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Official Yamaha RX-V863 thread - Page 3

post #61 of 998
4/10/08 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
Sadly I rec'd email today that the units are now $850 vs. $800 sorry to be the barer of bad news........
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post #62 of 998
4/10/08 at 9:02pm
Yeah as far as the HDMI switching goes and loosing quality I was had used a Denon 2808 for my Blue-ray switching and did not notice any differnce until after I switched to the Yamaha.

Have yet to do an AtoB comparison of direct and through the switch. Planing on doing that shortly. Will update the boards when I do to see if I am just imaging the difference or not.

Lately I have been noticing the settings I have used for my screen seem dark compared to how they used to, but that may just be because I am breaking my screen in.
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post #63 of 998
4/11/08 at 1:29pm
Do you think the 863 will be able to drive Thiel Power Point speakers without difficulty? They are 4 ohm.

mooneycj
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post #64 of 998
4/11/08 at 8:42pm
I bet it will drive the Thiel no problem. I am running Energy Audissey's which are 6ohm nom, or 4 ohm min. And it powers them just fine. I never run it past -20bd.

Two things of note. I think in the manual it says something about not running a B set of speakers if you main 5 are 4ohm. Also remember to get int he advanced menu and change the reciever to 4ohm mode before you connect your speakers.

Link to my speakers specs are below. PDF LINK! I have the 3+2's
http://www.energy-speakers.com/sourc...y_Brochure.pdf
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post #65 of 998
4/14/08 at 7:32am
Ok, So I checked if the 863's HDMI switching was inducing noise or changing the picture of my sources compared to a direct connection.

Doing an A-B between the two seemed almost indistinguishable. Sometimes I would think I noticed something, and other times I would would not see anything. In the end my wife thought the picture from using the 863 switcher looked better. I went back and forth.

All in all, it was not a big enough change if a change at all to worry about using the switcher in the 863.
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post #66 of 998
4/14/08 at 8:18am
I'm looking to buy an 863. Does anyone know who is giving deals on it?
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post #67 of 998
4/14/08 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tkripala View Post

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.

You really don't need the switcher with that setup! But it's good to know you don't see any problems. =)

I'm really in the need for a single cable to the TV solution so I was thinking the 863 might be a good choice to upgrade my Onkyo 901 with.

The things that concern me are that Yamaha appears to have slipped in the audio quality area in the last few years. Are these "good enough"? I've never owned a Yamaha component, but I've always looked at them.

My TV is a panny PZ700 and it does a great job with SD stuff like the directivo. The other devices I have connected are upconverting DVD, HDA2 and directivo HD DVR HD21-700 and HD tivo HR10-250. There are plans for a BD50 when they come out.

I think this would be a nice fit and saw it at a store yesterday. Some of the sales guys were checking it out and commenting on the feature set. Sounds like a good option. Not so sure I need anything upconverted to 1080P, but std stuff to HDMI is what I want, one cable on input used on the TV to keep it simple for the family.


Anyone know if there are plans to use the ethernet port for audio/video streaming?
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post #68 of 998
4/14/08 at 9:53am
"
Quote:


The things that concern me are that Yamaha appears to have slipped in the audio quality area in the last few years. Are these "good enough"? I've never owned a Yamaha component, but I've always looked at them.

My TV is a panny PZ700 and it does a great job with SD stuff like the directivo. The other devices I have connected are upconverting DVD, HDA2 and directivo HD DVR HD21-700 and HD tivo HR10-250. There are plans for a BD50 when they come out.


Well Yamaha sounds good. I would say it does not carry as much current as the old models, and is missing a little low end, but still sounds great with my speakers. The key is the type of speakers you have.

I have Energy speakers and I do not like the way they sound with Denon. Very muddy with a mid range boost but great bass.

The Yamaha's sound more open and clear, yet not tinny like a Sony ES and what I hear of Onkyo is that is sounds like Sony, but have never spent time with Onkyo.

Below is an overview of what I think the receivers sound like.

Denon - Mid boost good base and current, not as open sounding. Sounds great cranked, and with lower end speakers, especially Polk or Klipsch.

Yamaha - More open and better sound field and depth. More natural to me with less bass, but vocals sounds great.

Sony ES - Sound similar to Yamaha's but at more high end and sound less natural. More Tinny sounding and can strain the ears.
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post #69 of 998
4/14/08 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by turbo63 View Post

The Yamaha's sound more open and clear, yet not tinny like a Sony ES and what I hear of Onkyo is that is sounds like Sony, but have never spent time with Onkyo.

