Yamaha RX-V390 A/V Receivers Reviews

virpas

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I pickup that receiver on garage sale ...I listened a lot of receivers in the basic price range and what I can say-That receiver has great value!, surprizingly natural sound, probably too neutral, but sounds exactly much better than new receivers Yamaha 300-400-450 $, I like that product from 1998 ! Doesn't have Dolby Digital, DTS, HDMI, component commutation (if you don't need these new features,-you just don't care about it)-QUALITY OF SOUND IS GREAT FOR BASIC MODEL.

Price Paid:  $275.00 from 2000 HI-FI

Summary:
For 3 Channel Dolby Surround purposes this reciever has been great. The Seperation is good and the clarity is very good.

Strengths:
Low THD% on the front channels deliver crisp clear sounds. Good Video reproduction. Very reliable with plenty of power to the front.Good rise time. Unsurpassed in sterio mode!!

Weaknesses:
Very little power to the rear channels. Not enough video inputs. Could have better ventilation!

Similar Products Used:
Fisher pro-logic reciever Pioneer sterio reciever Norelco sterio reciever

Price Paid:  $50.00

Summary:
piece of crap. bought secondhand 1 year ago. have had nothing but trouble. had it looked at before i bought it. guy said it looked like new (proffessional hi fi specialist). sounds ok when i can get it going, but highs are pretty fuzzy.

Strengths:
don't touch this receiver

Weaknesses:
problems with the primary and secondary relays. sounds cheap like it is. will throw it away

Similar Products Used:
yamaha rx v490-much better receiver

Summary:
I originally started off with a Yamaha RX-385 stereo receiver. The sound was nice for the time being but a little under powered. Almost a year later I went back to the same store where I bought the RX-385 looking to upgrade. I liked Yamaha's "Natural Sound" receivers so I decided to go with another Yamaha. Since Century Electronics sells used equipment I had in mind to trade in my old Yamaha for a new one. At that time the store was displaying the RX-V390 using a surround sound setup with its Dolby Pro-Logic capabilities. I was pretty impressed with how ID4 sounded over the RX-V390. I also listened to its stereo capabilities and was also impressed with how much more power it seemed to have over my previous Yamaha. They were asking $299 but I talked them down to $279 to match the ad price I found in Circuit Citys catalog. The store was willing to give me $115 for my old Yamaha since it was in like new condition. Not bad considering I originally paid $150. Since I was a returning customer I got the RX-V390 without paying much more for a better model. I sometimes watch DVDs on my computer using Dolby Pro-Logic with the RX-V390. I dont have any rear speakers but then again I dont care because of the weak output to the rear anyway. From what I hear up front though the sound is quite nice. The majority of the time im listening to just 2-channel music and the RX-V390 produces a clean, “Natural” sound. Its not an excellent receiver but at the time it was much better than the claimed high output Sony and Pioneer junk. I will eventually upgrade to either a NAK Dolby Digital receiver or go strictly 2-channel with an amplifier from Perreaux. For the time being though the RX-V390 is fine.

Summary:
I do not like the way Yamaha has to send less power to the surrounds that the front speakers. I have the same front and rear speakers and i do not a weaker signal out of the back. Other brands don't do this and Yamaha's higher models have all 5 channels the same. There are other better choices.

Comments

rabbit73au (04/18/2011)

I have a Yamaha DSP-A1000 that was Yamaha's Flagship at the time that has 80 Watts to the three fronts and 25 watts th the surounds the reason that the surrounds are lower is because pro logic is limited bandwith to the rear the same wattage woul be useless

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