Yamaha RX-397 100 Watt Natural Sound AM/FM Stereo Receiver

This is one receiver that will except the old style turn tables. Everything went great with this, the set up was easy, programing the tuner was great. Just a nice product.

I purchased this receiver to replace an Onkyo that died. It is worth every penny paid; in fact I'm not sure what you could improve on w/more expensive receivers. The radio has incredible sensitivity compared to my Onkyo. I live 40+ miles from any major city and get great reception now with the provided wire/loop antennas. I listen mostly to pipe organ, choral and classical music. Listening to my pipe organ CDs, you'd swear you're sitting right in front of the pipes --- unbelievable clarity.
The amp has no trouble driving Bose 301 8 ohm 75watt speakers, easily filling a large room with beautiful sound. The other reason I purchased this reciever was the low level phono input for my turntable input. Works perfectly. I've tried, but do not use the equalizer control -- not needed in my opinion.

My RX-595 just died on its 10th birthday. Its grandchild, the RX-397, was at the funeral and I hired her on the spot. She is a worthy successor -- pure, clean sound for my classical collection and noise free reception from distant FM stations. With other reviewers I hightlight the "pure direct" feature which can bypass all treble, bass, and loudness filters, including balance control, to give the listener the most perfect sound possible. At its $200+ price there is simply nothing in its price range that can compete.

I'm very satisfied with the performance of this receiver. I was looking for a receiver with medium power and one which did not have all the extras such as surround sound, etc. The Yamaha RX-397 design is simple but yet provides everything I need. I especially like the continuous adjustable loudness control which allows for low power settings without sacrificing bass or treble.

FM signal performance is outstanding even with the simple single wire antenna that's provided with the receiver.

Another feature of the RX-397 which is difficult to find nowadays is its tape monitor circuit. Since I have a set of Bose 901 speakers with an active equalizer, a tape monitor which provides a continous signal is a must as the equalizer is hooked into the monitor loop. Most receivers do not make this provision. (The 901s will sound flat without the active equalizer hooked up.)

The RX-397 has plenty of power to drive two sets of speakers and also features an output impedance switch to match your speakers.

A very good buy for the price. Highly recommended.

I've had this reciever for two days now and I'm thrilled with it's performance. It took the place of a Pioneer 110watt 5 channel unit. I don't have time to listen to it during the day, so I bought a set of headphones for night listening.(didn"t want to wake the wife). The Yamaha rx-397 fits the bill with it"s two channels and headphones. I don't need more then 50watts, but it will drive speakers with aplumb!. AM and FM are very good also. And I like the knobs. Would recommend it to anyone.