Yamaha RX-V663

Back in November, I asked the question, "What's the best midpriced AV receiver?"--but had to confess that we hadn't reviewed as many as we would've liked. Since then, Senior Associate Editor Matt Moskovciak and resident Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg sequestered themselves in the CNET listening room and put several models to the test.

When the smoke cleared, the Sony STR-DG920 was at the top of the heap, with the Pioneer VSX-1018AH and Onkyo TX-SR606 impressing us as well. The Denon AVR-1909 sounded great and was packed with features, but that model's confusing remote control … Read more

For most home theater enthusiasts, midrange AV receivers represent the best value, and the Yamaha RX-V663 falls right into the midrange class. When we first set up the RX-V663 in the CNET listening room, our first impressions were positive, as it bested the Sony STR-DG920 in a head-to-head test.

On the other hand, we ultimately found it hard to recommend due to its paltry HDMI connectivity, poor upconversion quality, and other design quirks. If you're all about sound quality and can put up with these issues, the RX-V663 is worth looking at; otherwise, you'll probably be better off … Read more

Update (February 12, 2009): Check out our follow-up story, with full reviews of all the products mentioned here.

I receive a lot of e-mail asking why we haven't reviewed many AV receivers in recent months. First off, let me say: mea culpa. Reviews coverage of this category has suffered, mostly because AV receivers are among the most time-consuming products to analyze (because they now need to be examined in detail for their audio and video performance). But enough of the excuses; here's what we're doing to remedy the situation. … Read more