Entry level Yamaha HT amps - Worth the money?

[peter_m]

Hello everyone,
This Yamaha amp, is it a good starting point or am I wasting money? Will it drive 4 ohm load if I ever get 4 ohm speakers? I want to use it in a stereo mode only and sometimes like to crank things up a little but its not a regular habit.

http://www.yamaha.ca/av/Receivers/HTR6030B.jsp

Any entry level Panasonic or Pioneer amps better suited for 4 ohm loads?

Peter

[Hdale85]

The Pioneer VSX-1016TX was very popular and I believe they are used a lot with 4ohm loads.

[Azeke]

I seem to recall that Yami receivers had a togo switch in the rear of the receiver which allowed you to change from 4 Ohm to 8 Ohm loads. However, I am unsure if the newer models retained the switch option.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[kgveteran]

I did an install for a friend and found in the end the weak link of his system was the Yamaha receiver.He got it for about 299.00 on line.

He is using Acend acoustic 340se's for the mains and inceiling spkrs for the three surrounds.

What really pointed all this out was the IB.The subs were unmatched in this system.No matter how hard i pushed the volume the subs just kept playing louded and tighter.At that point I heard the amp starting to give way.

He upgraded to an Outlaw 950 pre-pro($350.00) and a used ADA six channel amp, the PTM-6150 (used about $800.00 ). I know it's a bit unfair to compare a 299.00 receiver to a pre-pro/ six ch. amp combo, but it is what it is.

Use this advice to guide you in the event you really want to push the yamaha.It is also wise to look at the other components to see if everything is matched as far as performance.

KG

[audioqueso]

I was wondering the same thing. (Not to hijack your thread) Is it worth it to buy an entry level HT receiver, or spend the same money on a intergrated amp?

[littlesaint]

I was wondering the same thing. (Not to hijack your thread) Is it worth it to buy an entry level HT receiver, or spend the same money on a intergrated amp?

Lately, I've been inclined to purchase a not-to-expensive AVR that does what I need and mate it to a good amp. Right now I have a Yamaha v661 which cost me ~$400 and an Emotiva LPA-1 amp. The Yammy has good enough DACs for HT, and casual music listening, plus HDMI 1.2 for multichannel PCM and DSD.

[whoaru99]

Yeah...spend enough on the HT receiver to get pre out jacks. That way, you can upgrade to outboard amps later on - asssuming the receiver's amps aren't enough at some point.

The Panasonic digital receivers are little dynamos but not much for advanced features and settings, and no pre out jacks.

[littlesaint]

I'd also recommend getting something that has that has HDMI and can process multichannel PCM over it. That feature and pre-outs should keep you fairly future-proof for some time.

[peter_m]

"can process multichannel PCM over it"

Is that just audio through the HDMI or is it something else?

[littlesaint]

There are some HDMI compliant receivers that will accept multichannel audio, but don't have the horsepower to apply surround fields like DPLIIx to add rear channels to a 5.1 source. The Onkyo 605 is one I know of.

There are also some Blu-ray players that do not output decoded HD codecs, so for those you would need an AVR that also accepts the raw bitstream for these codecs, which would be any HDMI 1.3 compliant AVR.

[SQconstable]

From my experience, the entry level Yamaha amps sound great for their price. I've played around with a couple and they have great sound. I'd recommend them over the other consumer brands.

[kgveteran]

I always scratch my head at the cost of processors compared to low cost recievers. Seems to be good advice to check out low cost recievers before purchasing a processor at twice the cost.

[WillyD]

I always scratch my head at the cost of processors compared to low cost recievers. Seems to be good advice to check out low cost recievers before purchasing a processor at twice the cost.

Agreed. You'd think that some of the big receiver manufacturers would release processors that are essentially their receivers sans amp section, with a set of preouts.

I suppose it makes too much sense...