Yamaha RX V663 AV receiver

Signal switching features HDMI Switching: Yes HDMI Repeater: Yes HDMI Pass-Through: Up to 1080p Connectors Headphone Jack: Yes Coaxial Digital Input: Yes Optical Digital Input: Yes Radio Type: Radio tuner - AM/FM - digital Tuner Frequency Range: FM: 87.5 - 107.9 MHz, AM: 530 - 1710 kHz Tuning Display: Fluorescent display Preset Station Qty: 40 preset stations Antenna Form Factor: Loop AM / wire FM Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 70 dB Total Harmonic Distortion: Mono: 0.5%, stereo: 0.5% Auto Preset Memory: Yes Additional Features: XM HD Surround Sound, Sirius satellite radio ready Remote control Type: Universal remote control - infrared Features: Multi-brand compatibility

Manufacturer's product description High-performance Home Theater Receiver features full support for HD audio formats, HDMI video upconversion and deinterlacing, iPod and Bluetooth audio compatibility, improved YPAO, Adaptive DRC (Dynamic Range Control), multi-zone custom installation facility, and four SCENE buttons.

Connections Connector Type: 1 x docking station - rear 2 x digital audio input (optical) ( TOSLINK ) - rear 1 x digital audio input (coaxial) ( RCA phono ) - rear 3 x component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear 1 x component video output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear 1 x 5.1 channel audio line-in ( RCA phono x 6 ) - rear 2 x HDMI input ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) - rear 1 x HDMI output ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) - rear 4 x composite video input ( RCA phono ) - rear 1 x composite video output ( RCA phono ) - rear 1 x monitor output ( RCA phono ) - rear 5 x audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear 2 x audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear 1 x AM antenna - rear 1 x FM antenna - rear 7 x speakers output ( banana x 2 ) - rear 2 x speakers output (multi zone) ( banana x 2 ) - rear 1 x headphones ( phone stereo 6.25 mm ) - front 1 x composite video/audio input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - front 1 x audio line-in ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) - front 1 x subwoofer output ( RCA phono ) - rear 1 x XM antenna - rear 1 x microphone ( mini-phone 3.5 mm ) - front 2 x remote control ( mini-phone 3.5 mm ) - rear 1 x trigger ( mini-phone 3.5 mm ) - rear 1 x audio line-out (multi zone) ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear 4 x S-Video input ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - rear 1 x S-Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - rear 1 x monitor output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - rear 1 x 7.2 channel audio line-out ( RCA phono x 9 ) - rear 1 x Sirius satellite antenna - rear Miscellaneous Included Accessories: AM antenna, FM antenna, optimizer microphone Power Power Device: Power supply - internal Voltage Required: AC 120 V ( 60 Hz ) Power Consumption Operational: 400 Watt Power Consumption Stand by / Sleep: 0.8 Watt Power Outlets: 2 AC outlets

Review

Advantages:	HDMI Inputs / Scene mode
Disadvantages:	2 HDMI in and no upscaling

The bass sound in home theater environment is considered as one tenth of the whole sound. The thunderous sounds of storms, ballistic sounds of gun shots and screeching loud noises of car brakes, all these sounds with effective bass brings Cinema realism to the movies. For a long while this one bass sound referred to Low Frequency Effect (LFE) .1 channels was enough to enjoy movies in Home Theater surround sound environment. This LFE .1 channel spreads in 360°.

In new lossless uncompressed sounds such as Dolby TrueHD™ and DTS-HD Master Audio™ on Blu-ray™ and HD DVD™, this .1 sound is recorded as full-frequency channel. Thus 7.1 channel audio now represents full 8 channel audio. To enhance the response of these bass sounds Yamaha has brought new Audio-Video Receivers with two bass sounds pre-outlets. The new Yamaha RX-V663BL™ is 7.2 Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver. Luckily this wonderful machine, on the affordable side, has a suggested retail price of $549.95. On-line and street prices can be lower. The receiver has so many features, most of them are also found on many receivers but the main high-lights are built-in advanced audio decoders for Dolby TrueHD™ and DTS-HD Master Audio™ and inclusion of two subwoofer pre-outs.
On the performance side Yamaha RX-V663BL™ stands out very well. Advanced audio decoding of uncompressed sounds through the receiver built-in decoders is marvelous. Clarity in low frequencies, parametric and higher frequencies such as treble is felt right away. Six channel analog processing of PCM audio which is already decoded inside the HD DVD or Blu-ray players is also impressive but the only problem is that it is limited to six channels only. Digital Bitstream audio decoding for the lossless sounds can be spread to 7.2 channels if the source encoding is done in 7.1 channels.