Anyone own Yamaha's RX-V1?

Question

Home Theater Receiver Features Digital ToP-ART Design, Dolby Digital, DTS, Digital Matrix 6.1, DTS ES, Cinema DSP, and Tri-Field Processing

or have a RX-Z1?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?!?



http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/Features/?gAVR00010RX-V1

Answer 1

I too have the RX-Z1 and I absolutely love it! As one person mentioned above Yamaha excels by using their renowned CinemaDSP which is the best feature I have ever seen for enveloping the viewer in the surround sound experience. This receiver is a large chunk of change, but it has more inputs on it and more wattage than you will ever know what to do with.

Sound quality is amazing, build quality is excellent, and the remote it comes with (a Philips Pronto badged with the Yamaha name) is wonderful especially when you get the software to program it with your computer. I think you'll also like the on-screen menus which help make set up a lot easier. If you want a receiver that is easier to set up and sounds good as well, check out the RX-V1600 or greater. These new Yamahas are incoporating YPAO which sets up your receiver automatically using the including microphone...very sweet feature!

My only complaint about the RX-Z1 is that it only has one component video output. I am currently using both a Sony 70" LCD projection TV and a Panasonic front LCD projector and it would be nice to have an output to feed each. This is a fairly common feature on newer receivers costing a lot less than the Z1.

Well, I hope this helps. The RX-Z1 is a very solid receiver and worth the money, but since it is a few years older than Yamaha's newer models, you can have more features for less money with their newer RX-V models. Good luck!

Answer 2

I have an RX-Z1. At the time it was considered the premier A/V receiver available. Howver, it was very expensive, as you may know. There was one feature the high-end Yamahas had that I couldn't do without, and that was the soundfield processing. I bought the original soundfield processor when Yamaha first introduced it. It was at that time used only for my stereo music system. The ability of that unit to "open up" the sound, essentially changing the acoustics of the room to resemble various concert venues, was amazing. It seemed to make the walls disappear. The Yamaha A/V receivers incorporate the soundfield processing into the Dolby and DTS surround system (it's called "enhanced"). When applied judiciously, this has the same effect of making the walls disappear. I must add, however, that I do not use the main power amplifiers for my front speakers, as I have an excellent stereo amplifier for that purpose which I bought for the stereo system. I do use all the surround amps as well as the two supplementary "effects" speaker in the front of the room.