 A Sweet Little Box That Sounds Big |
| Review Date: February 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Hollywood, Louisville, KY United States |
I purchased this receiver for $350.00 in April 2009 from Electronics Expo (through Amazon). I researched many models looking mainly at lower-cost receivers that have HDMI. I originally ordered the RX-V663 but EE mailed me this one telling me that at the time, the '663 was sold out and that the '665 is it's replacement. I was a bit miffed at this switch without EE notifying me first, but since the '665 was my second choice I went ahead and accepted this receiver. I'm happy I did.
My main goal was to have a reasonably priced receiver that will allow me to playback SACDs using HDMI. All other reasons were secondary. And this little box does this in spades. Naturally, if it can do more I'm all for that. So far, this '665 has handled everything I've thrown at it.
Before going any further, I need to point out a few things first. I'm old school living in the digital world. I embraced the digital revolution many years ago and I have absolutely no analog equipment (short of my speakers) in my system.
My Sony HDTV is a 36" CRT with HDMI input with an optical-out back to the '665 at AV-1 input for television viewing.....which, by the way, is a simple antenna signal. I feel for you folks having problems in this area but since I don't subscribe to cable or satellite, I can't make a judgment call on that subject. I can tell you that the '665 poses no conversion problems for me.
Yamaha CDX-860 at AV-3 input for CD playback. OPPO DV-980H at HDMI-3 for SACD playback exclusively. Sony DVP-NS90V at HDMI-2 for DVD. Soon I expect to add Blu-ray at HDMI-1 (probably the new OPPO).
I love this receiver. SACDs sound so good now that they're heard digitally with no A/D/A conversion getting in the way. No matter what disc I play, I hear the music and not the technology. No level differences between SACDs, and the distance remains current to the setting I've chosen in set-up. If you love SACD, listening to your collection using DSD through HDMI is the only way to go. CD playback is excellent with the '665. So many option are available to bring the sound alive. Same can be said for DVD playback as well. Even if you insist on simple native signal playback for CD and DVD, you will not be disappointed. But enhancing the signal is where the fun really begins.
I've never been one to enhance any playback signals in the past before, instead relying on straight 2-channel for CD and Dolby/dts for movies. Even back in old Pro-Logic only days did I rarely add anything to the sound. But I installed a pair of Presence speakers above my L/R speakers and the difference is amazing. The added speakers created a "wall of sound" in my front soundstage that was never there before. I recommend everyone who has this capability to try it. One minor issue: Presence speakers can't playback while using Back-Surround speakers. You must choose one or the other. Since I feel that having Presence speakers outweighs the Back-Surrounds in overall importance and benefits, I kept the Presence speakers installed. But if you already have Back-Surrounds, keep them for certain DVDs and Blu-ray (this Yamaha doesn't offer DSP for BD).
I have no issues concerning total watts or THD with this '665. This receiver plays LOUD and CLEAN and has never ran out of gas even on my most demanding titles. If I need more power, I can always add more since the '665 has pre-outs for all channels, which is a big plus. But so far, I haven't felt the need so power has never been a factor here.
I can't comment on any of the other options such as iPod, Bluetooth, Sirius, or XM or AM/FM as I don't use them. I'm sure that they work as advertised. I never listen to radio (I didn't even hook-up the antenna). I have Sirius and XM at work and I don't own an iPod.
What is so wrong with this remote? It works just fine for me. It takes a bit getting used to (what remote doesn't?), but it works the way it's supposed to work after reading the manual. I like how I don't need to power-up the TV just to make an adjustment while listening. Also, if I decide to watch a DVD without the receiver, I simply press the DVD input anyway (HDMI-2) and the TV sound takes over. It was also very simple to program thus allowing me to put all my other remotes into a drawer. All other remote issues I discovered were trial-and-error but nothing that couldn't be overcome with a quick study in the manual. In fact, compared with remotes of my past this one is easy to use. And it's not too big either - fits nice in my hand.
I tried the SCENE inputs and they work but I don't use them often. Usually whatever setting I left any given input on last is what I want anyway, so I really find this option merely okay. Still, it's nice to have it I suppose.
YPAO works like a charm although I still tweaked the unit after calibration with my trusty Radio Shack sound-pressure meter. My L/R and LS/RS are large with 12" woofers so they needed to be changed to Large instead of Small. Other than that minor problem, the YPAO is great to have and real easy to use.
