Plenty of inputs and outputs along with future expandability. Built well with great looks.

In my opinion, not one.

The best I've seen. It has everything you could ask for.
After being VERY disappointed in the Denon 5700 I struck gold with the Yamaha DSP-A1.

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Denon 5700 to bright, very over rated. Not worth the money.

Very good sound, lots of digital and analog inputs, robust construction

Lousy remote, lack of component video input

I was thinking of purchasing a Denon 3300, but a dealer told me that they were having a very high failure rate. Then I saw this Yamaha at a low price. Some negotiation got the price down to $1550. I have some "buyers remorse" as I could have bought the new Denon for $1400 in a few weeks. But I don't believe the Denon could have handled my low impedance (sp?) home built speakers, the Yamaha is not bothered at all by them and I keep the amp set for 8 ohm speakers. And although I know that this is audio heresy, I also like the DSP functions, having found with my old processor that after tweaking them (i.e. reducing their level somewhat) they produced a noticable improvement in almost all recordings and broadcasts. I have also been impressed by the Yamaha construction and the reliability of my DSP-E1000. Since I seem to be cursed by having an exceptional number of hardware failures, reliability is important to me. I really cannot find fault with the sound of the Yamaha. My previous system was very eccentric in its make up, ie. Audio Alchemy, Sony ES amp, old Yamaha processor, etc. but my wife and I really liked the sound and hadn't heard anything better and we both agree that the DSP-A1 sounds even better.

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DSP-E1000 with Audio Alchemy DLC (source selector), Sony ES amp for front channels, and a sub amp taken from a Definitive Tech speaker (surplus).

Well I think this amp deserves a praise in every aspect, the features, the ease in setting up, the and last but not in the least the sound TOTALLY AWESOME, I think that it is definetly geared up to meet the need of various music enthusiast's THREE CHEERS TO YAMAHA

I ahve the DSP-A1 and have been waiting for the replacement and here it is. Wooohoo this will beat and Sony 9000 or Denon AVC-A1D Amps with more features.
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/news/99093001.html

It's good machince, but i found it has too many DSP (42 of them). It's not necessary to have so many, they should only have couple useful ones, eg DD, DTS, + 6 more DSP which will be good enough for using. U don't want to sit there to test 42 DSP each time u watch movie or music?And the A1 is the first one built-in DTS and DD decoder on the receiver in Japan, almost 1 and half yrs ago. WHen it hit to the market, it made a good response, and got good reviews. After that many manufactory having the DTS decorder built on their receiver, like the Denon, Sony, Kenwood, Tech...especially Denon and Sony's Hi-end, that outperformed the Yamaha's A1.
The manufactory always like this, when u made a very good one, another will make a better one, if u made a better one, i will make the best one...so on. That's their philosophy.
Well test these machineses by yourself (eg Denon AVR-5700, Marantz SR-18, Sony's TA-N9000ES and it's TA-E9000ES, B&K 202, and of course Yamaha's A1)
as what i know that the Yamaha's A1 has dropped the price in Asia region, due to the new babie A2, and the A2 has the new designed processor, it has all DSP, DD, DTS on one chips...wow. But it's very very good price and similar performance, but less power (10 W fewer) and only has 32 DSP (which is far more than enough). You have to test all of them before u buy, their price are very close.
One more thing want to you know that's the import tax for those Amp and receiver....the import tax for Amp is far more than receiver. That's why some model like the Denon 5700 has tuner in it (UK and Asian called the Denon AVC-A1D which is no tuner), which will be placed to the receiver category. Therefore the import tax is lesser than Yamaha's A1. As what i've heard that in Asia somewhere that they sell the Yamaha A1 for 1500 USD or less. Because the import tax pulls up the price when it enters the US market.
If yamaha put the tuner in their machine, we might be able to buy a cheaper machine....

I don't know if i can do this but i couldn't resist. That's from Home Theater Magazine(www.hometheatermag.com July issue) review of the DSP-A1 made by Jeff Cherun."Now onto what you've all been dying to know. Does this beast sound as good as it looks? In a word, hell yes! On movie soundtracks, the DSP-A1 sounds lush and full, without ever sounding tinny or thin as some receivers tend to do when built with lesser amplification and cheaper circuits. The internal amps are rated at 110 watts each for the five main channels, and 35 watts each for the front two effects channels, which is fine, as they are limited-bandwidth channels anyway. In our listening room, they sounded even more powerful than their rating, which truly surprised me. I mated the Yamaha with different speaker systems, and the results never changed. On the Vienna Acoustics, our resident high-end speakers, the DSP-A1 sounded like a high-end rig, and not an integrated amp. On DTS music, in particular, the Yamaha truly shined. On Patrick Leonard's Rivers, an excellent instrumental recording that'll push any system to its limits, the DSP-A1 rocked. The deep acoustic bass resounded with a level of extension and depth that was awe-inspiring. I have never heard an integrated amp sound that good, and I haven't heard the Viennas sound this good since mated with the Krell electronics reviewed last August. On Dolby Digital and DTS movie soundtracks, my results were exactly the same. The processing was among the best I've heard, continuing the tradition of excellence that HT loved about the 3090 two years ago, and the 2092 this past January.

