| Electronics Retailer: Consumer Electronics: Home Theater HDMI Receivers
Our Home Theater HDMI Receiver Store offers Online Shopping for a huge selection of Home Theater Receivers from all the major brands including Denon, Harman Kardon, Onyko, Pioneer, Sony and Yamaha. We have the largest selection on the Internet. We hope you enjoy shopping at the Shack! |
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| Brand: Yamaha
Category: CE
List Price: $549.95
Buy New: $499.95
You Save: $50.00 (9%)
New (12) from $399.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 2072
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 32
Dimensions (in): 18.7 x 22.2 x 10.6
Warranty: Unknown
MPN: RX-V663BL
Model: RX-V663BL
UPC: 027108930121
EAN: 0027108930121
ASIN: B0013ZGOWY
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Big sound-small volume July 8, 2008
I live in a small apartment in Greenwich Village, so really can't play music/movies very loud. As soon as I set this up I noticed a vast improvement in the sound quality from my existing speakers in an 18X24 room. Without blowing out the windows, and my neighbors, I can hear the full surround effect; the sound track from movies surrounds us now, . Some nice features, including a max volume feature.
Has more than enough inpuits, and you can piggy back some. The scene feture is great, and easy to program. I set up 2 for TV, one for 5.1 HD programs and one for 2.0
A couple of small issues:
1.The remote does not control my Time Warner Cable box DVR, but I can live with that (until I get a new TIVO HD box with a 2 way cable card if they ever release them)
2.You can not save the auto setup and make small changes to it (or if you can I haven't figured it out yet - UPDATE: you can make those changes than "restore" the last auto setup.
3.Can't get it to upconvert my VCR past 420p (not that it matters much)
The "Mac Daddy" of Surround Sound July 1, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Wow! I've been putting off entering the Surround Sound world for many years, but with the purchase of my LCD TV and "HD" from Dish Network in January I began my search for the best Surround Sound receiver I could buy without sending myself to the "poor house". I certainly understand the phrase "Analysis leads to paralysis" now that I went through the process. With so many products to choose from and so much information available via the internet, it's easy to get squeamish about ACTUALLY MAKING THE PURCHASE. It all paid off with this Yamaha.
I had 2 Yamaha Tower speaker on my 2 channel amp that I loved; so I wanted to use them as my mains for Surround and I have. I bought a Yamaha Center speaker based on size and appearance (I had entertainment center measurement constraints) which sounds very nice and a Yamaha Sub that doesn't overwhelm everything. My Surround speakers are basic KLHs that are quite adequate.
It realy was "plug and play" for me and I did the whole installation myself (my KLHs were already in place as a 2nd set on my 2 channel, positioned for "rear" use in a Surround system). I turned the unit on once everything was connected and basically did nothing and it sounded spectacular. I'm using all HDMI with the Dish Receiver/DVR on one input and my Samsung Upconverting DVD on the other and obviously the HDMI Out to my Samsung LCD HD TV.
I've just touched the "tip of the iceberg" with programming features on this Receiver and yet I'm totally pleased. I added the Ipod Dock and that works perfectly too.
In the $400 range I cannot imagine how this thing can be beaten. If you are in "paralysis" right now over a Surround receiver - BUY THIS. You will not be disappointed.
Sweet !!! June 24, 2008
I've had this receiver a couple of weeks now and I love it. For me third time was the charm. It was time to upgrade my 11 year old Sony STR-DE915 with a HDMI receiver to go with my PS3. I tried the Sony STR-DG720 and it sounded nice but did not have switched AC outlets so I went with the STR-DG910. I was not impressed with the power of that receiver at all. I did a lot of research after those two didn't work out and came across this receiver.
