is the fact their receivers use a proprietary connector and just a wire for their FM connection.

That setup would render FM reception to nothing in the rural area blocked by a mountain. I saw no degradation of quality on a Ultra 4K disc between direct wiring the player to the TV versus passing through the receiver.

Used to have a Yamaha 7. 1 Dolby system, which had very subtle sound from some speakers that didn’t seem like much. New house doesnt have ceiling speakers, so switched to an LG sound bar and LG remote rears.

Was pretty impressed for the amount of sound and the Bluetooth for music was easy. Didn’t realize how much I would miss the 7. 1. Also didn’t realize how much better a 5. 1 speaker system would sound than the sound bar.

The 5. 1 Yamaha has impressive sound for very light speakers. The only negative is Yamaha should be able to use Bluetooth technology to make the rears wireless. The manual offers an alternative setup diagram that doesn’t require wires across your room, but you lose the immersive feel of movement of sound around the room.

This package has plenty of speaker wire included, so the mod so to tuck the rears into our a/v console when watching regular tv, then “roll out” the rears behind us for movies.

Just purchased last week and so far – so good. I have a one bedroom apartment and the unit it PLENTY loud. I’m not a super audiophile but the system has a deep, rich sound out of the box and the surround sound is really great and makes you feel like you’re in a movie theatre.

You WILL spend 2 – 3 days tweaking settings to your liking and there are A LOT of variables that will effect how this sounds in your personal space. The YPAO microphone (included) will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you but I still found myself futzing with the speaker levels to suit my liking even after running the speaker balancing set up program.

I can verify that this does, indeed, offer 4k UHD HDR pass through @ 60hz. Of course, your TV has to support this as well in order for it to work and don’t forget to adjust your TVs HDMI input manager so that it allows it to accept the passthrough.

This took me a couple days to figure out. I watched John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and “Blade Runner” on physical 4k UHD discs and can attest the 5. 1 surround sound is pretty great. Felt like I was sitting in the movie theatre.

No – it does not decode Dolby Atmos but unless you have a 9. 1 Atmos speaker set up – you’re not getting Dolby Atmos anyway no matter what your TV / Streaming service says. It has all your major AV inputs – HDMI x 4, EARC x 1, Coaxial, Optical, and RCA.

Very nice considering many amps are fading RCA and Optical. A heads up that while, yes, this is a “Home Theatre In A Box” it is not “plug and play” like a sound bar. You will spend a good a few hours getting the speakers where you want them and dressing the wires.

I would really recommend picking up an extra spool of speaker wire because they give you JUST ENOUGH for all the included ones. If you miscalculate a wire measurement or have a really big room you’re setting this up in, you will probably need the extra.

Then – once you get it set up – you will dive down the rabbit hole of tweaking the settings and getting the sound to where you like it. If you don’t have a passing knowledge of home audio set up – this will most likely be a frustrating, but not insurmountable, experience for you.

Overall I am happy with this purchase and it does what I wanted it to do. Four stars for now. I will change to five stars once the promised HDMI 2. 1 / 4K 120hz passthrough hardware upgrade is released.

I have this system hooked to a PS5, blu-ray player and a streaming device. I can confirm that the PS5 runs games at 120hz. 4K quality is impressive. Sound quality is great. eARC sound works well. No issues to report here.

Setup was fairly easy. To be clear, I barely used the app and I haven’t explored any of the streaming capabilities of this device. Firmware was auto-updated by the app, which is nice. My only 2 complaints: – The grids on the metal case are huge.

This device is sitting on the basement, where a lot of dust accumulates. I’ve decided to cover it when not in use, because of the damage that dust could cause to the electrical components. – The wire that comes for the speakers needs to be prepared (the endings need to be cut, stripped, etc); there are no plugs or anything.

Understandable, but it added significant time for the installation. Biggest problem is that the wire might be too short; I don’t have a lot of space and I’m about 2 feet short right now. I can live with it, but it’s mildly annoying.

None of those issues would prevent me from recommending this unit, however. It is a great device for the price.

This unit replaced my 10 year old Yamaha 5. 1 surround sound system that was far higher quality. The old one had wooden enclosures, this one is 1/3rd the size and cheap plastic. The old speakers were much bigger and heavier, these are tiny and lightweight and produce a really crappy sound in comparison.

While the wattage is a bit more I don’t actually hear them any louder. The receiver itself is about 4 times lighter than the old one too. The knobs feel paper light and super flimsy. The radio doesnt work ( barely gets any channels) and the overall feel of this setup is cheap and low budget.

For $700 I was expecting way more. Quite the letdown as I was once a huge Yamaha fanboy. Not any longer.

I am very impressed with the optimization procedure. It sets up the relative volumes and delays according to your room’s acoustics. It even detects phase errors caused by any speakers which may be connected backwards.

The advanced design of the subwoofer’s bass-port yields deep smooth bass. It would be nice if an HDMI cable was included for connecting the reciever to the TV. It would also be nice if the power button for the subwoofer was on the front of the subwoofer instead of on the back.

But these are minor considerations. I still gave it 5 stars for the optimization procedure and the resulting awesome sound.

Professional stereo dealers will tell you to put together and create your stereo system by choosing each piece individually. I’ve had surround sound theater systems for 30 years since the days of pro-logic.

I’ve never heard better sound or appreciated a system more then the “Theater in a Box” set-up. If you have an average living room and want to have a great surround sound system, this is it.

This is my second Yamaha home theater system. Extremely pleased with the easy set up and awesome sound. With decent home theater systems costing $1000’s this is an incredible buy. Would highly recommend it!!.

I bought this receiver to replace a blown 5. 1channel amp in my living room. It also finally allowed me to integrate all of the components in that stack to all go into one device, I’ve got an Xbox One, a PC, and an older VCR/DVD unit all going through the amp.

I had run the PC through my old amplifier to test awhile back but it had problems with passing through a usable resolution, the RX-V4A had no such problems. It sometimes does not see the Xbox right away when switching to it, but it always shows up after a few seconds.

Overall I really dig the ability to integrate all of my components through one receiver and not have to do some kind of cable swap whenever I want to watch one of my old VHS movies. This is my first Bluetooth capable home receiver and I am glad to say that it works well, the range is better than the bt speaker that I have in my kitchen one room over so I usually use the receiver the whole time now.

Yamaha Advertises that you can connect the Bluetooth to another Bluetooth sink device, and send sound to the second Bluetooth device as a simultaneous listening device. I could never successfully get it to pair with my Creative D100, which in fairness is quite old so the doubtless older version of the Bluetooth protocol that the device uses might be more at fault than Yamaha’s hardware, your mileage may vary with that feature.

Regarding the MusicCast app, I was a little annoyed by the fact that Yamaha had foisted yet another app on me to bloat my phone even more, but after using it for a few months now I do find the app usable if not the most convenient way to use the device wirelessly.

There is a small learning curve but the app does function as advertised, but it would have been nice if the Receiver just played nice with my Google Home out of the box. The RX-V4A’s bigger brother, the RX-V6A has more inputs and supports 7.

1 and even atmos but I was just looking for a drop in replacement for my old Yamaha RX-V475 and the RX-V4A does the trick. I have been using it pretty much daily since November and it’s still going strong.

Purchased as ‘used in Excellent condition’ with ‘no missing accessories’. This is my first experience with ANY sort of AV receiver (moved into a new house with surround sound; figured I’d give it a shot), and it took me awhile to find my bearings.

I had some difficulty connecting it to the existing system. It didn’t come with instructions or any accessories, but I thought this was standard. Some googling allowed me to realize that a remote should’ve been included.

And it’s needed to assist with basic setup through the TV as you cannot do it from the front panel. This is partly a design flaw it seems. It’s probably a great receiver, but make sure you get the remote! Not too pleased with Best Buy stating that all accessories were included, when in fact the MOST important one was missing.

I’m usually really happy with purchases here, and I’m hoping this was a simple mislabeling. In process of ordering one from Yamaha right now.

Having owned this received for a little over 2 weeks, I have mixed reviews. I have owned a previous Yamaha receiver; I am very familiar with the brand. The set-up process was relatively easy. It’s very minimalist.

Most of the functions need to be done using the remote. The screen display is very small. No possibility to adjust the bass and treble from the receiver. Other than that, I am still getting familiar with the different features.

I wish there was a YouTube video, to make it more user friendly. Now I would suggest purchasing the receiver from a different vender than Best Buy. They only have 15 days to return, which I wasn’t aware of.

This receiver is a replacement to a similar one. The power wouldn’t turn on, so I had to return it. If I decided to go with a different receiver, Best buy would’ve charged a restocking fee. No a great way to keep customers happy.

I originally bought a refurbished Denon AVR 540. I only bought it over the Yamaha because the Yamaha was unavailable in the US. After struggling to set the Denon up for about a week the Yamahas suddenly showed up for a very short period of time, and I managed to get one from BB.

I sent the Denon back to the refurbish shop where the technicians could again pretend to fix it. The Yamaha has been so easy to set up, and so far is flawless. The Denon had serious HDMI issues. It would change inputs on it’s own, TV would just turn off, I’d be watching Roku through the receiver and all of a sudden it would switch to DVD, etc.

The Yamaha works as planned. I hit the button for TV, the receiver comes on, the tv comes on, the Satellite comes on. If I activate the bluetooth on my iPad the receiver comes on, it switches to bluetooth, and it starts playing (if I’ve activated Pandora, etc).

I can listen to BT or FM while watching sports. If I hit the DVD button the receiver comes on, the DVD player comes on, the TV comes on (not necessary for me, as I only use the DVD player as a CD player) The sound is fine.

This setup is in our bedroom, with a 43″ Samsung 8000 series TV, with 3 Paradigm Atom speakers across the front, a very cheap Monoprice 8″ subwoofer, and no surround speakers. Not nearly an audio or videophile system, but great for a bedroom.

The Yamaha handles the processing for a 3. 1 channel system beautifully. The auto speaker setup was easy, fast, and effective. The unit is very adjustable. You can change the volume display from the actual db setting to the relative setting (0=100) which always seems easier and more useful.

You can program the extra bass and the compressed music enhancer to come on with appropriate sources. This is a great secondary theater receiver, and a great for the price unit for a main theater. I would think about how much expansion I might need in the future, and how much of the current and future Surround processing I think I’d utilize, as this unit is not the current state of the art, and not very accomodating to many more inputs than I am utilizing.

But for my purposes it is perfect.

After using it for the last few months, I can safely say that it’s worth the money! However, it does have it’s quirks. For example. I had an issue with it cutting back on after 3-5 minutes after powering the unit off.

So I ended up having to turn off the HDMI control setting so the system isn’t randomly turning back on (seemed to do the trick). I guess the other devices are interfering with it somehow. Even turned the bluetooth off on both the receiver and other devices, but that didn’t seem to work.

Also had an issue where it will sometimes randomly change to another audio input setting on the receiver when changing the t. v. audio input (on my Sony t. v. ), back to the receiver audio setting. There’s also a long delay (20-30 seconds) on the receiver when cutting it back on (because I’ll often just switch to the t.

v. speakers late at night so it’s not loud when watching t. v. ). All in all I would recommend. Plenty of sound settings, and tons of customization on the receiver. Although it will take you awhile to get used to it if you’re a novice with newer audio receivers.

Thinking about taking this one back seeing as it may be defective. Or, these particular Yamaha receivers might just have bugs.

Great entry-level AVR for both movies and music. I run a simple 2. 0 setup with Polk Series III floorstanding speakers. I decided to upgrade my old, non-HDMI AVR for two reasons: 1) better sound quality for my 320 kbps music streaming, and 2) the ability to finally play audio from my Samsung Q60 TV through my stereo 2.

0 setup (which also lacked an optical audio input). I also game on an Xbox One X and wanted to make sure that the AVR would be capable of smoothly passing through 4K HDR content. This receiver excels at all aspects.

The music quality is surprisingly improved, particularly with the Compressed Music Enhancer function. I always thought all receivers would sound basically the same when it comes to simple music playback in stereo, but there’s a noticeable improvement to my ears in terms of both detail and clarity.

So far I prefer using the STRAIGHT preset in combination with Compressed Music Enhancer for listening to albums. On the 0-97 scale, I find 50-60 is generally loud enough for reasonable listening in my ~ 700 sq.

ft. apartment living room. On the video side, I was able to get the HDMI ARC function working surprisingly quickly. I have the Xbox plugged into HDMI 1 on the AVR, and another cable running from HDMI Out on the AVR to my TV’s HDMI ARC input.

This lets me send consistent 4K HDR video signals from my Xbox, through the AVR and to the TV without any distortion or lag, and returns the audio through the speakers. Even though I don’t have a surround setup, I typically use the Surround Decoder along with the Game preset for pretty good results.