Below is an overview of what I think the receivers sound like.

Denon - Mid boost good base and current, not as open sounding. Sounds great cranked, and with lower end speakers, especially Polk or Klipsch.

Yamaha - More open and better sound field and depth. More natural to me with less bass, but vocals sounds great.

Sony ES - Sound similar to Yamaha's but at more high end and sound less natural. More Tinny sounding and can strain the ears.

You have, of course, arrived at your opinions after double blind testing using the same speakers in the same room.
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post #70 of 998
4/15/08 at 12:22pm
Am I smoking crack?

I swear when I was hooking one of these up the other day I saw a ethernet port on the back. Looking at the pictures and manual now I don't see that. I see a service port type thing, but no ethernet.

Anyone got one of these and can set me straight?
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post #71 of 998
4/15/08 at 12:57pm
No Ethernet Port on mine.
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post #72 of 998
4/16/08 at 6:11am
Hi all,

I am strongly considering the 863. I am looking for opinions as to whether my speakers which are the Harman Kardon HKTS 8 can handle the power from this receiver? I have attached the specs here in PDF. Thanks guys.

 

hk speaker specs.pdf 52.974609375k . file
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post #73 of 998
4/16/08 at 7:21am
Speakers can almost always handle the power. I have hooked up crappy desktop speakers to some huge powerful amps and they sounds great.

Almost 100% of the time what blows speakers is not too much power but is too little power. the amp gets turned up to a level where it pumps out too much distortion and ruins the speaker.
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post #74 of 998
4/16/08 at 9:43am
I just picked up some Klipsch speakers today which is causing me to look at the 863. What I got was:

RF-62 (up to 125 w RMS)
RC-62 (up to 150 w RMS)

What I already had and plan to use as surrounds (picking up another set as rears for 7.1)
RB-51 (up to 75 w RMS)

(sub is RW-12d)

Anyway, would the 863 be a good choice for this setup? I can currently get it for under what the 663 is for retail.
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post #75 of 998
4/16/08 at 10:55am
Everyone that keeps coming on here and asking if the speakers are good match for the receiver, really should go to a local store, and try the setup out if possible, then buy online if they want.

Every receiver sounds different with different types of speakers. If you cannot get the exact same setup at least compare the same brands, Yamaha with Klipsch etc. At least try a few receiver brands and see what you like.

The speakers are going to make way more difference than the receiver, but I know when I listen you can definitely hear a difference between a Denon and a Yamaha and other receivers. Sometimes I like the Yamaha pairing better, sometimes I like the Denon, Sometimes I like something else. It all depends on the pairing.

At the very least take advantage of a retail stores 30 day guarantee, and test some of these out in your home, then buy online if you want.

Speaker RMS rating has little to no meaning. Look at the speakers sensitivity measurements to get an idea of that, but even that sometimes is deceiving. I can hook up a 40 watt tube amp to 150RMS speakers and it will sound amazing, compared to a 100 watt multi channel receiver.
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post #76 of 998
4/16/08 at 2:06pm
That's great and all, but the store isn't going to give me the type of sound/feel I would have at home. I was strictly concerned if this amp has decent power for speakers like the ones I listed above.
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post #77 of 998
4/16/08 at 5:51pm
I bought an RX-V863 recently and have been playing with it for a couple of days now.

1. Setup was very easy. HDMI cables really make it simple. The speaker auto setup routine was very easy to execute as well.

2. I think the image quality is excellent. I have the unit set to pass HDMI signals without upconverting them (default setting), and I can't tell a difference between routing the image through the receiver vs. direct connect to the TV (Samsung LN-T5271F).

3. I think the sound quality is excellent as well. I'm running a set of B&W 683 speakers as the main L/R speakers, with Klipsch center, surround and sub woofer speakers. The 683s sound so nice when listening to music with this receiver, I'm really loving the sound. This is with the sound field set to "straight".

4. The only issue I've run into (and it isn't really an "issue") is that I had to set the LFE/BASS out to "BOTH" (sub woofer + main) to get the sub woofer to turn on when listening to music. IIRC, I had to do the same thing with my old receiver. I'm using my XBox 360 as a media player, playing WMA Lossless audio streamed from my HTPC. The 360 is connected to the receiver via HDMI.

