Yamaha Home Theater
Entered CNET Catalog: 12/11/2004
SKU: 0027108920276
Manufacturer: Yamaha Corp. of America
Manufacturer description
Yamaha has endeavored to produce products and services that satisfy the diverse needs and desires of people worldwide. Its products and services are recognized the world over for superior quality in acoustics, design, technology, craftsmanship, and customer oriented services. These products and services under the brand name of Yamaha are highly regarded by a large number of professionals, institutions, business people within the related industries, and consumers. PRODUCT FEATURES: Built-in 7-channel power amplifier; Sound field features; Sophisticated AM/FM tuner.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/23/2005
The Yamaha RX-V1500's slender, gracefully designed remote features an illuminated LCD to keep you informed about which input has been selected. A slide switch on the right side offers three operational modes: Amp, Source, or TV, so it's easy to keep track of what the remote is controlling.
This 7-by-120-watt receiver's auto setup and calibration includes Yamaha's Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer (YPAO) technology to analyze your room's acoustics. Just hook up the supplied microphone, navigate the menu choices, and initiate the process. Your speakers will emit a series of tones, bleeps, and clicks for around three minutes, and when it's done, you'll be ready to rock.Surround-processing modes include Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, Neo:6, and DTS 96/24. The Yamaha RX-V1500 also provides THX Select processing. What's more, the receiver features the latest revision of Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP technology, which allows you to customize the V1500's 31 DSP programs with 55 variations, including the two THX Select programs. Dialogue Lift heightens DVD dialogue clarity, and Silent Cinema produces surroundlike sound over conventional stereo headphones.
Connectivity options are downright extensive and include component-video up-conversion, which takes any video input and passes it to the component-video monitor output. We counted five A/V inputs and two A/V outputs and two component ins (a bit skimpy as many receivers in this class offer three); a whopping total of seven digital inputs (four optical/three coaxial) and two optical outputs; a 5.1-channel SACD/DVD-Audio input; three stereo ins, plus provisions to hook up a turntable.
Since the V1500 also has 7.1-channel preamp connections, it can be used with a separate power amplifier. In addition to the seven main speaker channels, we were happy to see Yamaha also included something special: connectors for use with two Presence speakers that can add extra depth and dimension to the front soundstage. More conventionally, A/B speaker switching for the front channels is offered for those buyers who wish to have an extra set of stereo speakers in another room. Multiroom capabilities extend to Zone 2 and 3 via remote triggers, an IR port, and an RS-232C interface for compatible home automation systems.
The Blue Man Group's new concert video, The Complex Tour DVD's sound was punchy as all get out, and the surround field replicated the ambiance of a large arena. The Blue Men are percussionists with really big drums, and the Yamaha RX-V1500 cranked out their punishing blows without fuss. We had no doubt about the receiver's 120-watt power rating.The Village DVD's soundtrack requires a different set of talents--it depends on whisper-quiet detail and subtle atmosphere to keep you on edge. Director M. Night Shyamalan's spooky thriller takes a long time to build, but the scenes in the deep forest with heaving trees and creaking branches were especially unnerving. That sort of understated detail adds so much to the realism of the sound, but a lot of receivers seem to gloss over that stuff. If you don't know what you're missing, it doesn't matter, but we do and so will V1500 owners. We checked out Yamaha's Silent Cinema technology over our Grado SR125 headphones and came away duly impressed. The synthesized-surround effect dramatically opened up the sound compared to stereo.
One of the V1500's more interesting proprietary surround options involves the use of stereo Presence channel speakers to augment the sound of your regular front speakers. Switching on the extra channels deepens the soundstage on movies and music. We loved the effect on Rufus Wainwright's Want Two CD. His densely arranged music opened up when we switched on the Presence speakers; returning to standard Dolby Pro Logic II was a disappointment--it seemed cramped and small. The one potential downside of the Presence scheme is that you won't be able to run the side and back surround speakers at the same time.
