Awesome Power, way above rated levels, in my opinion. Simple but effective front panel. Sounds better then my parents brand new SONY.

Display bulb finally blew out after 9 years of service. Replaced it with one from radio shack, but blew out. So I replaced it with a slightly higher voltage bulb then the circuit board was putting out and has worked fine ever since.

This receiver was given to me about 6 years ago. It had water spilt in it before it was given to me so I took it to an electronics guy and he charged me $80 bucks to fix it. For a receiver that cost almost $800 when new I thought that, that was a good deal. So anyway with the receiver, I think that it KICKS BUTT. I am so happy that I fell into it. I have heard that its power ratings are 60w x 3 L,C,R and 35 x 2 for the back. I dont know if these are correct or not because it cranks, I usually don't even turn it up past about -20db, unless I want to blast the the whole street!!! I am running 4 15" three-way tower speakers up front wired up to the "A" channel, four outside speakers wired up the to the "B" channel, as well as a center and two surrounds of course. I have never been able to overheat this beast even with all of the speakers running full blast. I mean thats a 4 ohm load on the "A", and "B". So the amp inside is seeing a 2 ohm load. Crazy huh!! As far as DSP it has Dolby Pro Logic and Enhanced Modes as well as Yamaha's DSP effects, concert hall, rock concert, movie, and concert video. The only thing that I would like is the remote to it, since it is learning and can control many things, if anybody knows of where I can get one for it, please email me back.

great sound great overall

display ligh dim. and unit seems to blow and turn off at anything over 20 dcb

Overall this was a great product for yesterdays technology. Here is my problem. When I turn up the volume past 24 or even at 24 it shuts itself off. I have bypassed speakers adjusted everything and after awhile it works until you turn it up. Well yesterday I was cranking some tunes and it shut itself off again and now will power up for 5 seconds and then shut itself off. I called tweeter and they said bring it in and it will take 2-12 weeks and would not give me a $$$ for the repair. AHHHHHH maybe i will just retire her and go DTS. I loved this unit as it worked great for 10 years +. Overall loved it. just hate the little stuff.

Clean and powerful.

No S-video ins or outs; any amount of delay used makes the movie or music sound hokey

This has been a very good unit, and it's also time to get a DD and DTS model. What finally pushed me over the edge was the light on the display panel going out last weekend! I can't tune the tuner anymore, I can't tell what DSP mode is being used, what Pro-Logic mode is being used, etc. etc. Oh well, at least I'm replacing it with a new RX-V800. Look for the review on that site in about a month.

I have used my receiver for 12 years. It has gone through casual DJing and countless hours of radio, TV, video game, CD, and phono playback. When I pushed it too hard, the clipping worked perfectly. I have never had a problem with the possible exception of the volume-turning motor getting louder. I imagine that only has a few years left.

The amps are wonderful in this price range and Yamaha's DSP, even in 1989, is tops of anything up to Lexicon, which starts at 5 times the price new.

Soon I will retire it to add Dolby Digital. It is an awesome piece of equipment, probably still worth $200 on the market. Oh, and in 1989 learning remotes weren't as common as today. Best remote I ever had so far.

Similar Products Used:

Denon of same era. Similar quality but Denon cost $100-200 more.

I have had this receiver for over 10 years and even today the technology is good. Like the Yamaha channel separation.

Like other reviews, my display light also burned out. Now I don't know whether I will fix or just use in spare room for music, home theater movies

I have been very happy with this component and still see it on Ebay at a pretty high price. Like I said, I don't know whether it is worth it to have service go through (probably $150-200) or just use as is in spare room. Am interested in other comparible components in 2002 world.

Well, I felt compelled to write something about a fine piece of audio equipment as I take it out of service. After ten years of driving 4 ohm speakers it is sad to retires this fine piece. I cannot think of one negative thing to say about this fine sounding, powerful, solidly built reciever. I am as satisfied with it's sound now as I was when I bought it over ten years ago. Sound quality is rich, accurate, smooth. Unfortunatly it is time to move up to Dolby Digital now that DVD has hit the scenes. I also wanted to add SVHS switching which this old Yamaha lacked.

Yesterday I bought the Denon 2700 which has the new features I wanted. I looked at the Yamaha 795 but the sound seemed a little harsh and I am already dealing with a room that is too 'live and hard'. Also, the build quality of the current Yamaha offereings did not feel as well build as what I was looking to replace.

I think I will move the Yamaha 850 to the computer room and listen to CD's.


Jon

I've also had this reciever for about 10 years now, and it's worked like a charm for me too. I just recently purchased the HK AVR 65 and I think it beats any reciever including this one hands down. This is an awesome reciever though it has always worked for me. I'll give it 5 stars for good realiability and great sound.

Ease of operation, clean sound,

not dependable

I can't let these two positive reviews of the 850 go unchecked.
I bought this receiver in 1992, while in the Navy. I didn't have a chance to listen to this model before purchase, due to being at a remote duty station, but was impressed with the Yamaha components of a friend. When the receiver works properly, the sound is decent when considering the price. The positive comments end here, however.
I began having problems only after a few months. The right channel would suddenly stop producing sound. The only thing I could do was hit mute on the remote and crank the volume knob all the way up. When I would hear sound faintly I would turn it back down and de-mute it. This cleared it up temporarily, but I must have had to do this hundreds of times. The warranty supposedly did not cover anything like this, so I was stuck with the bill for getting the unit "fixed."
Now there is a new problem. The tiny light behind the readout screen has shot. It's connected to the circuit board. I have no idea what my surround settings are anymore. Neither am I able to tune the radio. I replaced the light with one from another Yamaha component I don't use anymore. Of course, it blew as well, which tells me the circuit board is bad.
Unlike the others who own this receiver, I haven't been happy with my purchase, and feel like I got hold of a lemon. I'll give three stars only because of the tolerable sound quality.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz receiver