Yamaha RX-V663BL 665 Watt 7.2-Channel Home Theater Receiver (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Santa brought me one of these to replace a pre-HDMI Sony that the display had failed on. I'm nowhere near really delving into the features of the Yamaha or cranking it up, but so far this seems like a great, versatile unit. I have the V663 running a 5.1 Sony speaker system and 50" plasma at 1080p, fed by a Panasonic Blu-Ray and Apple TV, all on HDMI. It has handled any audio format I've thrown at it, including the Blu-Ray-specific lossless formats.I really like the YPAO automatic speaker setup. It seems to be fool-proof, although the sound of the "natural EQ" setting seems a little too warm and organic for me. I will probably try the "flat" EQ setting eventually. Luckily the whole YPAO process takes just a few minutes.EDIT: I did try the "flat" EQ setting and that is indeed better. It's brighter, and that's what I was looking for. The "natural" setting cut the treble too much for my taste. I have found a caveat with the YPAO setup, though. For some reason, the V663 is a bit goofy when it comes to figuring out speaker phases. It's waffled on speakers being in or out of phase, and it is now telling me that some of my speakers are out-of-phase when I know for a fact they are not. It may be the configuration of my room that is giving the machine fits, but your best, fail-safe bet is to check the wires by hand as you are setting up your new receiver.My favorite thing so far is the ability to mix, match, and re-label the various inputs. I was a little worried at first because some receivers out there have more inputs available and because there is some redundancy in the Yamaha labels. For example, I was worried that if there was an HDMI input labeled "DVR" and an optical input labeled "DVR" I wouldn't be able to use the two for two different sources. No fear - I was able to cram all the above-listed equipment along with a PS2 onto the V663. For some users, though, two HDMI inputs might not be enough. I highly recommend tallying your current equipment (or planned future equipment) and sketching out how you would connect them based on available photos of the back of the V663.The remote is decent and I have programmed it to operate the TV, Blu-ray, and Apple TV so far. There is more customization available and I will probably try to automate it a little more for the less tech-savvy members of my household.It's hard to explain how something can be so very technically competent yet be simple and "no-frills" all at the same time, but I think that description fits the Yamaha RX-V663. All in all, a nice, solid unit.

You get a lot of boom for your buck with this A/V receiver. I was replacing an older HTIB Onkyo - which had been great, but I wanted to upgrade to HDMI and a bit more power. I got all that and more in this mid-range receiver. After checking reviews and comparing this to Onkyo and Pioneer units, I went with the Yamaha. Everything holds true - it's got a "fuller" sound than the Onkyo using the same speakers.The setup wasn't as hard as I'd been led to believe. I'd recommend the banana plugs for ease but everything was pretty straightforward and HDMI in and out really simplifies connection. It's a bit confusing at first, but once you figure out the remote and some of the more esoteric settings, it's fine. The display shows both "sound field" (output) and input (2, 5, 7 channels). The input graphic looks more like an output graphic and it doesn't always match up to what you think you're getting. Knowing when the ProLogic kicks in is ... well, I'm still not sure, but it sounds good, so I'm not complaining.The DSP works. Some love it, some hate it, but it does what it says it does. You can turn it off if you don't with just the press of the button. The autosetup works well and really improved the sound. Perfect? Probably not, but I'm not one of those picky guys that can tell the sound of a bad ohm somewhere in the system and I'm not playing with thousand dollar speakers either. I just want my TV to sound good.Complaints? Not really any. The remote could be clearer, the graphics on the display could be better, the onscreen display looks like something from an Atari (but again, gets the job done), but overall, it's a darn good unit. I'd love to hear it with a bigger, better subwoofer, but that's a job for my wish list.It works very well with my Tivo HD, something I'd heard might be a problem.

I've now tried ordering this item through Amazon with two different vendors. The first was Electronics Expo who, after I ordered the Yamaha RX-V663BL, sent me an email to tell me that they did not have this item in stock, and they wanted to replace my order with the RX-V665BL, claiming it was the newer version of the RX-663BL, which it is not. The V663 has more power (665 watts, 95/channel for V663 versus 630 watts, 90/channel for V665), and has S-video inputs which the V665 does not, which is why I order the V663. After I informed Electronics Expo that I did not wish to change my order, they sent me a second email in an attempt to substitute the RX-V765BL, which does have the same power output as the V663, but like the V665 has no S-video outputs. I again refused to accept this substitution and again requested they cancel my order. I then received a third email from Electronics Expo saying they were happy I accepted the order change and they had requested expedited shipping of the V765!!!!! Totally flabergasted, I immediately sent me an email to say that was totally against what I had requested, i.e. simply cancel my order. They then sent me a fourth email saying that the expedited shipment email was sent to me in error (????) and that my order had already been cancelled. At least they then sent me a cancellation confirmation email the next morning.I then ordered this item through Tiger Direct, who as with Electronics Expo, indicated on Amazon (and if you look on Tiger Direct's own website as of this morning, October 21, 2009 for Yamaha RX-V663BL) that this item was in stock. This morning (10/21/09) I received an email notification from Tiger Direct they had shipped out to me on October 20th the Yamaha RX-V665BL (instead of the RX-V663BL I had ordered through Amazon)!!!!! I immediately called them, checking their own website as I was on the telephone with a customer service rep and finding they indicated on their own website, as I stated previously, that the RX-V663BL was in stock). The customer service reprentative, who had to check with her supervisor, informed me that the RX-V663BL was not in fact available, so they simply replaced my order with the RX-V665BL and shipped it out to me, with no prior consultation or approval from me to do so!!!! I again with the Tiger Direct customer service representative, as with the Electronics Expo representative, received the pitch that the V665 was the newer V663, which I proceeded to inform her of the reality that it is not! Upon my request, she sent a request to her supervisor to see if they could intercept and stop the shipment. If not, of course, she allowed that I can call them once I receive the incorrect shipment and they will provide me with a return authorization and shipping label. At this point, I suspect that is what I will wind up having to do.Needless to say, I am fed up with both vendors, who I perceive to be playing the old bait and switch game. There is a third vendor listed on Amazon's page for the Yamaha RX-V663BL, but I'm not inclined to place yet another order, fearing that my results will be the same...no availability of the item and nothing but hassles as a result of placing my order. And just to pre-empt any responses about the RX-V663BL being last year's model, it is still listed on Yamaha's own website as being available, so trust me, I've done my homework and know clearly that which I still seek! In any event, I wanted to share my experiences with anyone trying to order the RX-V663BL, as I believe any such order to be a case of "Buyer Beware!!!". Yamaha RX-V663BL 665 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver