anyone out there got one of these yet?

I got mine today as a matter of fact!

Tell us what you think about it. It's got a real clean look on its face.

I have only played with it for a few hours but when I get some more time in with it, I will post my ramblings. One thing I must say is that this thing has the best menu system of any receiver that I have had the chance to play with.

GO HOME RIGHT NOW!!!!! PLAY!!!!

Then let me know Asap. Being a t773 owner, I'm really interested in seeing if you like this.

Let me know what speakers you got it on too and how it handles the power

As you know I also have the NAD T-773 so I will be doing a true side by side comparison just for giggles.

As for what speakers the Yamaha will be running, here you go:

Onix Rockets RS 550's MKII's (6 ohms)
Onix Rocket RSC200 Center Channel (4 ohm)
Onix Rockets RS 150's (6 ohms)

So given that, the Yamaha will be driving a relatively hard load. It should be a good test.

that is what I meant, you have a 773, as do I.

So out of anyone on the net right now, your opinion will matter the most until I get one myself.

I'm curious how hard it's going to be to adjust the sub/center/surround levels with thing. The nad is on the fly via remote. Is the yammie going to have to go through a menu onscreen to do it?

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Is the yammie going to have to go through a menu onscreen to do it?

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Yes but you can assign different settings to each input via a memory bank. I don't like going through the menu either but I don't mind it on the 4600 as the menu is very good and easy to understand.

nice to know. I would imagine the gui is a little more sophisticated then the 773's plain black/white one eh ...

lol

I can't wait for mine to get here, but I got at least another week. I can't believe how long it is taking.

My initial thoughts are that you will take the 4600 over the 773. There are some extensive eq options in the 4600 that are right up your alley.

Without going into great detail the Yamaha has far more power then I would have thought. For once I agree with a Audioholics review.........but, dam does this thing get hot! I went home at lunch and cued up a bunch of music through my computer and came back to work for a few hours. Snuck home later on and it was still pumping out the tunes through all channels but like I said, it is hot. I left it going and will see how it is when I get home tonight.

you can turn on the Fan manually. one thing I noticed with the nad is that the 5 mini fans are always on.

I have no experience with Yamaha receivers, but others have said they do run warm. I used to use their seperates and integrated amps years ago when playing for dances and I can tell you that they took quite a beating.

Can you set presets that allow you to set different channel levels, and switch between them with the remote on the fly? For example, preset A has the sub on +5, preset B has the sub on -3, and you can just hit a button on the remote(no gui needed) to drop the sub level quickly.

Keep the dialogue coming. This is one of the receivers that I am considering so I am quite interested in your findings.

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Can you set presets that allow you to set different channel levels, and switch between them with the remote on the fly? For example, preset A has the sub on +5, preset B has the sub on -3, and you can just hit a button on the remote

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Yes you can.

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and you can just hit a button on the remote(no gui needed) to drop the sub level quickly.

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No. From what I can tell you have to go through the menu.......but keep in mind I'm still learning this thing and I have yet to open the manual!

That interesting. My HTR-5280/RXV-800 never ever got warm.

I know one other person who already has this receiver and he say's his gets hot also..........so no worries.

I have to tell you guy's, so far I'm dam impressed with this thing. I can't believe a Yamaha has this kind of power. I thought the Pioneer 1015 did a decent job of driving my Rockets but the Yamaha is packing a much bigger punch. I'm not sure the Yamaha has the same reserves as the NAD but it's holding it's own.

Can you give us an idea of about what power level you have been using on a continuous basis that gets the unit hot?

10 Watts per channel?

50 Watts per channel?

Running hot, in general, is not such a good thing for electronics.

few other factors to take into account as well

How big is the room? what music are you playing?

Location. How warm is it where you live. Do you have AC on in the room? Is it on top of a unit( knowing you that is a dumb question )

Some say the Nad gets warm. And when I had it upstairs for the first few weeks I noticed it as well. But upstairs in my place with no AC in the middle of summer was warm. Now it's downstairs, in it's own 7.5'x4' closet which is on concrete with no sub floor which also keeps the room cool. I purposely left the sub floor out of this closet for that reason. The Nad is by itself with nothing around or above it for several feet. It's also ventilated to the outside so I have probably the best conditions possible and the nad doesn't even get warm after several hours of crazy crazy volume. Funny though that the fans are still always on.

How loud is the fan in the 4600? Not that it matters to me.

I know sound is a relative thing, and can heavily depend on what your eq is set on, but next to the nad, any comments?

There is a thread at avs for the 4600 as well

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=575418

ratpack. Heat isn't good for electronics, no arguement there. But I find some amps get what some consider warm or hot just by being on.

