( 15 reviews )
-
Posted: Jul 29 2009
Got this new from BB and was pleased at first but then started to notice little things that bugged me. For one, if I did not turn on the DVD and TV first, this AVR was not happy. Sometimes it only passed the red channel video(HDMI). To get it right, I had to turn off then on, then all was ok. The sound is thin with poor focus. Did not play anywhere near as loud as my old NAD 325 2 ch receiver, so I sorta cant believe the power rating of 105 wpc. Long story short, I ended up with a used Onkyo 705 AVR that smoked this Yamaha in every way. The Onkyo is trouble free and the Yamaha was always having small issues! The auto set up on this 863 also did not work very well. The Onkyo's Audyssey MultiEQ XT is the only way to fly. Oh ya, The HD Radio on this thing is Nice! If your into radio, It's many times better then analog radio.
-
( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 18 2009
I bought this along with the Yamaha 3900. I put the 3900 in my family room and the 863 in the bedroom. Personally, I like the 863 better. Just as some background, I have a Sony 550 Blu Ray and a Directv HD receiver hooked up to it. It has outputs to a 5.1 speaker system in Zone 1 and a simple 2 speaker system in Zone 2 (in our bathroom so we can listen to the radio in the morning). Video is thru a Samsung 7 series 52" LCD TV. Great sound. The upscaling of DVDs is tremendous. It can turn a DVD into (almost) a Blu Ray. Easily does 2 zones. It has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output. Can handle 2 subs. If you don't do HDMI, has tons of other inputs which can easily be seen on the pictures. It also has all the capabilities of more expensive receivers. HD Radio, Sirius, XM, ipod dock and all the acronyms. So, why would you pay more (for the 3900 for example)? The 3900 is a network receiver, which the 863 is not. The 3900 has 4 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs (vs 3/1 for the 863). The 3900 is a little more powerful (140W/channel vs 105 for the 863). However, after buying both, I wish I had just bought 2 863s. In fact for the cost of the 3900, I could have. Great receiver. Great price. Incredible value.
-
Posted: Mar 31 2009
I have been using this receiver for the past three weeks, and although it takes some time to properly customise at the end I am very impress with the sound Quality and overall performance of this unit
