Yamaha HTR-5760 Digital Home Theater Receiver

Wow! That's my first reaction to Yamaha's HTR5760 in their lower priced HTR series. Read the specs, you'll be impressed, listen to music or soundtracks, you'll be further impressed, use the built in YPAO System analyzer to automatically set up speaker levels, delays, and bass management and you'll be even more impressed. It's pretty amazing how much performance and features can be packed in to such a reasonably priced and complicated piece of electronic gear.


I'll get to the point on this. This box is so loaded with features and settings I run a risk of writing a review that would take hours to read so I'll just touch on the main items and categorize them for easy indexing by speed readers and skimmers.

Appearance.
Sure, this counts. The appearance is somewhat simple, tasteful, and Yamaha generic. A black front panel with yellowish illuminated display makes it similar in appearance to many other Yamaha products. The top of the metal cabinet cover is perforated for ventilation so make sure you give it breathing room. It won't win any design awards for innovative appearance but it is clean and will unobtrusively take its place in your rack with other gear. Remember, it only costs around $331 on discount.


Remote
is a typical wand type with lots of buttons. Most are laid out in a grid pattern with a NSEW cursor navigation control and a center SELECT button. So far, pretty typical of gear most people have gotten used to in recent years. An On Screen Display feature will let you navigate many of the functions by displaying menus on your video display. This works with S-Video or Composite Video only. The remote is not backlit so it is not great for use in a dark environment like a home theater so you might want to keep a small LED flashlight handy like those newish key fobs with keylights. The upper button section selects the category of control, the lower section buttons are multi function buttons depending on what upper button is selected first.


Channels
There are 7 power amplifiers built in, all 95W min RMS each at 0.06% THD, 20 Hz-20,000 Hz into 8 ohms. The subwoofer output (the .1 of 7.1) is line level and requires an external powered subwoofer, pretty typical of today's surround receivers. The 7.1 channels are:
Front Left, Right, and Center
Surround Right and Left
Surround Back Right and Left (can be switched to Presence Right and Left in the front if needed)
Subwoofer line out


Auto Set Up
Now here is a feature I've never seen before in such a low priced unit. Yamaha provides a small microphone with the receiver on a long cord that plugs in to the front panel. Utilizing the remote control and the OSD, you can access the Auto Setup mode. The microphone is placed at the normal listening position at ear height. Using the menus, the receiver automatically goes through a diagnostic sequence where it measures the placement, phasing, level, and bass response of each speaker. It then adjusts levels and delays and adjusts bass management routing depending on the characteristics of each speaker. It's completely automatic and really works. A truly clever and well done feature.



Tons of inputs and outputs.
3 Optical digital audio inputs, 1 output (DTV/CBL, DVD, MD/CD-R)
2 Coax (RCA) digital audio inputs (DVD, CD)
4 RCA analog composite video inputs with S-Video also available on the same inputs. (DVD, DTV/CBL, VCR1, DVR/VCR2) Note: S-Video and Composite are cross converted internally if needed for monitor out.
2 RCA analog composite video outputs with S-Video also available on the same outputs. (VCR1, DVR/VCR2)
2 Sets of Analog Component Video Y/Pb/Pr inputs (DVD, DTV/CBL)
Monitor: Video outputs: Video (RCA), S-Video, Y/Pb/Pr
Miscellaneous:
External analog audio inputs and Pre-Outs for Front R/L, Surround R/L, Surround Back R/L, Subwoofer, Center.



Decoder modes:
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital EX
DTS/DTS-ES Matrix 6.1, Discrete 6.1, DTS Neo:6, DTS 96/24, Dolby Pro Logic/Pro Logic II, Pro Logic IIx, Virtual CINEMA DSP, SILENT CINEMA.


Tuner:
40 station presets. I haven’t listened to or used the tuner yet so can’t really make a judgement call on this.


Summary:

So far, I've been pleased with the sound from this receiver. I've listened to DVD soundtracks, CDs, HD with 5.1 sound from digital cable and from my HD-DVR, and music streaming from my eMac running iTunes via a wireless Airport link. I hear a big improvement in surround effects clarity and channel separation compared to my older Yamaha. The Auto Setup feature simplifies setting levels and takes the guesswork out of bass management. The sound is clean and smooth, something I've grown to expect from Yamaha.

I find the remote a little confusing. You have to do your homework on any complicated receiver like this and get familiar with all the controls and features. Many of the buttons are multi function so you need to learn the levels. I'm still learning and haven't tried all the surround settings or features but so far, I am still amazed by what I got for only $331.

Bear in mind all you retro analog audiophiles; like most current receivers, this box does not have a phono preamp input. If you want to listen to vinyl you will need an RIAA preamp to create a line level equalized analog stereo signal to feed your receiver from your magnetic phono cartridge.

And another thing: Epinions asks to rate durability as if I would know how long this unit will last. I haven't got a clue, it's brand new. So I tried to leave that field blank, but the pulldowns wouldn't let me so it is rated GOOD, but that's not a real world thing. Who knows how long it will last? I sure don't.

If you thought you couldn't afford a first rate Home Theater Receiver, think again. Yamaha has a very good combination here at an entry level price.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 331