My carver amps are examples of this. If I leave them on, nothing playing ( woman has done this a few time having forgotten to turn them off ) they get quite warm. It has no fan. But they get the same temp when playing something too. 10+ yrs old and no issues yet.

I hate commenting on things I have no hands on experience with, but yamaha's in general apparantly get quite warm. And their fans never kick in automatically until it's REALLY hot vs something like my Nad which it's fans are on all the time...all 5 of them. It makes me wonder if it's really fair to compare sometimes.

HK receivers tend to run hot at idle as well. I have two HK receivers... other than TVs, they are the only electronics I turn off when not using. The rest seem to idle with essentially zero power consumption.

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Can you give us an idea of about what power level you have been using on a continuous basis that gets the unit hot?

10 Watts per channel?

50 Watts per channel?

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I don't know what the watts are but I was cranking the crap out of it for hours if that helps. My room was rocking!.........but guy's don't panic, I measured the top temp and emailed Yamaha and the current temp is well within spec. It just caught me a little off guard. It runs hotter then the NAD and as hot as my old HK 630 did. Heat is not a big deal as long as the heat sinks and fans are doing there job and with the RX-V4600, they are doing just that. The front of the receiver is cool to the touch so the heat is being dissipated the way it should be.

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How big is the room? what music are you playing?

Location. How warm is it where you live. Do you have AC on in the room? Is it on top of a unit( knowing you that is a dumb question )

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Roughly 22 X 22 room and I was cranking rock for the most part and a little of my kid's pop stuff. Receiver is in my A/C controlled basement so room temp is not a factor...........and no nothing is on top of it.

Like I said above, it's not like a can fry eggs on it, it's just runs a little warmer then I was expecting. But as every day goes buy, the thought keeps going through my mind of dumping my NAD and getting one of these.

What about sound quality? brighter, warmer, same? more bass, less bass

Again, really depends on eq settings I guess.

I can't wait to get mine next week. Better be next week, I'm going NUTS. I hate waiting for toys.

What about the remote? It doesn't look half as good as the nad one. NAD did that part right.

Never: do you have a sound meter? If so, what was the reading and how far from the speakers were you?

I noticed, a month or so ago, on one of the boards a few comments that Yahama was having trouble with their HDMI ports. Have you experimented with HDMI switching, etc?

What was the top temperature?

Yeah I have one. When I say I was cranking it, I mean I was cranking. Needle was hovering around 100db and I had it like that for almost 5 hours straight. It was a very good work out and the Yamaha was fine with it. Only thing I did do just for my own piece of mind was go into the menu and change the fan from Auto to Always On. Very cool feature that Yamaha added onto this receiver. Best part is the fan is hardly noticeable.

As for top temp after 5 hours of pounding, 115F at the top of the transformer and anywhere from 90 - 95 surrounding it.

Now with that out of the way, here is my big review on the Yamaha RX-V4600........and it's the short version. If you want a long winded review, read the one at Audioholics as it's fairly accurate concerning this receiver.

I'm selling my NAD and getting one of these! This is the best receiver I have played with in the last few years and that includes the Denon 3805, HK 635, Yamaha RX-V2500 and a host of others. It's very close to the NAD in terms of power but has far more useful features. Based on that alone it's a keeper.

It is so cool what you can get in a box these day's. The Pioneer 1015 was a breath of fresh air and the Yamaha is that much further ahead. I'm really starting to wonder why anybody would need separates anymore given the advances in stand alone receivers. I still have a few power amps kicking around and after hooking them up and then un-hooking them to the RX-V4600 last night, I'm not sure I even need one.

this is all good news for me

might be two nad's ( no pun intended ) up for sale soon.

Only 1. I just sold mine off and I have another RX-V4600 coming for me!

so I guess you like it

You never did comment on it's sound....

I think eventually I will indeed get a power amp for the m80's. Probably within the year as soon as funds allow. I still have to pay for all these new toys yet.

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You never did comment on it's sound....

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Sounds just like the NAD and with all the EQ options, you can make it sound however you want.

almost seems to good to be true.

I can't wait to get this thing now.

thanks!

I wasn't kidding when I said it was the best receiver I have played with in a long time! I will be shocked if you don't like it.

check this out

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=95955#post95955

woo hoo! My 4600 is here....well, almost. it's about an 8 hour drive away. It'll ship tomorrow to me, and then may monday I'll have it. Or my luck, tuesday. Oh wait, Monday is a holiday......darn, so tuesday it is.

100 dB is too loud for me! LOL!!!!

Did you get a chance to play around with the HDMI inputs/ output?

Not yet.....but I will get there!

Really interested to know what kind of temp readings you got after setting the fan to "always on".

Let us know if you get a chance to measure it.

Where are you guys buying these receivers from? Seems like online but is there a site that is offering a great deal on them . ..

