Hi quality sound & video, as expected, June 13, 2008
I've had this receiver & its ipod dock for about 45 days. Picked this one over the 663 for its video upscaling. I use it mainly for watching dvds and ipod videos, streaming netflix, and listening to ipod and HD radio music.
Pros: Quality of sound and video output met my high expectations. (I'm biased toward Yamaha already FWIW). ...read full review
I've had this receiver & its ipod dock for about 45 days. Picked this one over the 663 for its video upscaling. I use it mainly for watching dvds and ipod videos, streaming netflix, and listening to ipod and HD radio music.
Pros: Quality of sound and video output met my high expectations. (I'm biased toward Yamaha already FWIW). Surround fields are versatile & distinct. The enhancer modes are fantastic for low volume listening. Headphone listening is stellar. Config menus are straightforward. YPAO was easy to set up, though I wound up tweaking rear speaker adjustments up a bit as personal preference. The remote runs all our gear. I dusted off old concert and movie DVDs and this receiver makes them seem new again.
Cons: No macro mode on the remote to power everything on & off with one button. HD radio control is not intuitive. So far I haven't figured out if I can navigate a docked ipod's menus with my TV osd which would be nice.
Bottom line: I saved up and looked at a LOT of receivers before choosing this one, and I'm not disappointed at all. The RX-V863 is everything advertised and lives up to Yammy's top shelf reputation. minimize
Like no other!!! Why buy any other?, May 30, 2008
Best receiver for the money. Why buy a Denon 3808 when you can buy this one for a lot less AND it does the same things? 1080P upconversion, 3 HDMI's, easy setup menu, LOADS and LOADS of more features. Put new life into my speakers. 7.1 AND Zone 2! HD radio built-in!!!
This thing was very straightforward to install and setup. The ...read full review
Best receiver for the money. Why buy a Denon 3808 when you can buy this one for a lot less AND it does the same things? 1080P upconversion, 3 HDMI's, easy setup menu, LOADS and LOADS of more features. Put new life into my speakers. 7.1 AND Zone 2! HD radio built-in!!!
This thing was very straightforward to install and setup. The only part that I needed to consult the manual about was the HD radio, otherwise, it was easy.
Highly recommended!!!
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Excellent receiver, June 29, 2008
This is a great receiver. Sound is excellent, easy to use, good remote, the Ipod dock works great, HD radio is great, and the HDMI works well with 1080p. Works great with my Mac Mini.
Replaced a JVC RXD412B that I bought last year with this unit. The JVC remote was difficult to use with FM and the JVC receiver just didn't sound very good....read full review
This is a great receiver. Sound is excellent, easy to use, good remote, the Ipod dock works great, HD radio is great, and the HDMI works well with 1080p. Works great with my Mac Mini.
Replaced a JVC RXD412B that I bought last year with this unit. The JVC remote was difficult to use with FM and the JVC receiver just didn't sound very good. (You get what you pay for) The JVC replaced my old Yamaha receiver from 1990 that still works great but does not provide AV capability.
Would give a five star rating if the on screen features were better. On screen menus look like old DOS but they work OK.
Overall the unit is a great value. Amazon shipping was great. minimize
Great bang for the buck, April 18, 2009
I bought this along with the Yamaha 3900. I put the 3900 in my family room and the 863 in the bedroom. Personally, I like the 863 better.
Just as some background, I have a Sony 550 Blu Ray and a Directv HD receiver hooked up to it. It has outputs to a 5.1 speaker system in Zone 1 and a simple 2 speaker system in Zone 2 (in our...read full review
I bought this along with the Yamaha 3900. I put the 3900 in my family room and the 863 in the bedroom. Personally, I like the 863 better.
Just as some background, I have a Sony 550 Blu Ray and a Directv HD receiver hooked up to it. It has outputs to a 5.1 speaker system in Zone 1 and a simple 2 speaker system in Zone 2 (in our bathroom so we can listen to the radio in the morning). Video is thru a Samsung 7 series 52" LCD TV.
Great sound. The upscaling of DVDs is tremendous. It can turn a DVD into (almost) a Blu Ray. Easily does 2 zones. It has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output. Can handle 2 subs. If you don't do HDMI, has tons of other inputs which can easily be seen on the pictures. It also has all the capabilities of more expensive receivers. HD Radio, Sirius, XM, ipod dock and all the acronyms.
So, why would you pay more (for the 3900 for example)? The 3900 is a network receiver, which the 863 is not. The 3900 has 4 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs (vs 3/1 for the 863). The 3900 is a little more powerful (140W/channel vs 105 for the 863).
However, after buying both, I wish I had just bought 2 863s. In fact for the cost of the 3900, I could have.
Great receiver. Great price. Incredible value. minimize
NOTE! Same as Yamaha HTR-6180BL, July 11, 2008
Go see my review of the Yamaha HTR-6180BL A/V receiver. Trust me, it is the SAME as this one, and much cheaper!
