Proof you don't need to pay a lot for good sound!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Plenty of bang for the buck Typical clean Yamaha styling A very clean sound

Cons: Menus difficult to navigate Lacks s-video in/out

The Bottom Line: 
Typical Yamaha product, excellent quality, impeccable sound, more than you'd expect for the $$$ you paid.

Author's Review
I bought this amp nearly 2 years ago as part of a Yamaha "home theatre in a box" package and have been extremely satisfied since day one.

Some folks mentionned "lack of power", and I guess if your aim is to rock the neighbourhood then this is accurate. But I live in a Condo and this system provides MORE than adequate power for a decent home theatre.

The settings and menu is indeed very confusing, but do consider that you'll just need to adjust them once and then forget about it. Keep your manual handy and READ IT!

I highly suggest that you acquire or borrow a decibel-meter to tune your speakers, it does make a HUGE difference in your 5.1 sound quality. The amp does have a tuning noise generator and every speaker level is adjustable. You should take the time do properly tune the system.

Also consider that generally a 5.1 speaker set may be great to listen to movies, but they are not ideal for loud music. If you will be listening to music a lot, you should consider 2 good quality "music" speakers. This amp can switch between "5.1" and "music" speakers at the flick of a button.

All in all, I am quite satisfied with this product. It may not be top of the line, but is a typical Yamaha product giving you way more than you'd expect for your money.