Yamaha

Hitting city hills on Yamaha's new Zuma 50F scooter

SAN FRANCISCO--When Yamaha gathered members of the media this week to road-test its 2012 Yamaha Zuma 50F, the motorcycle maker's reps unveiled PowerPoint presentations and let reporters tool around city landmarks to get a feel for the vehicle.

But, in this day of $4-per-gallon gas, all Yamaha might have to display to get buyers' attention is the vehicle's listed mileage: 132 mpg. With its 1.5-gallon tank tucked away beneath the rider's feet, that's 200-plus miles between $7 fill-ups in an age when filling a larger vehicle can cost north of $75. With numbers like that zipping about, more people might consider buying and riding scooters--especially if they're "green minded" and want to lay off the fossil fuels.

Yamaha chose San Francisco for the Zuma 50F demos because it's tailor-made for that environment. Small, fuel efficient, easy to park, and fast enough to keep up with clogged urban traffic, the 50cc engine was powerful enough to get even me--a certified lummox--up all but one of the city's Steve McQueen-christened hills. While the Zuma 50F got me down the brick-lined twists of crooked Lombard Street, it couldn't quite get me back up Telegraph Hill a short toss from Coit Tower. Me and my oafish frame had to hop off and jog it a few feet to the crest before hopping back on again. That was the only strike against the scooter's power, and it's not as if a majority of its buyers will be my size. … Read more

The worst-sounding audio product

I've heard a lot of really bad-sounding audio products over the years, but most of them were so awful they suffered a natural and well-deserved "death." Take for example the $499 Gateway KAS-103 home theater in a box system that debuted in 2003. I had the "pleasure" of reviewing this attractive system, but it sounded so bad I was duty bound to try another sample, which was equally dreadful. There was absolutely no blend between the sound of the subwoofer and the tiny satellite speakers, the high levels of background static were impossible to ignore, … Read more

Yamaha RX-V671 review: Excellent sound, 6 HDMI ins, but no AirPlay

The Yamaha RX-V671 covers the core functionality of an AV receiver well: it sounds great and has plenty of connectivity. Its six HDMI inputs will be enough for nearly every home theater, and one of those inputs is on the front panel, which is great for making a quick connection to a laptop or digital camera. Yamaha is also the only manufacturer that offers a colorful and responsive user interface, although the RX-V671's interface would still be considered archaic on any other home theater device.

Its main failing is the lack of AirPlay support, which we think is the … Read more

How can 30-year-old receivers sound better than new ones?

It's a strange turn of events, but mainstream manufacturers long ago gave up on the idea of selling receivers on the basis of superior sound quality. I'm not claiming today's receivers sound "bad," but since almost no one ever listens to a receiver before they buy one, selling sound quality is next to impossible.

Back in the days when brick-and-mortar stores ruled the retail market, audio companies took pride in their engineering skills and designed entire receivers in-house. Right up through the 1980s most of what was "under the hood" was designed and … Read more

Yamaha's four new AV receivers compared

Yamaha announced four new AV receivers yesterday in its RX-V line, ranging from the $250 RX-V371 to the $600 RX-V671. Like many other manufacturers, the higher-end RX-V671 offers a host of iPhone/iPod-related features, such as an app to control the receiver and an iPhone/iPod-compatible USB port, but no AirPlay like on the Pioneer VSX-1021-K. Here's a quick look at the key feature differences for the whole line.

Yamaha RX-V371

Key features of the Yamaha RX-V371:

5.1 AV receiver, 100 watts per channel Four HDMI inputs 3D video pass-through, standby pass-through, and audio return channel Four digital audio inputs (two optical, two coaxial) $250 list price; available now

Yamaha RX-V471

The THX Steerable Line Array: The speaker of the future?

THX, born out of the George Lucas/Star Wars legacy, has stayed true to its roots while developing new audio technologies to improve the home entertainment experience.

Last week I spoke with Laurie Fincham, senior vice president of THX to discuss the company's Steerable Line Array technology. He told me THX wanted to create a new type of speaker that could focus sound beams to specific areas in a room. I've heard those sorts of claims before, but Mr. Fincham assured me that this system was designed to a very high standard. The Steerable Line Array speaker prototype … Read more

Yamaha's YSP-2200 brings slim to its sound bars

We've consistently marked Yamaha's Digital Sound Projectors as the best-sounding sound bar home theater systems money can buy, but their high price and bulky designs can be a turn-off to people looking for a more simple home theater solution.

Yamaha's newly announced YSP-2200 features a new slimline design that differs drastically from the rest of Yamaha's Sound Projector line. While it's still bigger than many other sound bars, its 3.5-inch height means you can place it in front of your HDTV without blocking the screen. The slim cabinet houses 16 drivers, which reflect sound … Read more

HRP-4C girlbot grooves with go-go dancers

Were it not for the knobby-kneed metallic gams, it might be hard to tell which of the five dancers in flouncy yellow minidresses is the robot.

But there she is, Yamaha's HRP-4C, headlining a performance called "Dance Robot LIVE! - HRP-4C Cybernetic Human" at Tokyo's Digital Content Expo over the weekend.

Sharing the stage with a group of singing/dancing humans is just the latest trick from the 5-foot (ish) humanoid from Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology who can sing from a preselected list of tunes and struts the catwalk in … Read more

The best-sounding midprice receiver is...

I've reviewed a bunch of midpriced receivers over the past few months, and came away impressed by the quality of all of them. Pioneer's VSX-1020 was an immediate front-runner, and I love the Marantz NR1601's rich sound. Yamaha's RX-V667 was no slouch, but Sony's STR-DN1010 didn't thrill me as much as the others. The receivers all carry MSRPs between $500 and $600; street prices are $100 or so less.

So it was the Denon AVR-1911 that took top honors, it just sounded better to my ears than the others. Bass definition was superb; upper … Read more

Yamaha RX-V667: highest-rated midrange receiver of 2010

In recent years, Yamaha's AV receivers have disappointed us, with fewer features than competitors and some confusing design choices. The Yamaha RX-V667 is a return to form for the company.

There can be no complaints about HDMI connectivity, with the RX-V667 packing six ports, including a front-panel input. The Yamaha also comes packed with all kinds of niche audio connectivity features that others have left out, including pre-outs and 7.1 analog audio inputs.

We were also really impressed with the new graphical user interface, which has leapfrogged the competition and is the best we've seen so far. … Read more