Thanks

I'm in Canada, and dealing with an Awesome store that's about 8 hours from me. they are impressing me quite a bit with helping me find the right receiver for me.

So, unless you are in canada.....which I am guessing you are not

West End electronics in St. Johns NFLD

Sell Rotel, NAD, Yamaha, Marantz ( think marantz ) and a bunch more. Very prompt service, very friendly. I'm dealing strickly through email and I have no complaints.

http://www.westendelectronics.com/

Hope I'm not breaking forum rules here.....if so edit it out.

Tell em Steve from Corner brook sent ya!

Temp doesn't even go over 100 now with the fan on.

As for where I get them from, right from Yamaha. A buddy of a buddy. I'm lucky enough to know employees from Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha and Rotel. I did ask my contact from Yamaha about the new RX-V2600 and is it worth it to have the RX-V4600? The response I got was that when it comes to the quality of power and a few other features, the RX-V4600 is ahead of the RX-V2600.

..................with all the stuff I have gone through, I should be on every major manufactures Christmas card list!

Well anybody who knows me knew this was coming. My first gripe on the RX-V4600. The auto eq and auto set-up. It comes close but to be brutally honest, does more harm then good! With a SPL I'm basically running all three front channels flat............huge bonus. Anyway, after the Yamaha was done with it's auto set-up the front left was at +2, Center at +6 and front right was at +1. I won't even go in to how it tried to eq the speakers. The short version is this, it basically took a pair of decent floor standers and a center that can produce thunderous bass and turned them into bookshelves!

I feel bad for anybody new to this hobby who relies on auto set-up to get it done..............I have yet to see one get it right. I tried the Yamaha in two different rooms and it didn't come close to the SPL in either of them. I then went and had a beer at my buddy's who also has this receiver and his was close but still off and it negatively impacted the sound quality.

Still a great receiver though and it's still impressing me. I really need a HK 7300 to A/B against. Anybody want to loan me one? I swear I will give it back........eventually.

I hate auto anything.

to many things can go wrong, and those little mic's that come with these units are well...umm.....probaby crap.

Factor in any noise around while you run it. dog barking, ac running, children doing anything, traffic outside, phone ringing even wind blowing and anything can throw them off.

I never could understand why people need a gadget just so they don't need to put the speaker distances in themselves....cause it's sooo hard right?

The eq thing to me is a total preference thing and no auto setup is going to adjust it to my room/ear the way I want it.

bottom line, this ain't no big deal to me. But I can see your point about the not so audio savy kind using these auto features.

I am convinced time slows down once you are waiting for new toys to arrive

2 more days...

I agree with you on that one! lol

it's here!

Too bad I got to work 12 hrs straight today

That really sucks.

It looks pretty. Although, besides it being a much nicer black, the Nad has a nicer look to it imho. It's also much smaller then the nad, and the box is WAY smaller as the box for the nad is much larger then the nad itself.

it's here!

Too bad I got to work 12 hrs straight today

That really sucks.

It looks pretty. Although, besides it being a much nicer black, the Nad has a nicer look to it imho. It's also much smaller then the nad, and the box is WAY smaller as the box for the nad is much larger then the nad itself.

You are so happy you had to tell us twice!

oh sarcastic one. 1st time it was on the island, 2nd time it was in my house

I'm STILL at work. I went home for supper and quickly hooked it up. Spent some time playing with the EQ. That's going to take a while to get setup. I get the fronts set to where I basically want them to be, sounding fantastic. But I can't find the sweet spot for the sub yet. Going home in an hour or so, and I'll try the rest of the speakers.


the menu is nice, but I am going to miss how easy it is to trim the sub/center/surround via the remote on the NAD.


Can't say much more then that yet, literally only had an hour to try it so far.

well, after a mere 2-3 hours with this amp. It looks like the NAD is going bye bye.

Never had much time to play with it today, and that pisses me off. Busiest time of the year for me at work. Tommorow will be busy as well. But even with the limited time I was able to get a very good sound out of the 4600 with some minor tweaking of the built in eq. I'm still not settled on where my sub is dialed in, but it's close. I just need more time to get it tweaked

Very Very nice receiver. It handles the Axiom's quite well with loads of reserve. The GUI menu is nice, albiet a little cumbersome to set little things which leads me to my biggest complaint

Yamaha Desperately needs to fire the guys that design their remotes. It's just a mess of cheap buttons, has no ability to trim channel levels. Your forced to go through the menu to trim levels. I also wish you could turn off the darn remote light. That's gotta be sucking up the batteries quickly. Something the Nad allowed you to do. Heck the NAD allows you to adjust the delay time on the light.

