YAMAHA RX-V565 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

Pros: Sounds great with Klipsch HD 500 speakers!

Cons: Had lots of issues with the HDMI passthrough.**I may be incorrect.** I was unable to change the surround audio presets while using my blu-ray player. I tried everything in the settings for the player and the receiver with no success.

Other Thoughts: I got around this problem by hooking all components to my TV and then using a fiber optic cable from the TV to the receiver.

Pros: 1080p upconversion, 4 HDMI outs, runs fairly cool for its specs

Cons: Remote is big and awkward. Buy a Logitech

Other Thoughts: I have used Yamaha for 10 years with no problems. I only bought this model to add HDMI. Sounds great with Bose 6.1 speakers

Pros: Clean Sound. Not too enormous. Menu's are easy to navigate through since they show up on your TV screen. I just wanted it for the HD Surround Sound for my Blu-Ray Player. It is doing it's job.

Cons: The center and surround speaker clamps are kind of small and I already had 14 gauge wire and it doesn't quite fit nicely.

This is more of a "I don't know what I am doing" quarrel. I am so used to a receiver flashing the DTS or DD 5.1 logo on the display panel so I know what is streaming through my receiver. This one doesn't say anything except HDMI1 (Or whatever input you are currently on) So I have to assume I am hearing DTS-HD Master Audio, but for all I know it is being down mixed into Dolby.

Other Thoughts: Good price, thanks newegg.

Pros: Processing everything through HDMI is great. I haven't tried the Wii. Price waaaaas very good. Does everything it promises. Setting up volume control is very easy using the automated system.

Cons: Missing jacks for second set of speakers. Remote control needs improvement. Specially if Yamaha intends for this to be your primary source of control for all your gear via HDMI.

Other Thoughts: This replaced a 20 year old yamaha unit that I really liked. That unit had a second pair of speaker jacks that I had connected to the patio and I really liked. Now you have to get the 2 zone model to basically get the same thing. I also think the remote could have been a strong selling point because is is very close to being truly universal. Lastly, it comes set for 8oms. if you have 6 you need to change it. No biggie.

Pros: I expected issues setting this up but everything has worked great...no issues at all with my HD Cox Cable box. It sounds good and has lots of inputs...probably the best deal you'll find at this price.

Cons: Haven't hooked up the Wii yet but...based on other reviews...you need to perform a somewhat tedious firmware update for it to work properly. No problem though...I have an old VCR in the garage with an optical out.

Front display looks a little plain...could use a more modern or decorative look.

Banana clips for the two mains and spring clips for the rest. Didn't bother me but some people have complained.

Other Thoughts: Got it for 309.99...great deal. Was considering the Onkyo 607 but didn't need the extra HMDI or subwoofer inputs/outputs. Might as well save money since they both put out the same amount of power.

Pros: Sounds great, works as advertised, setup is easy, and it runs cool enough that I can put the Blu-Ray player on top of it.

Cons: Of course the remote has a flock of tiny buttons, and no backlight or useful glow in the dark feature. But, I'm setting up a Sony universal remote for everything anyway. Setup was fairly easy. The one big flaw I did run into was some oddball incompatibility with our Cox-supplied Motorola digital cable box; sound would glitch every few seconds and it was quite annoying. It was easy to work around by using HDMI for video and fiber for audio. No sweat. I hope I don't ever need to update firmware though... I'll need to find a CD-ROM player with optical out.

Also - CEC pass-thru got REALLY annoying, turning stuff on and off when we didn't want it to. Finish watching a movie, kill the BD player - TV shuts off too, too bad if you wanted to watch it. I had to disable that. I don't think it's a Yamaha problem, I think it's just appliances thinking they're smarter than they really are.

Pros: Great sound quality!
4 HDMI inputs and plenty of other connections.
Extremely easy to set up speakers with the Yamaha YPAO.
Has every audio decoder you could really need.

Cons: Does not have multi-channel analog audio inputs to hook up an SACD player, etc. (Need to get the RX-V665 for mutli-channel).
Firmware update process is somewhat tedious (but worth it once you get it right).

Other Thoughts: For an HTPC not using onboard audio/video, it is best to update the firmware to K032. You can then control the Audio and Video inputs to set an optical audio from a sound card (use AV4) to match an HDMI input (use HDMI4). Instructions for doing this are included with the firmware download from Yamaha. When converting the firmware .wav to cd format, follow Yamaha's instructions and do not use Windows Media Player to convert, it won't work so you need to find some other software to burn it to a CD.
I have this set up in 6.1 matched with Polk TSi series in the front w/voice matched center from Newegg and Polk R150's for rear surround. The sound is phenomenal! Use "Direct" mode when playing DVD/DVD-Audio for the best quality sound when playing off of an HTPC.

Pros: This is a great unit. This unit let me replace both my old HTiB as well as an audio/video selector i was using. I choose to pair mine with a set of Klipsch Quintet speakers as well as a Klipsch Sub and i don't think i could be more impressed. My roommate had Polk Speakers on his and i honestly think i have better overall sounds and i spent a good deal less.

Cons: Remote isn't the greatest buy my Logitech Harmony was able to be setup for it so the stock remote is merely a backup now.

Other Thoughts: This is easily the best head unit i have dealt with for under $700, and i have experience with multiple units from Sony, Pioneer, Onkyo, and Denon. Denon is definately one of the nicer brands out there but the unit i used was easily triple the price i paid for this one.

Pros: Great sound, easy speaker setup, easy on tv menus to follow, all speakers can be used when playing music not just the two fronts like most stereos.

Cons: Settings don't seem to be for each input individually.

Other Thoughts: Love it for the price and can't wait for my NewEgg gift card to buy the ipod dock.

Pros: Upscales everything. Easy setup.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Switched from a Sony Audio Receiver to the Yamaha. Now I have the best in both.