The Yamaha RX-V665 is a sweet little receiver and has nearly everything a person could want thrown in. Granted, it isn't a high-end receiver with all the bells and whistles those models offer but it doesn't have the high price they have either. It's pluses far outweigh any minuses anyone can mention about it and after living with it for almost a year, I can honestly say that I've never regretted owning it for something more. I highly recommended giving the '665 a serious look as your next receiver purchase.
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A very nice paper weight
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| Review Date: February 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Meyers, Portland, Oregon |
| I bought this when I got my first BluRay because my Denon had run out of HDMI in ports. Now after many dollars spent on cables, dvd players, and bluray players I am ready to pitch it off a bridge. Absolutely every thing I put in any of the hdmi in ports gives me an "invalid signal" error on my TVs both LG 42in 1080. The only thing I can use it for is audio using the (thank god Yamaha still puts them in for the time being) two digital audio inputs. I use the toslink for the LG bluray and coax for the Sony DVD changer. I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, I guess not since there are no reviews about it. But "buyer beware" go to an electronics store with a generous return policy and try it at home. I wish I had. |
Great sound
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| Review Date: February 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: M. MCWILLIAMS, Louisville, KY |
| I got this receiver to compliment my Samsung 46" LED screen. The unit is pushing JBL tower speakers and sub with JBL small bookshelves for the surrounds. First of all, the sound is great-clear and airy with no distortion that I can detect. Setup is fairly easy with the included microphone. The only quirk that has affected me is that when the HDMI TV is turned on, a signal is sent from the TV which puts whatever is attached to first scene button on the left. Not a deal breaker, but it means I have to press more remote buttons than I like to put it back into the right mode. Also, it takes a while to plow through the manual and get it set up, but once you do, television and movies sound fantastic in discrete surround sound. Definitely a good buy if you can get it on sale. |
Excellent Mid-End AV Reciever!!!
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| Review Date: February 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Audiophile, Seattle |
| I just bought this V665 for our spare room and so far, it has been an excellent receiver. Most of the technical specs and features have been said by other reviewers so I won't delve into that. Thank God that our receiver came with the latest firmware, so I didn't have to waste time with it. The receiver puts out good, clean power to our JBL fronts and Polk center, sub and surrounds. This mid-end receiver is excellent for the money, but of course, is not on par with our high-end Pioneer Elite receiver. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this purchase. |
Wonderful receiver but not compatible with many cable boxes
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| Review Date: September 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Roger Whitehouse, New York, NY United States |
I chose the Yamaha V665 after careful comparison with other units, and was very impressed with ease of setup and features. The sound quality is excellent, and while I had initial concerns with power output, at 90 watts it demonstrates more useable power than my previous NAD unit at 100 watts. I particularly like the four "Scene" buttons which allow linked input sources and sound fields and switch the unit on with one action. Contrary to other reviews on Amazon you can easily assign whatever input you wish together with a preferred sound field and assign it to any of these buttons. On the downside, you cannot assign different tone adjustments to these four "Scenes" which means I have to manually attenuate the bass to listen to spoken radio broadcasts which tend to create disturbing bass reverberations at times.
However the one big disappointment, which because of its nature I only discovered too late to return the unit (and I would not have purchased this unit had I known beforehand) is evident when a TV input from some (possibly all?) cable boxes is connected to the unit and passed through using the receiver as a switching unit (one of the key features of any modern receiver after all). In this mode the signal is subject to frequent dropouts of sound and video. Some days these dropouts are hardly evident and only for a fraction of a second, other days they are frequent and last long enough to leave the screen blank for a second or two or to delete entire words on the audio track. This happens with every possible connection I have tried, whether HDMI or component video (I have also tried monster cables to no avail). I have since seen other reviews reporting this same problem on other Yamaha units. My cable box is Time Warner but there are similar reports with Verizon Fios, so the problem seems endemic. Updating the current Yamaha firmware seems to have no effect.
There are always so many variables that it is difficult to track down the source of the problem, and I would hate to criticize Yamaha unfairly, but as the problem apparently occurs throughout the Yamaha product range, it would seem wise to hesitate on purchasing Yamaha until this problem is resolved. |
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