I'm surprised there is no overlay that shows your master volume as you turn it up/dwn, or what sound mode you are in. That is something the NAD did, well, at least over svideo/rca. Am I missing something I wonder? NO time to read manual yet. It seems outside of pulling up the entire GUI menu, there is no quick means of checking volume. I was hoping for this because of the woman.

It does get a little warmer then the NAD just over the transformer. But the rest of the amp is cool. I never had the fan on tonight, but will see tomorrow what differnce it makes.

I don't see any reason to keep the NAd over this so far. THe NAd might, and I say MIGHT be a little more dynamic, meaning seperation effects are a little more pronounced, but I may have screwed with the eq too much. The EQ is not user friendly at all but quite useful indeed.

I never even bothered with YPAO or whatever it's called. I really HATE automatic anything. Besides, how hard is it really to stick in distances? As for the EQ, that takes a little more work. Gone are the days of easy graphic eq's

Anyways, 14 hr work day....very tired....going to bed... Will hopefully play more tomorrow. Bottom line, great receiver. CAn't believe I am buying a Yamaha.

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Yamaha Desperately needs to fire the guys that design their remotes. It's just a mess of cheap buttons

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I agree with you on this one! I can't stand the remote!

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I'm surprised there is no overlay that shows your master volume as you turn it up/dwn, or what sound mode you are in.

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It does but on Svideo only. It won't display anything on component.

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CAn't believe I am buying a Yamaha.

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lol I said the same thing.............but it continues to amaze me none the less!

Is there some technical reason on screen displays from receivers/processors don't work with anything but S-video? What gives? I think I'm the only person on Earth still using S-vid for everything. And with a single input TV...

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Is there some technical reason on screen displays from receivers/processors don't work with anything but S-video?

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I get the feeling that manufacturers don't want to "sully" the component outs with such ugly things as OSD menus, and composite, well... would be icky.

Bren R.

True enough. Funny thing though is that with the Yamaha I can access the on-screen menu at anytime regardless of input. If I'm watching a DVD for example and using the component connection, I can get the menu to come up but it won't show me volume.

>>Is there some technical reason on screen displays from receivers/processors don't work with anything but S-video? What gives? I think I'm the only person on Earth still using S-vid for everything. And with a single input TV...

Huh ? Wha ?

Uh-oh, I didn't know this. I was helping my brother-in-law wire up his basement for a soon-to-be home theater and I figured we could run the OSD across the component cables. We ran a spare coax so I guess worst case we could run the OSD across composite (like I do today, my TV having been built before the introduction of S-video ) but this is a problem.

Related question then, if you have a TV or projector and have to run multiple inputs to it (eg. HDMI + component +...) do you have to manually switch the projector or do they have some kind of "gee, I only have signals on one connector so I'll switch to that one" capability ?

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We ran a spare coax so I guess worst case we could run the OSD across composite

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Even then, I don't think most send over composite... you'd have to use the S-vid out, with a s-vid to composite adapter (or just tie the luma and chroma lines together on a 4 pin connector, the 7 pin connector already carries composite on one of the inner pins - all these lines already carry the sync so no worries there!)

Bren R.

Well, the Nad is packed away. Looks like it's going back. I spent the evening playing with the yammie and I am impressed. STill can't believe I'm buying a yammie, but here we are.

Hate the f$#$%#$ yamaha remote. Even hate the zone 2 remote. There, I said it. It's junk, not even remotely easy to setup, and just plain confusing. That's alright though, now I have an excuse to get the harmony 890 rf model

I was sad to pack the nad away in some ways. It's built like a tank, and I was reminded just that as I was lifting it back into the enormous box. It's too bad it's missing the sound I wanted from it. I always had a concern with the lack of optical connections on the back ,and very limited feature list and poor gui. But, I was willing to give all that up for a good powerful sounding amp. And, that is what it is, just not the sound that "I" am looking for. The Nad has a nice dynamic sound, great seperation effects, perhaps sometimes better then the yamaha. But, in the end, the EQ in the yamaha wins, and I can get the highs/bass out of my axioms much better then the Nad ever could. I really liked the NAD's remote, very easy to use/setup ( The entire receiver is easy actually....the yamaha is not) and the ability to trim channels on the fly alone is something I will miss.

I ran the yamaha all night with it blasting loud. Mostly playing pop, top 40, dance, and even some rap. Had the bass cranked on max, just trying to really push it. I had the fan set to always on. I thought this was only fair as the NAD's 5, yes 5, mini fans are on constantly as well. The Yamaha does get a bit warmer, but honestly....not enough to care. With the fan off it gets noticeably warmer. Since my stuff is in a equipment closet anyways, I don't need to care about noise, so I'll leave the fan on always....not like it's loud anyways. One thng the yamaha does not have, and that is no HISSSSSSS. The nad does have some hiss there, and a little tiny hum. Although I got rid of most of the hum when I switched to a dedicated 15amp circuit.

