Yamaha RX-V573

• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review
• My rating: 0 stars

• Sort by: Most helpful Highest rating Lowest rating Most recent

• 9 stars

  Very Good Yamaha Receiver

  by Kenny-Watkins on March 24, 2013

  Pros: + Sound quality of this system is great
  + App for mobile devices
  + Network airplay
  + Does not get hot

  Cons: - No independent volume control for each zone
  - Cannot turn zones on/off with app

  Summary: I have had this unit for only a short time. My initial impressions are quite good. It has a number of options which are relatively straightforward to set, with a ...

  Read more

  Summary: I have had this unit for only a short time. My initial impressions are quite good. It has a number of options which are relatively straightforward to set, with a few exceptions noted below. What made the setup easier for me was having had a Denon receiver for the past 6+ years which allowed me to play with a number of parameters and get a better understanding of them.
  
  Prior to buying this unit, I downloaded the manual and extensively went through it to familiarize myself with the unit. I also wrote down the settings from the Denon so that I could duplicate them in the Yamaha. I found the Yamaha manual to be much more informative than the generally cryptic Denon manual. For example, the Denon manual often states what the range of a setting is but not what the lowest and highest settings represent. The Yamaha manual tends to explain what changing the settings does. However, the Yamaha manual is packaged on a CD making reference to it difficult since my computer is not in the same room as the Yamaha. (Yamaha touts this as being green, not as a cost savings.)
  
  Also before buying the unit, I downloaded the firmware update. I put it on a USB drive without any other files of mine. This was for two reasons. One was to try and prevent any issues with other files on the drive (updates can be cranky) and to prevent any surprise deletions and/or corruption of other files. I used the USB method to eliminate any network uncertainties.
  
  When I first started setting up the unit I plugged it in and only connected it to my TV (via HDMI). I deliberately did not connect the unit to the internet. I checked if the unit was already updated. It was not. The update was rather painless but it seemed to take a while.
  
  I did a manual setup choosing not to use YPAO. The screen menus are an old fashioned throwback looking like early 1990s DOS graphics. There is also a disconcerting screen flicker every time one scrolls on a main menu item under Setup. The concept of repeatedly pressing the Info button to see one current setting item at a time is also archaic. Further, these can only be seen on the unit display, not on the TV display. It would be very helpful to have all the settings displayed on the TV even if it meant paging through them. At least they could be seen in one place for easy reference. It now requires going to different places to see different settings and remembering where a particular setting is.
  
  There are also some things which the manual does not seem to mention. Page 37 of the manual, describing Cinema DSP 3D, states that two conditions must be met for the 3D part to function. Actually, there is a third condition. I called Yamaha support and the person I spoke with said that the illustration in the manual showed a 5.1 system while I have a 2.1 system. I suggested that this really did not prove anything as all the illustrations show the same 5.1 system. We then got cut off. (He never did call me back even though he had my phone number.) I decided to test the idea and found that Cinema DSP 3D really does require at least a 5.1 system.
  
  Another issue was Cinema DSP and surround decoders. I was under the impression that it was possible to have both. This does not appear to be the case. Either Cinema DSP is chosen OR a surround decoder (such as Dolby PLII Music) but not both. That is, they appear to be mutually exclusive. I do not see this addressed in the manual.
  
  Another issue is that for Internet Radio the unit chooses MP3 decoding even if a higher resolution is available for a particular station. It seems surprising that a unit like this only supports the most basic streaming resolution. Could this be a possible candidate for a future update? (I contacted Yamaha support on this and the written reply I received was poorly written and confusing.)
  
  I do not use the receiver for video, only for audio, therefore I cannot comment on the video portion. I like that there are 4 HDMI inputs (I only use 1 so far) and 2 optical audio inputs (I use both). I have not used the bi-amp feature yet, although I intend to as my speakers have this capability. As I understand it, the two feeds in bi-amp mode from the Yamaha are identical. The sound is as good as I expected. I really cranked it up and was impressed by the sound and that fact that many of the adjustments (volume and tone controls, for example) are in .5 db increments allowing for fine control.
  
  Note: I suggest check for best deal of this receiver at --> avreceiverreviewsbuy.com/buy-yamaha-rx-v573/
  
  I hope this review is helpful, enjoy!

  Show less

  3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

See pricing