Price Paid:  $240.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I bought this reciever about six weeks ago. This is my second diigital reciever. Upgrading from a Pioneer that gave up the ghost. I can't believe how smooth the sound reproduction is. I am using a cd player and dvd player connected via optical hookups. This sounds amazing playing either music, or dvd's! This is the best sounding reciever I have heard that cost less than a 1,000 dollars. Two friends have purchased this since I purchased mine. Also, it is rated with less power than my old Pioneer, but it goes MUCH louder! Obviously a higher current value. If you are looking for an affordable home theater reciever with great sound, this is it!

Strengths:
Lots of inputs. Looks great. INCREDIBLE Sound.

Weaknesses:
For this price, NONE!

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood

Price Paid:  $250.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
It is called a 'Natural Sound' Receiver for a reason! Amazingly realistic replication of Music and DVD inputs (Especially when utilizing the Optical Jacks). Anticipating of making use of this at least another 10 years (if not longer).

Strengths:
100% Digital (Need I say More?)

Weaknesses:
None to think of...

Similar Products Used:
none this powerful

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Brandsmart

Summary:
I love this receiver. First A/V unit I ever bought. I was looking into purchasing my first home theater system and was on a budget. I found a nice Phillips MX1055D in the box system for about $300. I wanted something with more quality and power and found the HTR5550. I read the reviews here and took a chance and I LOVE IT!. The output power for DVD's is like you are in the movie theater. Very loud, I had to turn the volume down. I also bought the Yamaha NS-C444 Center speaker and Yamaha YST-SW215 powered subwoofer to complete the 4 other speakers I have. The surround aound and other processing effects are amazing to hear. Everything about this unit is true. I have my Cable box. DVD, and VCR working.

Strengths:
Many audio and video connections, analog and digital with S output. Many Digital inputs. Love the easy set-up. Many pre-set effects. Too many to list.

Weaknesses:
No HTDV hook-up. You will need to buy newer receiver to get this. Be aware of the digital outputs. If you have optics, that's perfect. If not, you will need to hook up your L and R audio for most connections.

Similar Products Used:
None. This is my first.

Price Paid:  $289.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I just bought this from Best Buy a couple of days ago. I had a JVC 884VBK that suddenly died. It wasn't worth getting it repaired since it was over 3 years old. Normally I do research on the web and buy online to save money, but it died on a friday and I have young kids who need to watch cartoons and a wife who is very impatient so I had one option. Go to Best Buy and buy a replacement. I could have saved $60 on line, but oh well. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I had to narrow things down further since I have a DBS and DVD that both connect via S Video and optical toslink. There aren't many receivers that can switch both of these. Typically one of the optical links is tied to a non video source. On a side note, the sales people at Best Buy are clueless. Trying to explain why I need to switch 2 video sources that each can be coupled with a toslink was a complete waste of time. I was also limited in space. I had to get something about the same size as my old receiver. Anyway, my options were limited to the 5550, a newer model 5650, and a sony 8950. The 5550 was over $100 cheaper and was smaller so I went with it. I'm really happy with it. It sounds noticeably better than my old receiver and setup was easy. The default settings were what most people would want. Not like JVC receivers which require reading the entire manual several times in order to figure out why there's no sound coming from the DVD or why the S-Video switching isn't working. I can't give this 5 stars since I have a marantz receiver that is noticeably better than this, but it cost a lot more.

Strengths:
Good value. Decent sound. Easy setup.

Weaknesses:
No on screen menu. Or at least, I haven't figured out how to display a setup menu on my monitor.

Similar Products Used:
Several JVC receivers (All are crap). Marantz SR-7000.

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Future Shop

Summary:
That was 400 bucks Canadian.... I saved about 50 bucks as it was an open box sale... I have been doing quite a bit of research in order to set up my first 5.1 home set-up... I did the leg work on this site, and it was very helpfull... I wanted to purchase a receiver in the 500 $ range (canadian), and looked for a quality product to fit the bill... I never thaught of getting a Yamaha untill reading the reviews on this site... The receiver is used in a small one bedroom condo at present..I was quite surprised at the clarity of sound as compared to my older Sony amp...I looked at the 5540, but was not happy with the lack of inputs/outputs... I also considered the 5560, but I was not interested in 6.1......So I went for the 5550 to fill the bill...I am very pleased with the purchase and have no regrets...I had considered a Denon, but many reviews had given their remote a bad score...It appears that Yamaha is known for building quality gear at affordable prices...If you are looking for a A/V receiver in this price range then you really can't go wrong with this one..

Strengths:
Clarity in sound for movies and music Well built unit Many different sound profiles to play with

Weaknesses:
Manual could be a bit better...

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch 3.5 kg Fronts Klipsch SC-1 Centre Klipsch SS-1 surounds No Sub yet (considering Paradigm PDR-10) Smasung DVD