Bottom line is, the Yamaha is giving me all the volume I "need". Plus, every source can be eq'd to whatever degree I Want, and set to memory. With the Nad, I could have gotten eq's for each channel, but we are talking $$$$$. I'd rather just use the yammie as a pre and get a 3 channel amp down the road. I think in the end that'll give me a better overall system with more options, connectivity and so on. Although, I have to be honest, if I ever do get a power amp, its really only for piece of mind at this stage, as the yamaha is good enough for me and my basement. But, I would really like to open up the m80's and I had planned on getting an external amp even for the nad at some point. Right now I only have 5.1 fyi and can not test 7.1


Any questions ask away.

Hey, Never... crank that sucker up at about 8:30pm or so, that's about the time I expect to be rolling into your fair city tomorrow (Thurs)... unfortunately just a stop for a bar show then headed out to Weyburn for a few days of R&R or I'd offer that beer...

Unless you wanted to meet me at the Pump (Budweiser True Music Tour)...

Bren R.

Sorry but did you say R&R in Weyburn? Dude there is nothing to do in Weyburn! but then again, if you want true R&R, that's not a bad place to do it.

Let me see how tonight is looking and I may just pop in. I know a few of the owners of the Pump so getting in the back door is always easy.

well, I have my first problem. And It's a big one. If I run 720p through the 4600, and then to the pj, i am getting waves all over the place. Vertical waves, scrolling horizontally. 1080 is fine, and 480i/p are fine

Changed cables, even plugged the projector into another circuit.

NH, can you test yours? It's more noticeable on dark or back colored scenes.

nevermind. Was a darn ground loop problem. waves are gone

I was just about to post and say mine works fine! lol

Glad you got it worked out.

Continuing a thread hijack:

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Sorry but did you say R&R in Weyburn? Dude there is nothing to do in Weyburn! but then again, if you want true R&R, that's not a bad place to do it.

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Well, it was as close as I can get to R&R - I get bored easily... other people can sit on a beach, I get bored and need a different type of busywork, so I went out there to help a good friend settle in, get some stuff set up and built for her (she just moved back there from REAL smalltown SK) got her computer back up and running, all that fun stuff - hardworking single mom of two great little kids, so doesn't exactly have a ton of extra money around for handimen. This handigoon comes cheap. *laughs*

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Let me see how tonight is looking and I may just pop in. I know a few of the owners of the Pump so getting in the back door is always easy.

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Not sure if you did or not, since I didn't know anyone there besides the band, I spent most of the night in the band room (and couldn't partake of any of the Budweiser sponsored free beer - darned probationary periods!).

Bren R.

I might change my name to Neverhappytoo yet

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! is all I got to say.

I'm going nuts!!!

The NAD was great for music, once I used an eq for it. Horrible for games on the xbox, and somewhere between good and great for movies

the Yamaha is great for movies, and xbox games. But for music I can't quite get the balance of clear highs that don't sound too bright or harsh. I was hoping the internal eq would do what I wanted, but I'm either out right frustrated right now, or confused and have the eq totally messed up ( Which is what I'm guessing). I've even tried leaving the yamaha eq flat and hooking up an external one again, but that doesn't work either. Now I could use two eq's together, but I feel like that is a recipe for a blown tweeter so I would rather not.


I play a game, love the yammie. Watch a movie, love the yammie. Listen to music, miss the nad. How Ironic. Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with power.

I got a feeling at some point I'm going to be going back to seperates.

I can't help you on this one. I run my entire system flat and love the sound the Yamaha puts out on my Rockets. I have the EQ off, tone control is bypassed etc.

No nothing and I find I get a nice balance of highs and lows.

I think I just needed to step away from it last night. Went back at it dinner time today and I'm having more luck with the EQ. Got the fronts dialed in better, now have to tackle the rest.

Ahh, yes.. food sometimes helps the ears break-in faster.

Bren R.

well, I'm home today. Darn flu
Good news is this means I finally had some uninterrupted time to sit down and tweak the yammie

Movies sound awesome'
Music awesome
Even games are awesome on xbox as I have been known to play one from time to time

All said and done, I'm finally content.... i think

I read one report (audioholics report that was otherwise positive) that, with all channels driven, it was "only" capable of about 40 watts per channel.

Looks like, once again, we have under rated power supplies.

Any comments.

Yeah I have read that review, and there are a few simple error's in it other then the power rating that makes me wonder if they have a clue to begin with. We don't even know if the 40 watts rating was done with the ohm switch set to 8 or 6

If the NAD is a true 110w receiver like they claim, and the yamaha that I replaced it with is keeping up with it without any issues, I am questioning the validity of that one review.

ratpack, how big is your room?