All in all I'm happy with the purchase. Setup and configuration was easy, sound and image quality is very nice, and I can tell that it has a bit more power than my previous receiver (harman/kardon AVR-510).
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post #78 of 998
4/16/08 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colleton View Post

I bought an RX-V863 recently and have been playing with it for a couple of days now.

1. Setup was very easy. HDMI cables really make it simple. The speaker auto setup routine was very easy to execute as well.

2. I think the image quality is excellent. I have the unit set to pass HDMI signals without upconverting them (default setting), and I can't tell a difference between routing the image through the receiver vs. direct connect to the TV (Samsung LN-T5271F).

3. I think the sound quality is excellent as well. I'm running a set of B&W 683 speakers as the main L/R speakers, with Klipsch center, surround and sub woofer speakers. The 683s sound so nice when listening to music with this receiver, I'm really loving the sound. This is with the sound field set to "straight".

4. The only issue I've run into (and it isn't really an "issue") is that I had to set the LFE/BASS out to "BOTH" (sub woofer + main) to get the sub woofer to turn on when listening to music. IIRC, I had to do the same thing with my old receiver. I'm using my XBox 360 as a media player, playing WMA Lossless audio streamed from my HTPC. The 360 is connected to the receiver via HDMI.

All in all I'm happy with the purchase. Setup and configuration was easy, sound and image quality is very nice, and I can tell that it has a bit more power than my previous receiver (harman/kardon AVR-510).

I am considering to purchase RX-V863 myself.

I have a question. I have a HP HTPC, which I'd like to connect to AVR. It has HDMI
output and others. Which cable did you use to connect your HTPC to RX-V863?

thanks.
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post #79 of 998
4/16/08 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by turbo63 View Post

Speakers can almost always handle the power. I have hooked up crappy desktop speakers to some huge powerful amps and they sounds great.

Almost 100% of the time what blows speakers is not too much power but is too little power. the amp gets turned up to a level where it pumps out too much distortion and ruins the speaker.

Uhhh, no. That answer is false. A speaker cannot be blown by too little power, or distortion (ever listened to any 90's grunge? didn't kill any speakers). That would take a rewrite of physics. Now, a power amplifier that is too small for your listening levels will eventually cause you problems.
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post #80 of 998
4/16/08 at 7:08pm
The 863 is cheaper than the 3800, yet the 863 has BB DACs on all channels vs. just the front channels on the 3800. Are the 35W per channel and features worth the premium for the 3800?
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post #81 of 998
4/16/08 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AVMAN777 View Post

I am considering to purchase RX-V863 myself.

I have a question. I have a HP HTPC, which I'd like to connect to AVR. It has HDMI
output and others. Which cable did you use to connect your HTPC to RX-V863?

thanks.

Since the receiver only has 3 HDMI inputs and I needed all of them for other sources (cable box/dvr, blu-ray player and the xbox 360), I connect the HTPC video output directly to the TV.

The HTPC is connected via ethernet to the 360, which I use to play the media content on the HTPC.

The video card on the HTPC has both DVI and HDMI outputs, but I just use a DVI->VGA adapter to connect the HTPC to the TV's VGA input. I didn't want to pay for an HDMI cable when I only use this connection for surfing and maintenance on the HTPC.
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post #82 of 998
4/16/08 at 10:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colleton View Post

Since the receiver only has 3 HDMI inputs and I needed all of them for other sources (cable box/dvr, blu-ray player and the xbox 360), I connect the HTPC video output directly to the TV.

The HTPC is connected via ethernet to the 360, which I use to play the media content on the HTPC.

The video card on the HTPC has both DVI and HDMI outputs, but I just use a DVI->VGA adapter to connect the HTPC to the TV's VGA input. I didn't want to pay for an HDMI cable when I only use this connection for surfing and maintenance on the HTPC.

thanks for your reply.

with this connection: If content from HTPC contains DD 5.1 or other multichannel
audio, does it pass thru xbox?

I am planning to use PS3 as a blu-ray player. If I connect HTPC directly to RX-V863
with HDMI conncection, will I be able to hear DD 5.1 audio as well as video content?
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post #83 of 998
4/17/08 at 3:56pm
Yes, you should get get DD and DTS.
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post #84 of 998
4/18/08 at 8:09am
Why is the price difference about $200 (online vendors) between the HTR-6180 and RX-V863 when both are supposed to be identical mechanically??




