Customer Reviews

Yamaha RX-V467BL 525-Watt 5.1 Channel AV Receiver (Each, Black)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this receiver based on other reviews of Yamaha receivers. I chose this over Samsung's current 5.1 and 7.1 receiver, because the Samsung units had lackluster reviews. I was curious about the Samsung receiver line because our television is a Samsung LED.

I'm thrilled with the RX-V467. First, the quality is topnotch, which is something you can always expect from Yamaha gear. It's solidly built and feels that way. There's a huge heatsink inside, visible through the top vent. Second, it's feature-rich and surprisingly easy to operate given all the options at hand.

I bought Polk Audio's SurroundBar and Polk Audio's PSW10 Subwoofer for this unit: What fantastic sound when you merge these items! For Blu-ray--also based on user ratings--I purchased the Sony BDP-360, and it works great with the Yamaha RX-V467 via HDMI-CEC.

My Samsung UN55C6500 LED LCD television works great with this receiver. I'm even able to get some HDMI-CEC functionality between the receiver, TV, and Sony Blu-ray.

The remote control looks scary at first, but once I stared into it for a few seconds, I realized the forethought that went into it. I was able to set most functions in the receiver without cracking the manual. If you've used a receiver before, you'll likely find this unit and remote easy to operate. The remote can be programmed to operate other components in your HES.

The auto calibration microphone starts the process when you plug it in. A few remote clicks and you're done. Had to set the speaker size back to Large for the SurroundBar, however, as this is what Polk Audio recommends.

I love that you can name the inputs of the unit based on what you plug in; this makes it easy to see what AV input you've selected.

I've only scratched the surface. This unit has plenty of features to keep you busy if you like that kind of stuff.

This receiver is $329 on Amazon and other places; great deal!!!!

Downsides:

My Pace HD cable box (Time Warner) did not work well via HDMI cable, but I'm not sure if this was the fault of the Pace, the receiver, or the television (or some combination). Sound and picture would blink or stutter on-and-off for about 30 seconds with each channel change (changed via the cable box). That was just unacceptable, so I went to Component and TOSLINK cables for the Pace without issue. HD cable sounds and looks great now, without "blinking," using these cable selections connected to the receiver. This unfortunately means I have both Component and HDMI cables connected to the TV.

Does not include an iPhone or iPod dock like the Samsung. The new iPhone/iPod dock should be available within the next month or so, but you'll have to buy that as an option. Starting retail price to be $99. The receiver does have a mini-plug on the front to connect your mp3 device right away, however. There is currently an iPod-only dock available for the unit ($40-$70 online); I understand it has some iPhone compatibility, but I'm waiting for the new dock.

This unit offers ZERO conversion options. In other words, it will not up-convert or down-convert one format to another (e.g., Composite to Component, Component to HDMI, etc.). Most of the reviews I've read on units from other manufacturers that do offer conversion options have been poor, which leads me to believe that it's the conversion process itself that sucks--not the receivers. No idea if the unit will do the conversion for the iPhone dock...hope it does.

Conclusion:

I recommend this receiver. As with all things, better units are available for MORE money; this unit delivers for the amount paid. If you're like me (moderate audio junkie) and need a unit for a medium-sized room (5.1 surround), I think you'll like this receiver. If you fancy yourself an audiophile and like to buy expensive audio and video cables because you think it helps, buy something more expensive.

I bought this unit after hearing a demo in a local showroom along with a Pair of Polk Audio TSi300s. I compared this receiver to many other models but this particular showroom only had Yamaha and Denon receivers. The fit and finish was better than the Denon and truly it's not all about wattage which Denon offers more of. Keep in mind that most efficient speakers will put out 90db of sound with just 1 watt.

