Yamaha RX-V596RDS

...recently taken delivery of a Yamaha RX-V596RDS Home Cinema receiver through Letsbuyit.com for £259 (list approx £400) – but that’s another story, see my opinion on Letsbuyit.com!

The receiver is almost the same as the Yamaha DSP-A5 amplifier, with the addition of an AM/FM RDS tuner capable of remembering 40 pre-set stations. Hi-fi purists may frown upon receivers, preferring to buy separate tuners and amps but they haven’t ...
...As well as sound, the Yamaha will also act a switch-box for various video signals, either as phono (composite) or S-Video connections. The front panel has inputs for a camcorder, allowing transfer to a VCR or the TV.

You also get a range of Yamaha’s own tweaks to the sound output known as “Cinema DSP”, designed to create “atmospheres” – disco, concert hall etc. and to further match the type of film ... more

I have recently taken delivery of a Yamaha RX-V596RDS Home Cinema receiver through Letsbuyit.com for £259 (list approx £400) – but that’s another story, see my opinion on Letsbuyit.com!

The receiver is almost the same as the Yamaha DSP-A5 amplifier, with the addition of an AM/FM RDS tuner capable of remembering 40 pre-set stations. Hi-fi purists may frown upon receivers, preferring to buy separate tuners and amps but they haven’t seen the state of my hi-fi rack!

What else do you get for your money?

5 channels of 75 watts power each, plus a pre-amp output for a sub-woofer.

Twin Dolby Digital/DTS decoders built in, capable of handling both optical and co-axial digital input from a DVD player. It will also handle digital stereo from a set-top box like my ONDigital Nokia through the co-axial input. The rear panel has so many connection options, that it looks more like the patch panel at a studio. Curiously, the digital inputs can only be listened to - if you want to record them to any form of analogue tape, then you need to create the phono-plug links as well – there goes any thought of reducing the “spaghetti” at the back. You CAN connect your CD player to a digital input, but only by calling it something else since there isn't one for CD players, D-TV for example. This is a bit of a nuisance, but I auditioned digital versus analogue the other day, and could hear no difference, so my CD player is still connected to the phonos - at least this way it's correctly labelled.

You can also use 6 phono leads to connect a DVD player with its own decoder, but this would depend on which piece of kit you think has the better quality sound.

As well as sound, the Yamaha will also act a switch-box for various video signals, either as phono (composite) or S-Video connections. The front panel has inputs for a camcorder, allowing transfer to a VCR or the TV.

You also get a range of Yamaha’s own tweaks to the sound output known as “Cinema DSP”, designed to create “atmospheres” – disco, concert hall etc. and to further match the type of film being watched to the room acoustics.

The remote control is very versatile, and is capable of learning the operations of VCR, TV, DVD Player, Set-top Box, CD Player and Cassette Deck, even if they are not Yamaha.

First impressions are good. The DTS sound on Gladiator is alarmingly realistic, as are the few Dolby Digital sound tracks I have also tested.

Setting up the surround sound was a bit fiddly, what with determining speaker size, whether you have a “bass bin” or not, and balancing sound levels. However, you only need do it once for the room that it is to stay in.

As a straight piece of two channel hi-fi, the Yamaha is no disgrace, and listening to CDs, tapes and radio is a relaxed and accurate affair, as expected from Yamaha.

Appearance-wise, it’s another of their competent no-frills black cases, with an orange display.
 

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