Listening to stereo music, I was equally enthralled. The imaging was pinpoint, even when mated with the Definitive Technology ProCinema system. Jewel's vocals were clear and bang-on, never taking on the oh-so-common thinness that goes with her re-recording of Foolish Games.

This is simply the very best integrated amplifier we've ever heard. If you are in the market for a new A/V quarterback, you owe it to yourself and your friends to give this baby a dance. It certainly is an amazing value, and, of course, is ready for the future, whatever we decide to throw at it next".

What else can i say ?!?!?!
5 Stars

I have heard the DSP A! on several occasions and I have to say that it really is a superior piece. Home Theater is outstanding and music is also very good. But, I do have one problem with this product, and many other products just like it. It is a static piece. What I mean is that it cannot be upgraded as technology evolves. When DVD Audio is finally rolled out, you will have to buy more stuff (more boxes - aaarrrgggh, not more boxes!)to listen to it.Tha is why ultimately i did not buy this piece. For only a couple of hundred $$ more you can get the Acurus Act 3 and the Acurus A100X5. Total is $3000. For that you get a completely modular processor that can and will be upgraded as technology evolves (in fact, Acurus has just announced a super bass management upgrade making the Act 3 extremely flexible for setting up for your particular room acoustics). Plus the A100X5 is a high current delivery design and will drive any speaker with aplomb, much more so than the amps in the yamaha. The added advantage is that the power amp is kept well away from the delicate processing circuits, resulting in better clarity & dynamics. The difference between the yamaha is the difference between top of the line mid-fi, and solid performing Hi End. But do not take my word for it, go and listen for yourself. Sure, it is a little more money, but when you factor in flexibility, build quality, performance, and especially the upgradablility, i think it is clear the Acurus is one of the supreme values in audio today, especially for us real world people that do not have 5-10k to drop on a component. But I give the yamaha 4 stars because it does what it was designed to do superlatively.

I've noticed a lot of reviews for this "amp" stating how great is sounds, but I must disagree. The DSP A1 is really an integrated amp, more like a receiver than an amp. I compared it to some A/V receivers, and to me it sounds better than most, including the Denon AV5700. However, when compared to real amps, such as Bryston and Rotel separates, it sounded just "OK" for reproducing music. To my ears, the DSP A1 just wasn't as clear and lifelike. Movies seemed to be about equal. The separates I've listened to don't have DSP modes and other processing options. To me, DSP modes are just a gimmick anyway, but if you enjoy them, so be it. To sum it up, I think this is probably a better choice if you only intend to watch movies, but if you place a higher emphasis on musical fidelity, the DSP A1 seems to be overated. You can get better music reproduction and equivalent movie reproduction for only slightly more money. 4 for movies + 3 for music = 4 overall.

I have been using the DSP-1 in the last four month. I think that is an excellent system. I'm a Video engineer and I have some experience evaluating Audio compression (Fidelity and Quality). I think that when you get a Yamaha DSP-1, Denon 5700, B&K AVR202, etc. your problem won't be the audio quality that these equipment can offer you. These kings of companies never going to spend millions of dollars designing equipment at this level with a mediocre decoder or component (the model won't be in the market for more than 6 month). I designed some audio studios in my career and I learned that the sound quality basically is in the acoustic of your room and in the speaker audio respond (quality & dynamic range). Unfortunately, to buy a real good speaker you have to be willing to spend some money. Sometimes, you can compensate your acoustic room problem (Physic sound) using an audio equalizer (Electronic Sound). Also, the acoustic responds in your ears are different than others. Remember, If you want to get good quality sound with this equipment level you must to consider:1- Room Acoustic (30%) - Avoid audio reflections using a lot of thick carpet, curtain, texture wall, furniture, etc to absorb the sound. Use an equalizer when you can't control these factors (is not the best solution). A very small room is not a good place to install a home theater.
2- Speaker quality and respond (35%) - visit some stores, listen some option and prepare your wallet.
3- A good Speaker position - surround (15%) - Avoid audio overlap, try different positions configuration in your room.
4- Your Processor/Amplifier (20%) - In high-end equipment there are not a significant differences.
5- Your ears - No way if your body warranty expired!!!
6- Be careful with the audio source - Dolby Digital, DTS, Pro-logic, etc doesn't means good quality records.

Good Lock!!!

"Do you wanna do what you wanna do?",answer is to own Yamaha DSP-A1.I'm not exaggerating my opinion about this unit because I want to experience its capability first before concluding anything. Only receiver with 7-channel, built-in DTS decoder,DSP modes...bunch of them, 110watts each. I was very excited when installing this to my system but it worth it.Started with normal Dolby Digital,very impressed with channel separation and tight bass putting me into the scene. Sonics is astounding, very clean and crispy detailed sounds. Questioning no THX-proccessing was answered by Cinema DSP with cinema Re-equalization, base management (routing LFE to the subwoofer), center graphic equalization that really made me possesed by this unit.