Well built, very clean sound, powerfull,reletively future proof.

Have not found any as yet.

This unit is a room rattler. I compared it to a Marrantz SR880 (loaned to me from Mark at Audible Images in Riverside Ca.) side by side in my house and found both to be superb performers. The Marrantz was a little stronger in the highs and the Yam was a little more full through the mids and lows. I decided to stick with 995.
I'm running all Boston speakers for my music and H/T and the sound is well on par with far more expensive systems.
As far as the remote goes,I took Yamaha's offer in trading up to their memory enhanced replacement and
should'nt have any problems. So far, I am thrilled with the whole package and should be for many years to come. As usual though, the price on the 995 has dropped by $200 since I bought it but I have no regrets in the $950 I paid. Happy cranking.

Similar Products Used:

Marrantz SR880.

DD & DTS FOR A GREAT PRICE

The Remote, I Guess

Excellent alternative for someone looking for a "relatively" inexpensive pre/pro for Home Theater.
I am using mine with ATI amps and sounds incredible. I have never even heard it with its internal amps though, so I can not comment on that. But as a Processor/Preamplifier I would even venture to say that it is comparable in sound to equipment costing twice as much, like a Golden Theater GTX or an Acurus Act-3. I am not saying it will sound better, but it will be hard to find any great difference in the performance.

Similar Products Used:

None actually used in my home, but I have heard most pre/pros.

The Yamaha RX-V995 receiver available in Singapore does comes with a RF input. It can be used for LD (Dobly Digital) or for DVD. There is also another Coaxial input for CD. I have read that the models in US do not come with the RF input? Might be a mistake. The same models in different parts of the world should have more or less the same features. I will use the RF input for LD and the Coaxial input for DVD. For those who are interested in this model (or other Yamaha models), check out this link http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/gAVR00010 . The 5 star rating here is for the features counts. I can't comment on it's sound as I have yet to get it.

I have a love/hate relationship with Yamaha !
First, the hate part. Yamaha makes it darned tough to buy one of these things. I called up their 800 number to find a local dealer, punched in my zip code and got the message "We're sorry, there's no local authorized dealership for you" followed by a dialtone. No option to enter another nearby area code or talk to a service rep or anything ! Just "sorry, outta luck". So I checked the web and found that the closest dealers are over an hour away. Let me digress a moment ... I can understand truly "high end" audio manufacturers might want their products only sold at "high end" dealerships where you can walk in and do an AB test or whatever. But the RX-V995 isn't really high end, and some of the authorized dealerships (like the "Tweeters, Etc." chain, specifically) certainly don't employ anyone whose opinion I'd trust ! Fortunately (or so I thought), one of the "local" (i.e. 90 mins away) dealerships was something other than a Tweeters. I called and was told they're out of stock, but they'd call me in 1-2 weeks when new stock arrived. Two weeks later, I called them and they got a couple in, but sold them already. But they'd call me. It's now been a month and a half, they've never called me, and I since went out of state (over 2 hours away) to buy one of these things (got a nice low price of $800, though). I really fail to see how Yamaha is doing themselves any favors by marketing through so-called authorized dealerships that are as pathetic as mall-shops like "Tweeter, etc." that sell everything at list, or this other lousy place I called.

I almost bought a Sony STR-DA30ES out of spite, but didn't want to give up the 6-channel inputs, and I was too impatient to wait for the new versions of the 30ES and 50ES with 6-channel in. The 30ES sounds like a great bargain - I really don't need the extra power of the 995 for any reason, but the 795 lacks a few features, so the 995 was the obvious choice.

OK, onto the good stuff. Bang for the buck, especially at $800, it's a great receiver, though the newer (summer '99) versions of the 30ES and 50ES with 6-channel ins should give it a run for its money. I don't care for the remote, but that's the last thing I'd base a decision on.

Sound is clean & not overly bright with Gallo Micro speakers. I upgraded from an old Technics 50W/ch stereo receiver and the Yamaha sound is noticeably cleaner. The unit itself is nice - heavy, looks & feels well built. DSP modes are pretty effective, but mostly just a novelty. I like the 70mm theater modes - sci fi, adventure, etc. They seem to be a nice enhancement, especially for ProLogic. Haven't listened to enough DVDs to know if I like them on Dolby Digital. The jazz & rock concert & hall effects do work pretty well, but after about 5 minutes of saying "hey, this really sounds like a jazz club" I turn it off because I just want to hear the music.

On the whole, it's a well-designed HT receiver that sounds great for music and does everything most people will want for HT. To be honest, I didn't compare the sound to any other receiver (though I did listen to a few others independently). The Nakamichi AV-10, which is supposed to be great for music reproduction, isn't discounted much (goes for over $1000) and doesn't have phono in. If it had phono in, I would have had a hard time buying the 995 without listening to the AV-10 first. Nakamichi customer service appears to be lousy, too, as their web site still didn't mention the AV-10 as of a month ago, and an email asking for specs was answered with a form letter (a faq file) that didn't answer my question at all. In all fairness, they did send specs after I called. The Sonys don't have 6-channel in (yet). The HK AVR-65 has questionable quality; I couldn't find out anything about the hiss/hum problem on their web site, and I gave up after being on hold waiting to ask them about it for 40 minutes. The Rotel RSX965 has even more questionable quality. Marantz and Denon and B&W are too expensive. The Kenwoods received mixed reviews as did the Sherwood Newcastle.