Bernard, as always, the main point is that the 4600 meets its power rating, which is with two channels driven simultaneously at full power for 5 minutes. In the real world of home use this gives excellent results and the fact that around 40 watts are delivered with all channels driven simultaneously should be of no interest outside the test lab.

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I am questioning the validity of that one review

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You and me both.

I'm in the same boat as you. The NAD has rave reviews all over the place about it's "Real World" power and the Yamaha keeps up with it just fine. Makes me go hmmmmmmm?

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I read one report (audioholics report that was otherwise positive) that, with all channels driven, it was "only" capable of about 40 watts per channel.

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I never read the report you are talking about but do they happen to mention how many channels they had running to get the 40 watt number? Was it all 7 plus the two effect channels or two, five etc etc etc? I would be curious to know.

John, I don't think that Bernard meant to refer to the Audioholics test in connection with the 40 watt per channel figure. Gene DellaSala and his colleagues recognize the lack of reality in the "all channels driven" measurement and they report 1 and 2 channel numbers as being more in line with what is important in the home(as the experience you and Steve had with the 4600 also indicates). Bernard may have been thinking of the Secrets review which I linked about a week ago here . As you'll note, Dr. Johnson measured 138 watts into 8 ohms with 2 channels driven(apparently meeting the 130 watt rating)and 38.3 watts with 5 channels driven. Despite a couple of slightly condescending remarks about "mass market" equipment and a couple of factual errors it was in general a favorable review. Subjective impressions aside, there's no good reason to suspect that the lab measurements weren't correct, within normal limits of measurement error and sample-to-sample variations. Of course, those results and the somewhat similar ones in S&V on the 74TXVi were met with near-hysteria on some other boards from those who would still demand that the full rated power be delivered simultaneously in all channels for 5 continuous minutes, despite the lack of relevance to home use.

newf: the room that I am considering is about 30 x 20, but I only use part of it for my HT.

John: you are correct! I meant the Secrets review not the Audioholics.

As many of you may recall, we had a very interesting discussion on a different thread on this board about power supplies, a month or so ago. I was surprised to see that the overall power capability was only about 40 watts with all channels driven. 7 channels times 40 watts is 280 watts (actually I think that the number was closer to 38 watts per channel). 280 isn't much more than the total 2 channel capability number. My point is that there must not be much margin in the power supply. These findings, IMO, are quite consistent with the price point, power capabilities that we found/ discussed in the other thread.

I suspect that a "true" 40 watts per channel may be quite enough for me. I don't listen to music all that loud. And, I have been considering using a receiver as a pre/pro and getting a two or three channel "high" power amplifier for the fronts and possibly the center.

One of the reasons that this power rating caught my eye is that the new Outlaw receiver is "only" rated at 65 watts per channel. BUT, that rating is with ALL 7 channels driven.

In any case, the Yahama sure does look nice and your reports are very encouraging.

Keep up the reporting.

30 x 20 is a big room (I'm assuming 8' ceilings), and even with the NAD I'd consider gettig an external amp for the fronts if you are using 4 ohm speakers and like it loud.

I knew what test u were referring too. They make a few silly mistakes in it like saying the front display does not dim when it inded has 3 settings. They also do not mention where the Ohm setting was set to during the test. But they claim that test was with 5 channels running. I don't think the test holds any weight with me anyways. I have had one amp witha true 110watts and now the Yamaha, and there is hardly a difference. the yamaha gets a little warmer, but it also has 4 LESS fans.

Another week and I will have had my 4600 for a month. Dam near a record for me.

Now what to try next?

Just kidding. So far the 4600 continues to impress!

Have you tried the HDMI ports yet?

Ouch! Aren't they a little narrow, sharp, and pointy?

Oh yeah, sorry about that. Yes I got around to playing with the HDMI and it works flawlessly. Right now however I'm not using it for video with DVD, just the audio.

But I did try the video side and picture quality was fine, switching was fine etc.............in a nutshell I had no problems.

Thanks!

That is great input. I think that I would really like that receiver.

Now, if I only could decide on a HDTV!?!?!?!?!?!?

still enjoying mine a lot as well. finally got it to where wanted it sound wise, and I am very happy this time around.

Still hate the remote though....darn ugly confusing thing. Just waiting for the Harmony 890 to come out and it's gone.

I hear that! I try not to even use the dam thing. I just got rid of my MX-850 and my life is now hell.......but I have no idea what I want to try next. I tried the Logitech 880 and it lasted a week before the wife said get rid of it.

I have a funny feeling I'm going to regret ditching the MX-850.

what was wrong with the 880?

