Yamaha RX-V663BL 665 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

I have owned this model for about 2 weeks now and it is one of the best buys on the market right now.

The other receiver that comes close to this is the Onkyo 606, which has an excellent set of features for the same price as this receiver.

Advantages for the Yamaha RX-V663 receiver: True DSD support (SACD format), direct audio option.

Advantages for the 606: Built in HD Radio Tuner, 4 HDMI inputs versus 2 on the Yamaha, Upscales video to 1080i (this is more of a nice to have in my opinion)


I tend to side on the audio advantages, because thats really what most of use starting buying better receiver/amps for. The Onkyo 606 lacks a Pure direct audio option, for some reason it's not available on the North American version of the Onky 606 receiver. DSD or SACD format support is in the 606 but converts it to PCM before playing it back. The Yamaha has DSD with no conversion to PCM (now I just need a player with DSD over HDMI).

I can't speak to the Onkyo Model for setup, but I think it has pretty much the same type of setup features. Setup on the Yamaha RX-V663 is actually extremely easy. If you read the manual it helps and even have to admit I failed somewhat in this task.

Once all the players and speakers are connected run the YPAO setup. THe receiver uses a small mic that you connect to it and it it powers on and all the step by step instructions are displayed on your TV screen. Once you start the test it sends a various sounds to each connected speaker so the mic which is place where you normally would sit to listen to everything can record each sound level.

This calibrates your system by automatically setting the distance for each speaker and reports back any errors it finds. In my case I apparently had my front channel speaker wires crossed which resulted in a "out of phase" warning. I reset the wires and re-ran the test. This is also correctly spotted that I had no sub-woofer.

Excellent picture: I can attest to this as this properly takes my Nintendo Wii Component in and upconverts it to the HDMI to my TV and picture looks quite a bit sharper than before and the Wii is only 480p.

No upscaling non high def formats to 1080i like the Onkyo 606, but most players should already do upscaling for you and pass the High def level you need for your TV (I have a 720p tv)

Audio wise my Mid-range stands out much clearer than it did before.
My only drawback here is my speakers are not what you would call new and might need changing out. I have to do a little more research, but my current right and left channel speakers are 20 year old Technics that are 200 watt per channel. Most amp/receivers these days do not have the power to really drive these speakers well.

This amplifier/receiver is definitely worth getting, it may have only 2 HDMI inputs, but honestly I do not have any HDMI devices yet. Working on that part though.

After reading the reviews for various brands of home theater receivers, I narrowed my choice to Yamaha and Pioneer. Then I found this Yamaha receiver for $340.00 online. What a bargain! This receiver has all the HD audio formats and all the power I needed to power my 5" Cinema Sound Series 2-WAY 300-WATT Floorstanding Speakers and Dual 5" Cinema Sound Series 2-WAY 150-WATT Center Channel Speaker. I am very happy with my decision. It has performed flawlessly, does NOT run hot like other receivers, and I have had no technical issues. If you need four HDMI inputs, look elsewhere, but if you only need two, you should look closely at this one.

The Dolbe True-HD decoding looks nice, although it's already built-in for PS3, so the capability is redundant if you use it for BluRay.

The number of HD capable inputs look thin. Even though there are 2 HDMI in and 3 components in, the 2 HDMI and 2 of the components are duplicates for the same inputs, so it really only has 3 HD capable inputs.

With a HD cable or Sat box, XBox 360, PS3, it's already maxed out. If you want to add something like an Apple TV, or another HD cable or Sat box or DVR, or even if you want to hook up a Wii through component to take advantage of 16:9 wide screen, you don't have enough inputs. This is lacking compared to the Sony STR-DG910 which can handle up to 4 HD inputs at the same time.

Before you go out and buy a fancy $1k+ AV receiver with all the bells and whistles, please ask yourself, do you really need all the extra little features like HD-radio, network connectivity, USB ports, a bazillion HDMI ports, fancy video processor, etc? If all you want is a basic receiver that will allow you to enjoy the latest lossless 5.1 or 7.1 audio codec from blu-ray movies (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master), or even just multi-channel PCM tracks from movies or the latest generation game console, without having to pay for all the other extra stuff, look no further!

