Official Yamaha RX-V863 thread - Page 2

I just purchased the 863 as well. I am using a Panasonic 1080p projector, have a Comcast cable box with HDMI and a lower resolution DVD player. Since I have read above that the receiver only does analogue to 1080p upscaling, if I use the HDMI cable from my cable box and connect to the receiver, would 480 and 1080i cable channels still upscale to 1080p?

Can anyone tell me the best way to set up all of my components to maximize video and audio?

Thanks!

I was quoted $625 out of an outfit from New York and a very large authorized retailer in Chicago matched the price. They may have gone this low on the receiver because in conjunction with the purchase, I also purchased a Panasonic PT AE-2000U projector at $2,699 and I understand that authorized Panasonic retailers cannot sell this projector for any lower amount.

just installed the 663 at our store, great reciever for the money, this one will be even better, i install sony es, and elite all day and the yamaha's are by far the best on the market as far as sq and ease of use

Configure the Comcast box to output 1080i via HDMI and connect to the 863. The best you get from the Comcast box is 1080i. The 863 will only pass-through the HDMI signals but it is still pretty good when compared to the component output even when upscaled to 1080p.
Connect the DVD player component out and optical/coax to the 863. Configure the 863 to upscale to 1080p/i (compare the output)

Oh, and invest in a Harmony remote.

Is it AVS policy to not mention store names? Why no naming of names? :-P

Yes and no. It can convert everything below 1080p for component to 1080p over HDMI. However, it can not pass 1080p component to 1080p HDMI. That means some XBOX 360 owners are out of luck.

Not totally out of luck if this thing actually works, and it's less than 80 bucks from an amazon seller.

Madcatz xbox 360 hdmi converter that claims to do 1080p.
http://www.madcatz.com/Default.asp?Page=411

The first post lists an ethernet port. I do not see this listed on the Yamaha website. Is the V863 networkable?

The first post was just a copy and paste from the web site, ignore all the features that don't have a black dot to the right... or so it seems to me.

You are correct. I forgot to mention that upscaling only applies to analog component in for signals up to 1080i. I dont have any 1080p component sources to test so I can't comment.

HDMI input is not upscaled, only passed-through.

Thanks for the update


Another name for IEEE 1394, aka Firewire, its a high bandwidth serial link used by some older audio devices. The industry is moving away from it to HDMI for encryption.

That is a good thing. The night mode has been replaced by the far superior "Advanced Dynamic Range Compression"/ADRC. Some of the lower models still offer night mode instead of ADRC. That makes those much less desirable to me.

So the RX-V863 is exactly twice as much as the RX-V663 and it offers what additional useful features? An extra HDMI input, Phono Input, and upscaling? If Yamaha sold a receiver with those 3 things and only those three things would you pay $400 for it?

I thought so.

So you can hear the difference between 105 and 95 watts right?

Give me PLxII and that is all you need in terms of surround modes.

HD Tuner, you have to be kidding me right? Future proofing? HD Tuner won't be around long enough to be considered future proof.

Those features are worth $0 in my book. Not only would I not pay for them I don't actually want them. Yes, including the 10 watts per channel. I have tested the amp in a higher end Yamaha receiver(HTR-5790) against the RX-V663 and there was no difference.

Until you double the watts per channel or significantly decrease the distortion I don't believe it is worth paying more for one amp over another.

Ok, Just got the 863 and am using it as a switcher now. Before I had my devices hooked up direct to my TV. I may be smoking crack but the picture quality now looks worse, and not just by a little bit. It seems like a big diff. I see a lot more artifacts now, both with blu-ray and HD cable. And this is hooked up to a Kuro Elite.

Any ideas?

Sorry I don't have a turntable so I am not sure how to hook that up.

"HD radio" is not HD. They never should have been allowed to use "HD" in the name. The quality of that audio is no where near the "HD standard" for video. Just have a look at this wiki link.

I don't really think it will go away. I just think it will fade in insignificance if it is even significant right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

Agreed... The usage of HD is completely misleading... HD does NOT stand for high def in this case... HD Radio is "Hybrid Digital" (as noted in the wiki entry)...

It's just a marketing ploy to get consumers who are upgrading their systems to "HD" to think that HD radio is just a natural add-on to their upgrade to HDTV...

Hi prometheis... Hopefully this will help you with your decision...

