Yamaha HTR-5730SL 5.1 Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver

Rating:
Summary: Neophyte's dream
Review: This receiver is wonderful. I am happy with the performance and sound. I use it to power a pair of Anthony Gallo speakers in a an ever growing home theater system. It is sharp, clear, and provides a much needed hub to the dvd plaver/VCR, and satellite receiver. The best part is that is easy to use. The remote programs easy. The menus follow a consistant theme, so they are easy to figure out. I really like it a lot.


Rating:
Summary: Good sound for budget home cinema
Review: This Amp is very powerful and looks great. I find the user controls a little more complicated than they need to be, but not unusable.

The output from the tuner and DVD has been fantastic using a set of Yamaha speakers, and I recommend this system to anyone.



Rating:
Summary: Excellent for the Price but Beware the Remote Control
Review: This receiver is an excellent value, with more than enough analog jacks for my components as well as optical digital jacks for my DVD and CD players.

It also has enough composite video jacks for my VCR, DVD players and computer to hook into.

HOWEVER, it does not have S-Video or component jacks, which means that for the best picture, your DVD player will have to hook up to your television directly and that in-turn makes things more complicated because you will have to control both the tv and the receiver separately when viewing your DVDs.

That being said, it's not THAT much of a bother to first switch the tv's input to DVD/S-Video and then switch the receiver to DVD for the audio.

Sound quality is excellent on my JBL 50W speakers and the choices for DSP/effects are sufficient for me (I prefer the Movie2 setting for regular TV ). Dolby decoding performs as advertised. Speaker setup is on a par with just about any other receiver in this price-range. It has very good stereo reproduction from Dolby 5.1 if you only have 2 speakers.

Configuring the radio tuner can be arduous, but doesn't have to be done often. It can store 40 radio channels, which is 4 times more than I need.

The remote control for this receiver is one of the worst that I have ever encountered on a receiver. The buttons are tiny and the controls that are specific to a given device are primarily distinguished by labels rather than the standard tactile/size/spacing method employed by other manufacturers. It offers only the most basic controls for VCR (play / ff / pause, etc.) and television (chan / vol / input). YOU WILL NEED A PROGRAMMABLE REMOTE to make the best use of this receiver.

I recommend a One For All brand remote such as the URC-8910 which may be available for as little as $25.

Rating:
Summary: Great value and sound
Review: This receiver is easy to set up and configure, with a plethora of options, including setting room size, bass and treble, and various sound reproductions (jazz club, rock, sci-fi movies, etc.).

I am using it with the Yamaha NS-P236 speaker package (ASIN: B0000W4U2W) that is a near-perfect match for this receiver, and am impressed with the sound quality. I have my satellite speakers ceiling mounted, and the center speaker elevated to five feet, and woofer on the floor and to the left of the receiver.

The TV is set as monitor, and is connected via coax, and the other components connected are a Sony CD carousel and Sanyo combo DVD-VCR. Each of these components sound much better through this receiver than they did when connected to an older receiver with which I upgraded to this unit.

When I am practicing drums to CDs this receiver provides clear, pure music that seems to naturally blend with my play along. This is partly because of the high-quality of the receiver itself, and partly because of the speakers and their placement.

When in DVD mode the sounds and separation are incredible.

Like others I found the remote control to be a bit of a challenge, but once you get used to the layout and buttons it does not detract (in my opinion) from the quality of this receiver.

The set-up instructions, and the controls in the unit itself, are easy to understand and use. If you are looking for a high-quality receiver at an affordable price this is a bargain that does not cut corners with sould quality or flexibility in setting up for optimal sound in any size room.