Yamaha RX-V573 7.1-Channel Network AV Receiver

• 7-channel powerful surround supported in HD Audio format decoding: Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio; Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
• Network receiver with AirPlay, allows music streaming from Mac, PC, iPod, iPhone, iPad
• 4K pass-through for next generation super high resolution displays, and HDMI (4 in/1 out) with 3D and Audio Return Channel
• AV Controller app for operating various functions from an iPod, iPhone, iPad or Android phones
• YPAO sound optimization for automatic speaker setup

Had it about a week now and played with it for a couple of hours each night tweaking the settings and trying out various streaming music, tv shows and HD movies. This was a replacement for an Onkyo HTIB system that was 7.1 also, but did not have HDMI switching or DTS-HD/DD-TrueHD abilities. Thus far I can say I really like the basic function of the amp and the SCENE feature.

Pros:

-Near future proof with 4k passthrough

-Every codec known to mankind (including DSD for SACD* Bonus)

-Power off HDMI switching (very useful if you listen to audio through the tv speakers sometimes like I do when wife is sleeping. Extra bonus is the audio does not pass through to the TV speakers while the AVR is ON, but automatically does once it's turned off. This means you don't have to mute the TV while you have the home theater system on and then turn up the volume after you turn it off)

-Options Galore including an 8-band frequency adjustment on every channel independently which means you can tonal match different brands of speakers or compensate for a lacking speaker like I had with a muddy center channel.

-App for mobile devices. I used the iPad app and found several settings much easier than using the standard on-screen menu.

-Network airplay. SUPER easy to stream music from the iPad or iPhone and the sound filtering works very well to get rid of that compressed sound of low bitrate MP3 audio.

-Setting for initial volume, max volume. No more turning on the amp after listening to that Saving Private Ryan DVD the night before and getting blasted across the room from Wolf Blitzer when you get home and turn on the system. It defaults to your preferred volume and you can set the max output so the kids can't blow your speakers while you're at work.

Cons:

-Confusing and near difficult to turn off all the extra 3D sound field, DSP and venue effects. Sometimes you just want to listen to things clean. Even if you turn off DSP in the menu, there are still sound field effects on. Enhancement, auto level, 3D field, DSP, etc... it's just a bit much to grasp out of the box if you're not a Yamaha customer previously. The iPad app REALLY helped me understand which did what and finally realize I wanted STRAIGHT and all the other stuff off to listen to the DTS-HD audio. The sound is good with all this stuff on although some settings sound worse than others depending on your input source (2 ch stereo, 5.1 surround, streaming audio, Blu Ray DTS-HD, etc...).

-On Screen Menu feels like playing an old DOS game in 16 color graphics. Update it to match the app Yamaha.

-Settings change every time you change input source. Seems that once you get things set the way you like, once I eject a Blu Ray from the BD Player and switch to streaming audio the sound field defaults back to some setting I don't want and I have to return it to the clean setting. Whether this is a permanent issue or a setting somewhere I'm not sure yet but it's annoying to have to tinker with things all the time.

-Remote layout. No backlighting or glow buttons? No color coding for main areas? My Onkyo remote gave you color coding so you could see where you were pressing at least in low light conditions and had glowing buttons for the main volume and inputs. And why would you put the main volume button right next to the scene buttons that change the input? I keep hitting the Radio input when I'm trying to turn up the volume during a movie. So fun.

-No auto switching to preferred setting per input type. Seems it would be easy to have a menu to set what sound settings you want when listening to a 2 ch stereo input, 5.1 DD input, 7.1 DTS-HD input, or streaming 2.0 PCM input and let the receiver do what you want.

That said, the pros far outweight the cons once you get a feel for things. The networked ability to stream home media servers and update the firmware is really nice and given the 4k passthrough, I'm not worried about getting left behind this time when something better comes along in a couple of years. The Zone B ability also means I can expand my setup in the future to control another room and use the app to control the AVR from another room.

The sound quality is very good and listening to a SACD with DSD decoding is so much easier than using the old connections on my Onkyo.

This feels like a big boy AVR rather than straight bells and whistles play to a price point. I lucked out with an open-box special for $150 less than retail that actually was a sealed box and mint so I feel even better than most, but that said I wouldn't feel bad now if I had paid full price. If you don't care for the network features or don't have 7.1 check out the 373 model. SUPER value for a 5.1 setup.

Buy Yamaha RX-V573 7.1-Channel Network AV Receiver Now

I am usually skeptical of first release technology (Airplay) on a newly released product. I waited almost a month before I found this item in stock after the pre-release press. After hooking the device up to my network, and connecting the 7 speakers, I had the Yamaha app downloaded and running airplay in less than 5 minutes. My Android, IPOD Touch, and IPAD2 all worked without any issues. I have the receiver in a media room with 7 speakers and it beats the Dennon hands down. I have had two Dennons and both were plagued with problems and I will never buy another. I can control this device from anywhere in the house (as long as I am withing WI-FI connect).

