Customer Reviews

Yamaha RX-V365BL 500 Watt 5-Channel Home Theater Receiver

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I generally like Yamaha products but this receiver has one huge flaw. The HDMI outs do not support audio sound. I ran separate optical audio outputs from cable box and CD player. The one HDMI out on the reciever only worked with DVD not Cable box or DTV inputs. So don't plan on running a separate TV from the HDMI out on the reciever. The sound quality is good and the functions are easy to learn with the exception of the scene feature. Really not that well explained. I like the reciever and was able to work around the HDMI issue but think that this is a huge oversight on Yamaha's part. I hope this review is helpful.

The RX-V365 is Yamaha's cheapest multichannel receiver for 2009 and for an entry-level amp, the 'V365 kicks out a loud, powerful sound.

Pros:
Yamaha's automatic speaker calibration system
Sound effects are done very well through surround sound
Extreamly clear channels, no distortion detected
Three component video inputs
iPod or MP3 player front panel mounted mini jack and compressed music enhancer
8 DSP settings

Cons:
No HD audio decoding
No audio over HDMI

Excellent product for the money. Yamaha produces fine audio products (and some pretty nice motorcycles too).

On choosing this model A/V receiver, I understood that at this price, the HDMI is for video only. The instruction manual can be difficult to follow for first time Home Theater installers, but don't let these minor issues keep you from checking out this Yamaha. With Comc*** HD cable box, the Receiver HDMI ports are not used. I get very good 5.1 Dolby Surround sound from HD channels by connecting an optical digital audio cable from the cable box to the receiver. With a DVD player, most movies sound even better, and the DTS sound is excellent.
This receiver is matched with Yamaha NS-SP5800BL speakers.

Pros: Yamaha. Well made, works out of the box, xlnt THX audio, xlnt separation, xlnt surround.

Cons: Setup sucks. The owners manual sucks as its hard to follow. Heck, I have reviewed and proofed hundreds of technical manuals over my career and this one really sucks. You get to step 6 out of 10 and the setting does not exist! Lots of fumbling around with hits & misses. Well step 6 in the last chapter is now step 3 two chapters following. By saying the rcvr is over engineered is stating it mildly. Everything is software adjusted. eg; to adjust my rear speaker volume levels, I have to wade through a gazillion steps in order to get there. And, if I miss a step I start over. Am I on the phone calling a company going through their phone tree nightmare??? Heck, you cannot make any adjustments on the fly, not even setting FM presets. This is a set it and forget it receiver!

Has two THX inputs; one is DTV/CBL, the other CD. Huh? THX for CD and not DVD? Duh! So when I watch Blu-Ray THX DVD's, I push the CD button on the remote. How stupid is this?

Would I buy Yamaha again? Not if their products are engineered like this. Don't get me wrong, if you are the "set it and forget it" type you will be most happy with this receiver. Others, like me, who continually adjust to suite the input mode will hate it.

I like the Night setting that compresses the sound for low listening levels at night so the sound doesn't get too loud. Also described as it narrows the dynamic range of the soundtracks and makes dialog easier to hear at lower volumes.
I was disappointed the HDMI cables do not support sound! I have to make a last minute trip to the local store to by a Optical Digital audio cable for the DVR and a Coaxial Digital audio cable for the Blu Ray player. I could have used the old RCA jack cables but the whole idea is digital and HD with my system. Other Receivers do use the HDMI cable for sound.
All in all it is a great receiver for the price.
volume uses negative numbers in other words the volume numbers go in reverse, the number goes low as the volume goes up

I purchased this receiver with a dual purpose: 1. to serve as an audio amplifier and 2. to serve as a video switch so one can select a video source together with an audio source with only one click.

While I am very happy with the audio amplifier part, I am not completely happy with the video switch part. Here is why...

Note that the manual is not very clear but the tech support is knowledgeable and responsive. Anyway it is my belief that the best way to describe the product is as follow:

The unit supports 3 audio only sources (CD, MD/CD-R, TUNER).
The unit also supports 4 audio+video sources (DVD, DTV/CBL, DVR, V-AUX/DOCK)

By the way the remote control has 7 dedicated/labeled buttons to control the said 3+4=7 sources so it's easy to remember which button maps to which source. Those buttons have a dual purpose: select a source, and control the source (this requires setting the proper remote codes). Also the remote has dedicated buttons to control a TV regardless of the selected source which I found extremely convenient.