Long story short, this Yamaha RX-V467 never sounded right. I kept tweaking the settings and using the YPAO microphone and the sound came off with harsh highs and lows....and flat mids. The most annoying problem was the bass....it just sounded so boomy all the damn time it was annoying. You could never hear the natural bass from a bass guitar. Mind you I'm 23...if anyone likes bass it would probably be my generation....and while I like bass I want to hear quality...not boomy. This problem is with AND without the subwoofer. I'm very proficient with electronics of any sort...I verified and double checked all the settings, crossovers, speaker locations. Even switched out the speakers with another pair....same problem. Then I thought....why not hook up a 1985 Pioneer Stereo Amp that I have to my fronts (75watt per channel) and it was like magic...the speakers sounded like they should...all the frequencies came across evenly. Then I got to thinking...I should look up the Total Harmonic Distortion (T.H.D.) Specification for this Yamaha. For those of you who don't know, this tells you how much the amplifier distorts the audio signal while it powers it. Some is normal.....but this unit is ridiculous....YAMAHA PRODUCT BULLETIN RX-V467 (Google it) states this units T.H.D. can reach as high as 10%! The human ear can detect anything over 1%. Yamaha is evasive in their specs by giving you T.H.D. specs for only 50w of the 105w rated AND only for a certain frequency like 1khz. I looked up the specification for my 1985 Pioneer amp and it states .07% THD for 75 Watt for 8-OHM speaker for 20hz-20khz. That means that for the FULL RATED POWER and the FULL FREQUENCY RANGE that the unit only produces .07% which is negligible.

I understand this is a lower-end receiver that is intended to sell for the entry home theater fanatic but I think that the same amount of money could buy you a better quality receiver with another brand. Do the research. I did and I chose a Pioneer Receiver and my speakers came alive... unbelievable the difference in clarity and accuracy. I haven't even used the calibration microphone for auto-tuning yet...I think it sounded great right out of the box just like it should. The Pioneer unit seems to make more sense in some ways...like they give you the ipod cable to hook your ipod up (WITH VIDEO) unlike Yamaha who wants $100 extra for their just dock and cable. However the pioneer lacks in some ways like assignable optical inputs (the ability to use an optical cable with an HDMI cable...most people won't need this since HDMI has audio but I have an advanced setup with a computer attached to the receiver and wish to use my expensive sound card). However the sound quality with this Pioneer is so much better I'd hook it up with a two cans and a string if that would work. Lol.

Bottom line, if sound is the reason you are buying a receiver and you don't like boomy bass. Look somewhere else. Yamaha used to have a good name but many PROFESSIONAL reviewers have noticed Yamaha cutting costs. The weight of their receivers has dropped several pounds and while lighter is nicer...they are obviously cutting costs somewhere and it's thought to be the power supply they said.

I was using a JVC RX 888. It put out great sounds but it was pre HDMI. The Yamaha, has several HDMI slots and I now run my Blu ray and TV through it. It took a little while to figure things out but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty simple. After using it the first evening, I turned it on the next day expecting to hear great sound only to have no sound. The only thing I did the night before was turn it off. After worrying with it and searching the CD manual for a couple of hours I finally noticed the sound was at it's lowest level. Apparently it defaults to this position. Once I turned the sound up it was great. I went into the setup menu and changed the minimum level to where you could hear it when turned on. Don't forget to do this!

One thing I don't really care about is the manual on CD. It's just time consuming trying to read thru it and look things up. I prefer paper, but expect this is the future. I really like the speaker check system. Simple and fast.

If you don't want to spend a bundle but want a good receiver this could be the one for you. I'm very satisfied.

I bought this from another dealer as B-stock (refurbished) from the factory. It's been working perfectly for me for about three months now.

The sound quality is excellent. It has plenty of power (volume) for my living room. I really like having 4 HDMI inputs. I'm running a pair of old mid-1980's Cerwin-Vega 10" woofer, 6" mid, + tweeter floor stacks (still awesome speakers) for left and right front, set of Sony 4" back channels, and 6" Sony center. The amp probably has a enough power to blow the smaller speakers, but of course I don't turn it up that loud!

The automated speaker setup (YPAO) is a very nice feature. It saves a lot of time vs. monkeying by hand with sound levels and balance. I'm not sure if it's the receiver itself or the automated setup, but it seems to sound better than my old Sony particularly in regard to surround sound. I'm starting to think it also has something to do with having 500 watts vs. the 300 watts my old receiver had. Whatever the reason(s) it sounds much better.

I like the fact that I can run everything including picture through the unit using HDMI in and out. This simplifies the process of switching between various AV sources tremendously because you really only have one device (and cable) to worry about instead of three or four. My old amp was sound only and non-HDMI, so programming the remote macros was pretty involved as was getting the cabling correct.