The MX line or URC is very good. I still have an older SL8000 sitting around the house as my everyday remote. The thing can't be killed which is why I use it. The woman has dropped onto the hardwood so many times, and it doesn't complain at all. They make a darn good remote.

I haven't actually held the 880 yet. trying to avoid that temptation for a while

My wife hated it and it was just ok for me. Lacked the in-depth control I like. The MX-850 to me at least was a vastly better remote.

I sure like my 850. My g-friend even likes it now after I set it up for her. Much too big to be considered even remotely comfortable, but the infinite configurations make up for that. I’m surprised you got rid of yours NH.

In reply to:

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I’m surprised you got rid of yours NH

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Now that I look back, it was a dumb move on my part!

I finally ordered a new Sony SXRD HDTV last week and I should have it in the next day or two. After I get it all set up and working (read that learn how to use it), I may be in the market for a new Yamaha 4600. Thus far, I have heard nothing except good reports about it.

You won't regret it. I'm fussier then the average bear and this thing continues to impress me.

.............oh yeah, I went out and grabbed another MX-850!

what's an 850 go for these days?

I continue to have much hatred for the yamaha remote.

$179.00 shipped to my door.

Any more comments/ suggestions on the Yamaha?

Still waiting for my new Sony HDTV. I'm beginning to wonder if I am the "victim" of another internet etailer. By the way, I didn't order one, I ordered two, one for my son. Its a long story.

I still have mine and have no plans on getting rid of it.......and for me, that says a lot.

What is up with your TV's? What does the seller say?

never: the etailer is Shop Sunshine which I checked out fairly well and my son had purchased a Sony TV from them several years ago.

Long story made short: ordered Sep 30 and told me they were "in stock," called on Oct 7 and was told that they (bought 2) were drop shipped from Sony on Oct 3 and I would subsequently receive shipping info, called Oct 12 because I did not get shipping info and was told that they did not have it yet, called Oct 14 and was told that they are putting a tracer on it.

Sounds like the same old etailer story of not having product in stock, doesn't it????

In Shop Sunshine's defense, they did tell me (at the time of my order) that it would take 10-14 business days to receive the TVs. That's a long time, but they did tell me. 14 business days from Oct 3 is next Friday.

Jury is still out, but I am strongly thinking about telling them on Friday (if I don't get the sets) that I either want a valid shipping number that I can track on the net or I want my charge refunded on my credit card. I think that should be fair enough.

Yeah it's tough to say. It doesn't sound fishy..........yet. If it was me I would do exactly what you said this Friday. Tracking number or full refund.......or I'm calling my credit card company and putting through a charge back.

Yeah, I'm still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I'm still within the shipping period that they stated.

Life is too short and I am too old to get in a snit........yet.

Hey ratpack, did you get your TV yet?

It's been awhile since I did a side by side review so I need to fix that. Thanks to my father in-laws recent HT bug I will be doing a good one in about a week or so. He decided that he wanted a better receiver and I was to pick it out for him.

So I decided on the Harman AVR-7300. Should be here in about 10 day's or so. It of course is being delivered to my house where it will sit right up against the Yamaha RXV-4600.............and you know what will be coming next!

Funny part is I have covered myself just in case I like the HK. All I told my father in-law was that his receiver has been handled and is on order.............I neglected to tell him what it was!

Yes, I received my TV on Monday evening. And, all I can say is WOW!!!!

My Comcast cable subscription comes with 7 HDTV channels and I have been watching them. It is a different experience. I am looking into the Comcast DVR/ cable box, but haven't made any decisions.

I do have an issue with the TV stand that I bought. I don't think that it is sturdy enough. It appears that a gentle push would knock off the TV. That would be terrible. The stand is on carpet and I need to do more investigation.

Because of the stand issue, I do not have my audio system hooked up yet. I do have a new OPPO DVD player ordered and, after things settle down, I may be ordering the Yahama.

But, in the meanwhile.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats on the purchase. Glad you are wowed!

Bug: which set did your son end up getting?

He's still shopping! Has a store with new Samsung, Mitsu and Sonys. He wants me to fly out to compare with him.

He can't decide how much to spend?

Bug, what size did you end up getting....maybe I wasn't thorough enough with looking through the above post because I didn't see it.

My son is looking at 50 and 56 inch sets.

Ratpack bought 2 60 inch Sonys I think.

Oh OK....I misread from jump street, I was actually reading Ratpack and was somehow thinking Bugbitten. Thanks for the heads up!

how does the AVR-7300 stack up to the rx-v4600?.........

Have to agree on the yammie, best for movies expecially when used with a separate amp, but music is lacking.

Take a good look at the comparative Mits, Sammy and Toshiba. I think that you will find one or more aspect for each where the Sony is better. Of course, there is always the chance that the sets are set up different.