I wish I could say it's the greatest sounding receiver that meets my feature and price requirements, but the truth is it's the only receiver that does so. But that alone merits 5 starts.

I am always changing and adding to my system so I need flexibility and a large variety of inputs and outputs. I have had the RXV995 for about a month and have the following comments:1. Setting it up took a while but once I knew what was going on, it became easier.
2. My open reel tape deck is connected to VCR2 because the receiver lacks a second tape input. It works fine there.
3. My computer is connected to the front VCR input for playing CD's or DVD's (not in Dolby Digital mode)
4. My satellite receiver easily connectd to the TV/DSS inputs.
5. As far as I can tell, you can't mix video composite and S-video outputs/inputs. As almost all of my equipment is s-video, I don't have much of a problem.
6. I enjoy the capability of turning the center speaker on or off. My front speaker is not very good and the system works better with it off. I will probably replace the center speaker later.
7. The phono input was a requirement for me as I still have 200 records. It works fine.
8. The macro and learning instructions in the manual are not very clear. After the remote has learned the functions, you don't need to open the door to use it. If you make an error recording macros, it doesn't seem to work right to erase it.
9. I was able to teach the remote some of my satellite remote and some of my VCR remote, but not my CD remote. I think it only accepts Yamaha CD's for that.
10. The receiver started making a squealing noise once (some sort of oscillating). I turned it off and then back on and it hasn't done it since.

Overall the receiver is everything I expected it to be and more.

It took me a while to find the "rest of World" version of the RXV-995. I travel a lot which means that the 110/120/220/240 Voltage feature is a must for me. The US version does not have this feature. Other than the voltage difference, the manual rates the Receiver at 135 Watts per channel intead of the 100 for the US version. One down side is the 10 audio and video modes it offers versus the 25 of the US model. But believe me, 10 is confusing and fascinating enough. If I had 25, I probably would go crazy. The remote´s functions are sufficient. Just the flap keeps on unlocking when in the open position. I guess its because I´m a lefty. My main speakers are Quadral Vulcan, the centrer is Infinity CC-3 and for the rear I have chosen Infinty RS 3. Yamaha CDC 765 was my choice for the CD player. Believe me, I have owned stereos for many years: Harman Kardon, Revox, Onkyo, Luxman, Pioneer, Technics and more and let me say that with the combination I know own, Its a bang for the buck. Just one tip for Yamaha; Why don´t you allow for trebble and Bass adjustment to the surround speakers. I would also like to see a mode which reprocudes clean music (no effect) on all 5.1 chanels. To summarize; Music is a part of life and a stereo is an investment for many years which makes that part of life more enjoyable. So do yourself a favor and spend an extra few dollars for superb equipment, you won´t regret it.
Chiao

After doing two months of research..I bought the 995..What an awsome receiver I have it set up with Energy Take 5's and it is Awsome.Clear,high quality sound.I think the remote needs some work..but I give it 5 stars.

I just got a Yamaha RX-v995 on the weekend. I've got it hooked up to Energy e:XL26's, centre and e:XL15's (for rears) and no sub yet. I am impressed!!! This is my first reciever to speak of and I'm happy with my choice. I bought it mainly for it's features and expandability. The remote... while a little bulky, can do everything but fetch me a beer! I really like it's layout and I've got macros to automate my system. I've compared it to many other receivers before buying, and it covered my main concerns.... expandability and high quality audio.

I was in the market for a new receiver after having my apartment ransacked and all of my stereo equipment taken. I spent the X-mas holidays debating on what to do. I finally decided on the rx-v995 and dvd-s7000 and the 565 CD changer. After getting my speakers (Martin Logan Scripts) I fired up the system. Sounded awesome, loved the availability of inputs plus the added security of being "future proof".
I have come to loathe the remote. At first it wasn't to bad, bad I soon filled up all of the available space. Plus the most infuriating thing is I can't program my Sat. Dish controls (numbers) into the control, basically it's channel up, down, menu guide, clear and left and right side bars.

Overall this receiver is awesome; I wouldn't have any problems recommending it to anyone!

I guess I have to agree with just about everyone on this site, the Yamaha 995 is great. I did run into one problem, so I am looking for some feedback to see if anyone has run into the same situation. I have the sony 7700 dvd player hooked up, which also has DTS. I went out and purchased "The River Wild" in DTS format. Sounded great, picture quality was great, then there was an audio drop out in chap 3 2min, 23 sec, or basically the first rapid scene. I assumed it was a faulty disc, so I returned it. Got the new one in and the drop out happened again at the exact same point. When I returned it my salesman popped it in the floor 7700 and it did not skip at all. I knew I wasn't going crazy, but he did. I then asked him what reciever he had it going through, which it turned out to be a Denon. When he hooked it up with the 995, you guessed it , it dropped out. I have owned the 995 for almost 2 months with no problems, and now this. the salesman said that it was probably the processor, well that sucks, I've invested all this money, particularly so that I have the capability to use DTS and now this. the problem that I am running into is that there aren't many dvd's with DTS so that I can check to see if this is just a one disc thing. Any comments, problems or answers, please e-mail me so that I can trade this unit in and get the Denon.