In reply to:
"JB, basically neither the 525 nor the 1400 have a sound and there would be no useful purpose in listening to them at a dealer. Any slight differences in the volume level or some other detail of the setup would account for any differences heard; don't waste your time."{/quote]
JB, this is a quote from JohnK's earlier post. I use this quote because again JohnK has hit the nail on the head.
Listening to electronics at (most) dealers is a complete waste of time. If you do go to listen to receivers, keep this in mind: one can be easily manipulated and misled by the sales person with differences in levels, sub output, tone controls, etc. I've actually seen this before.
When you go to a store to see these things, pay the most attention to the feature set and don't worry so much about whether it's "bright or "warm" or whatever (save it for the speakers). Amps and pre amps should not have a sound of thier own but in the interest of fidility, they should be neutral.
Sometimes, "grain" can be detected between these types of equipment, but it takes some serious listening over a long period of time to realize it and even then it is usually insignificant. Although I must say that I've heard some high priced stuff that did exibited significant "grain". The point is, don't obsess about the sound of a reciever. It'll make you crazy until you realize it isn't very important.
Caveat: YPAO and MCACC will make a difference in as far as helping smooth out peaks and dips in frequency responses in a properly setup system.
P.S: There are a lot of posts here on the Yamaha's and Pioneer's that incorporate EQ features. Do a search on: 1400,2400,MCACC,YPAO etc....
