Customer Reviews

Yamaha RX-V863BL 735 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've had this receiver & its ipod dock for about 45 days. Picked this one over the 663 for its video upscaling. I use it mainly for watching dvds and ipod videos, streaming netflix, and listening to ipod and HD radio music.

Pros: Quality of sound and video output met my high expectations. (I'm biased toward Yamaha already FWIW). Surround fields are versatile & distinct. The enhancer modes are fantastic for low volume listening. Headphone listening is stellar. Config menus are straightforward. YPAO was easy to set up, though I wound up tweaking rear speaker adjustments up a bit as personal preference. The remote runs all our gear. I dusted off old concert and movie DVDs and this receiver makes them seem new again.

Cons: No macro mode on the remote to power everything on & off with one button. HD radio control is not intuitive. So far I haven't figured out if I can navigate a docked ipod's menus with my TV osd which would be nice.

Bottom line: I saved up and looked at a LOT of receivers before choosing this one, and I'm not disappointed at all. The RX-V863 is everything advertised and lives up to Yammy's top shelf reputation.

Best receiver for the money. Why buy a Denon 3808 when you can buy this one for a lot less AND it does the same things? 1080P upconversion, 3 HDMI's, easy setup menu, LOADS and LOADS of more features. Put new life into my speakers. 7.1 AND Zone 2! HD radio built-in!!!

This thing was very straightforward to install and setup. The only part that I needed to consult the manual about was the HD radio, otherwise, it was easy.

Highly recommended!!!

This is a great receiver. Sound is excellent, easy to use, good remote, the Ipod dock works great, HD radio is great, and the HDMI works well with 1080p. Works great with my Mac Mini.
Replaced a JVC RXD412B that I bought last year with this unit. The JVC remote was difficult to use with FM and the JVC receiver just didn't sound very good. (You get what you pay for) The JVC replaced my old Yamaha receiver from 1990 that still works great but does not provide AV capability.
Would give a five star rating if the on screen features were better. On screen menus look like old DOS but they work OK.
Overall the unit is a great value. Amazon shipping was great.

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.

I do affordable A/V installations and set-up for clients as a "hobby business," that is, though I'm licensed and experienced, it's not my main source of income. As a result I can be open and honest with my clients. I'm very value oriented; that is, I try to recommend gear that will get the most bang-for-the-buck for my clients. I purchased this receiver for a long-time client whose equipment was unfortunately destroyed by a direct lightning strike. I receommended it due to past experience with Yamaha gear and the favorable price. It's strengths: adequate power supply and output; decent to above-average sound quality; "B" speaker output to drive a switching box for other rooms; straightforward room EQ set-up using the supplied mic and instructions. Negatives/challenges: very difficult to understand owner's manual, which is unfortunately common in this industry; a "learning" remote that is nearly impossible for an end user to program and use; overly complex and onerous user interface with features that again will likely go unused by all but the most ardent A/V nerds.
I would recommend a Sherwood Newcastle any day over this receiver if a model with similar power and features was available within $100 of the price of the RX-V863.

I've been a long time Onkyo listener. I went with Yamaha this time for it's price and loyal customers. Plus I heard the competing Onkyo unit had a video issue in 1080P. I am very pleased with the Yamaha, it delivers very clean sound, plenty of HDMI hook ups, and an easy to set up interface. Prior Onkyo users will not like the rear hookups for anything other than HDMI. They are split up by type of input unlike the Onkyo where you could define what input the different video modes used. This somewhat constrains you in hooking up VCR's, Wii's, Ipod (without the onkyo dock). Overall though this is a great unit and I recommend it to anyone.

I decided to replace my Pioneer VSX91 Elite receiver because it only supported HDMI thru video and not audio and I just wanted a new toy. Typically, I agonized over choices, including other Pioneer models (I bought a Pioneer 1019 because of great reviews but returned it because it has the most confusing setup ever), Onkyo (I also own a Onkyo SR805), etc. and choose this one a little hesitantly, since it was really a 2008 model. I paid $550 but you can find it on Amazon for $500. This was a great choice with many surprises including: 1) video upscaling that dramatically improved the signal from my cable box, especially in SD; 2) sound quality superior to the Pioneer Elite; 3) the accessory IPod connector YDS10 (about $50) is very cool and sounds great with my system, the first time that my Ipod has sounded good on my system (my speakers are Paradigm in a 5.1 setup with a Paradigm 10-inch sub, and I use a Samsung Blu-ray player for my other source). The adaptor plugs in with a proprietary cable and plays thru two enhanced modes that alleviate some of the compressed nature and just sounds great. The video interface with the TV monitor is rather rudimentary but sufficient (Yamaha, why no color or album art displayed?). The Ipod also plays thru the second zone meaning I can play it outside by the pool and my family can watch TV inside. Very nice.

The Yamaha also has four "scene" buttons that are very cool, accesible on both on the receiver and remote. Basically, each one is a macro for the function Yamaha (or you) assign it, so if you like listening to the TV with a certain soundfield and volume, that's what it defaults to when selected. My Ipod, for example, will default to the compressed music enhancer mode. Nice. I haven't bothered with the HD radio that's built in, but I will get around to it. It also has a phono input, which is increasingly hard to find.

No real faults I can find and this is my fifth $500-plus home theater receiver. The remote, per usual, could be better but that's about it. It would be nice to have more than three HDMI inputs I guess, but I only use two anyway. It was pretty easy to set up, didn't have to refer to the manual much, it's musical, nice-looking, user-friendly and I'm very pleased so far. Let's say four and a half stars.

Got this receiver when I got the Panasonic Blu-ray player. Easy setup, many soundfields, a few changes from the RXV-659. I really wanted this unit for its analog audio inputs, and ability to perform lossless PCM and the upgraded Dolby and DTS audio from Blu-rays.

Sources: Panasonic DMP-BD80 BD player and Verizon FioS. Goes to a 5.1 setup - two BIC America fronts with a KLH center channel speaker and a Yamaha sub. Energy CB-5 bookshelf speakers for surrounds inside a 20' x 30'x 8' (height) room. used 12 gauge speaker wire from Lowe's.

Only gripe: relatively expensive, although I got mine (new in box!) from a clearance sale.

I've always enjoyed listening to music on Yamaha receivers - lots of classical and electronica, some big band/light jazz. I am pretty pleased.

ps: for the Panasonic DMP-BD80. set your RX-V863 receiver to 'STRAIGHT' in order to playback Dolby Tru, DTS Tru, and lossless PCM blu-ray audio tracks. Outstanding sound, and am very pleased with this unit.

I have had this receiver for about 3 months and I have only one complaint: incoming coaxial digital input signals will only play if they are in "consumer" format, but not "professional" format. My old receiver did not have this requirement.

Otherwise, it sounds great with little noise, particularly when using "pure direct" mode. Wattage is sufficient for a fairly large room, even when powering two sets of front speakers, which is one of the best features of this unit.

Go see my review of the Yamaha HTR-6180BL A/V receiver. Trust me, it is the SAME as this one, and much cheaper!