Almost Bulletproof
Written: Oct 25 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Feature packed, sound quality is first rate, bulletproof construction
Cons: No dts, remote is not so useful
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| hurricanesteve's Full Review: Yamaha RX-V992 |
I bought this unit new after comparing it with its only competition for price and features, a DENON unit. No other receiver had the features for the price.
I did listening tests with some of my CD's and with the shops DVD's to see if I could tell a difference between the 992 and its big brother, the 1192. I could not. Unfortunately, I had to move stores to find the DENON, so back to back listening wasn't possible. I am fairly confident that the sound was comparable, but with different rooms, different speakers, etc., I can't be 100% sure.
So it came down to a feature issue. The Yamaha blew away the DENON and every other unit even close to the price. It was a no brainer.
It has Dolby digital (no discrete input for outboard dts decoding, though. There is a company, MSB Technology, that will upgrade the internals to include dts, however) for decoding DVD's, and of course provides Dolby Pro Logic. It also includes several digital signal processing sound fields to emulate things like a Church, Jazz Club, Stadium, Sports Arena, etc. At first, in my arrogance, I thought they were just toys that would interfere with my precious pure signals. However, I highly recommend that you give them a listen. They are done so well, that you WILL like them! I love using them, they haven't ever conflicted with a signal, EXCEPT when playing a CD or DVD of live music or extremely processed CD/DVD. The DSP reflections added to the recorded reflections result in an unmusical mess.
The unit itself is mammoth, seriously heavy. The connections it provides are flexible; plenty of S-video ins/outs. The faceplate buttons cover every function, but the menu's to walk through the setup of surround sound levels/delays are a bit confusing. No more confusing than any other brand I've seen though. Also, the Yamaha uses your TV to display the settings, in addition to the receiver's own display. I've grown to hate the remote, and will be replacing it soon with a learning/universal remote. It was neat at first with learning/macro capability and its space age look, but it has become cumbersome and inflexible. It can only attach macro's to certain keys, and it can only attach learning functions to certain other keys.
Overall: Sound quality is top rate for its price range. Features are second to none, even at double the price. The remote is limited in its usefulness. The construction is bulletproof.
The only person who I would not recommend it to (besides an audiophile who will spend more on cabling than this receiver costs, don't get me started), is someone who has to have dts decoding on board from the factory. I'm sure Yamaha has a unit with such a feature by now, so check there first, if not, please still consider this unit with the modification by MSB to bring it to dts decoding. The price would still be less than you'd pay to get comparable features/quality.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hurricanesteve
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 6 members
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