prerich

A while back I was looking for a new preamp and I was going to go for the Integra later on in the summer. Well, I couldn't wait for it because a deal that I couldn't pass up on came my way - the Yamaha RX-V663 Receiver. I've heard good things about this receiver - I like its feature set and the only draw back is that it only has 2 HDMI inputs but currently I only have 2 HDMI inputs (my Motorola 6416 III, and my BD HTPC - I've retired my HD-DVD to my bedroom system). If I needed more inputs I have a HDMI switch (3x2) anyway. Have any of you had any personal experience with this receiver (any drawbacks, failure rate, flaws ect). That I should be aware of. I have a moneyback gurantee so I'm not worried about that (bought the item new in the box for $350.00). I though about waiting for the Pioneer 1018tx, but I like Yamaha gear alot. Chime in on this for me. I made this upgrade to get ready for the new crop of HDMI 1.3a audio cards thats coming down the bend.

rlpiii

To get the capability of decoding the new codecs, $350 seems like a really good deal.
I have also always liked the sound of my yamaha receivers slightly more than the pioneers.
If you can cope w/ only 2 HDMI inputs, I don't see why not to buy.

Are you going to use it for your main set-up?

prerich

Yes, I am. It will serve as my new preamp.

rlpiii

The few things I noticed it did not have was:

No digital outputs
Possibly No HDMI 1080p up-conversion or pass-though

Everything else looks good.

My RX-V1600 will not pass 1080p which is something I wish I would have thought about before I bought it. So, I am having to run HDMI from the PS3 for 1080p video directly to the TV and use fiber out of the PS3 to the RX-V1600 for audio.

prerich

No 1080p upconversion but I do all of that through my PC and WinDVD 9 Plus BD. It does however offer 1080p passthrough. So I'm good to go, it bitstreams, yada, yada, yada...

rlpiii

Are you going to use external amps or just what's in the receiver?

I use to have my yamaha RX-V1 set-up with macs before my Halcro arrived, and got a nasty ground hum with the single-ended interconnects. I did some DIY stuff, and greatly reduced the hum, but it was never totally gone. Prior to macs, I never had that problem using an adcom 2535.