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Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.43 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from 2002

Summary:
Of course, YAMAHA-620 was built to be excellent DTS and DD receiver and you can get it at comparatively low price. Quality of usual stereo will disappoint you without any doubt. No tight bass, no sound details i.e. there is no needs at all to compare it with good stereo amplifier - lost time. When I bought the unit in 2002 I thought that it would be good also for music but in short time stereo quality problem became final critical point for me and I already considered possibility to change my receiver for Yamaha 1000,1200 or other but I found much better solution (best of the best - I am sure) that I would like to talk about. It is BBE sonic maximazer 462 that is of professional audio restoration system at 200-300$US price level. I connect my CD "TEAK" with input of 462 units and ouput of the unit with "YAMAHA". IT IS ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!! Sound quality blew me away. For the ridiculas price - I got well-regulated rich natural volumetric sound with strong bass, clear middle and high frequencies. I am sure stereo sound of the same quality MIGHT be attained if you buy very expensive receiver(more 1500$ at least and I am not sure) My recommendation is the following: if you are owner of 620 and DTS,DD sound quality are acceptable for you and ,in turn, stereo quality do not meet your requirements at all - there is a cost effective solution I mentioned above. By the way, you can find a lot about the 42-patents BBE processors and ,in particularly, about Sonic Maximizer 462. I also connect my DVD throught RCA with 462 to listen stereo-recorded DVD disks with 5 channel stereo. As for stereo - AMAZING!!! Sometimes, it sounds much better than DD or DTS depending on quality od DVD disk itself.

Strengths:
DTS and DD sound quality.

Weaknesses:
Stereo sound.

Similar Products Used:
< 1500$ A/V receivers

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Sevenoaks S&V UK

Summary:
I bought this amp(DSP AX620, same model as RXV620 but no tuner) for my dad. I originally connected it to my B&W/Paradigm setup. I was a bit dissapointed with it at first, I thought the power was weak. But then I found out about digital volume control. You can do it all the way down to -20 and it will sound great. -24 is probably the optimal setting. 1 of the good things about this amp, is that it gives out very low noise. Only after -25 does it start giving out extra noise, so the sound will be crystal clear. For music I was a bit dissapointed it revealed more details then my RXV396 and sounded more natural/fuller but overall the RXV396 sounded better in music, it was more richer, lively. For movies its excellent,I have listened to a friend who has Sony STRDB940, and this sounds almost as good as his setup, even though he has a 12" sub and floorstanders. The sound in movies is deep, powerful and realistic. the channel seperation is brilliant and thanks to the low noise theres next to no distortion. Since this is an AV amp and people will most likely use it for movies, then I have to reccommend it to anyone except those with a large room. It easily fills a 9M(length) by 4M(width) room. However if you have something like 11M by 6M or bigger then get a more powerful amp. actually this amp is quite powerful despite what I thought initially. It's rated at 90W, but a test(by home cinema choice mag) shows that it reaches 68.7% @ 0.05% thd which is excellent. and max output at onset on clipping is 93W @ 2.7% thd. so overall its a powerful amp, compared to other manufacturers. One thing that I dont like is that its not as flexible in speaker setup such as sony is. When you have small satellites you need to increase the crossover but Yamaha provides only a 90HZ crossover or large setting. the NSp 220 sats go from 140-20K So in my dads setup from 90hz-140hz is not very clear, its present but not as clear/loud as it should be. You can say this is speakers fault, but since Yamaha makes sets like this, they should offer a more flexible crossover at least, preferable options would be speaker range from listening position and increasing volume of front L/R speakers. It has more then enough inputs/outputs, the setup is simple and build quality is first class. The remote is decent , easy to operate. The music is not bad, so I cant say its a negative because compared to other AV amps its around average. You have to increase the DTS LFE to +6 to match the DD but that aint no problem, its simple to do. Everything about this amp except speaker setup flexibility is excellent(even yamahas most expensive amps only provide a fixed crossover) so I have to give it 5 stars.

Strengths:
low noise, excellent movie performance, build quality, inputs/outputs,

Weaknesses:
Speaker setup flexibility(as are all yamahas)

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha RXV396

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
I am speaking for my cousin Joe W. that has this receiver here in Dallas Tx. First off this receiver is tha bomb!!! I love that it has the 5 channel stereo dsp mode and as well as the introduction of the silent and virtual cinema modes. let me tell you this, i tried the two modes and they both blew me away!!! especially the virtual cinema mode. i turned of the center and surround speakers to get it in that mode and the sound was awesome!!! i mean i literally had to make sure i turned off those speakers and actually sticking my head to the speakers, and see if they were playing. another thing i like about yamaha is the fact you can mix the famed DSP modes which they invented back in 1986 with the Dolby Digital & DTS and Dolby Pro Logic. This process is called Cinema DSP. (actually there are two or three modes the dsp mix in with pro logic.) and again i can hold this statement true about having crappy speakers hooked up to a yamaha receiver!! (ready my review for the rx-v2095 from yamaha) now as far as saying the receiver heats up well that's when you have a bunch of components stacked on top of it, of course it going to heat up. i myself has been selling this receivers for quite some time and i know for a fact, the yamaha's do not get as hot like sony or jvc or technics or any brand execpt for denon-which is a another awesome brand!! and last but not lease the silent cinema mode. this feature is great!!!!! you can use regular headphones and still be able to listen Dolby Digital & DTS through the headphones!!!!!!!! Is that cool or what?!?!?!

Strengths:
Clean power DSP modes are awesome Virtual and Silent Cinema On Screen Display Digital ToP ArT Design Volume turns up an down in 0.5dB steps

Weaknesses:
As of today i still do not have any weaknesses for the receiver.

Similar Products Used:
pioneer vsx-d608

Price Paid:  $580.00 from Local Dealer

Summary:
This model was touted as the Supertest winner competing against 7 other AV receivers in "What HI-FI". I found the amplifier very clean sounding,articulate and easily enough reserve power for my needs. Spoiled by listening in 5 channel and seldom resort to stereo anymore. Found front controls a tricky business and remote overclustered and too slim for my liking. Still rate it high, where it counts, sound quality

Strengths:
Yamaha name identification, DSP effects, dealer support, I/P & O/Ps

Weaknesses:
Front panel controls take some mastering,remote control, lack of pre-amp O/Ps

Similar Products Used:
Marantz surround receiver, Hafler DH200

Price Paid:  $500.00 from local shop in karach

Summary:
This A/V Reciever is kinda kool, specially the sound changes, DSP,DTS,DD & Prologic. all works fine in a good way. one thing i wanna mention is its remote. it kinda messey,some functions which are hard to know. but anyways... amp is awesome!!!

Strengths:
powerful, sounds good.

Weaknesses:
nothing..