A few small problems with set up IMO:

I'm not sure if it's my cables or the unit, but the HDMI OUT jack (the one that goes to the TV) is loose on all but one of my cables. This causes problems with green screens or completely black screens. Once I found a cable that fit tightly the problem went away. Could it be because my unit was B-stock?

Screwing the bare speaker wire ends into the unit is a PITA, particularly the middle posts. You have to come in from the side of posts and put the bare ends through a small hole with very little clearance between the posts. The old Sony had push downs and you just slid the wire in from behind and released. If you can get some banana ends for your speaker wires I would highly recommend them vs. what I had to go through. It would only take about a minute to hookup that way vs. the 15 min. it took me. Someone with big fingers, shakey hands, and/or poor eyesight might have a real problem with this.

One other problem some people might have is that this unit won't cross connect between different video input and output types. If you use HDMI input then it outputs the signal through HDMI. If you put composite video in then the output goes out through the composite video jacks. You can't have composite video in, but HDMI out or vise versa. This might make hooking up older video equipment more challenging. All my stuff is HDMI, so for me it wasn't a problem. It WILL let you use optical sound input even if the video is coming in/out through HDMI.

Finally, the menus and settings that are easily understandable and accessible from the front panel are minimal. You really have to have the remote in hand AND what is shown on the screen is just enough to give you an idea of what you're doing.

Don't let these small negatives put you off from buying this because it's all setup stuff. You only do that a few times during the life of a receiver, so it's not that big a deal. Nothing is so difficult it can't be done. During normal use everything is fine and the sound quality more than makes for these few shortcomings.

Advice: Some of the set up can be complex because the unit has so many options. Do yourself a favor and actually read the manual! One setting many will be in interested in is visual input from HDMI, but sound input from optical cable (DVD players.) It can do this, but you have to find the correct menu option. Read the manual.

My 13-year old top of the line Kenwood 5.1 receiver died last month. I was looking for an inexpensive replacement with home theater capabilities adequate for a small (10x16)room. After considering a Sony, Onkyo, Pioneer (not really), and Denon. I selected this Yamaha model because it wasn't the cheapest model and Amazon had it on special for $229. The technology has changed so much I had to study how to configure my somewhat complicated setup with an HD/DVR cable box, HDTV (HDMI), regular DVD/VCR combo (composite video, regular audio), Airport Express for iTunes, and an A/D converter for copying off the DVR. With the small room I didn't hook up the sub-woofer, but I have front L/R, center, and two surround speakers (8-ohm Definitive Technology). My only "what?" moment was when I figured out it doesn't provide for separate B speakers to play in the kitchen, but fortunately I had a Niles 6-speaker switch so I just ran the front speakers through the switch. Once I figured out the routing of the cable, setup was straightforward. Using the little utility microphone to automatically establish speaker volumes was quick and really impressive, especially compared to how difficult it was with the old Kenwood. The first test for the full system was to playback the first episode of "Game of Thrones" from the DVR and it was AWESOME! I tested my older DVD/VCR combo (no HDMI) with the initial explosive sequence in "V" and was not disappointed. My old Kenwood had a low, but noticeable, level of power noise that bled through the speakers but this Yamaha doesn't seem to produce any speaker noise. The remote seems logically laid out and works fine. It takes 5-6 seconds for it to switch among the inputs, but that's okay. Haven't attached the FM and AM antennas yet, that's not a priority for me, and haven't tried to do any special programming. I downloaded the PDF users manual and looked through it while I waited on delivery. I didn't need to refer to the DVD to get it setup once it arrived, I just used the Quick Reference foldout. I'm really pleased with my purchase of the RX-V467.

Just got my receiver today, plugged everything and turned it on. At first, I was bit confused about setting it up and the remote controll, but after reading a bit from the manual I managed to set things up. After this I made a short sound check to see that everything worked and it did. Then I downloaded the update from Yamahas site and tried updating the receiver with PS3 Slim. Well for my suprice, receiver was already up to date. So now I wanted to test HD sounds and put Rambo IV in, and just wow, sound is great! Even I dont have the best speakers in the world, it still sounded a lot better than anything what I played before with my non-HD Sony receiver. After I had watched the movie I put radio on and just left it there. It has now been on for around 8 hours on row and every now and then when good song comes I turn volume up, but still its really hard to sence any heat over the receiver.
Ok, it has only been in use for a day but so far I have really nothing to complain. Everything is connected with HDMI so I didn't need the analog upconversing. Even 7.1 system seems to work ok, but I don't have really anything to test it with, all blue-ray's only have 5.1 I was thinking of getting some 7.1 test trak later but so far so good. For me the thing that last 2 speakers need to be active ones (to get 6.1 or 7.1) wasn't an issue since I took those from my bedroom tv. Maybe going to put those back to bedroom atleast for a while when I can get something that has 7.1 sounds.

