Price Paid:  $414.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
This is a stealth for the price less than $500. I am a big fan of Denon and Yamaha. This receiver is two thumbs up all the way. The cleam sound and the build quality give this receiver the biggest bang the the buck at entry level receiver. It sounds so sweet driing my Energy C-6. It makes my C-6s alots warmer compare to my other Denons. Its automated parametric EQ system is another unbeatable feature makes this receiver more valuable in this price range. Until now, I am sold to this receiver. Probably, I would not buy another one for at least 3 more years. this one has more than what I need.

Strengths:
neutral amp- built quality - too many features - Automated Parametric EQ - Remote

Weaknesses:
too heavy and too big compared to other receivers in the same price range. Front panel could have been done better

Similar Products Used:
Danon, other yamaha receivers, sonny, Onkyo

Price Paid:  $307.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I bought this receiver on the advice of many audioholics who say it uses the same processor as the higher models, I'm running 5.1 at the moment at 8ohms, The receiver sounds clear and precise. It has more connections then you can poke a stick at, the auto calibration is a little off the mark but that determines the listener, I would do it manually myself. The remote is great for the price, although I would have liked to have seen a code finder built in, because setting in each devices code can be quite tedious. It heats up quite a bit when played for a while suggesting the heat sinks arn't to great, but saying this I was pushing the speakers quite hard for a while and they are not too efficent. I wouldn't take this as a concern as the receiver sets a new benchmark for build quality and playback, and is extremely affordable. It is quite heavy and is somewhat difficult to find.

Strengths:
Alot of power, Wide variations of settings, playback is perfect, Rivals receivers double its price with ease.

Weaknesses:
Gets hot, Leaving on for a long time may be a risk.

Price Paid:  $310.00 from Etronics

Summary:
I've owned an HTR 5250 for 3-4 years and loved it. This, the YPAO and additional flexibility prompted me to upgrade to the 5860. The 5860 will accommodate nine speakers, has many more DSPs and the 2 channel stereo sounds great. That being said, the remote is much worse than the remote on the 5250 and the manual is just as bad. The remote has five buttons dedicated to operation of a TV but, they don't tell you how to program the remote. On the back, the sub-out feature is hidden with the Pre-out jacks and the only reference to it is on one diagram. Yamaha was thoughtful enough to put a "System Connector" jack in that will only work with a Yamaha sub. The YPAO almost makes up for the other shortcomings though. It can accomplish in two minutes what took me hours with my old 5250. It does sound great though.

Strengths:
Power, flexibility and price.

Weaknesses:
The remote, more coaxial inputs, hidden sub-out jack. It would be nice if the component connections worked without the amp having to be on.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha HTR 5250

Price Paid:  $499.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
its 2005,New ,nice sound,Sweet to best describe the sound,Yamahas had been improving a lot on their receivers,I just returned a Pioneer VSX-1015TX and exchanged it for the Yamaha,its the counterpart of RX-V757,went for this version due to the financing terms

Strengths:
sound for SACD,easy operation and conectivity,and affordable, a plus is the XM radio feature

Weaknesses:
the faceplate is not estetic as the RX-V series,in other words a little ugly

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha RX-V750,Pioneer VSX-1015TX,Onkyo TX-SR502