Audio from shows and movies streamed from my TV’s various apps (Netflix, HBO etc. ) also works well. I debated forsaking the video stuff and just getting a higher quality stereo amplifier, but the ability of this AVR to coordinate with my Samsung TV’s Anynet+ features for media switching is what sealed the deal for me.

Using the HDMI Arc setup described above, and after enabling HDMI control on this AVR, the AVR automatically 1) switches to TV audio whenever it detects a streaming app, 2) switches to the audio and video signals coming from the Xbox whenever I start it up, and 3) automatically switches to the audio channel I have my Chromecast Audio plugged into whenever I feel like listening to music.

The AVR also passes the audio and video from my Xbox through while powered off – and the TV automatically switches on its onboard speakers when the AVR is powered off, no manual digging into TV settings required! The only potential drawback in terms of functionality is that using this ARC setup, the TV doesn’t automatically switch in and out of Game Mode depending on the media source, since it’s all being routed into the TV via the same single HDMI input.

I don’t mind leaving Game Mode on for movie streaming, but for those that would, you could alternatively connect your game system into another TV input rather than pass it through the AVR (though the game’s audio would still be returned via ARC to your external speakers).

The only other drawback so far is the YPAO calibration. It was easy to connect the mic and run the quick calibration, but the results were just awful! For some reason it turned my right (front) speaker down by 10dB, making music sound horribly tinny.

I manually went in and restored it, now everything sounds great. I was hoping it’d automatically give me a more fine-tuned calibration on the order of a couple dB (without me having to figure it out by trial and error), but oh well.

Overall a fantastic product, especially at this price.

The package I received was short one R-610 speaker. Didn’t check until we moved into the new house months later. Be careful to check! The box may look big, but only include one of the two you need.

Great speakers Replaced My old 7.2 hodgepodge of speakers There’s no way possible to get the same sound that I’m getting now for the price I paid. Overall very happy with my purchase

The whole system adds an aviance to the media room both estically and puts a new perspective to sound wave vibrations enhancement.

Just surpassed all my expectations across the board. The sound quality, dynamics, details and nuances are exceptional. This AVR does a great job for Music along with movies, games et all. My setup is: Klipsch RF 7 III and RC 64 III fronts, RP402 surround, RP500SA for front height and dual SVS SB3000 Subs.

5 ear level speakers are powered via Emotiva XPA gen 3. My previous experience has been with Denon x4000h AVR and Onkyo’s prior to that. With the Denon’s, it was always a compromise with sound quality.

was generally bass boomy, details and vocals were hard to pinpoint and i thought it was the speakers and peripherals that were the bottleneck so had gone down the path of adding the Emotiva amp and upgraded speakers to RF 7 line.

Unfortunately the sound quality while improved, was never inspiringly joyful. so took the plunge with RX A8A. Couldn’t be happier that i did. Wasn’t expecting such a vast difference to SQ, though this upgrade is substantial at pretty much double the price of the Denon x4400H.

The sound stage, dynamics, bass quality and nuance, detail and just overall balance and tonality of sound has made me smile more than a few times. It’s just the way i always wanted movies and music to sound.

Was apprehensive of the YPAO calibrator having read so many negative reviews vs the Audyssey Multi EQ. Yep, the directions and details in how to use YPAO can be better. My recommendation: don’t just do the one point calibration, do at least 3 and above point calibration.

I’m not sure about the measurement accuracy etc, but the sound that i got post YPAO 6 point calibration was just what i wanted, Subs perfectly dialed in and bass vs overall tonality – exceptionally kicky, precise and tons of dynamics.

For movies i use the Natural PEQ and for Music I use the Front PEQ. Finally reached the sound quality that i had been aspiring for since the last few years and super glad that Yamaha delivered. This ones going to be my end game setup for hopefully 3+ years.

Ordered 10/17 and ready for pickup 10/22. Unit came with 1. 10 firmware and updated to 1. 14 from USB since network option grayed out. Offered 1. 22 on 10/30 after turning on and completed over network; this version is not on their support site.

Pros: – Overall, a good upgrade from RX-A1030 – Decent upgrade to YPAO and better results – Atmos virtualization surprisingly sounds great. Setup with 7. 1 but no front presence and two additional speakers for second zone.

– eARC works but still trying to figure a way for components to not get automatically controlled – Sufficient power for movies although I’m using an external power amp for the front channels Cons: – Small screen and hard to see information from distance – Shiny plastic front.

Didn’t they learn years ago when it was “a thing” on TVs to have fingerprint magnets and reflective annoyances? – Remote is too long, top heavy, cheap plastic back, rough edges where front/back connect, back light erratic, wasted space at bottom, no 0-9 buttons to dial in radio stations directly or channels.

– UI cleaned up slightly but still archaic and poor/limited management of favorites from broadcast radio and Sirius/XM – Archaic web interface and very limited – No physical manual! Could have made it way less than 411 pages if they didn’t waste all the space with poorly formatted sections and redundant basic explanations.

No in-depth material for advanced topics. Did they think they were on a government contract and getting paid by the pound of paper? – Removed multi-channel input which was using with RX-1030 for a control amp and legacy components – No analog video and certainly not worth the cost to jump to the A6A; time to keep separate systems – Didn’t see a clock setting and USB backups were dated 2013 and 2014 after 1.

22 update – Able to disable Bluetooth but didn’t see anything for WiFi since I’m using wired – No HD Radio although other regions support DAB – Still made in Malaysia and not china, yet – Still have no use for the Scene feature.

Let’s be straight – this is one great sounding receiver with great features. I noticed a better, more clear, more punchy sound compared to my old 3010. And it is feature filled (as long as the promise to bring the HDMI ports up to the full 2.

1 specs and HDR 10+ with a future fw update. However there are some items that preclude me from giving it a 5. 1) The display is a just simply way too small – a common complaint for the new Aventage receivers.

I don’t mind the “cyclops” look (others hate it), but I am already missing being able to see the display from my seating position. It is awful and this a big step back from previous Aventage. 2) Also a step back is the functionality of the remote.

Now, the remote feels good in the hand with lots of heft; however there are no discrete buttons for inputs and DSP programs – instead one has to scroll through them. There are also other things missing like an info button.

I was able to program a Harmony for those buttons using learned commands the 3010 remote, but this is another step back. 3) While the MusicCast app pretty good and gives a lot of functionality and information, there is no Windows app – just Android and ios.

One used to be able to control music and sources through the web interface. If I am immersed working on my PC, I hate having to pick up my phone or tablet to control the music. Having said that, the web based setup interface is very good.

