Well, just got my 1st Yamaha receiver yesterday. I bought a RX-V661 to replace a 7-y/o Sony POS. Kinda glad the center channel output died in that thing b/c this thing sounds great. I've read from alot of people saying they think Yamaha sounds harsh. From what I've experienced so far, I find it's quite the opposite. I guess different rooms, speakers, etc..... Anyway, this thing is great. It's going in my kids game room where I've got a 5.0 setup and there's an obvious difference in sound from the old Sony. This is way, way better. Thanks to Audioholics for helping me out.