Price Paid:  $35.00 from Pawn 1

Summary:
Well, I feel like it was Christmas all over again. I recently decided that I was going to peice together another surroundsound system after selling off my last one over three years ago. I wasn't really expecting to be able to get anything even worth really listening to, but I was wrong.
The first part was the speakers. I've heard speakers that range from garbage like Bose to pure gold like Wilson Audio. My first and most important goal was to find a speaker that let the music come through as clean as possible and kept the musical dynamics in tact. The one I ended up on was the Wharfedale 9.1 monitors. Excellent speakers for $250/pr. The little speakers won the product of the year in 'what hi-fi!' magazine out of the UK last year.
After those speakers I only had $50 to get me some pile of junk reciever to get me by for a month or two, so.....off to the pawn shop!
I had never seriously looked at a Yamaha receiver before. I had always owned and sold Marantz, Adcom, B&K, Denon, etc... but I only was looking for a temporary solution. The pawn shop had this reviever marked at $80, wich was the cheapest they had, and I was just trying to find faults with it to get a discount. It had no remote and the balance knob was missing, so I asked them what kind of a discount they could give me. The guy said, "how does $40 sound" and I replied, "$40 out the door, and I'll buy it". Needless to say I had a new reciever in my peanut price range in less than 10 seconds. Mind you, I was assuming that this was a prologic reciever with maybe 75 watts to the mains and 35-40 watts for center and surrounds. It wasn't till I was walking out the door that I realized that it had coax and optical digital inputs on the back, and I though, "I thought only Dolby Digital revievers had those". When I got home I looked up the model number on Yamaha's website and saw that it was 100x5, dolby digital, and had all the other list of goodies along with it. I then new that it had to have retailed for around $700-$800.
To make a long story short, it is THE BEST $40 I've ever spent. The sound is very respecable and it has plenty of power for my Wharfedale 9.1's. I just wish I had the remote now. I think I'm going to turn my IPAQ into a pronto remote for it.

Strengths:
plenty of power, decent sound, price paid

Weaknesses:
cumbersom navigation, no binding posts on rear and center channels, not enough digital inputs for todays use sources, digital inputs are assigned to pre-determined sources (not assignable)

Similar Products Used:
none, only higher-end equipment

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Great product. I play music and movies very loud and have never had any problems with the amp (I have blown several Sony amps in college dorm rooms). Very strong and more features than comparable Sony and Technics models (at the time of purchase). This model also works well with a variety of speakers (have used large DCM's and small paradigm speakers as fronts). I am looking for a new yamaha amp simply because I would like to be able to play DTS DVD's. It's a good buy if you can find one.

Strengths:
Very strong amplifier

Weaknesses:
No DTS decoding, only one digital optical input

Similar Products Used:
Similar amplifiers from Sony and Technics

Price Paid:  $475.00 from on-line

Summary:
This is my first Dolby Digital receiver. I'm hoping it will last forever! I listened to several comparable units, but none of them performed as well as the 1103 on Dolby Digital soundtracks. My main speakers are power hungry Polk RTA 12c's. The Yamaha drives these and the rest of the system with no strain. A good test is Fleetwood Mac's DVD "The Dance". The Yamaha has no trouble maintaining concert level volumes and Stevie's voice comes through as if I were 5th row center. It's truly a chilling experience!

Strengths:
Powerful and clean Dolby Digital sound; Reliability

Weaknesses:
Remote programming takes some patience

Similar Products Used:
Hafler 500, Denon

Summary:
I recently purchased the unit for $499 Cdn. Even though it has no DTS decoding, this receiver is a great value. I had been using a Yamaha Pro Logic decoder together with a NAD receiver for my home theater system. Watching DVDs with dolby digital sound is so much better, I can't go back to watching VHS tapes with Pro Logic analog sound!!! I highly recommend this receiver (if you can find it) for those who want superior sound and aren't concerned about DTS.

Strengths:
Clean power. Excellent DSP modes.

Weaknesses:
Lack of DTS decoding. Could use more digital inputs.

Summary:
The 1103 is great receiver for the money. The dsp modes are ok if you like that stuff, but the real strength lies in the high current amplification--100w feels like 100w! The ac3 decoder does a fantastic job.

Cons: No DTS, Not enough S-Video outs, and the remote is awful

Weaknesses:
Remote, s video outs,and no DTS

Similar Products Used:
HK,Marantz, Sony