EDIT: I downloaded the manual. I think I can answer my questions if I understood it right. Owners please confirm:


1) Can I rename inputs for what they are? (example: HDMI1 named to Xbox360). Are all inputs renameable? - Inputs are labeled SCENEs (audio input, video input, sound EQ all selected as one type of SCENE) which can be made custom (custom label), so yes??
2) Can I turn off inputs I don't use, so when cycling INPUT UP or INPUT DOWN, the unused inputs won't show up? SCENEs can be as numerous as I want? The AVR selects the Scene, not input, so I think so??

3) STILL UNANSWERED: Is there any lag between realtime, audio, and video? I'll be playing X360 online a lot and want all to be in synch. The receiver will handle all audio, only outputting video to the HDTV.
4) Can I make a custom EQ?


Are there any complaints about this receiver, from the current owners here?

I kinda wish it had 4 HDMI inputs, but right now I'll be using all three and don't plan on buying any new equipment in the near future so that's OK.
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post #85 of 998
4/19/08 at 5:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff D View Post

Am I smoking crack?

I swear when I was hooking one of these up the other day I saw a ethernet port on the back. Looking at the pictures and manual now I don't see that. I see a service port type thing, but no ethernet.

Anyone got one of these and can set me straight?

I won't comment on the crack, but there is no ethernet port on the back. I own one and had to look to confirm.
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post #86 of 998
4/20/08 at 7:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AVMAN777 View Post

...I have a question. I have a HP HTPC, which I'd like to connect to AVR. It has HDMI
output and others. Which cable did you use to connect your HTPC to RX-V863?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Colleton View Post

...The video card on the HTPC has both DVI and HDMI outputs, but I just use a DVI->VGA adapter to connect the HTPC to the TV's VGA input. I didn't want to pay for an HDMI cable when I only use this connection for surfing and maintenance on the HTPC.

Anyone planning to connect an HTPC via HDMI should make sure their PC only outputs standard video levels, 16-235 (assuming the 863 has the same HDMI clipping problem as other recent Yamahas -- has anyone tested this yet?).

For watching movies from a PC standard levels are not a problem, but if you plan on doing other things with the PC (surfing the web etc.) where full range RGB output is more appropriate, the clipping will be an issue.

(For anyone who's just hearing about this problem, you can check out this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1010178)
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post #87 of 998
4/21/08 at 12:51pm
does anyone know what the THD% is for the rx-v863?
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post #88 of 998
4/21/08 at 2:10pm
Hey Guys I just ordered one of these from *******. I then downloaded the manual Holy Crap. Is this thing all that complicated. All I want to do is use it to supplement my McIntosh MX135 with the new codecs and the Auto equalization end. I am going to run the Pre-Outs to the Pre-Ins on the Mac. I was real interested in it passing 1080P on the Video side thru HDMI and the Radio function will be a plus to the old mac. Seems like you can't lose at the price for all it does. As long as Yamaha doesnt use the general public for it's beta testing center. You know all those damn firmware\\software updates to do what it advertizes that it will do. Don't you just wish equipment would work right out the box. I have a Panasonic BD10A Blu-Ray was just going to run the player to the Yammy HDMI and then use the Pre-outs to feed the mac. Essentially the Mac becomes a Volume knob for the Amps. If this works out it's sure going to be nice to upgrade the past equipment every couple of years with something like this rather than paying McIntosh Thousands everytime they blow their nose.
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post #89 of 998
4/21/08 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by daillest319 View Post

does anyone know what the THD% is for the rx-v863?

It's nice to be Old enough that it doesnt matter anymore. What is your source equipment's THD if the Yammy's better than it is, it isn't going to matter. it's about .02% on the Phono and about .06% on CD etc. About the same as my McIntosh equipment which is in the Thousands of dollar range. I can't hear dollar amounts though. No Hearing in that Range.
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post #90 of 998
4/23/08 at 7:28am
There was some confusion/question from the manual/specs about Component 1080p source to HDMI 1080p conversion.

I can say from real world test that it did not work, when I tried to set my XBOX 360 to output 1080p and it sent the test signal/screen - my epson 1080 UB went blank/no-signal. It works fine for 1080i, and the signal at the projector is 1080i thru the HDMI.

MadCatz has a hdmi add on kit for the component xbox owners, if anyone tries to add this to the mix, please post results. Thx
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