On Upscaling
First, this is only relevant if you are unhappy with the quality of the current upscaling by your television for analog/non-HD sources... For me, I have 2 SD TiVos, an Oppo DVD player and a Wii (and my Oppo already has the same Faroudja video processing that the 863 has, so I should probably take this one out of the mix)... You may have more (VCR, etc...). I will likely retire my two SD TiVos in the next year or so, and that will leave the Wii... So my list of relevant sources that need this upscaling is diminishing... Again, your mileage may vary...

Second, this is only worth it if you believe the arguably slight improvement in clarity is worth the price difference. Upscalers are not miracle workers. It will "take the edge" off of the fuzzy pictures, but it can't add significant clarity where clarity does not exist.

I am not going to argue the upscaling decision. This is completely a subjective personal taste issue... For the few analog sources I have left (and diminishing all the time) I feel that my TV and DVD upscalers are working fine for me.

On Phono Input
A phonograph/turntable can be added to any receiver that has an open RCA input. The only thing you need to add is a phono preamp which can be purchased on Amazon or Radio Shack. There are various levels of "quality", and you can decide for yourself how much you want to invest in to add your phonograph/turntable. Go do a search on Amazon for "Phono Preamp" and you will find products from $20 to $250...the sweet spot seems to be about $50.

On "Trend in AV World is HD"
The trend in video is high definition. As stated earlier, HD Radio is not high definition radio... It is "Hybrid Digital" radio... This may get wildly successful...it may be a dismal failure (think about what happened to AM Stereo...). I don't even listen to regular radio...all of my content is from my library... I'll listen to the radio in the car... A lot of people are predicting that HD radio needs a lot more support and a lower price point to be successful... I personally think it is deceptive of them to market this as "HD" to ride the High Definition video bandwagon...but that's just me... On this one, you need to decide if you want to roll the dice...

Last Comments
I was in the same shoes that you were in a few weeks/months ago... I was thinking about the 863... I wanted upscaling. I have a turntable that I want to hook up. But after drawing the conclusions above, I made the personal decision to go with the 663... With the J&R discount, this was a no brainer to me... Previous to this new purchase, I spent $1,000 on the Yamaha RX-V1050 (15 years ago). I started my shopping experience thinking that I would seek out another ~$1K receiver... But what I found was that receiver value/pricing has changed in the last 15 years... For me to seek out another ~$1K receiver is like looking for a $500 CD or DVD player today... You can get a lot more for your money now... And no...I am not fooling myself into believing that I just bought the most state of the art AVR at a value price... I got a value receiver...and a pretty darn good one at that...

Anyway, I hope that helps you in your own personal decision making process...

This is exactly why I have never used a receiver as a video switcher. The worst part is, is that with HDMI, if you want the HD sound, you MUST go through the receiver before video... Lame.

I was considering this over the 663 (previously owned a 661) because of the extra HDMI and component upconverting. I'm going to run a projector and if I can run just one HDMI cable through the walls to the projector, it would be alot less wires to deal with.

I'm wondering if anyone else is noticing the problem with the HDMI? Or have heard of it with other receivers especially Yamaha's?

I did not see any degradation of quality when I used the HDMI switcher in the 863. My only source currently is HD Cable and I could not tell the difference between direct and non-direct on my 52" Aquos D92U. In theory, the signal should just be passed through without any mucking of the bitstream.

I have a buddy that has a Denon 3808 and I have never heard him complain about this issue either.

Couldn't you just tell your XBOX 360 to output in 1080i and have the receiver bring it to 1080p? I ask because my TV can't get a 1080p singal via component cables anyway (I only can put my Xbox to 1080i otherwise my TV won't display a picture at 1080p).

Overall, can the receiver just act as an HDMI switch for video? I care more about the sound this thing produces than the upconversion questions.

I was planning on getting this receiver today. All I want it to do is act as an HDMI switch (I don't care too much about upconversion) and allow me to play the new audio formats via PCM from my PS3 (1080p HDMI) and HD DVD player (1080p HDMI). I also plan on hooking up a Wii (480p component), Direct TV HD DVR (HDMI 1080i), CD player (optical and multi-channel for DVD-Audio).

Some of you have said above the receiver pass-through of video sources doesn't look good and actually makes the picture worse. If the picture looks bad when HDMI and component cables are passed through the receiver, why would anyone buy it?

This thread is making me very confused.

Typically which program do you guys use on TV/blu-ray movies on your 663? Do you just use straight? Or soemthing else? When you calibrated did you use natural or flat? Is it OK that the calibration tool selected all my speakers as large?