4) HDMI control still is a mystery with my Sony TV. I want to be able to be able to watch the TV with the TV speakers sometimes for shows like news. I can do that, but HDMI control has to be turned off and it makes things cumbersome.

This could be a Sony problem tho – not sure. However, eARC works well and again the receiver sounds great with Atmos streaming from apps on the TV. I also like the flexibility Yama gives for Atmos with the height (presence) speakers – you can mount them either on the front wall or ceiling.

5) YPAO calibrations remains wonky. For instance, my very large front channels are sometimes set to small while my smaller front presence speakers are set to large. I have run it many times, and the results differ almost every time and with strange combinations.

But to end on a good note – I am still pleased with it due to the sound and all the many great features that you can read about. But there have been step backs in a few areas and I just cannot give it a 5 due to those – especially for the high cost of the unit (and it is way too costly, but I needed a new receiver and couldn’t wait for price to come down).

I’ve been very impressed with the product and after a few weeks of use have now tried out the range of features. Pros – The speaker really does pack a punch, bumped this up to full volume and had to very quickly bring it down upon realising I’m in a flat and not a music concert.

– the sound quality is great and getting close to the level you would expect from a much more expensive product, there’s a slight amount of distortion at the higher volumes but these aren’t volumes I’d expect anyone would usually hit from normal use – the design is sleek and simple and looks attractive under the tv.

The slimline profile fits perfectly. I’m not a big fan of the full textured mesh as I believe it slightly cheapens the appearance however the minimalism combined with touch controls makes it work. – The clear voice feature on a definitely noticeable and great for watching movies.

– Alexa set up was a bit tricky but once it got working was nice to have as I also have the Amazon music subscription. Cons – The remote feels quite cheap and doesn’t work well with watching TV. I end up using both remotes and sometimes this makes the tv revert back to internal speakers.

Overall a great product and I would highly recommend for the demographic who are looking for a top quality soundbar at a reasonable price point. we’d been using the TV internal speakers until now and there really is not comparison, a definite step up!.

I received this soundbar for free for my honest opinion. This sound bar really sounds amazing. Giving it 5 stars would mean it doesn’t need improvement and there are some issues I had with it. Setting up the sound bar with Alexa was a bit of a nightmare I ultimately had to delete Alexa and the sound bar off my phone and reset the sound bar to manufacture default.

Then start over multiple times until it finally was recognized by the Yamaha app. There are some other small issues I had. While using arc this sometimes does not detect any sound at all and I have to turn the tv off and on which could be the tvs fault.

The lights on the top are very small and dim so to tell if clear voice or 3d surround are on is a little difficult. Other than those small issues though this sound bar is really incredible. The sound is full and accurate.

Clear voice is just amazing I don’t have to use subtitles as much when my kids are sleeping the bass sounds good for a sound bar but I highly recommend attaching a sub which is easy to do since this sound bar has a sub out port.

Overall I am very pleased with this sound bar and it’s not even comparable to the Samsung sound bar I had before it is just light years ahead of it in its quality and sound.

I already have an L. G. 50 inch TV which I plan to sink into the wall slightly to give a media wall effect. As with most modern slimline TV’s, the speakers are on the back and fire downwards. Hence a soundbar is also needed.

I also didn’t want the clutter of an external sub. As the Yamaha has built in Bluetooth, I also hoped it would allow me to rrmove my Living Room Brennan player with Dali speakers. Did a side by side soundtest today.

Still happy the Yamaha soundbar gives me best value for the price I paid, and the bass is more than adequate. But the overall sound quality falls way short of the Dali speakers ( when streaming Spotify and normal quality through the Yamaha soundbar then the Brennan player).

So the Brennan is staying for streaming music, and the Yamaha soundbar will be for TV only. Its not good enough to replace speakers which on their own were slightly more expensive. Overall am happy. Staff at Prestwich were helpful and I listened in store before putchase.

I bought this to replace a 12-year-old Denon receiver that I was pretty happy with, but I wanted a receiver with a phono pre-amp and line in, which few receivers had 12 years ago. I didn’t expect the dramatic improvement in sound that the Yamaha offers.

I mainly use it to listen to classical and jazz recordings, some recent SACDs, but most are older CDs and LPs, plus a few mp3s and even old cassettes. This receiver has settings appropriate for any of these sources.

I am especially impressed with the “enhancement” setting which dramatically improves mp3s and cassettes that had compressed frequency range. But it is also very impressive with high end recordings. With SACDs I use the “pure direct” setting which provides a highly accurate reproduction of the original recording.

I don’t use this receiver much for movies and videos, but it has done a wonderful job with streaming movies in 4k and 5. 1 or 5. 1. 2 sound. As many online reviews have concluded, you have to pay a lot more to get anything better than this receiver.

The only possible drawback I can think of is that this is a very complicated piece of equipment with so many options and settings that are not always easy to figure out. In order to fully understand them, you really need the complete manual, which is only available online.

The brief quick-start guide that comes with the receiver hardly explains any of the options. That means that even a month after getting this receiver, I still refer to the nearly 400-page manual several times a week to refresh my memory as to what a given setting actually does.

The system is hooked up to a set-top cable box, DVD player, CD player, and smart flat screen TV. It’s used with all those items. Haven’t yet connected the rear speakers since I intend to mount on ceiling.

Even as 3. 1 system sound is really good (TV diaglog much easier to understand because of better sound quality than TV). One problem is after turning on to use with set-top box and receiver in auto HDMI mode, the sound is switched to the TV instead of the set-top box.

This requires resetting (using the TV scene button) every time the TV is turned on. Called Yamaha technical support and was told there was no way around this except turning off auto HDMI. If I do this, however, then when turning off the TV or any other HDMI component, all will not turn off automatically.

I’d rather live with the inconvenience at turn-on.

I purchased this product to provide home theater sound while watching movies and tv, and also for a stereo for playing mp3’s and records on my turn table. So far, I have been completely satisfied with my purchase.

The price was fair, the setup was very easy. I followed the instructions, hooked everything up and absolutely everything worked perfectly. I was able to name all of my inputs which makes it easy to use.

My IPod works obviously, but also my USB memory stick works to play music as well. There are a ton of settings that are easy to set to customize everything for my needs. I did purchase Yamaha NS-6490 3-Way Bookshelf Speakers which I have not yet hooked up but I expect them to work even better than the stock front speakers.

