jules123 Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 Just noticed that some new Yamaha receivers should be coming into town soon... The one I have my eye on is the RX-V661 (replacement for 659) - I have been waiting for the RX-V1700 prices to drop off but this seems to do everything I was after and should be a whole lot cheaper too. There is also an 861 - but it doesn't seem worth the extra outlay if the US rrp is anything to go by. Yamaha rx-v661 HDMI (2 in 1 out) ver 1.2a 95w per channel Lots of other regular regular yamaha goodies... It seems to drop a little power and the scaling ability of the 1700 - but for close to a grand less $AU (maybe) rrp - who cares! - I don't really want/need a scaler in a receiver (though up-conversion from component to hdmi would be a convenience lost) Does anyone have any more info apart from that on the Yamaha USA website (and Eastwood Hifi stating that they will be ordering them in?) Could be worth a pre-order so I stop spending all my time researching this gear... !
Maton Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 yamaha is still sorting out the pricing for the new range and stocks should be around by i believe early next month
kamma Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 if the 659 is anything to go by the 661 should be a cracker at that price
jules123 Posted March 15, 2007 Author Posted March 15, 2007 Just noticed Eastwood Hifi have them in stock ("just under $1000"). So that sounds like a deal to me. Initial comments sound promising too.
Maton Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 sure their not talking about the 659? the 661 hasnt even arrived yet
wheelz Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 sure their not talking about the 659? the 661 hasnt even arrived yet No he's talkn the 661,unfortunately it seems to take alittle longer to get things here in the west. March 16th - The Yamaha RX-V661 is now in stock (just under $1000), it's the replacement for the RX-V659 and has a few more goodies such as HDMI inputs with switching - 2 in, one out with enough bandwidth to through put 1080p, the main difference however is the SCENE function. This allows the receiver to be set to 4 different scenarios. To play a DVD for instance, you set the remote control SCENE 1 button to DVD and it will automatically configure the receiver to play DVD's without having to change any settings on any unit, if you're using a Yamaha compatible DVD Player, it turns it on automatically, it's kind of like a limited macro facility. Neat. It's a lot more useful than you first think. The quoted output has dropped from 100 to 90 Watts per channel although we couldn't hear any difference in overall volume levels or dynamics. They must have a newly designed output stage as the RX-V661 sounds slightly more musical than the old model. All in all the new model is a better sounding, better featured receiver than it's predecessor although not to the extent that you'd want to trade the RX-V659 in on one. It is, however, the new king of mid range A/V receivers at the $1000 level (if only Marantz would be more flexible with their pricing, the Marantz SR 5001 is the logical competition for the new Yamaha although at $1699 it's priced out of the equation as the new Yamaha RX-V881 (released in a couple of weeks) will absolutely cream the $1500 - $2000 market. RX-V 861 spec for those interested (usa site) http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/product...mp;CTID=5000300
Chesty Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 No he's talkn the 661,unfortunately it seems to take alittle longer to get things here in the west. I may have to consider getting my amp sooner. This looks like serious bang for your buck. I take it the consensus so far is that this unit is just that?
kamma Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 I may have to consider getting my amp sooner. This looks like serious bang for your buck. I take it the consensus so far is that this unit is just that? it doesn't do upconversion to hdmi
Anthony123 Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 so any other new yamaha receivers being released.... dont wanna by the 2700B now if a new one is on its way?????
AndrewW Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 so any other new yamaha receivers being released.... dont wanna by the 2700B now if a new one is on its way????? My understanding is that the 2700B replacement won't be released until Nov/Dec. Even then, it will have HDMI 1.3 but will not be able to process the HD audio formats. This is just info I've gathered from other threads. You can bet it will probably cost about twice what the 2700B is going for in the GB as well Cheers, Andrew.
JasonV Posted March 16, 2007 Posted March 16, 2007 I was told by a retailer that this unit will also come in Silver.
Chesty Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 I was told by a retailer that this unit will also come in Silver. Saw this unit ins JB today for $1099. I dont think its even on the yammy website. I am thinking of picking one up for its 1080p. Question: Do you really need upscaling if you are connecting in and out with HDMI to a 1080p panel?
Maton Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 depends what your connecting up, most of the time the scaler onboard the amp is better then cheaper components so yes there would be an advantage
jules123 Posted March 22, 2007 Author Posted March 22, 2007 Saw this unit ins JB today for $1099. I dont think its even on the yammy website.I am thinking of picking one up for its 1080p. Question: Do you really need upscaling if you are connecting in and out with HDMI to a 1080p panel? Since this unit doesn't have that capability and the next yamaha up the range to do it (861, not released yet) costs around $500 more - I personally would never even consider it. Sometimes upscaling through receiver can work - though I have never seen a good enough example to make it worth my money - the difference in price between the models (661 vs 861 - say $500) is money well spent on a better tv in my opinion (though you may already have that). Many people say that upscaling is the way to go - that may be, but I am certainly not willing to pay for it until I see some real results... If you have a 1080p panel you should take a look at bluray/hddvd and forget about upscaling!
