Excellent Amp - 85 W/Channel is Under rated, Great DSP Effects

I have had the Yamaha RX-1105 running my Home Theater for almost a year now. This unit is great!!! I purchased it for $500 as a demo unit. The ability to select between some 15 DSP surround processing modes on the fly via the remote for Home Theater (5), Rock Concert, TV Sports, etc is just awesome!!! Yamaha is very well know for their DSP processors that simulate actual theater settings. Also this unit is very under rated for power - they rate it for 85 Watts/each of the 5 channels - but I have heard it can do 120 Watts at 0.04% THD - it is very clean sounding. I am running this unit in a 21' x 17' living room and it blows me out of the room at 1/4 volume. My wife yells at me each time it is on - even though she does enjoy the movies we watch. I would highly recommend this amp or any of the Yamaha high-end AV Amps. My next purchase is the Yamaha RX-V1 amp.

My Home Theater System ($3000):
Sony Trinitron 35" TV
Yamaha RX-1105 Receiver
Toshiba SD-2109 ColorStream DVD Player
DCM KX Center Speaker (2 6.5" Woofers & 1" Tweeter)
DCM KX-12 Front Speakers (12" Woofer, 6.5" Mid, 1" Tweeter)
DCM KX-6 Surround Speakers (6.5" Woofer, 1" Tweeter)
2 - AudioSource SW-15 200 Watt Powered Subwoofers
12 Ga Monster Speaker Wire to All Speakers
Radio Shack Sheilded Cables
Power Conditioner - Plug Strip

OK for HT

terrible for music

This is the second review on this receiver that I am posting. In my first one I said that I was very disappointed with its 2 channel stereo reproduction. Now I have experience with more AV receivers and I can say that I still think that this unit is terrible for music. Not only the Denon sounds much better, but so do similarly priced Onkyo and Marantz receivers. To Danny: no, my speakers are not blown. They sound pretty good with Marantz, Onkyo and Denon and sounded terrible with the Yamaha. I am using 3 digital and 4 analog sources, so the problem is not therre, either.

I will give this receiver 4 stars because I do not want to change the average rating, but it deserves much less.

Similar Products Used:

see below

Excellent sound, solid build, great control over sound (DSP Modes).

Lack of menu speaker balance control, Shortage of S-Video Switching, Remote

The sound out of this Receiver is Excellent. Clean and clear with very low distortion. Along with my Boston Acoustic CR-8 speakers the 1105 handles every kind of music with a stunning amount of clarity. The Dolby Digital processing is top-notch. Sounds as good as if not better than every other receiver in it's $699 price class.

It's weaknesses or trival except for the lack of menu speaker balanceing. When I am calibrating the speaker levels I have to go from my seat to the front panel to adjust the front balance and then run back and check the level. At times this can be frustrating. The shortage of S-video swiching and the remote layout are not that big of a deal to me but can be a nusance.

When it comes down to it all I really care about is sound quality and for that this unit gets five stars.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 925, Denon 85

I give it 5 Stars but I wish it had a better remote.

I am a perfectionist, which explains why I chose the profession I am in.
I received my Yamaha R-V1105 after doing a great deal of research on the usenet, and listening to them in the audio store. I was tempted to purchase one of the refurbished onkyo or harmon kardon receivers from the auction sites and even the sony 925 (which also has DDigital and DBS) from a mail order company for $439.

I ended up getting the Yamaha from One call for $597 shipped.

+ $21 to ship the thing back after discovering the flaw in the system (I originally thought my particular system had a bad DSP chip, but now know this is a DESIGN FLAW).

With an analog signal, in "Rock Concert" mode with DSP enabled, the rear right surround channel transmits a lower output and a more distorted output than the rear left channel.

I received the second receiver and this same flaw is present on it as well.

Has anyone else noticed this flaw?

The other complaint I have with the Yamaha is the poor design of the inputs in the rear of the thing. There is not a specific input for "satellite" and there is only one input for SVHS in the rear (there is another in the front). From what I understand the next step up system has more inputs..

I can't complain about the remote, it isn't that bad, considering I have been expecting this demon everyone is talking about.

From what I understand, this is the EXACT SAME RECEIVER as the YAMI RX-V795.

Only difference is the printing on the front of the system.

Over all, even with the design flaws, I give the system 4.5 stars.

It just isn't PERFECT, so I can't give it 5. I am going to keep it, it is a good value for a receiver with Dolby Digital and DBS.

I am a perfectionist, which explains why I chose the profession I am in.
I received my Yamaha R-V1105 after doing a great deal of research on the usenet, and listening to them in the audio store. I was tempted to purchase one of the refurbished onkyo or harmon kardon receivers from the auction sites and even the sony 925 (which also has DDigital and DTS) from a mail order company for $439.

I ended up getting the Yamaha from One call for $597 shipped.

+ $21 to ship the thing back after discovering the flaw in the system (I originally thought my particular system had a bad DSP chip, but now know this is a DESIGN FLAW).

With an analog signal, in "Rock Concert" mode with DSP enabled, the rear right surround channel transmits a lower output and a more distorted output than the rear left channel.

I received the second receiver and this same flaw is present on it as well.

Has anyone else noticed this flaw?