If your son will shop the iternet, he may find a discount of about 20%, maybe more.

I'll be ordering the RX-V4600 this week, can't wait to get this baby!

I currently have the Pioneer Elite VSX-54TX, I'll be moving that puppy upstairs to run my second system system, while the new Yammy will run my main system down in the theater room. Well, the surrounds and rear surrounds anyways. My mains and center channel will be powered by my Outlaw 2200 M-Blocks.



Sutter

I would be very interested in hearing your comments after you have used it for a while.

I still haven't bought, but, may do so after the Holidays.

Unless you really like to listen to your music very loud, I would wait on ordering the monoblocks. You just may not need them.

Hey Rat, how ya doing?

In responce about the M-Blocks, I already have them/own them, whatever.

After thinking about things, the purchase of the Yammy isn't set in stone yet. But I'm about 95% sure it's what I'll be ordering. It seems to be the most solid choice right now for those with HDMI connections. However, I could be wrong about that one.

Sutter

Kurt, if you're going to be using those 2200s for a major part of the load you might consider instead the new 2600 which is extremely full-featured(HDMI, etc.)and might serve you just as well at significantly lower cost(available around $900).

Oh, buddy, easy on the Kurt stuff. It's Sutter please.

I haven't gone by my given name in over 15 years (Mostly due to my occupation and privacy reasons). Only time my given name is used is on my checks and other legal related documents.

Anyways, as far as the 2600 goes, well yeah that's true, and I have been giving some thought to that, so that's certainly not something that's out of the equation.



Sutter

Interesting enough, a few have recommended that I get the 2600 instead of the 4600, maybe, even, the model below the 2600.

I have learned/ decided a few things now that I have had the Sony SXRD for a few weeks.

A. You really don't want to do your video conversion in your audio receiver. The BEST place to do it is in the HDTV itself. It has all the algorithms and it knows what it wants to see in terms of data. Second best place to to the conversion is the DVD player, but you really don't want to do it there unless you just have to.

B.Best to hook all your HDMI cables directly to your HDTV. For the time being, forget about HDMI switching in the audio receiver. Some of the brands are having problems with their HDMI interfaces. My Sony HDTV has 2 HDMI inputs and I am only using 1 of them (DVD player). Cable TV goes right into the cable TV input.

Bottom Line: I am still thinking about the situation.

Rat,

I agree with you on that, however, I have a front projector, and well, most don't come with a plethora of inputs. If I decide to run things via component cables, then I'm fine there, for my projector has enough component inputs to allow me to do just that, otherwise, I'll have to hook up everything via my receiver, then run the receiver to my projector.



Sutter

On a side note: Anyone know if the 4600 & 2600 comes in silver? I've seen pics of the 4600 in silver, but can't seem to find any place that sells them, which is making me wonder if the silver units aren't sold in the US. I've checked Yamaha's website, but their site totally sucks in that regard. They never specify what finishes their products come in, non like Onkyo and Denon, who do.


Sutter

Can't really speak to front projectors because I haven't researched them.

However, one would suspect that you wouldn't want a "mess" of cables run to it. So, in your specific case, maybe swithching in the receiver makes sense.

Would 2 HDMI inputs be enough or would you want 3 HDMI inputs just to be on the safe side. That third input narrows the number of HDMI switching receivers.

Rat, in my case I probably could get by with 2 HDMI connections. Was going after 3 just to play things safe. One never knows when a third one might come in handy. However, has I said, I could probably get by with 2.



Sutter

In reply to:

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On a side note: Anyone know if the 4600 & 2600 comes in silver? I've seen pics of the 4600 in silver, but can't seem to find any place that sells them, which is making me wonder if the silver units aren't sold in the US. I've checked Yamaha's website, but their site totally sucks in that regard. They never specify what finishes their products come in, non like Onkyo and Denon, who do.

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I take it no one has an answer to this one?



Sutter

Sorry, I have not researched that area. You might call one of the larger distributors and see what they say.

I would also be interested in knowing the answer since my new HDTV and OPPO DVD are in silver.

I tell you, if I was buying right now, a 2600 as a pre and some good seperate power amps ( outlaw, NAD whatever) would be an excellent choice.

I love my 4600, but the 2600 has everything as well gadget wise, cheaper, and you'll be better off with seperate power amps

Newf,

That's pretty much what I've decided to do. I think I'm going to purchase the 2600, use it's amps to drive my QS8's, and my Outlaw 2200 M-Blocks to drive my M80's and VP150.



Sutter

If you decide on the 2600, I would be interested in your specific comments on that unit as well.

There is an old say that goes something like this: "when is the last time that you got MORE than you paid for?"

I am wondering what the REAL differences are between the 2600 and 4600??