Clarity and power - but worth the price??
Written: Dec 13 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superior sound; high power amp for larger speakers
Cons: Only 2 S-video inputs; clumsy remote; high price
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| JayPee's Full Review: Yamaha R-V1105 5.1 Channels Receiver |
When designing any home theater system, a great deal of attention should be given to the A/V Receiver. Let's face it; every single component you have from speakers, to your TV set will be connected to this one piece of equipment. It is the heart of any home theatre system. Considering this, I spent considerably more on my receiver than the rest of my components. I also wanted to make sure that I wouldn't have to replace it in a couple of years because it became obsolete.
I got all of the things that I was looking for in the Yamaha R-V1105. With both Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, I knew I was prepared for the future, and I had the 5.1 inputs to handle any future formats. Sound quality is absolutely uncompromised with the 1105 too. Curious to test it out, I cranked up the DTS version of Saving Private Ryan and sat back. The reproduction was incredible. The clarity is even better appreciated when playing some good classical music that tests the entire range of sound reproduction. Even pushing the amp to the limits that I could comfortably listen to, I could hear absolutely no distortion and noise is virtually absent.
There are gripes about the receiver, though. I knew that I would not get everything I wanted without going over the thousand dollar mark, but a few things seem like careless oversights by the designers at Yamaha. For one thing, the unit does have 2 S-Video inputs, but one is not allocated to the DVD channel. Instead they allocated it to a VCR loop, which with today's technology is practically useless. Also it is a little clumsy to navigate the on-screen set up, but after that is accomplished once you are done with it. I also did notice a small amount of cross channel bleeding when testing the limits of the receiver, but nothing that would ever be noticed in normal use (I had it turned up extremely loud and no source playing on the channel that I was listening to).
Another redeeming factor, and surprising, was the remote's universal capability. I had absolutly no problem finding codes that were compatible to my other components. One gripe would be the rather clumsy way that the remote splits the DVD menu and DVD functions and the split of amp and DSP functions (You have to turn a dial on the remote to access the different functions that have been split up).
Overall, I would say that I am extremely happy with the performance of the receiver, though it did leave something to be desired in the S-video switching. Considering these trade offs, I would recommend it to someone who is looking for extremely high quality sound, but can give up some other non-essential features such as binding posts for rear speakers and S-video switching. One issue would also be price. With the 1105, you spend relatively little for the sound quality that you get. The amplifiers are of the same type found in much more expensive Yamaha receivers. If the buyer was content with amps that produced a little more distortion, then there are other companies that produce less expensive receivers with more features that might suit them better.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
JayPee
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Member: Jason Padgett
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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