I wouldnt go to the point of saying the dsp-a1 sucks, however for the money it is not a good deal. For 2 channel audio it is way to bright and doesnt sound very musical. For home theater it is pretty nice, what really bothers me is that if they had spent more time and money on designing a better sounding amp and less time and money on all the useless DSP modes I think they could have had a better unit at a better price. I personally think the Denon 5700 is a much better bargain and if you want the best sounding amp with DD and DTS all in one box the B & K AVR 202 is the clear winner. And to clear up a few things that have been said here that are not true, the B&K does use a 24 bit processor, the best Motorola has to offer, it isnt cooled by fans and it doesnt run hot, in fact the Yamaha I brought home ran much hotter than the B&K. The lack of tone controls is part of the reason the sound is so superior to the Yamaha and Denon units, lack of tone controls is very common among high end gear, much cleaner and shorter signal path for audio, plus it has an analog bypass unlike the Yamaha or the Denon which allows the use of a higher quality DAC for digital audio playback. It also is multi zone capable and has a five year warranty that is transferable and covers everything no hassle and is fully upgradable.
I would give the Yamaha 4 stars at say $1200-1400 but at list price of $2600 and retailing for about $2000 I can only give it 2 stars. If you want the best single box solution available today get he B&K 202. just for the record, Ive had my B&K for 3 months and other components include:

Platinum Audio Quattro as main loudspeakers
Platinum Audio studio 2 center channel
Platinum Audio studio 1 rear channel's
Audio Refinement complete cd-player
currently using an older Toshiba dvd player(waiting on the Nakamichi)
Sony 35" trinitron
Tara Labs interconnect and loudspeaker cables

Hi there folks, at the moment I 've the chance to listen the dsp-a1 sound just in a shop and, with all the rispect for those who think it sucks, I think it has a great value for the money... that turned to be around 1650 USD including shipping all over EU with a valid Yamaha Worranty ( hope I spelled it correctly)the only drawback I see at the moment is the DSP-A1 inability to decode 24bit 96kHz recorded DVD but, you know, nothing is perfect!!

I've had my Dsp-A1 for 4 months now.It plays music excellently hooked with an MX-1.

I have had this piece of musical heaven for a month. I had no idea what I was missing! This connected to my Klipsch KLF-20's , KSB3.1's. KSB 1.1's and C5 make one sonically beautiful set-up. I have had the Yamaha DSP-1 connected to two Carver 1.0t's and a Carver 500t and had no idea what I was missing. I now have the DSP-1 connected through the external decoder inputs (for the personal preset I have for certain CD's) and it works as advertised...perfectly. The reviews I read here made the difference. Thanks to you all!!
P.S. USE the optical inputs! My Yamaha Mini disk, Sony CD player, and Sony DVD player seem like completely new pieces now that they are connected optically.

Im in the market for a new HT setup and set out looking at some DD/DTS recievers, my search lead me to my local Yamaha dealer, Ive owned a few(4) Yamaha components in the last few years and Ive always enjoyed their sound quality, however their build quality is in need of help. Of the 4 pieces Ive owned, 2 went out under warranty and 2 went out not under warranty, and their cus service/tech support is the worst next to Toshiba. Well anyway, My local Yamaha dealer is also the B&K dealer so I was able to see the AVR 202. He let me bring these pieces home for a 3 day trial, so with my New Platinum audio loudspeakers and new Sony dvd player I rented a few DVD's and set out for a fun weekend. Im also a big audio buff so I got out my favorite cd's and started listening, The audio of the B&K was pure joy, very fast accurate bass, smooth detailed highs and pure liquid on the mids it was the best thing Ive ever heard in my home. The Yamaha was nice but a bit harsh and the bass was not as well managed it wasnt has fast or as accurate as the B&K, so the B&K easily won the audio test, it wasnt even close. So now I decided to move to home theater, I pulled out my Tomorrow Never Dies dvd and the B&K again was awesome, it had power for days and the Platinum audio speakers are very inefficient, 84db on the mains, 86db on the center and rears but the amp just kept on going and contrary to what Ive read here it didnt get very hot, sure it was warm but I was driving the crap out of it. I then watched 12 Monkees in DTS(I love DTS) and again it was amazingly powerful for a reciever. Well now it was time for the Yamaha, so I swapped out the recievers and put the Tomorrow Never Dies DVD again and sat back and tried the different enhanced modes but they didnt really help much so I settled for the straight DD mode and sat back and it sounded good but again the low end was weak and the top end was harsh, and the amp was starting to get pretty hot, I then moved on to the 12 Monkees DTS DVD and during one of the early scenes the amp started to clip and I thought one of my tweeters was gonna go but before I could react the amp shut down, over heated. I was amazed, but it didnt really surprise me, my experince with Yamaha has been bad and this piece isnt any better, after cooling down for several hours it powered back up but it just couldnt keep up with the B&K and they were both gonna set me back about $2200 with full factory warranty - Yamaha = 2 years and B&K = 5 plus my rep told me that if the A B&K failed within the 5th year they would extend the warranty to one year from the date of repair, very cool, Yamaha wont do that they couldnt afford to! I then decided I should give the Denon5700 a run since its gotten pretty good reviews, I got the B&K for another 3 days and the Denon (from a different shop) and did the same test and the Denon had a nicer sound than Yamaha but still isnt up to par with the B&K and the theater modes where pretty close, for theater the Denon was right there with the B&K but for audio the B&K was the clear winner. Im currently still shopping, Im considering seperates but I havent found anything for under 4k that beats the B&k reciever for $2200. My local dealer for B&k Havent had any failures on the 202. He said he had heard rumors but he hasnt replaced any and hes carried B&K for years, hes also an old college roomate so I know he isnt lieing. Yamaha gets 1 star for the ppor build quality, B&K gets 5 strs for being one of the best buys in HT and the Denon gets 3.5 for its nice build quality and its great theater sound.

