Good Bang for the Buck.
Written: Nov 30 '00 (Updated Dec 04 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good looks, nifty system remote, nice LCD.
Cons: Has only 4 channels, no DTS, remote does not work from all angles, puredirect sometimes messes up the song.
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| MishutkaGamer's Full Review: Yamaha RX-496 2 Channels Receiver |
One of Yamaha's less expensive receivers, this is comparably a good buy for the buck, but a few major and minor problems can stop a professional from buying this.
The first and a very important drawback, is that there are only 4 channels, meaning that you can only connect 4 speakers up to this thing. Now that means that if you want to use the receiver for a home theater, your out of luck 'cause you will need a center channel speaker. I've heard of channel dividers, which can hook up two speakers to one channel, but would you like to use those with your $50 super-clear 24k gold plated Monster Cables? I think not. So if unless you have good in-TV speakers like the ones in Sony Wega TVs, the aux port is pretty much useless, added the fact that DTS feature is not present. Another minor drawback is that the remotes range is limited to only 6 meters, and will work only within 30' of wight of the sensor, witch is located on the LCD. Finally, the last drawback that has a little harm to it is the puredirect feature, that is supposed to give you a better sound by bypassing the BASS, TREBLE, BALANCE and LOUDNESS controls. And sometimes it does. But most of the time, when its turned on, the sound has a small hiss to it fro time to time, too flat and way unreal (in a bad way :-). So if you plan to buy the receiver because of the following-this pluses, keep this feature off.
And now for the good part. First of all, the receiver looks really cool- a black case with a triangle shaped thick line on the front panel, plus some cool chromed feet. The remote, along its weakness has a nifty feature-to control all Yamaha units connected to the receiver from it alone. A way of Yamaha to make their receiver buyers get their tape decks and CD-changers, but a good way too- it works perfectly with my Yamaha CDC-575 CD-changer. Also, the LCD on the receiver is easy to read- and has all the info you want.
One more con tough, is that the radio memory can only be set from the receiver- as well as tuning the radio. What the manufacturer want from you here is to fist set all you favorite stations to presets, which are not really hard to operate, only to remember, and work THOSE from the remote. Takes a little getting used to.
All summed up, this is a great product, and well worth the money. I bought it for a little under $300 a year ago, and the prices on this are way down now. So go ahead and buy one if your not a professional-if you are settle for something a little more expensive.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
MishutkaGamer
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Member: Mikee
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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