Very excited to replace my 6 year old Marantz receiver. After the UPS guy dropped of my receiver at my front door, I noticed some damage to the box. Upon opening the box and inspecting the receiver I found a dent on the side of the receiver. Called up Best Buy customer service and they were not able to replace the unit because they had none other in stock. They only offered a 10% discount on the unit. I was very unsatisfied with his resolution and stated that I will return the unit and just tried to get it else where, because due to the damage I don’t know how well the receiver will hold up through the years.
1 week later, I found the receiver in stock at Crutchfield and received the unit free from any damage from them. After wiring everything up, my living room became even more alive with this new receiver. Movies and Music are night and day difference. Highly recommend this unit as long as you can get it shipped without any damage. Spoked to Lenny at Real Audio and he stated that they way Yamaha pre installs their antennas to the receiver, there’s not enough packaging in the box to prevent damage and they usually will take the unit out and repackage it when they sell it to customers.

Excellent design, build, and features. This receiver is well worth the purchase. Overall options, settings interface, and audio quality is satisfactory. HDMI inputs with V1.80 Firmware upgrade make this a powerhouse, with clarity, and everything you could need for audio visual control for at least the next year or two. The ability to drive two front channel Yamaha NS-1000 with A B&W center, and a Klipsch 12” powered subwoofer, either fine tuning is awesome. Much more stability and reliability than my previous Onkyo TX-NR797.

Let’s be straight – this is one great sounding receiver with great features. I noticed a better, more clear, more punchy sound compared to my old 3010. And it is feature filled (as long as the promise to bring the HDMI ports up to the full 2.1 specs and HDR 10+ with a future fw update. However there are some items that preclude me from giving it a 5…..
1) The display is a just simply way too small – a common complaint for the new Aventage receivers. I don’t mind the “cyclops” look (others hate it), but I am already missing being able to see the display from my seating position. It is awful and this a big step back from previous Aventage.
2) Also a step back is the functionality of the remote. Now, the remote feels good in the hand with lots of heft; however there are no discrete buttons for inputs and DSP programs – instead one has to scroll through them. There are also other things missing like an info button. I was able to program a Harmony for those buttons using learned commands the 3010 remote, but this is another step back.
3) While the MusicCast app pretty good and gives a lot of functionality and information, there is no Windows app – just Android and ios. One used to be able to control music and sources through the web interface. If I am immersed working on my PC, I hate having to pick up my phone or tablet to control the music. Having said that, the web based setup interface is very good.
4) HDMI control still is a mystery with my Sony TV. I want to be able to be able to watch the TV with the TV speakers sometimes for shows like news. I can do that, but HDMI control has to be turned off and it makes things cumbersome. This could be a Sony problem tho – not sure. However, eARC works well and again the receiver sounds great with Atmos streaming from apps on the TV. I also like the flexibility Yama gives for Atmos with the height (presence) speakers – you can mount them either on the front wall or ceiling.
5) YPAO calibrations remains wonky. For instance, my very large front channels are sometimes set to small while my smaller front presence speakers are set to large. I have run it many times, and the results differ almost every time and with strange combinations.
But to end on a good note – I am still pleased with it due to the sound and all the many great features that you can read about. But there have been step backs in a few areas and I just cannot give it a 5 due to those – especially for the high cost of the unit (and it is way too costly, but I needed a new receiver and couldn’t wait for price to come down)

I really didnt need to upgrade yet but they had a flash sale and im glad i jumped on it. My previous Yamaha was no slouch, an RX880BL but I wanted the latest Hdmi and have been curious about another 50 watts per channel. I am only running 5.1 setup but plan to run ceiling speakers. I will tell you i wasnt happy orginally until i shut off the all dolby virtual speakers. Hence, If you are not getting the results you want, dont stop trying different settings. I used the Yapao and didnt need any adjustments except making my center channel “small” like rest of speakers. Ypao always wants to make my Klipchs RP600C large for some reason. I prefer using the amps crossover and sending all the bass to to my SVS 2000 Pro. This is my 3rd Yamaha receiver and i am glad i didnt stray from the path.