I've only had this receiver for a few days, but those first impressions are valuable. The top model in this Yamaha line had received excellent user reviews in various places but I couldn't afford it, and didn't need the 7.1 channel surround capability any way, so when this model became available for $229 at an after-holiday sale I gambled that it would be mostly the same innerds and probably satisfy. I was looking at a traditional receiver because we need to keep connectivity for some of our old technology like vcr and cd player and a new Ion turntable, so home-theater-in-a-box receivers would not do. Though I knew Yamaha had a long reputation for good receivers I was really impressed with the clean sound from this set, especially the AM and FM radio, and the sound from the turntable was aetherial--I'm going through a whole LP collection going back over 40 years that I almost threw out, as though I'm hearing them for the first time, crisp and clean with no static and no hiss. I did ditch the dvd player for a Blu-ray, and now feel like I've died and gone to technology heaven. All of our media, audio and video, old and new, is sounding better than I could have imagined. I should point out we're using a downsized 2 stereo speaker with powered sub setup, (the "stereo" button on the remote gets you your center channel for Blu-ray watching) so there's still room for improvement.

With our setup there was no need to do the automated calibration through the microphone, and we'll probably never worry about any 3d firmware updates (if later production models even require this). The unit doesn't run hot like our older one did using the specified 8-ohm speakers. The vast number of connections and beautiful sound make this a great budget receiver for music lovers with old and new technology to manage...

After being a stereohead for a long time but recently purchasing a subwoofer I decided to upgrade to 5.1. I was originally going to buy the Onkyo 309 or 509 but after the price went up I decided to delve into the amazon pages and find something else that fit what I wanted. Let me also say that I have tried out a 5.1 HTiB before and it sounded like garbage. It had 1000 Watts and little incy wincy speakers that sounded like tweeters. That is why I just stuck with the old kenwood 4 channel 100 watt vintage beauty. Which still is going strong btw. But I wanted 'full HD sound/lossless audio' which I couldn't have with old school AV jacks. Since everything is mostly in 5.1 I decided to not get a 7.1 receiver (only to find out this receiver is upgradable to 7.1 but I'll get to that later.)

I was looking for something with HDMI inputs and also passthru (so you can leave the receiver off while watching anything hooked up to it.) I also wanted the highest RMS output I could find per channel and the largest sound spectrum (typically 20Hz-20,000Hz) I could find. The V467 has 10Hz-100,000Hz... which was really the best out there. I don't even think any of my speakers (other than sub) go as low as 10Hz and I think the highest they can go is 55,000Hz.. so the Yamaha had the bases covered for everything I wanted in a receiver. The extras are great too and worth noting.. I like how it looks, in my opinion its one of the better looking receivers on the market. The remote was fairly easy to set up so it can turn the tv and blu ray player on. The microphone setup was awesome. Plug the little mic and let the work be done for you. I would recommend tweaking it afterwords because that little piece of plastic cannot be as accurate as your ear, but it did sound pretty good without messing with it. I changed the 'distance' for each speaker and had to change the speaker sizes (the default setting had them all set at small which is 6.3 inches or smaller for the diameter of the largest speaker.. either mid or sub.) And get ready for this you audiophiles... this thing actually has an equalizer for EACH speaker... so if your center sounds a little bit different than your fronts, tweak the equalizer on them individually and get them matched up. Very nice for Yamaha to give us that option. It did take awhile to delve into all of the different options, so be patient. Another awesome thing is this model is upgradable to 7.1 sound, all you have to do is hook up an external amp (pyle amps are nice and very cheap...) and you've got 7.1. I haven't tried it yet so I cannot comment on the results. Another great thing about this receiver is all of the sound enhancements, not just sports, movie, music... there must be 10 different settings for music and 15 for movies. After messing around with it, I like 'straight' which is no enhancement, or 7.1 virtual surround which also adds another enhancement, cinema DSP, which can be turned off. I usually don't like things enhanced but it sounds natural and doesn't make a night and day difference. You can still hear all of the sounds you are supposed to, they just change it a bit. The bottom line is you will be hard pressed to find something with all of these features for about $200. It sounds awesome.