Sources map to physical inputs in a somewhat constrained manner.

CD: optical digital audio IN3 or analog audio
MD/CD-R: analog audio
TUNER: N/A
DVD: (coaxial digital audio IN1 or analog audio) and (HDMI video or component video or composite video)
DTV/CBL: (optical digital audio IN2 or analog audio) and (HDMI video or component video or composite video)
DVR: (analog audio) and (component video or composite video)
V-AUX/DOCK (analog audio and composite video) or proprietary dock

It is possible to reassign IN1, IN2 and IN3 in case you need to swap a coaxial input for an optical input but you may end up wishing there was a third optical digital audio input. Also you may end up wishing there was a third HDMI video input.

On the output side there is one HDMI, one component video output (MONITOR) as well as three composite outputs (MONITOR, DVR and MD/CD-R).

The hitch is that the unit does not do any conversion whatsoever between the inputs and the outputs. So if you have one HDMI, one component and one composite video source, you have to attach one HDMI, one component, and one composite cable between the receiver and the TV... and you have to manually switch the inputs on the TV. There is a dedicated key on the remote to do this (TV INPUT)... but what is the point of offering a switching video feature if you end up having to switch again on the TV? I realize that the switching feature is actually nice if you have only HDMI sources or only component sources or a non-HD TV which you can only feed with composite but this is a little bit disappointing in my opinion.

Another not very useful feature is the "SCENE"s. It enables you to pick a source and a sound setting with one click... but it's easier to remember to press CD to play a CD rather than click SCENE 2 to play a CD... I guess it's useful when you get a higher end model that does not have dedicated source buttons on the remote.

To summarize:
Very good audio amplifier.
Supports 6 or 8 ohms speakers.

Remote is great. Only button missing is a "-"/"." to directly select OTA sub-channels on the TV

Would be better with a third HDMI input
Would be better with a third optical digital audio input (on top of the coaxial digital audio input).
Would be nice if there was a straight way to use the TV as a digital audio source (with a dedicated key on the remote) for OTA HD channels

Would be really nice if the video inputs were upconverted to HDMI

To make this review short - this is exactly the same receiver as the last year's Yamaha RX-V363BL. With some added convenience features and slightly changed front panel design.
Yamaha also make it under the name Yamaha HTR-6230BL (that is the replacement for last year's Yamaha HTR-6130BL).
These are excellent A/V receivers and great value for the price.

i got this Receiver as a gift, and i think it sounds Fantastic. it was replacing an old stereo i had acting as a surround sound. i have it hooked up to the old sony speakers i have, and it works great. Crystal Clear audio. i think it sounds better than my 6.1 sony receiver upstairs! i haven't played around with it long enough yet to get through all the features. but i had to let everyone know that the sound is Great for this Price range receiver. i have my cable box and Xbox hooked up to it through Digital Optical for true surround on Both. My cable box and xbox never sounded so good. i know the HDMI does not pass through Audio, but who cares? Great Receiver for the Price!

It's a very good receiver versus the price you pay for it. Sound is clear and powerful. Good level for treble and bass. Little complicated to use the remote but I like you can control CD, DVD, TV, etc. Great performance if use the digital audio (optical and coaxial). It is an excellent investment for home entertainment.

A quick look after a 30 minute set up and a 30 minute test.

This was a replacement for an 18 year old high end Sony system that had been put into duty as the sound system for the bedroom to get a small improvement over the built in TV speakers so I didn't expect it to sound great or have every bell and whistle available on more expensive models. Nothing really wrong with the Sony but with it requiring an external amp for all speakers it was a little cluttered and those amps are getting old.

I understood that it didn't support sound over HDMI and that the manual was funky but the Samsung TV that was part of the mix has an optical audio output jack so it was a slam dunk to use that to the optical input on the Yamaha; anything that goes to the TV via HDMI (U-Verse TV box, Blu-ray player and computer) goes right to the receiver.

Attached the speaker and bang, it was done, haven't even touched the manual yet.

Sound quality is great, I could detect no difference between the TV optical out and going to the receiver via optical directly from each device. It would seem reasonable that one might get better sound over a more expensive unit but I'm not sure old ears can appreciate the difference any longer.

So depending on your setup it might not work as easily with the lack of HDMI support but in this configuration, along with the price I am very pleased.