Chesty Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 Since this unit doesn't have that capability and the next yamaha up the range to do it (861, not released yet) costs around $500 more - I personally would never even consider it. Sometimes upscaling through receiver can work - though I have never seen a good enough example to make it worth my money - the difference in price between the models (661 vs 861 - say $500) is money well spent on a better tv in my opinion (though you may already have that). Many people say that upscaling is the way to go - that may be, but I am certainly not willing to pay for it until I see some real results... If you have a 1080p panel you should take a look at bluray/hddvd and forget about upscaling! yeah sorry did not understand the whole upscaling thing, being how it related to AVr's. Do now though. Realise its not an issue for me as all my gear would run through HDMI
InterestedUser Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 As noone has tested this machine, I would like to get your considered opinion of what is meant by "HDMI Switching". Does HDMI switching means: a) just routing the signal to the output HDMI (as some of the low end Sony Receivers do), or routing the video signal, and reading the audio stream, and processing it. Assuming it processes the audio, would it handle 5.1 or 7.1 LPCM (PS3?) over HDMI, decode, DSPed, equalised, and then sent to the speakers. I would assume Yamaha would be migrating their features from the top-end receivers (2700 and 1700) down to the 661. So those of you who have the higher end products may be able to answer what this machine may or may not do...... Perhaps the dealers who have the product in their stores can test it???? Thanks,
cwt Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 As noone has tested this machine, I would like to get your considered opinion of what is meant by "HDMI Switching".Does HDMI switching means: a) just routing the signal to the output HDMI (as some of the low end Sony Receivers do), or routing the video signal, and reading the audio stream, and processing it. Assuming it processes the audio, would it handle 5.1 or 7.1 LPCM (PS3?) over HDMI, decode, DSPed, equalised, and then sent to the speakers. No need to worry that its a hdmi switcher like sony or arcam ; InterestedUser.Its hdmi ver1.2 so will handle 5.1 lpcm no worries as well as dvd audio .It is a 7.1 amp so presumably will handle the new 7.1 pcm discs but at this price point Ide doubt being able to lay a dsp mode on the pcm.Ide expect the new denons to be able to do this. According to avs forums It does come with a calibration microphone and I reckon is great value for money
Nevyn72 Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 Has anyone purchased this unit? Do we have confirmation that it can accept 8 channel PCM over HDMI?
Hydrology Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 Has anyone purchased this unit?Do we have confirmation that it can accept 8 channel PCM over HDMI? I believe the HDMI is 1.2a on this model.
cwt Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 Has anyone purchased this unit?Do we have confirmation that it can accept 8 channel PCM over HDMI? If our 661 has the same specs as the american version peter ;the answer is yes. Someone played Resistance FOM through it and the back surround icon lit up.It also lists 7.1 lpcm in the manual.This will sell like hotcakes. There are many that only manage 5.1 pcm I think
Nevyn72 Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 If our 661 has the same specs as the american version peter ;the answer is yes. Someone played Resistance FOM through it and the back surround icon lit up.It also lists 7.1 lpcm in the manual.This will sell like hotcakes. There are many that only manage 5.1 pcm I think Great! Considering an interim upgrade of my trusty 10 year old pro-logic AVR until I move somewhere bigger and non-strata.....
jules123 Posted April 23, 2007 Author Posted April 23, 2007 I have picked up one of these today from JB Hifi. I will set it up - hopefully tonight - and post back some initial thoughts after a bit of fiddling. It looks like a really solid unit - they came down a long way from rrp too (well, at least JB did - other stores said they won't have them in stock for a few weeks)
kb10000 Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 I have picked up one of these today from JB Hifi.I will set it up - hopefully tonight - and post back some initial thoughts after a bit of fiddling. It looks like a really solid unit - they came down a long way from rrp too (well, at least JB did - other stores said they won't have them in stock for a few weeks) Jules, how much did you pick this up for? I was originally thinking of picking up a runout V659, but was put off by the lack of HD inputs. Interested in what your impressions are after you've set it up.
jules123 Posted April 23, 2007 Author Posted April 23, 2007 Jules, how much did you pick this up for? I was originally thinking of picking up a runout V659, but was put off by the lack of HD inputs. Interested in what your impressions are after you've set it up. It was $925 with the warranty extended to 5 years (didn't really want this, but they were giving it away - base warranty for yamaha receiver is 2 years as I understand) Initial impressions are great. I have upgraded from a $300 sherwood 5.1 receiver - and the only things I have fiddled with are a little bit of HD tv (Dolby D) on CSI New York last night for about 20 mins. haven't run YPAO or much other setup wise - just "plug it in a give it a whirl" style setup. The surround speakers blend with the fronts much better than the sherwood (they are much louder too - in a good way) and the centre is the same - i always needed to increase its output with the sherwood - but it is much louder/clearer now. Given all that the best part I would have to say is how much more clean bass there is (again, something I was totally not expecting - not at least until I had run through all the full setup stuff) Even the centre speaker which to be honest sounded gay at times to me now blends perfectly with the left and right. But I have to say it sounds fantastic - a real improvement over the sherwood that I was not expecting to be so significant. I haven't tried anything else - hope to give some dvd's a work out over the next few days but there is a big manual with an awful lot of tweaks/settings to run through before I properly start using it. More to come later over the next few days. I can easily say you won't be disappointed - and there are so many things I am yet to try (hdmi for example!)
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