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Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
michael_d #168391 05/19/07 04:29 AM
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Great review, Mike! The 661 might just make for a good pre/pro to mate with my RB-1080.

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
Sutter Cane #168392 05/19/07 04:59 PM
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Quote:

Thanks for the thorough and brutally honest review, Mike. I was surprised the thing was able to handle the M80s and paralleled-M22 fronts so decently. I wonder how long it would be able to drive them at low 90+dB levels before it went into thermal protection.




After watching a couple flics last night, I’ve found its limit. -10 db on the volume control (range from -80 to +15). With the sub on, this is an average DB of 90 with peaks up to 100. If I bump it up higher than that, it will eventually shut down. And it does exactly that, shut down.

Quote:

LMFO....and clipping beyond all recognition..you guys make me laff

wanna hear a really rockin setup?...pm me




Try as hard as I might, I can not read that without being offended. What kind of an idiot do you take me for? If it was clipping, I’d have recognized it and reported it. I have nothing to gain or loose here. Nothing. Feel free to go screw yourself.

Quote:


Nice review Mike. Have you tried running the 80s full range with no sub? I would be curious how it would fare.




No, but good idea! I’ll try that and report back.

Quote:

Thanks for typing that up, Mike.

It sounds like the 661 makes a decent pre/pro? How do you like the user interface?




Well, I think it will be a love / hate relationship. All these damn Scenes and Sound Field options, I’ll go crazy trying to figure them out. But on the other hand, it would appear by speed reading the manual (still haven’t really read it), that someone with patience could set up individual Scenes with unique sound fields for every input. Seeing how I only have one input, I doubt I’ll ever use them. But for others, it may be attractive to them.

Set up is very easy. The easiest I’ve seen yet, ever. But…..that also means that this unit does not have all the features one might want. For example, I can not set up the M-channel digital inputs differently than the standard bitstream inputs. If you have an HD player that screws up the LFE channel, you can not fix that with the receiver.

Other than that, I haven’t played with it enough to give a detailed opinion.

Quote:

Great review, Mike! The 661 might just make for a good pre/pro to mate with my RB-1080.




I think it would be a great Pre/Pro. If I keep it, I will definitely have to get an external amp. I do not like being restricted by wattage and sometimes 100 db’s just isn’t enough…

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
michael_d #168393 05/19/07 06:56 PM
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Hi Mike,

Thanks very much for the great review. I have to admit that I am still very surprised that it shuts down at the level you reported. I wonder if it is shutting down because it is over-heating or because it detects distortion.

By the way, KlipschGuy had a few too many beer in him last night. In another post, he apologized for his posts.

I hope you continue to enjoy your Yamaha.

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
Mojo #168394 05/19/07 08:09 PM
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I don't see why anyone would be surprised the lower end Yamaha shuts down with the M80s when pushed beyond its limits. Like it has been said before, there is no magic involved, the amps are not robust enough for the job at hand.


Rick


"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
Wid #168395 05/19/07 09:53 PM
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Well, I am just curious whether it is shutting down due to over-heating or distortion. I suppose Mike can always blow a fan on it and see if it shuts down at the same level as before. If it does, most likely there is a clipping circuit in there that causes the shutdown.

I'm also curious because I have a very low end Denon and I have not been able to get it to shut down with one hour of playing at max (7.1). Of course it doesn't sound good when it's maxed out. And no, I haven't blown my tweeters .

Re: Another Mini Review - Yamaha RX-V661
Wid #168396 05/19/07 09:55 PM
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I was pretty surprised it plays as loud as it does. 100 db’s isn’t exactly quiet. In a larger room it will be less, but still not bad.

For reference, I had my Radio Shack digital meter on a tri pod 12’ away from the mains and 11’ away from the center(s). I had it pointing straight up and I was using PLIIx so all speakers were being used.

I’ll try running the M80’s by themselves next Monday when I have the house to myself. My girlfriend already gives me weird looks, and I might have trouble explaining why I’m listening to music with ear muff on.

If it’s shutting down for heat reasons, there’s nothing I can do about it, nor do I want to. It’s on an EQ rack that is open to all sides, and it has 4” of air space between it and the next shelf. There is a fresh air supply duct in the EQ closet as well. As I said before, it runs hot to the touch. My Marantz didn’t even get warm on the same shelf.

I’m open to do any test you or anyone else would like me to do. I did contemplate moving it upstairs to my two channel rig in the great room where I’m using Rotel Seperates. I have about 4600 cubic feet in that area. But I’m burnt out on routing cables at the moment. That test will have to come later.


Last edited by mdrew; 05/19/07 10:05 PM.
Re: Another Mini Review - Yamaha RX-V661
michael_d #168397 05/19/07 10:03 PM
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I'm not sure if it would be less in a larger room. My room is twice the size of yours and I achieve 110 dB (C, slow) with peaks higher than that. Maybe it's because my room is very live and yours is more damped...I don't know. It's just occured to me though that my Denon may be cranking out more than your Yamaha. Although my Denon is rated 90W/channel into 8 Ohms, it's also rated 125W/channel into 6 Ohms and 170Wx2 channels into 4 Ohms dynamically.

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
michael_d #168398 05/20/07 04:39 PM
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Holy long reviews mdrew.
Well worth reading though esp. for people who are always looking for a new AVR and like to compare brand x and brand y.

I really don't think it has enough connections though. You clearly need more.


Quote:

The ONLY difference I could tell was the in-between track times when there is no music playing. With the Marantz, there is complete silence. With the 661 I can pick out a very, very slight white noise hisssss…. But other than that, it sounds great.



I've actually encountered a similar thing when A/B testing some amps. The 'noise floor' or background hiss is prominent on some far more than others. This was one of the few reasons why i decided against buying the Parasound Halo amps for my setup though Tharkun, somewhat lost now from the forums, had reported he heard no such artifacts with his setup.

Last edited by chesseroo; 05/20/07 04:41 PM.

"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
chesseroo #168399 05/20/07 04:52 PM
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I noticed this same noise with all three of my HK’s too (7200, 7300, 745). I do not hear it from the Marantz or my Rotel set up. But honestly, other than that and the higher volume / head room, I just can’t tell if this cheap Yamaha sounds worse or better than any other receiver I’ve had hooked up. That would be in direct stereo mode, not to be confused with surround modes. For surround, I will have to give the nod to the Marantz and that’s probably due to the Audysey room correction.

I think for the budget minded crowd that buys Axiom speakers would do well with this receiver and any 8 or 6 ohm speaker. The HDMI switching and high def audio processing is as good as it gets right out of the box without needed a firmware fix. I think that is a first for any receiver with HDMI audio processing. Plus, it passes 1080P at all formats without any issue that I can see. And with the pre-outs, it would make a fine pre / pro to go along with the A-1400 (at least that’s what I’m thinking right now)

Re: Another Mini Review – Yamaha RX-V661
michael_d #168400 05/20/07 05:32 PM
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Quote:

And with the pre-outs, it would make a fine pre / pro to go along with the A-1400 (at least that’s what I’m thinking right now)



You know someday when i'm back in the Yukon, i'm going to take a sidetrip to Alaska to see this growing setup that you have.
Then i may have to rob you blind.


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
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