For the final test of the V1500's sonics, we fired up the Rolling Stones' 5.1 mix of the band's classic "Sympathy for the Devil" SACD single. The first thing we noticed was Bill Wyman's bass line, which sounded more distinct and clearer than we've ever heard it before. The song's surging rhythms and Keith Richards's staccato guitar leads were incredibly vivid. Audiophiles take note: we listened with and without the V1500's Pure Direct button engaged and felt it offered ever so slightly more transparent sound. The RX-V1500 may not be Yamaha's most expensive A/V receiver, but it sure sounds rich.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 User Rating: 
9/10
Best I've owned yet.
Pros: Incredibly powerful and clear sound - even at the highest volumes
Cons: BIG and HEAVY
No HDMI, Remote and menus are a bit basic (remote LOOKS impressive though)
User Rating: 
2/10
very poor service
Pros: it worked well for 13 months
Cons: the one service shop (300 mi round trip) closed. the shop did not repair the unit the last time. It worked for about another 3 months and died again and now I have a expensive hunk of junk.
User Rating: 9/10
Great receiver, excellent with A/V, incredible sound
Pros: Automated sound set-up
Cons: Heats up a bit
User Rating: 9/10
A GREAT VALUE SOUNDS GREAT
Pros: CRISP CLEAR SOUND RECEVER LOOKS GREAT
Cons: NO HDMI AND REMOTE SOMETIMES HARD TO USE
User Rating: 
10/10
Excellent Receiver that blows out my room.
Pros: When I connected my starsat satellite receiver's fiberoptic cable its freeqing out with 7.1 with the nilesats MBC 2 movies. Option to setup 6ohms or 8 ohms speakers is very good. YPAO i must to hav
Cons: Speaker wires are not part of the unit.
User Rating: 
8/10
great sound
Pros: great sound , lots of inputs
Cons: Manual bad. Remote , bad setup, older one better
If you get it, it takes about 1/2hour to setup the R/V because the nevagtion is confuzzing, it is worth the little extra time to get it setup right.
User Rating: 9/10
$50,000 reciever=Yamaha Rx-v1500
Pros: Great sound, lots of conectivity
Cons: Its big, wish I had waited to get the RX-V4600 with HDMI, Harmony 880 will make control easier
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent product for the price, crisp sound quality, easy set-up, many sound formats like THX avail
Pros: Bang for the buck, reliable, robust, auto set-up, universal remote learns your other remotes easily
Cons: Remote has some keys printed in turquoise color - hard to see in any light, VCR signal deteriorates when passed thru Amplifier.
I am not an audiophile and my main interest is in movie sound. I used the Yamaha automatic parametric acoustic (YAPO) to balance the speakers - takes about 5 minutes. If you have a 5.1 system (as opposed to a 7.1 system) try to locate the two rear speakers at least 1 to 2 feet behind your seating area.
So far I find that THX Cinema works best with newly released DVDs that are encoded in THX. I was impressed with Indiana Jones The Last Crusade. Earlier THX movies (e.g Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark) are not as impressive. Movies encoded in Dolby but not in THX seem to work best when I switch to 7 Channel Stereo. There is no rule here - just try out the different formats.
I was impressed at how quickly the Universal Reomte was able to "learn" the Sony DVD/ CD changer remote functions. There is a button that allows disc change and it works fine.
User Rating: 9/10
Great sounding, lots of flexibility
Pros: Sound, Flexibility, THX certified
Cons: Remote is a learning curve for full functionality
User Rating: 9/10
Great receiver all around
Pros: Great power, style, flexibility. It hooked up to all my digital components (and I've got a LOT of them) without breaking a sweat. For audio purists, the pure direct option, coupled with a good stereo source will blow you away. Graphical EQ lets you pla
Cons: The remote and overall setup can be a little intimidating, but nothing too hard. Just be patient and read the manual.
