DSP modes(up to 24)

none

An excellent product by any standars, with enough power to rattle my room when is called for, with rxceptional quiet amp.AC-3 decoding is excellent the enhancements really add shine to the wiewing pleasure. In plain old stereo is just wonderfull.

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Sony strd 915

great value, large number of inputs, good sound on 2 chanel audio

lots of Toslink digital inputs, only 1 coax digital input

You can't beat this thing for value - I got mine right before they were being discontinued for the DSP-A1. Sounds surprisingly good on 2 channel audio. At the time I bought it I was considering a seperate processor and amp, and also the Denon 5600. I decided the benefits of seperates - more upgradeability, slightly better sound were not worth the price increase. I prefered the 3090 over the 5600 on 2 channel audio. I never really use the DSP modes, so I can't comment on them.

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Sony prologic receiver - don't remember the model

2 channel audio; DSP processing, OSD easy to use and manage

no DTS, no 6 channel inputs

This integrated amp does so many things so well. The amp section is excellent for an all in one box unit. It is superior to anything Receiver ever built by Harman KArdon. THe power supply section is very meaty for an 85 watt X 5 amp. IT have over 50,000uF of power supply capacitance !!!
The 2 channel audio of this unit is very well balanced, never sounding harsh or dull, but instead very open, airy and excellent bass extension.
DD, DPL and DSP sounds great on this unit and 7 channel surround gives a really expansive soundfield. The only reason why I upgraded to the DSP A1 was that I wanted DTS and 6 channel inputs. The DSP A3090 IMO does some things a bit better than the DSP A1 such as bass capability to the mains in a 5 channel set-up. IF this unit had DTS and 6 channel inputs, I would have never upgraded.
However, I would still buy this bad boy for $1000 or less.

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Harman Kardon AVR 65, 80 , Denon AVR 3600

Dolby Digital reproduction.Overall layout and build quality.

Two channel stereo.

Really easy to use and set up were my first impressions.
Good build quality and well layed out front panel and remote.
Strong in dolby prologic and dolby digital.

Only a few of the DSP modes are really useable (I think that Yamaha throws in the rest for advertising purposes, u know its looks good if you an advertise 25 DSP modes versus 10.)

Main weakness is in stereo mode. Flat dull and uninvolving.
Not terrible just really not good, at all.
Harman Kardon receivers definitly are far superior in two channel stereo to any thing Yamaha puts out.

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Marantz SR-96/Nakamichi AV-500/Marantz SR-770/harman Kardon PA-5800/Denon Receiver

Huge soundstage, equalizer for center channel makes tone matching easy, Best Prologic I've heard.

no DTS, no 5.1 inputs. Can be upgraded to DTS, however you need an external 2 channel amp. No component Video.

If you get a chance to audition this great receiver, jump on it. It will surprise you as it surprised me. HUGE soundstage for movies and 2 channel. Even watching TV is great.

This is a 2000+ receiver, top of the line for Yamaha in its day, and it shows in the sound. I think the prologic chipset in this must be the best you can get, because my old vhs movies never sounded like this. But again, you have to try it to believe it.

Dolby digital is great, and the audio qualities of this receiver really jump out. It sounds better in DD than the DTS of any receiver I've heard. I don't miss DTS, but I have to admit, I am curious how it would sound .

My wife is using the receiver to listen to music instead of my 2ch system. And it even makes her soap operas come to life~!


As you can tell, I'm really impressed by this unit. If I had the money, I'd love to see what the newer, Yamaha A1 sounds like. But for now, this modest investment has solved my receiver search for a while. I'm not kidding, this is perhaps 1 maybe 2 levels above the Marantz SR 7000, and maybe even more than the Onkyo 575x.. we're talking apples and oranges, I cannot stress that enough. I was thinking of going separates before I heard the Yamaha, that's how good it sounds.

If you read the comments of the other reviewers, I concur with them that to upgrade on the Yamaha, you'd have to spend at least 1500-2000 to get anything of this quality. If you can find this receiver used, or discounted new, you will not regret picking it up.

You can spend more for Home theater, but there is a point of diminshing returns. My system is relatively inexpensive, but if you hear it, you'd think I blew the bank on it. I'm not saying this is the best sound you can buy, but I do believe that this receiver probably sounds better than 95% of the receivers out there, INCLUDING those with DTS.

TRY IT~.. and post a review! Let me know if you agree!

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Marantz Sr7000, Onkyo 575x

I've been using my DSP-3090 for 4 months now and I just love it! Since I'm basically a Home Theater person now (music is secondary),I originally bought the Yamaha for it's surround sound capabilities. But I discovered by using it's coax digital CD input it makes beautiful music. It has brought new life into my six year old Rotel CD player,and I would compare it's internal D/A converters to some those overpriced converters that I've heard in the past couple of years. Before I bought the 3090 I listen to good variety of home theater amps from all the major players such as Denon,Onkyo,Marantz,Sony,H/K,Chiro,B&K,etc.and I had actually decided on the DSP-A1. But I went with the 3090 because I got such a killer deal on it($999 new in the box) that the few extra features and watts wasn't worth $1500 extra dollars. I would compare it's sound to the B&K separates,tight bass, open and clear midrange(great dialog on movie sound tracks)and a crisp top end. One more feature I really like is the center ch.eq and the cinema eq. These features have enabled me to match my center ch. speaker to my mains almost perfectly and to set up my own Cinema-EQ curve to tame the bright sound tracks.

very well built,incredible DSP options(that are usable),clean ,solid power

only one coax digital input(non-assignable),no DTS,non adjustable sub crossover

I have owned this unit for over 3 yrs.Every once and a while I try to convince myself to upgrade but then I sit back and listen to it and think upgrade to what?The only upgrade I can see doing is adding DTS decoding(there are a couple of companies that can do this for approx $500.00)Anyone owning one of these baby's should replace the bridge pins (used to connect the pre-amps on the center and main channel amps)with high quality interconnects.This really improves the sound quality.Try it you'll like it!!!