We have this surround sound set up in a basement family room. For the price, we are VERY happy with it. In fact, we’ve had to turn down the volume so the program playing upstairs can be heard!

Write your review here. It must be at least 10 characters long. Consider First time owning a full set of 5. 1 speakers that are of home theater quality. The reviews are correct in that the speakers are a bit harsh, but that wears off initially and they’re definitely bright, but sound much better than anything I’ve listened to.

Most of what I currently own sounds ‘muddy’ in comparison, so it’s only an issue temporarily as your ears adjust. Overall, they sound fantastic, are enough to power a 14×20 room with ease, and look good doing it.

Very happy with my ‘entry-level’ purchase. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll upgrade different speakers, but for a starter set, these are fantastic!whether you would recommend this product and what you like or dislike about it.

Someone put a lot of thought into the assembly. The sound is just breathe taking. It is very theater quality sound. My son had a bad motorcycle accident and has been house bound since. He was the reason for this purchase.

His jaw just dropped when he heard the sound.

I have owned this unit now for more than 3 years. I really like it, overall. The power is clean and strong. Most amplifiers tend to over-exaggerate their power ratings and efficiency. But, I have found this unit to power various speakers, flawlessly.

I like the remote. This remote has most everything on it that is on the face of the unit. It has balance controls, EQ controls, and easily switches channels with no pop or residual noise from various inputs.

This is one of the BEST remotes I have ever owned for a receiver. But, here’s the problem. I have had many problems with the Bluetooth on this unit. I have followed the directions perfectly. Yet, it will often not disconnect from a previous BT controller.

And, it will not find most devices I try to connect to it. The blue light blinks. All of the proper buttons have been pushed. However, the Bluetooth on my unit appears to be faulty. Since this has been the only problem with it, I never sent it back in for an exchange.

I have looked online for additional support and answers, which has led me to believe that my unit is faulty, and it is not User Error. So, if you want flawless Bluetooth connections that connect easily with the multitude of manufacturers out there, you definitely might want to check this unit upon receipt to find out if it has a similar problems as my unit.

Otherwise, I am quite pleased with this Receiver. I have been a fan and a consumer of Yamaha Products for over 30 years. Most often, no problems and very nice gear.

After many years of faithful use, my old amplifier finally died. After deciding on this unit I have not been disappointment. I has a nice sound, was easy to set up and the Bluetooth connectivity is the way I listen to music these days.

A simple clean interface that is easy to use. It isnt perhaps as loud and powerful as the unit it replaced, but much less expensive than the one it was over 30 years ago.

This amplified speaker boast many inputs. Obviously it will playback via Musiccast. There is also a RCA input, a mini plug, an optical input and bluetooth. How does it sound. Well initially terrible! I placed the unit on a corner shelf in the kitchen.

As I found out the default setting is all tone setting in the middle with bass boost on. All I could hear was a muddled bass. With the help of my son, we found where the tonal control was in the MusicCast app.

After switching off the bass boost, the treble to high and bass to low, the speaker sounded a lot better. We also found that putting the speaker in the corner was not optimal: Crouching a meter distance from the centre of the speaker gives the best sound.

Not an option in my case. Volume can be controlled from the speaker, no need to grab the smart phone all the time. I still feel bigger is better for speakers. The Yamaha is relative small. A set-up with two satellite speakers and a subwoofer probable sounds better, but would not physically fit in my case.

Which brings me to portability. Size wise it easy to move around, however it is mains powered. Conclusion, I am happy with the speaker, good sound, good price and not too big. Please read up on MusicCast, to see all the possibilities of playback.

Bought the WX021 speaker as an addition to my Yamaha system, purpose is for a satellite speaker but be able to pair when required. Also wanted to keep to one system, one app etc. Must say it works well, linking is good and having access to all my digital collection plus being able to play from vinyl wherever the speaker is I think is great.

So functionally it works well. Look wise, it’s simple, minimal so is not intrusive. Just sits on a shelf. For sound, it’s good. It’s a single speaker so obviously not stereo but for listening to the radio in the background it ticks the box.

Bass is sufficient for what I need, mid range is clear. Best of all, no drops. Works consistently with Wi-Fi, Airplay all day. And nice addition over my HiFi is the addition of Amazon Music. It isn’t cheap, but in this case you do get what you pay for.

I picked this up a week ago and hooked it up straight away, first was a software update over ethernet connection which took 3 minutes then a sound text using the supplied mic and cardboard stand. Then the test.

I was blown away by how sharp every sound and kept turning my head as the surround sound bouncing off the walls made me feel like I was in the movie. Down side, Bass. the sub is small and tries to do its part but struggles to keep up.

Luckily I have an existing twin 12 sub box which i connected to the Sound-bar through the RCA connection and its now rocking, I feel sorry for my neighbours.

My 5. 2 (w/ 2 pairs of front channels, so 7 tweeters total) simple Sony receiver is older than me, doesn’t have HDMI or YPAO or wireless stuff like Bluetooth, and definitely doesn’t have Atmos. Its sound quality was amazing when I set the equalizer to my preferences, could go extremely loud without even turning the volume halfway, and I could never keep the active subwoofers at full blast for long or else it would be too powerful, lol.

It’s only downside was the speaker switch turning off randomly and always having to fix it everytime I start using it. Today, after 9 years staying satisfied with this receiver, here comes this beast of a Yamaha receiver! After setting up the equalizer to my preferences, and rewatching The Matrix with my family, my subwoofers had waaaay too much power in cinema mode while still being delicate when it needs to.

Before ordering this, someone said the bass on this model wasn’t as good as other Yamaha stuff so I wasn’t expecting much, but then my expectations were absolutely blown out of the water!! If the bass here is already insane, then I can only imagine what other Yamaha stuff is like! Until then, this receiver is MORE than enough to last me for a very long time.

As a comparison, I removed a Denon AVR-X2000 because my new projector is HDR and the Denon was not compatible with 4K HDR. To me, music on the Denon was a little warmer sounding. However, the staging, dynamic range and intelligibility are all significantly better on the Yamaha.

Also the YPAO calibration was superior to the Audyssey on everything except the lower bass range. I’m using this 90% for movies/tv, so to me is an acceptable trade-off. Yamaha can even create phantom rear surround channels by using the two side surround channels.

Basically it will turn your 5. 1 system into a 7. 1 system. I didn’t even know it had this feature, and I was wondering how I was hearing sounds directly behind me without having speakers there. It works surprisingly well in my setup! If this was to be used mainly for music, I’d say I’d give a slight edge to the Marantz/Denon line with (at least) the Audyssey XT32.