Yamaha did us all a favor with this unit. It does everything most people will ever need (unless you're the most technology-hungry of audiophiles) and does it all remarkably well. Sure, it is not the prettiest looking AVR out there and the OSD (on-screen display) will look like you just found that old Atari 2600 from childhood and plugged it in to your big 1080p plasma. The text and menu system looks prehistoric! Presentation and esthetics are definitely not this receiver's forte. But rest assured that in designing this receiver, Yamaha has skimped on such aspects only so they could splurge on components that count! Burr-Brown DACs and other high quality bits and pieces normally found on receivers that cost many times more are utilized in this budget AVR to deliver outstanding sound. Yamaha spent the money on things that count: the sweet sounds of music or the immersive 7.1 channels of your favorite movies delivered to your ears with uncompromising sonic quality. I also have the much pricier Onkyo NR905 and Denon 4308 that I use in my main home theater and living rooms respectively and this little Yamaha RX-V663 that costs a small fraction of those units rivals their sound. I originally picked this up so I could also have a home theater experience in the bedroom but have been floored at how it performs so much so that I will likely find myself watching more movies in bed.

It does have its limitations though. For one, it is probably not suitable for a very large room unless you use a separate multi-channel amplifier. Don't get me wrong, 95 watts per channels is probably suitable for many, but rooms upwards of 300+ square feet might be a stretch. Secondly, it only has 2 HDMI inputs (not a big deal for many, and is actually ideal for most who just have a PS3 or Xbox connected in addition to a Cable or Satellite box). Even if you needed more HD capable inputs, there are some component inputs that can still be transcoded to HDMI so you still retain the luxury of having a single HDMI cable going to the TV and use the receiver as a true AV hub. Thirdly, it has a cheap feeling and looking remote that lacks enough buttons to control other component functions (not a big deal if you use a Harmony). Lastly, it doesn't upconvert all video sources to full 1080p (again, not a big deal since most TVs do a better job at video scaling anyway). The only 1080p upconverting AVRs that are worth using for their upconverting/video-processing abilities are those with the HQV Reon or Realta chip like the higher end Onkyos and the $5000 Denon 5308. That all said, you really do get a hell of a lot in the box with this $500 Yamaha.

In conclusion, everything listed on the features list on Amazon's page about this receiver works as advertised. The YPAO automated sound optimization/calibration works flawlessly and in some ways even better than the Audyssey system used by Denon & Onkyo. Lossless audio decoding of DTS-HD Master and TrueHD works perfectly and even HDMI switching operates quick and smoothly unlike the long pauses and sometimes buggy HDMI handshaking issues Onkyos has with earlier firmware. I can confirm that there are no LFE flaws, DTS-HD Master issues, or other major problems that have often been discussed about the first batch of next generation "future-proof" receivers. It even has nice extras like a 12v trigger, and second subwoofer pre-out, speaker posts to accept banana plugs, and all the other ins and outs that you don't normally find on receiver under $500 are present. And of course I've already raved about the sound. This is the best bang for the buck in terms of AV receivers and the only thing that may be comparable is the upcoming Pioneer VSX-1018 or Sony DG-920 which will arrive summer of 2008. But based on my previous experience with the DG-910, they are definitely a step down from Sony's ES line and will probably not sound as good as the Yamaha but will have a nicer looking OSD.

I will give this product 5 stars simply because you get so much for so little. Sound quality being of higher priority than esthetics.

This unit handles all of the current and two future surround technologies - DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. The DTS ES 6.1 surround of The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) is noticeably discreet in audio channel separation and is a completely immersive HD audio experience. My video display is 1080i HD and reception through the HDMI receiver connection is stable. This receiver can deliver up to 1080p with a 1080p HDTV. So far, I have had good results from using the receiver-controlled equalizer settings for each individual speaker. I am currently driving two large mains (3-way's with 1" dome tweeter, 3" dome midrange, 5" midrange and a 12" woofer each.. circa. 1970 GTE Sylvania), four medium sized bookshelf surrounds (2 - Polk Monitor 10's and 2 Pioneer 3-way's with 7" woofers), a Polk Audio CSI A4 Center Channel Speaker (Single, Cherry) and a yamaha 8" 150W subwoofer. I still have the option of adding a second subwoofer to Zone 1 and two additional speakers to be used in a Zone 2 configuration (another room) or to be used as "presence" speakers in the Zone 1 (main) configuration. I have also added an Audiovox CNP2000H XM Radio Mini Tuner Home Dock with Antenna which works extremely well with the addition of the Delphi XM Signal RepeaterDelphi XM Signal Repeater. Overall, a great choice in receivers at this price level.