this unit rocks the 7 channels sound awsome together it;s a must buy

I have just listend to the DSP-A1, AVE5700 and, the AVR202 the DSP-A1 is so clean in it's sound the 5700 would be my next choice but the 7 channel sound it to cool it adds more depth

I got both Yamaha DAP-A1 and Denon AVC-A1D (Japan model), i think that is the same as Denon AVR-5700.The Yamaha A1 is pretty good, but i think at that price i will choose it's little brother Yamaha's DSP-A2 or RV-2095, which is pretty good too. (the difference is the new processor, 10 W lesser than A1 and got fewer sounds field. Of course it's cheaper, too) When i went to Hong Kong last month, i saw the Yamaha A1 is about USD 1160. And the DSP A2 and RV-2095 was under USD 1000!! what a deal, and it's dual voltages, too.
However, i still prefer the Denon's AVC-A1D, it's better than the Yamaha A1, it has component input/output, 8-channel input, dual 32bit processor for fast and accurate processing, new THX ULTRA certificated. 140W X 5 of power.....and much more......if u're seeking new, for USD 2000, it's sometimes better than some high-end pre-amp, and amp which is cost more than USD 3000!!!!! Thanks for the new 32bit SHARC processor, 24bit Bur-Brown chips for all six channels. It's truly a winner comparing with Yamaha's DSP A1!

Upgraded about a year ago from RXV2092. I loved my 2092, it was fantastic; but after an extended test with this unit I was sold. The addition of the 70mm Spectacle & Adventure DSPs really made a difference between this unit and the 2092 on movies. AND all the other bonuses...WOW! The DSP sound is simply fantastic, though there was a bit more hiss at higher volumes than when not using DSP. The music DSPs are excellent also, but a bit overwhelming in sheer scope. As with the 2092, 2095, and 3090 the 2 front effects channels add amazing depth to the sound and more theater-like imaging. Love the fully adjustable parameters for all surround fields and PEQ. An on-board adjustable cross-over point would be the only other thing I would like to have seen Yamaha stuff into this fantastic unit. Other comments: Clear clean sound up to about 1/2 way on the volume, even under Pro-logic. Without DSPs on, the sound is very clean up to 1 o'clock on the volume. This beast has more digital inputs than I know what to do with. The on-board RF demodulator is a nice touch for those of us who still use laser discs. Set-up menus can be quite complex and irritating (at least compared to the 2092). For reference I am using Def. Tech. BP2004s as mains, CLR 2002, BP-2X Surrounds, BP 2-X Front Effects. Used about 85% for movies, rest music. I, for one, will not bash other products during my review...Thanks for the space.

Best piece for the price. No piece gives you as much as the DSP does for the money. Best sounding piece out for the price. 2600.00 where do you get your prices from, I got mine fore 2199.00 a couple of months ago. Call around, that helps a little.