The other complaint I have with the Yamaha is the poor design of the inputs in the rear of the thing. There is not a specific input for "satellite" and there is only one input for SVHS in the rear (there is another in the front). From what I understand the next step up system has more inputs..

I can't complain about the remote, it isn't that bad, considering I have been expecting this demon everyone is talking about.

From what I understand, this is the EXACT SAME RECEIVER as the YAMI RX-V795.

Only difference is the printing on the front of the system.

Over all, even with the design flaws, I give the system 4.5 stars.

It just isn't PERFECT, so I can't give it 5. I am going to keep it, it is a good value for a receiver with Dolby Digital and DTS.

I remember reading somewhere that the single low rear channel was "intended". The sound field was meant to duplicate the sound in a particular club where the acoustics caused what you describe.

Its sound quality and power

The remote

The remote is hard to get use to but its worth it once you do. The sound clarity and the power this system has makes up for any deficiencies the remote has. It is able to make my bose acustamass 5, sound strong and clear. It also separates the sounds extremely well when in Dolby Digital. I compared it side by side with the Pioneer 608 and there was no comparison. If you buy this receiver you would not be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Sony,Kenwood and Techniques

Full bandwith amps,Great surround.Onscreen display

No learning remote

I had a jvc rx950vnt recever 4 years ago it was the second model from the top.Well anyway it had a great front channel amp 120 watts into 20 20 hz and would drive low impedence loads.but the sound process chips in it were junk.And the center channel amp and rear amps were rated into 1 khz not 20 20000 hz,kinda a trick for manufactures to over rate there power ratings.Yesterday I went to sears and I saw a yamaha rv1105 recever for 449.00,The sales person took another 10% off.thats 45.00.What a deal,for404.00.I am very happy with the surround sound.Great amps all rated full bandwith.

Similar Products Used:

jvc rx905vnt kenwood106vr

VERY RELIABLE, A STEAL AT UNDER $500, MANY DSP'S, NATURAL SOUND(GARBAGE IN/GARBAGE OUT) TRUE POWER RATING
.04 THD in 5 channel

TOO HONEST FOR SOME EARS(GARBAGE IN/GARBAGE OUT)
FALLS SHORTS ON SOME CONNECTION OPTIONS

For the Life of me I cannot understand why this unit has such a low overall rating, I contribute this to the Yamaha bigots below that give this unit 1 star, how laughable that is, anyone who has been in the HT or Stereo field has heard and or witnessed unit failures or major design defects with receivers and other home audio equipment.
Yamaha products are among the best for reliable equipment, even other units reviewed here such as Onkyo's with a known hissing problem in 5 channel mode, dead on arrival Hk's, overheating problems Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer, these people even with all these problems still rate their receivers higher than 1 sometimes much higher, if anyone passes up this unit based on the overall reivew thats a crime.

Here's the facts on Home Theater, Yamaha has had the highest rated HT receivers for 2 years running, first the 2092 and then the 2095, Yamaha has the most reliable recievers period, Yamaha makes musical instruments which gives them an insight into making audio equipment, if your recording sucks it will sound like sh*t here, if its a good recording it will sound good, thats the honesty I want and demand in all my equipment, if you prefer warmed up mush, go elsewhere, Yamaha produces the power it states, unlike units from Denon and JVC which hype there power ratings on paper to sell to unwary buyer.

This unit is a solid 5 star reciever and does a better job at HT than any unit even close in price, yamaha rv-1105 is by far the best reciever available to the mass market(even at Sears) at the below 700 price range which is a curse as well a blessing, I would not hestiate to purchase a 2095 or DSP A1 from an online seller with the shorter warranty or no warranty, these units are that good.
My Dad has a JVC 888 and my Yamaha kicks its ass and only cost 100 more, no comparsion, build quality is exceptional.
I question the speakers, cables and placement of the critics and also question how long they had these units if ever, I have had mine now for almost 1 year with zero problems, even going beyond the ohm ratings at high volumes the amp didn't even flinch and the fan has never come on yet it never gets hot.
if you by this expecting it to sound better than seperates you'll probably be disspointed but if you believed a unit in this price range could your deserve to be let down, everyone else you got an excellent unit for movies and music with the node to the movie side and if you so desire you will be able to hold onto until your kids want it, which will be a perfect opportunity to upgrade to a newer Yamaha :0)

And this is directed at SHIMMY BIGGLEBUTT Below, if you think you have a high end HT system you do not, and if you try to compare a sub 500 receiver to a "high end" system your even more of a dumass for posting that you did, I wouldn't classify any of your posted equipment as even close to high end, and I've owned AR speakers as well, including your dvd player which I have one of the same brand but better model.

BTW I bench press my Reciever 250 times for 5 reps, should I move to the Tv or buy some lead fill as suggested below since I hit my peak.


Yamaha RV1105
Yamaha K903
Infinity Overture 3's
Infinity RS5's(Rears)
Infinity CC-3(Center)
Advent 550S(Sub)
Technics SBM300's(B's)
Sony CDP300(CD)
Toshiba 4109(DVD)
RCA 31"

Similar Products Used:

JVC, HK, DENON, SONY, PIONEER, Onkyo