I knew Yamaha made quality products so that wasn't my concern. I was mainly worried about the power ratings. Well I can tell you that I was worrying for no reason. This receiver has plenty of power, and clean power to boot. I know I have a bit of a redundancy in that this receiver decodes True HD and DTS-HD MA but my PS3 already decodes it into LPCM but I got a really good deal on this unit and I couldn't pass it up. The SCENE function is cool though I have not set mine yet and I like the way it automatically detects when I switch sources. I did not use the auto mic calibration, figured I'd set it by ear since that's the only mic that really counts. I just picked up my new 50" 1080p Panny plasma and the picture quality through this receiver is superb. By the way I'm NOT using overpriced/hyped monster cables. With a pair of $10 HDMI cables the picture is stunning and the TV info states a full 1080p signal.
The bottom line is that this receiver is freakin' sweet. Plenty of power, nice HDMI switching, HD audio decoding, on screen display is a big plus. The only minus would be only two HDMI inputs but if that's all you need then do not hesitate in picking this bad boy up.
I'm So Glad I Got It! June 19, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I got this for its HDMI capability, but it is a great choice for a lot of other reasons as well.
As one can expect from Yamaha, the sound is clean and powerful. My old Yamaha receiver was made in 1999, and the A/D decoders on this one sound dramatically better. Dolby Digital and DTS sources sound a lot sweeter than they used to. Also, the various surround sound enhancement programs actually sound good (in contrast to the ones on the previous receiver). They're very cool for my kids' PS2 games, among other things.
The receiver is a little difficult to set up in that assigning the source inputs to what Yamaha calls "Scenes" is a little difficult to figure out. In fact, it's still not clear to me why some of the "Scene" channels limit the possible assignable sources. However, I did manage to get it set up for my four primary sources (DVD, HD-DVD, game console and television), so I'm good to go. I do like the fact that you can mix and match the various inputs and assign them your own descriptive titles.
In January 2008 I tried the Onkyo receiver everyone likes because it was, at the time, one of the few with HDMI. I ended up returning it because the sound of the amplifier was so inferior to my Yamaha. I'm glad I waited for this to come out, because the sound is far, far superior.
My Yammy Vice June 19, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
The RX-V663 is an outstanding unit and a true audiophile bargain. With the ability to decode the latest HD sound formats, flawlessly route HDMI signals, and perform a top-notch room EQ adjustment automatically at such a low price point, it is nothing short of amazing. The automatic room EQ adjustment function (using the supplied microphone and the YPAO - Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) also correctly picked up on the fact that I had wired the center channel speaker out of phase and alerted me to this error -- amazing!
It also boasts preamp outputs that allow me to use my two hefty NAD THX amps to power my Front L/R and Center Dynaudio loudspeakers. I use the RX-V663 for powering the rear channels only (a pair of Athena AS-B1's). I also have a Dynaudio powered subwoofer that plugs into one of the TWO available subwoofer outputs.
Granted, the unit does not have all of the inputs one might desire, but at this price, what it does have is done to a very high level of quality. It lacks a phono preamp, for example, but this was quickly worked around by plugging the nifty (and very inexpensive) Behringer Ultra-Compact Phono Preamp PP400 into one of the available line level inputs. Voila! Instant excellent phono action.
The manual, like any manual for such a complex piece of equipment, definitely takes some time to work through, but the needed info is all there. I am not much interested in the various DSP schemes, so I use the thoughtfully conceived "Pure Direct" mode for CD or phono listening. For DVD watching, HDMI audio signals from my Sony PS3/Blu-Ray player are processed correctly, and video signals from both the PS3 and my Oppo upscaling DVD player are passed through to my Panasonic High Definition projector with no degradation whatsoever. (As an aside, I am using way inexpensive HDMI cables obtained from monoprice dot com* -- they're every bit as good as that expensive Monster-hype stuff!)
Bottom line: A high quality, state-of-the-art unit that is very flexible in a fairly high-end setup and processes the latest high-def audio and video signals flawlessly at a bargain-basement price. I won't even go into all of the other features that I presently do not utilize.
So, what are you waiting for?
* Make sure you get HDMI 1.3a Category 2 cables, which are required for the new HD audio formats.
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