Of course, today everyone is audiophile, even they do not have money or time to listen for prolonged time for the variety of equipment that exist today. They care only about reproducing sound as soon (in shortest possible way) as possible and then enhance it with various equipment, which costs enormous amount of money up to more than 1M$. But I think this receiver gives mass markets what they really want: receiver with good quality, excellent set of features and normal price.
I am using 2 speakers and more than happy in small room. Nice and missing summary:
Nice:
- HDMI CEC and HDMI ARC are awesome! Do not buy a device without them. It is a must!
- Direct, Straight mode is really useful
- DTS decoders works fine
- Setup in 2 minutes
- Output is really great, no problem even, when windows started to tremble
- Has enough HDMI inputs (for BD player, Media player, PC), digital audio in, analog audio in - future proof solution
- No noise at all - I mean absolutely no noise.
- Info display very good: not distracting, even dimming in direct mode
- Can display HDMI/digital input format, frequency, channels etc.
Missing:
- Remote can control only predefined equipment - not programmable (some Pioneer equipment has these features)
- Network access and USB - more expensive models have. On the other hand technologies changes fast so better use separate device for network and USB access.

If you are starting audiophile, maybe you should listen to this, just to have something to compare. If you are not, then I would recommend this receiver as a good product for normal amount of money. In both cases if you have extra 100-200$ better spend them on speakers instead of "better" receiver.

Some people are giving this receiver a bad rap. All I can say is wow!!!This is the cleanest sounding low power receiver at 105 watts per 5 channels that I have ever heard. I replaced my Sony 6.1 surround Receiver with this Yamaha because I wanted a future proof Receiver with H.D.M.I. ports, digital coax, and optical. This Receiver kicks some butt. It has 4 H.D.M.I. ports and one for output to your High-Def T.V. also 2 digital coax and 2 optical ports as well. It also has post type speaker wire nuts not the cheap crap push ins some people like until they break on you. It has inputs for everything you could posibly need even a iphone dock can be added as as extra feature for some extra money, but who really needs that I don't. Now the only bad thing about it. If you own a Panasonic T.V.Viera class do not freak out I can help you out better than Yamaha's tech support because I happen to be be a I.T. tech I love a good challange. Some people don't think you can get the H.D.M.I. return digital audio to work with these Panasonic Viera T.V.'s they are wrong. It took me 30 minutes to figure out why I was not getting a signal from the receiver to the T.V. and vise-a-versa. All you have to do is go into Menu on the remote, then scroll down to audio, highlight advanced audio, select H.D.M.I. digital and disable Viera sound options completly. I'm trying to remember this from yesterday so I hope I got it right. If this works when you turn on the receiver a red light saying HDMI should appear. Then just plug in your 1/8 inch mic and place it were you sit and hit setup on the remote. If the volume is to low just turn off the receiver and turn it back on then turn up the volume and repeat the test. It tells you when its done, just unplug the mic and turn off the receiver. Turn it back on and your set to watch blue-rays and listen to CD's. Now you can set up your T.V.(Panasonic) using a optical to AVI 2. Just hit T.V on the Yamaha remote then either hit input on your Panasonic remote and change it to cable from H.D.M.I. one. It might work just by changing the channel on your Panasonic remote, but you have to manually hit input and change it to H.D.M.I. for Blu-rays and DVD's video and sound playback. This really is not a big deal if you dont watch much T.V. as I watch mostly movies and music, but you will get use to it. This receiver also has excellent speaker setup options, includes one re E.Q. and one Parametric which if great. It also has all sorts of built in sound feilds to pick from if you like that. Plus you can not beat how well this unit is built, it'a solid and it shows, it has really low T.H.D. It also has an option for built in surround sound with headphones. It's worth a little inconvience for all this quality and thats only if you own a Panasonic High-Def. At first I was going to return it. But after listening to it that just was not an option for me anymore. It sounds too good!!! Hope this helps people on the fence about deciding. One more thing it looks damm good to. Nice LED display, great front panel black shine look. Steven Level