Electronics Yamaha RX-V663BL 665 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Truly versatile and great sounding receiver
I bought this for hubby as his Christmas present. Hubby says:

Setup
This is a very versatile component and with versatility comes complexity. A read of the manual is mandatory. I would suggest that anyone with limited experience use the "AUTO SETUP" feature, though I did not (you can always change anything you don't like later). The inclusion of a microphone and automated level balancing and equalization capability should be a real plus for those not possessing appropriate equipment for properly setting up an audio system.

While the "AUTO SETUP" feature looked fairly easy, it makes some assumptions about user preferences as does the default setup. As a result I chose to use "MANUAL SETUP". If you choose this option, be prepared to spend a couple of days with the instruction manual wading through all of the setup options (especially if you are picky like me). The menus are multi layered and sometimes not self explanatory but the options will let you do just about anything you want from changing sound field assignments to reassigning audio and video inputs to suit your needs. Finally a receiver where the gozintas and gozaudas can be configured to work with the rest of your system.

Video
The up convert and switching all work as advertised. They look great on my admittedly limited 720p monitor.

Audio
How does it sound? Outstanding. Bass is clean, deep and tight. Vocals are clear and very nuanced. Sound staging is broad and stable. Highs are crisp without being harsh. I did not expect this level of performance in a receiver, especially not a $500 one. It really shines with high fidelity sources. I am busy working my way through my collection of SACDs and DVD-As listening to what I missed with my previous system.

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Rating: - Premium Amp
Very satisfied with sound quality and easy setup. This unit replaced a 2003 version of the Yamaha amp and the sound quality is significantly improved. You sometimes wonder if you need to upgrade these amps, but apparently so as we are very happy with the improvements in this unit. Haven't needed the 1080I upconversion, but it is a nice item to have if we ever do. HDMI all around makes cabling very easy. The use of a sensor mic in the center of the room to set up the speaker balance worked very well. Would highly recommend this unit, although you might get by with the 5.1 version just as well if thats all you need.

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Rating: - This Is The Best Receiver I ever Bought.
I had A sony receiver 545 before, and i got it back in 1999 and had it for 8 1/2 years, it did me justed. But when i got this receiver oh man what a diffents the sound is clear and i use small polk audio speakers and the rock i watch alot of movies and they sound better the a movie theater I rents movies just because they sound sound so awsome in my house. If your looking for a great recevier this is it. I got mine on ebay back in june 2008 I paid $375.00 with free shiping that a great price scice i saw it at circuit city for $499.00. So check out ebay first and read all the fine print first. Mine was Brand New IN the Box.But some are refurb. just read the fine print real good. C-ya!!

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Rating: - A solid unit and good value.
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.