As most of you know, I upgraded my AV receiver from a Yamaha HTR-5280/RXV-800 to an ecost Denon AVR 1083/AVR 3803 about a year ago. Lately, I have the urge to move back to Yamaha. I know this is sort of a taboo subject, but I believe there is a slight difference between these two brand of receivers. While the sound quality of the two is close to equal for HT, I have always thought that Yamaha's product was a bit more dynamic with 2 channel stereo whereas, I would describe my Denon as being comparatively dull sounding. And I do kind of miss that. Since I don't have to worry about whether I want an XM radio transmitter built in or driving M80s, I've been looking around for an older Yammie at a discount and I think I've found one. The Yamaha online store has the HTR-5590 at a pretty steep discount off the original retail price. My question is this, has anyone replaced their Denon AVR with a Yammie and found the Yamaha to be preferable considering most seem to believe Denon makes a superior product? Or am I just crazy for even considering this?

This is sorta related.

I have a Yamaha RX-V557, and love it. I am wondering, what is the difference between the RX-V line and HTR line for Yamaha? I could never figure it out.

Well littleb,
I'm one of those rare breeds who had a Yamaha, went to a Denon and came back to a Yamaha. And I am once again happy and satisfied!!! The Denon was great but I missed something with the Yamaha that I didn't have with the Denon. Maybe it was how you described it "dynamic", I don't know. I just know that for my ears-I'm old and have lost some hearing levels to old rock concerts :-)--I prefer the Yamaha. so there are at least 2 of us...

Charlie

If you look at the Yamaha website you can find some info on that. The htr line is sold at discount stores, while the RXV line is only sold at dedicated stereo stores. I think there are the same except the htr line doesn't have zone2, so you can't add an external amp to them. That's means nothing to me. I'm not going to buy a $500 receiver and then purchase a $3000 amp.

Charlie, out of curiosity, which model Yamaha did you choose?

Teh HTR line, generally doesn't have as many "high-end" features and is typically sold at Big Box stores, while the RXV models are usually less about plug and play, and have more input/output flexibility or will have different features preferred by enthusiasts. The HTR line is meant to be a simpler solution for those who don't want to know how their reciever works, but want it to work just the same.

littleb,
1st time had an HTR 55?? something. Went to a Denon 2105 and my current Yammie is a RXV-657. Love it..

I called the local Yamaha dealer today, since I was thinking of making the switch. The salesman told me they only have 2 models in stock, the 757 and the RXV-1600. I asked him what kind of deal I could get on one of these. I looked at the msrp at the Yamaha site on both these models. The locals are actually charging more than retail on the 757. No wonder unauthorized sales are so popular. He also told me the htr line is junk.

Looks like it is time to find a new dealer.

When I was still using my Luxman 2ch Integrated amp, my brother-in-law brought over his Denon 160_ (2)?(4)? Anyway, for movies it was amazing. But when listening to music, it sounded dead. It didn't have the "sparkle" of the Lux - if that makes any sense?!?!

I've since bought a Yam HTR-5660 and except for 2 things, have been relatively happy. It drives the 80's with no problem, but I hate the menu's (no on-screen), and the fixed 90hz crossover is a major drawback.

Having said that, for the $200 CDN I paid for it (almost 2 years ago), I can't complain. On the good side, it has pre-outs for a [Dreaming] nice set of mono-blocks.[/dreaming]

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/dreaming

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The dreaming never ends!