Has all of the newest technological connections and processing – Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG). The only things missing are HDR10+ and 8K processing, but not a big deal for most individuals.

YAMAHA’s YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) automatic speaker calibration makes it extremely easy to set up the equalizer and level settings, which can be adjusted and fine tuned in the settings menu.

The FRONT pre-outs are ideal for adding an external amplifier, which I did to power the woofer section in my bi-amped main speakers. This helps reduce the strain on the internal amps when watching movies, and allows for better definition when listening to music.

The unit also converts analog video to digital, which is especially important if you have older equipment without an HDMI out, like a VCR (still have mine for old family recordings). Obviously, I’m a fan of YAMAHA!.

i have this for three years now and i rarely have time to enjoy this soundbar. Within this three years, i only listen to it about 10 times or so. The sound comes out from this soundbar is very soothing.

You will hear the background sound very distinctively along with the sound of music. There are a lot of connections on the back of this soundbar but i’m not a tech guy, so i just hook it up using the optical cable (it’s included but the length is short, so i bought it separately) and leave everything as it.

This soundbar is very heavy, which i believe is what produce good sound. There is an apps which you can download on your phone to control the musiccast. You can use this soundbar for home theater or you can use this soundbar to entertain friends or family on occasional party or special event.

I’m sure they will enjoy the sound come out from this soundbar.

This sound bar is worth every penny. I paired it with a Yamaha YST-FSW050 sub-woofer. The setup with the IntelliBeam microphone was quick and easy and generated a very natural sound field. There is not enough that can be said about the sound quality.

I’m very excited to have one piece of equipment that takes the place of a receiver and seven speakers and fills the room with immersive, natural sound. I have the sound bar connected to a 65″ Sony Bravia TV, Apple TV and Verizon FIOS STB in addition to the sub-woofer.

A few nuisances that I expect to work through given more time: Communication between the TV and sound bar is very fussy. I should really just give up on pushing audio from the TV to the sound bar given that the Apple TV does everything that the TV’s apps do.

There is a very specific sequence of operations that has to be followed when switching from TV content back to any of the HDMI sources plugged directly into the sound bar. I’ve also experienced spotty communication between the TV and sound bar.

On one occasion the sound bar didn’t turn on when the TV was powered on. On another occasion, the TV volume control didn’t adjust the sound bar audio. HDMI control is configured on both ends. I so far haven’t been able to get the Yamaha sub-woofer to turn on and off with the sound bar via the “System Connect” cable.

The remote control is well designed and very elegant. But it has no ability to control my other devices. My low/mid price point Onkyo receiver in my Family Room came with a remote that with minimal programming allows me to control my Verizon STB and Apple TV.

And the lack of a printed manual is pretty annoying. I ended up downloading the manual from the website and putting in on my ipad.

As noted by reviewers elsewhere, from the factory the treble is set a bit high. This is adjustable, but you have to go online to get the procedure. I had to give up my Klipsch floor-standing Choruses and other Klipsch speakers to satisfy my wife’s demand to reduce clutter and open up the living room.

As good as it is, the Yamaha YSP 5600 cannot fill the room and surround you with the presence of sound as well as large speakers can. On the other hand, it does have the ability to make listening to TV better.

A dialogue lift button right on the remote gives you three levels of dialogue enhancement. This is great for us older folk who often have difficulty making out words over background music and sound effects.

Using a headset returns some of the pleasure of listening to music, since how the sound is bounced around the room doesn’t matter. Setting up for your space is easy. A wired microphone is included and following the display instructions will give you adequate sound immediately.

Having a separate subwoofer is more effective than the built-in bass. Remember to set the SW controls before you start the auto set up. The sub should be at 50 percent volume and lowest crossover. Once you are listening, you have a button for controlling the subwoofer effect on the remote.

Marvelous. Although there is a digital audio RCA input, it does not interpret AC-3 Dolby Digital from old Laser Disks. Bummer, I had some great soundtracks in that format. If there is a solution to this, I’d love to hear it.

The unit is very tall. A TV should be set with some clearance between the bottom of the TV and the top of the Yamaha. I’ve found that a little isolation from vibration can be accomplished by putting self-adhesive felt pads on the bottom of the unit.

Unless you are a real music buff, this is an ideal speaker for getting the best out of the newer TVs. I’m getting used to it and may find ways to adjust it to even more.

Despite costing 3x what i paid for my sony 540 av amp 7 years ago it wasn’t a quantum leap in sound quality but it is better – that’s just a function of how the price of stuff has gone up in that time I suppose.

It’s well built and the arc seems to work with my samsung tv, unlike the sony which never did, meaning i had to wire it with an optical cable for sound and connect the set top box directly to the tv – so it’s nice to have proper functionality.

The settings are pretty broad – you can adjust everything – though it isn’t at all difficult to set up. Music sounds very good with DPLII Music. My speakers are definitely being driven harder – that i would say is the big difference.

There is more punch to the bass and the amp doesn’t seem to be even trying to throw out sofa shaking deep rumbles that I never got from my sony and separation is better and cleaner – dialogue is much brighter.

All in all, very happy, great amp.

Replacing an eight year old Yamaha AV Receiver in a 5. 1 system. This unit really has transformed our listening experience. We use the MusicCast app combined with Amazon Music (but there are many music options).

The app allows us to select and play whatever music we like, no matter where we are in the home. Instructions for setup of MusicCast are incredibly bad. Just be forewarned that the Receiver has a combination of two regular dials and what look for all the world like labels affixed to the from of the unit.

They are not actually labels, but buttons, and you must press the “label” for “Menu Connect” to setup the app. I had to talk to 2nd tier support to get this explanation, it is not in the feeble documentation (and pro video reviewers have been stumped too.

) For whatever reason, the sound is far, far superior to our old Yamaha. More dynamic and clear. I think part of the reason may be the YPAO automatic room calibration feature that we did not have on our old unit.

It really works. But Yamaha has also clearly upped their game for their lower end units, like using a High Slew Rate Amplifier that was not on our old unit. It just shows in the sound quality. We do NOT use the video inputs on this unit, we have our TiVo and Roku going directly into our LG CX 48 TV, then we use an HDMI cable to feed the audio into our Receiver using EARC.

This was pretty much a disaster until we got both a firmware upgrade from Yamaha and one for the TV. Now it works amazingly well, enveloping our room with amazing TV sound. And we don’t have to worry about all the new HDMI standards that may or may not be implemented properly.

