HTR-5250 A/V receiver: provides everything needed for the brains of a home theater system
Written: Dec 28 '01 (Updated Dec 29 '01)
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Pros: power output, surround sound modes, component hook up, manual, remote
Cons: sometimes difficult for inexperienced person to operate
The Bottom Line: It's a complete A/V receiver, provides plenty of power, has great surround sound modes. It can be purchased with complete confidence to be the center of a home theater system.
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| remay's Full Review: Yamaha HTR-5250 5.1 Channels Receiver |
Background:
I used a Yamaha stereo receiver for 21 years, until it finally gave up and "died". Rather than trying to get it repaired, I decided it was worth considering a replacement, that would become the brains and heart of a new home theater system. So I started looking for an A/V (audio/video) receiver.
I considered price, features, power, and reliability. Consumer Reports and other reviews were taken into consideration. It finally came down to price, as several receivers (Sony, Onkyo, Technics, Yamaha) all were pretty similar. A "deal" was found on the Yamaha HTR-5250.
And the HTR-5250 has not disappointed me, since it has been purchased in Dec 2000. We have used it for hundreds of hours in various surround sound modes, and it has worked perfectly.
The receiver has 100W/channel times 5 channels, so it has plenty of power for almost any listening room. We have ours in a 15x20' room that is open to other rooms and has a very high sloped ceiling that goes up to the second floor of the house. It is hooked up to two 20 year old Phase Research tower front speakers, a BIC center channel speaker, two Cambridge Soundworks satellite speakers, and a Klipsch powered subwoofer.
Equipment hooked to it is a Panasonic DVD/CD changer, Panasonic Hi-Fi VHS VCR, Yamaha dual cassette deck, and a Toshiba standard picture tube 32" TV. I also have a Thorens turntable that was hooked to it for a short time, just to test the "Aux" input.
Every task that has been asked of the receiver has been handled perfectly. The various surround sound settings are plentiful, and allow us to have different settings for different input source, so TV programs can be set to one mode, while DVD movies can be another, and VCR playback can be something else. This is quite nice, because you don't have to keep changing surround sound modes when changing input sources.
Even TV programs are more pleasurable watching with the surround sound modes. Some of the shows that now indicate "High Definition TV", seems to have better audio tracks, and the receiver actually can help image sounds to the rear speakers. I didn't expect that from plain TV. Also, I find myself even LOOKING UP when commercials come on, because they sound so good when compared to the TV speakers alone.
The remote that comes with the HTR-5250 is a multi function unit, that can be used to control most functions of every piece of equipment mentioned above except the cassette deck. It took some time to learn the way it works, but the manual was clear and helped in the learning process.
I have absolutely no regrets from purchasing the HTR-5250. It has been worth every dollar. I am sure the alternatives to the HTR-5250 are very competent receivers as well, but I am completely satisfied with this unit and have not looked back.
Important Note:
The cables that come with the receiver are not adequate, which was no surprise. It is easy to spend $100 or more in separate (heavy duty) cables to hook up the DVD player, VCR, speakers, and TV. This can include S-Video cables, a subwoofer cable, and connector pins for the speaker connections. Don't expect to hook up an A/V receiver right out of the box to all the inputs and outputs of other components. You will need to spend some time figuring out HOW to hook everything up, and pay CLOSE attention to the instructions provided with the manuals. It is EASY to get frustrated when hooking up all the components, because there are so many connections. It might even be worthwhile to label cables with masking tape or something so you know what goes where (like "to DVD player"). In the end, it is all worth it.
Comment:
An excellent and fun audio test for the receiver and surround sound system are Telarc music CDs. I highly recommend these CDs to demo the surround sound and various decoding modes:
"5.1 DTS Surround Sampler" (84402),
"Surround Sounds" (80447) and
"Tchaikovsky 1812 and Capriccio Italien" (80041) (for the digital cannon shots!)
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 322
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Epinions.com ID:
remay
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Member: Roger May
Location: Katy (Houston) TX
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 8 members
About Me:
Software checkout professional. Audio/video enthusiast. Provide Concierge services.
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