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We were in the market to replace our old (10+ yrs) but trusty Denon 1801 to move into a modern updated unit with the latest connections and mainly BR sound with DTS-HD and True-HD. Like the Denon I looked for reviews and mainly reader feedback. I picked at least one model from the mjor manufactures...Onkyo, Pioneer, Denon, Harmon Kardon and Yamaha. I came away with two out of the list..Yamaha RX-V667 and Denon AVR-891 (same as 2311CI). Both fit my list of needs and budget. I did look at the newer RX-V671 but being new was out of my price range. But the day I made my choice, which was the Denon 891, it went off sale. The next day a RX-V671 "open box" got listed at almost the same price and I grabbed it.
Yamaha's as long as I can remember alwy have had good sound. They don't get the same reconignition as Denon or the amount of mega reviews of Onko but they've alwys been fairly good. They made great strides since the 'RX-Vx65" series with the "x67" series last year. And the newer line of the RX-Vx71's improve on it.
One thing you can count on from Yamaha is n abundant of sound fields and choices. This 671 carries on that tradition. The sound is clean and clear thanks to the 7 channel discrete amps. Besides HD Audio with Cinima DSP 3D and it's 17 programs Yamaha offers a unique "7.1 w/Presence Speaker" setup which I'm using. It's basically a 5.1 with two added speakers preferably on the outside of the main fronts. It addsa more deminson of sound to the listener. The Presence Speakers are set at about 35% instead of 100% to fill in in. I'm sold on it and can tell the difference.
While Denon and Onkyo uses the highly touted 'Audyssey' for sound fine tuning Yamaha has it's own YPAO. It's a real gem and takes out the guess work of trying to get the best sound out there. I did both auto and mnual and whatever the YPAO does it does right. In the sound menu it'll show your configuration, distance, dB levels and so on but it doesn't stop there. You can fine tune the speakers even more. The only cavet in the YPAO was it constantly labled my fronts as small when they are large. But you can change an override the settings and also save custom settings.
The look and design of front and back is well thought of. I like the split gloss & satin metal look on the front and as always a good size volume knob. lso the readout on the front is very good. I can read anything from 10ft away easy. You have a set of inputs on the front and the inclussion of a USB port (the RX-V667 doesn't have) for Ipod or USB stick. The back has plenty of inputs but for thos looking for a set of pre-outs or 6 channel analog look at last years 667 or even the highly touted 867 model which is loaded. Still plenty for the average user. Just make sure you use "Banana Plugs" for speakers as it's tight for bare wire connections.
One thing I read which was a big plus on the Yamaha was it's GUI interface and navigation. When you turn it on it blends in with the current picture and not on it's on so you don't miss a step. It's also easy to get around and make changes to say sound fields with the current input. Very useful for radio, Ipod, MP3's and network music. This was a big part in choosing Yamaha. And speking of Network this usint has it which was another reason. Within five minutes o hooking it up it found a new firmware update and DL it. I had no issues with playing my MP3's thru WMP connected thru AT&T Uverse to a Netgear switch to the 671. And with the "Compressed Music Enhancer" and the 7.1 Presence Speaker setup the sound was the best I've heard in a long time. I'm still playing with all the various sound fields.
The 671 does has HDMI pass thru and so far no issues except ith the Xbox 360 due to it having component connection. While it does pss thru the signal and sound you have to leave the AVR on to do so. ith AT&T and the BR Player (both HDMI out) you don't. Just hit the correct input, light blinks on the front and presto your signal on the TV. I ended up getting a "component-to-HDMI" box which does th trick. I have it,a BR Player and AT&T Uverse all going thru the 671 with one HDMI out to TV. So far I haven't seen or heard any degradation. It's now streamlined my connection to the TV to one cable and now the TV is hung on the wall. And if anything it's improved the sound especially to BR discs ten fold over the old Denon which provided standard DTS and DD 5.1.It's a good unit for the middle-of-the-pack choices. I'd suggest for those looking check over at the AVS Forum [ ... ] for additional input and user reviews on this and other models.
TV - 52" Sony KDL-52Z5100
Game - Xbox 360
SAT - AT&T Uverse
BR Player - Sony BDP-S360
Speakers - Boston Micro 9000 5.1 with PSB 500 Century Series as main fronts in a 7.1 setup
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Network AV Receiver with 6 in / 1 out HDMI ( 3D and ARC compatibility), iPhone app compatibility, front panel HDMI and USB connections, HD Audio decoding with CINEMA DSP 3D, and 1080p upscaling.
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