I am writing this review after a couple of weeks of using the RX-V4A. My current amplifier is an RX-V579 and this review is a comparison of the two. If you don’t want to read the entire review, you can skip to the bottom and read the BOTTOM LINE.

My goal is to use the amplifier as the hub of the overall entertainment system, and experience 4K TV with some form of Dolby Digital or DTS sound, and full use of all menus from all devices. Only HDMI connections (and new HDMI 2.

1 compliant cables supporting 48 GB bandwidth) will be used throughout. Here is a list of the primary functionality which I tested with all devices plugged directly into the amplifier(s). Using the remote of any HDMI-connected device; a.

does the amplifier AND the TV turn on? (if they were powered off) b. does the amplifier auto switch to the correct HDMI port? (after powering on or if already powered on) c. does the video of the device display on the TV? d.

does the amplifier setup and option menu display on the TV? e. does the amplifier option menu report the correct audio format from the connected device? e. is the sound and video in sync? f. does the TV menu display on the TV screen? Repeat all appropriate tests using the amplifier’s remote.

My prior setup was a Yamaha RX-V579 7. 2 amplifier (7 HDMI ports at 1080p only) with an LG 75UN70 TV (4K). Into the RX-V579 I connected (1) the 4K TV – via ARC, (2) a 4K Roku Premiere, (3) a 4K Sony PS4, and (4) a 4K Chromecast Ultra.

The speaker setup was the front 3 plus one subwoofer. Using the V579 as the hub limits all video output to the TV down to 1080p resolution. (a) CEC control worked for power on and off of the V4A and TV across all HDMI ports; (b1) With the V579 and TV already powered on, using the V579 remote to switch to the HDMI port of a connected device successfully turned on that device AND; (b2) the V579 displayed the device’s video signal on the TV AND; (b3) the audio from the device could be heard through the speakers (c1) With the V579 powered off, turning on any connected device successfully turned on the V579 and the TV AND; (c2) the V579 successfully switched to the appropriate HDMI port AND; (c3) the port successfully sent the video signal to the TV AND; (c4) the audio from the device could be heard through the speakers; (d) the audio and video were in sync for all devices; (e) the V579 on-screen display overlayed all devices; (f) using the V579’s Option button displayed accurate details about the audio signal AND video signal on the TV; (g) using the TV’s info button gave accurate details about the video signal (but gave incorrect info about the audio); (h) the mobile app used to operate the V579 is relatively easy to use and the most common settings are readily available.

This includes the ability to view and change stations in Pandora. The only annoyance was an overzealous PS4 which booted up at the slightest provocation and subsequently overrode the current input into the TV.

My alternative to upgrading to the V4A is to use the 4K TV as the hub and continue to use the RX-V579 for its advanced audio capabilities. However, the TV only has 3 HDMI ports which further limits the number of HDMI-connected devices down to 2, since one TV HDMI port must be used for eARC.

Also, in such a setup, the on-screen menu and settings display from the V579 will not display back through the eARC on the TV screen. — About the RX-V4A as the hub. To the V4A, I directly connected (1) the 4K LG 75UN70 TV (via eARC), (2) a 4K Roku Premiere, (3) a 4K Sony Playstation 4 and (4) a 4K Chromecast Ultra.

The good: The on-screen menus and options from the V4A are improved over the V579 and setup was easy and simple. The software update was auto-initiated as soon as the V4A was able to connect to the internet and perform a self-check.

The menu option for manually initiating a network update since the prior update has been disabled. Update via USB is still available. Using the mobile app required to operate the V4A is easy to connect using the connect button on the amplifier.

Logging into my various music apps was simple after finding the proper menu. Logging into the V4A settings via a web browser on the network was easy one I learned which IP address it had been assigned.

Backup and Restore of the settings was also easy. The bad: 1. CEC Control between devices is VERY spotty: (a) With the V4A in the OFF state, using the remote of any connected device successfully turns on the V4A and the TV AND switches the V4A to the appropriate HDMI port on the amplifier display panel (if it was not already switched to that HDMI port before power up).

(b) With the V4A is already powered on, using any devices remote will switch to the appropriate HDMI port on the amplifier display panel. (c) With the V4A and TV powered on, using the V4A remote to switch to another HDMI port will switch to the appropriate HDMI port on the amplifier display panel.

However, for both (b) and (c) above, the video from the device may or may not display on the TV. The video signal displayed on the TV may be that of the prior input / device or may be a blank screen.

One workaround is to power the V4A off and on again. (If the V4A is already switched to the desired HDMI port when powered on, then the video from the device will display on the TV. ) Another workaround is to restart the connected device.

For the Roku, this means disconnecting, then reconnecting the power; for the Chromecast Ultra, this means doing the same as with the Roku, OR using the Home app on your phone to restart it OR using the Home app on your phone to cast the phone’s screen to the Chromecast Ultra.

Other observations: 1. GOOD: Using the V4A remote to cycle through the inputs to reach Pandora OR using a color-coded button preset to go directly to Pandora successfully switches the audio AND video on the TV.

The song can be heard as expected and current station and song with artist information will display on the TV. The current song and artist display on the V4A panel. Using the V4A remote to access the option menu successfully displays the menu and current settings of the Pandora input.

2. BAD: With the Roku Premiere, on the Peacock app, at or near the transition into and out of commercials, the screen blacked-out and the V4A reported on-screen that the video signal did not conform to proper HDMI 2.

1 parameters and it was essentially the Roku’s fault (or the HDMI cables). After a few seconds, the picture would return and behave as normal. Remember, I used new HDMI 2. 1 compliant HDMI cables in this setup.

3. BAD: With the Roku Premiere, the sound and video were out of sync by a VERY significant amount. This was the case across ALL apps, (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Peacock, etc. ) The workaround to #2 and #3 is to connect the devices directly to the TV.

This eliminates all the problems with the audio out of sync and the on-screen report by the V4A that the video does not conform to proper HDMI 2. 1 parameters. The downside to the workaround is that the V4A is no longer the hub and some functionality is lost.

V4A menus for setup are still available if you switch to an empty HDMI port on the V4A but the display of audio and video signal via the Option button becomes useless since only the video and audio information from the V4A’s HDMI ports out to the TV is reported, not from the TV back to the eARC HDMI port on the V4A.

4. BAD: The mobile app required to operate the V4A is cumbersome and a bit clunky. The volume control is not as good as the one on the app used to operate the V579 and viewing the Pandora station menu seems impossible.

