Yamaha RX V863 or RX V663 newbie needs a hand

[mtbound10]

Based on reviews and reading previous threads I am now up in the air between the two yamahas...

what do you think???

 

[Adam]

Is the Pioneer still in the running?

What's your budget?

 

[mtbound10]

Pioneer is still an option... budget is....

Yeah, the pioneer is not out of the picture...

I am still holding on to about 500$ in gift certs and cards for best buy... so my budget is between 500-1000...

I do not mind spending more money on a decent reciever but I know with the 663 I could end up getting speakers for about the same price as the pioneer or yamaha 863... but again I do not mind waiting a while to pic up speakers that are a good set to go with the system. So forget about the speakers!

 

[majorloser]

If you need 480i/480p upconverted to 1080p HDMI and you need three (3) HDMI inputs vs. two (2) HDMI inputs then buy the RX-V863.

If you don't need the additional video processing and you can live with two (2) HDMI inputs then buy the RX-V663.

Frankly, an external HDMI switcher is quite cheap.

 

[TheFactor]

If you have the money I'D say spend the extra and get the one with more HDMI inputs and or power and sounds the best to you so you can grow into it because if your anything like I am I'm always trying to upgrade something so that would be one less thing to worry about.

 

[majorloser]

You got to get up off your butt to insert the disc in a Bluray player or PS3, so how hard is it to press the selector switch? And even the cheap HDMI switchers have IR remotes, easily programmable. And there's next to no difference between 95 wpc and 105 wpc when comparing the two receivers.

If you need a receiver to upscale to 1080p via HDMI than the RX-V863 is your choice. The video processing is why the 863 costs more.

You could use a Bluray player or an inexpensive OPPO player to upscale DVD's to 1080p.

 

[mtbound10]

I do want to keep the system simple as possible. I think the addition of a HDMI switch would just be an added extra that would probably be more confusing than anything, granted I have never seen one before nor do I know what they are supposed to do... As for the 1080p upconvert... I have a digital cable box that upconverts to 1080i ( I think ) and my tv is a 1080P plasma.

 

[Pyrrho]

There are other differences between them that most people seem to be unaware of. For example, the more expensive model also has HD radio. That may matter to some people, but not to others. Basically, either should be good, and which one a person should buy depends upon what one wants to be able to do with it. If you need or want the extra features of the more expensive model, then buy it. But if you do not, then go with the cheaper one and save money. Here is a link to a comparison chart:

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/compare/Detail.html?compitem1=&compitem2=567570&compitem3=567571&CTID=5000300&VNM=LIVE&B_compare.x=31&B_compare.y=9&comp_items=567570&comp_items=567571

As for the video processing capabilities, if one is only going to be upconverting DVDs, one should just buy the Oppo DV-983H DVD player and forget about the converter in the receiver. But if you need a good converter for other sources, then start to worry about that, and read some professional reviews about how well the thing works. Every HDTV that can accept non-HD signals can upconvert, so the only reason to buy something that can upconvert is if it can do a better job than one's TV.