My Yamaha debate

[BlackLamb]

Hi,

New to the forum and am looking to upgrade my current system. Few years ago I picked up a Harmon Kardon CP 15 for $100 and thus far it rocks. Now that I've read a little more on AV stuff I REALLY want to upgrade. As of now Im looking at the Yamaha's rx-v663 and the older rx-v2500, they both seem to be amazing rx's but I've just got confused with it all. I really like the v2500 as it has alot of power and well it nice and has great reviews, well they both do. I don't care about the HDMI imputs as run hdmi strait to my TV, and I REALLY prefer the use of optical lines when I can. I plan on starting to biuld a system that I can use for the next 5-10year (granted I know It wont last that long as I will want to upgrade) Can someone "dumb" this down or let me know what would be the best choice and why.

Cheers

Canfield

 

[BudgetHT]

Are you using it as stand alone or a pre-pro?
I ordered an RX-V663 a couple days ago and after further research on this site and another the online retailer that I ordered it from has been out of stock and shipping the RX-V665 as a replacement even though it shows the RX-V663 in stock on their site...
So with that said. Why not look at the 665 or if you're using it as a stand alone unit, the 765?
If the Co. I ordered it from sends me a 665 as a replacement it's fine with me as I'll be using mine as a pre-pro so the amp section is of no concern to me, but if you're using it as a stand alone unit you may want to look at the 765 for the better amp section, even though it's not huge between the two.
I guess my point is... From what I have been told you cannot find the RX-V663 anymore and any online retailer selling them right now is just selling vaporware and I have a sneaky suspicion that come Mon. I'll see an email telling me they are out of stock on the 663 and that they shipped a 665 as a replacement.

 

[Adam]

Regarding the 665 versus the 663 (or moving to this year's crop of Yamaha's in general), just be sure that it has the connectivity that you want. My biggest complaint with the 665 is that it no longer has assignable inputs. For example, there's no way to connect both component video and analog audio for a single component to the 665. There's also no s-video, if that matters to you.

 

[jeanseb]

Well, first of all, I think you should care a little bit more about HDMI. It is the only way you are gonna get multichannel LPCM (or HD Audio Codecs like DTS-HD MA). One of my friend has one (connected to a Bose 5.1), and it really push the Bose to his limit.

All that said, I'd go for the RX-V663. If one day you need more power, add an amp and use your 663 as a pre.

Hope this help