Trying to get to the station menu using the remote and on-screen display seems equally impossible. BOTTOM LINE: Using the mentioned workaround to avoid the technical problems with the V4A essentially renders its 4K / 8K capabilities useless.

Users will be able to use the TV’s info button to validate that the TV is receiving the desired video and audio signal and the TV will successfully pass the advanced audio signal to the V4A in order to take advantage of the advanced audio capabilities in a surround sound setup.

This is essentially the same as using an existing non-4K amplifier with equivalent audio capabilities (in my case it’s my V579) in the same fashion. The things the V4A does well are done equally well by my V579.

So. because of the problems with the V4A, it NOT worth the money and I would NOT recommend it.

The sound of this unit is wonderful. I gave it four stars because the connection instruction were very confusing and unclear. Yamaha should write their instructions for an 8th grader. However, I have no problem with Dell’s service.

I did have a huge problem with the delivery. The day the package arrived it was lightly raining and the carton got wet. There was an area near the front door that was dry but this was not used. Fortunately, only the bottom of the carton got soaked and the sound bar was not damaged.

The sound on this is great! I haven’t had any issues with adjusting volume—but we have not been able to use it seemlessly. We use our fire stick for almost everything on our TV and our sound bar is connect directly to it, but the soundbar does not turn on every time we turn on the firestick.

It’s very annoying to problem solve getting them both on at the same time. Still working on this.

I looking at heaps of sound bars before I end up with this one. Main reason for my selection is 1) the brand and the design 2) option to add sub woofer 3) easy installation 4) Bluetooth connectivity 5) amazon Alexa compatibility(though I dont have an Alexa) Problems that I faced: I used a hdmi cable an used it in the arc port as suggested by the manual.

But however I tried I couldnt get the sound from the sound bar. After heaps of research on internet I found that NOT all hdmi can be used. As per suggestion on the internet I used another hdmi cable which had the markings hi speed.

But still it didnt work. Then I went to the shop and bought a HDMI WITH ARC COMPATIBILITY. This solved the issue and the unit worked like a beast. Other audio options: I used optical cable provided in the box meanwhile until my hdmi issue got sorted.

Optical cable also did an excellent job. I can easily pair my iPhone Bluetooth with the system. Audio output: There are different options such as 3D surround, bass extension, stereo, clear voice. Clarity and effect: After I used hdmi there was a better sound effect.

Audio clarity is excellent. The unit does a descent job for the price. I havent added subwoofer yet. The inbuilt subwoofers are doing descent job. Use the unit first and explore the sound options. If you think you require additional bass then invest in a subwoofer.

Im happy with the product as it provides more value for the money that I invested in.

Packed well. Hooked them to a Yamaha RX-479. Flimsy plastic. Sounds good to me. Have to turn up the sound level to 60 for listening. (I’m not deaf but do wear hearing devices). I prefer these over my last speakers because they sound like the treble is naturally higher.

I found my bookshelf Mission speakers have this same quality. The room is 20 X 11 and the sound is very good. Don’t think they’d be good for a larger, or more more square room. I find them to be very good fro the price.

At less than £100 and for a small format speaker system, this rocks. The sub is plenty powerful for a smaller room, and keeps the bass tight. The surrounds and fronts are identical, and for their small size, do a fair job or pushing the sound round – however they are no competition for any reasonable bookshelf speaker.

We don’t have the room for the bookshelf speakers anymore, so these are an ideal tradeoff, with the sub trying to make up the difference. The centre struggles a little with absolute clarity, but there is just the one driver in there.

I am struggling to reach my perfect sound, but its probably due to my room set up.

Here is the bottom line. Not every home has the ability to wire for true surround sound! Wires to run overhead (?) as we have a tile floor/ Nowhere to hide wires for surround sound speakers! Why not have the speakers wireless.

Large living room, but severely hampered by not being able to place the last two speakers on the other side of the room.

This is a solid receiver for anyone with a basic 5. 1 system, a few HDMI connections, Apple devices, and ability to connect by ethernet to a home network. The receiver does not have a front panel HDMI input.

You need to pay extra to add Yamaha devices for wireless network or bluetooth audio. Consider other options if you need or want these connections. The set up is easy enough and you have enough options to adjust settings if you are inclined to do so.

The sound quality is excellent when matched with decent speakers. I like the Apple AirPlay option and the network streaming is acceptable. The graphical interface (on the TV screen) is functional but not outstanding.

The value for price is a bit tricky since you are paying for the Yamaha sound quality and not the full range of features that you might find at this price point. I cannot speak to reliabilty as I have not run the receiver enough to do an evaluation.

Again, this is a very good receiver for what it can do, but it does have limitations if you are looking for more flexiblity in wireless connections.

RX-V477 is set up for home theater, then audio playback from analog or CD. The HDMI pass through allows the TIVO controller to turn on the TV and then the RX-V477, aka the unit. That’s nice. However, the analog music source, when selected, also turns on the TV.

That’s irritating, but to my knowledge unavoidable, because the HDMI setup is for all sources, and two of them don’t require TV. I’ll note that when asking about the setup that I got one grumpy Yamaha tech on the phone.

He seemed irritated that I made references to guidance from the unit’s manual and there was a fair amount of jumping around there, e. g. see page 81 for more information about. I got help a week later from another tech after sorting out some of the setup details myself.

Note that I waited 24 hours for a call back, then called again. I have a Sony receiver and don’t have trouble with getting techs on the phone. I selected the unit because of the VIRTUAL CINEMA FRONT feature which works modestly well with surround speakers up front (my wife wanted less speaker clutter).

I note for the record that Cinema 3D, when selected, does not allow trimming the surround channels (not in the manual).

Upgraded from a Denon 3805. I didn’t want to spend too much $$ this time around due to upcoming changes with 4k coming out and the whole HDMI 2. 2 etc thing. After looking at several different receivers, I opted for this as I would be able to maximize all of the features.

It sounds great, airplay is terrific. I use it not only with my iphone but with my Windows computer to stream music. You do not really need bluetooth but would like to have the option built in. This is the first receiver for me where I do not have to turn on the receiver when watching tv.

I have everything going thru this and it does not have to be on to get signals from my dvd player, dvr or other connections. What a convenience. A couple of things for me as to why I give it 4 and not 5 stars.

It would be nice to have another subwoofer output so I could run 2 subs and having to buy a bluetooth adapter. Minor complaints. Buy this now, such a great deal for a great little receiver. I don’t think you will find a better receiver for the price.

I know you can all find it on sale somewhere.