The only downside I see so far, is the device does not support Pandora for music streaming, but I can use an IPOD touch on a different AV source to solve the Pandora streaming. Not all the remote functions work with the app but the major items such as inputs, sound selection, work great.

Also, I see that the receiver already has a new firmware available, but I am not going to download the firmware until I find a problem that needs to be fixed.

I know its only been 1 week, but so far, I am impressed and plan to order a second receiver. I will follow-up on this review if I have any future issues or problems since it has only been 1 week.

In my opinion, this is the best network receiver, with smartphone app remote, airplay, and 7.1 sound for the money. The Polk speakers and Polk sub with this receiver make the media room thump!

Read Best Reviews of Yamaha RX-V573 7.1-Channel Network AV Receiver Here

I was looking for an in-expensive receiver that could function as a home theatre box, had airplay and could supply music to a second zone (my kitchen). This unit fits the bill and has plenty of power and networking capability. Other reviews on the web have commented on the bad remote and bad on screen menus. I'd agree but these aren't deal breakers. I came very close to returning the unit due to an issue with the second zone support. You can't independently alter the volume in each of the two zones. The single volume control raises and lowers in both zones. What you can do is setup an offset for your second zone to have it always louder or quieter than your main zone. After some experimenting I found that this worked OK. With the second zone configured, you end up with a 5.1 theatre system and two of the original 7.1 speakers for your second zone.

There is a IOS app for ipad/iphone that lets you control the receiver. It is adequate but not nearly as good as others I looked at like the Pioneer app. One complaint is you cannot turn zones on/off from the app. You have to use the remote.

Pros

If unit turned off (in standby mode), hitting 'airplay' on my ipad fires up the receiver and music starts playing. Nice.

IOS app is OK.

Max volume setting so your wont accidently blow your eardrums when changing volume on iPhone.

does not get hot (as I heard Pioneers do).

Cons

No independent volume control for each zone (but can set a preference for relative level in second zone).

Cannot turn zones on/off with app. Must use remote.

found it awkward to wire speakers up.

This seems like the best out there I could find for price, multi-zone, networking and home theatre.

Want Yamaha RX-V573 7.1-Channel Network AV Receiver Discount?

I currently own the Yamaha RX-V471BL 5.1-Channel AV Receiver, and I just purchased the RX-V573 today. I selected the original Yamaha after several hours of research into features, quality, price, and customer service (that last one is of particular importance to me).

I would highly recommend the Yamaha line of home theater systems.

I am not going to say this competes with higher-end systems as it is not intended to, but what I will say after owning three Samsung home theater systems, Yamaha delivers a much more reliable and intuitive home theater experience and MUCH better customer service.

No, the On-screen display isn't fancy, but it is very functional, and beats the heck out of trying to read the gibberish on the front panel of most home theater units.

It integrated very well with my Sony blu-ray player, Samsung HDTV, Xbox 360, and both the Scientific Atlanta and Samsung Cable DVRs. Having 4 HDMI inputs is very nice.

It is intuitive to use, easy to set up, reliable (I have had the older unit for almost 2 years with no issues, while two of my Samsungs went belly-up shortly after the warranty expired -and Samsung would not do anything except give me the names and addresses of repair places for which I would be out the expense), and the sound quality is very good.

Another very nice feature that is not mentioned anywhere is a headphone jack. Surprisingly, not many home theater systems have this feature. No, you probably won't connect headphones directly to this, but you may just want to connect a bluetooth transmitter (i.e. http://amzn.com/B000P9CEV4 ) to this so you can use a bluetooth headset to listen to the audio. This is a great feature that we use while we are running on the treadmill early in the morning or watching tv late at night.

BTW I would also like to suggest the purchase of a Logitech Harmony remote to compliment this item. It gracefully combines the functions of all of your remotes with an easy to use web interface and USB cable (instead of using the codes to program a remote).

I was able to purchase the 300 model (http://amzn.com/B003IZFCFW) for under $30 (gotta keep an eye on the price as it is currently at $59).

Hope this helps.

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I have a large Mitsubishi TV and I really like the system with the 573 at the helm. Features are great. BUT, it has problems when going back and forth between HD and regular digital channels when running from cable-to-573-to-TV. The TV screen will often go blank or it won't receive the full HD signal unless I power off the 573 and repower it. Really aggravating for a system this advanced. It seems as though it has a difficult time relaying the signal at times or not pushing it hard enough or something. Also, when watching non-HD channels, when I adjust the volume, it ALWAYS loses the signal for a few seconds...again really aggravating. The sound is great and picture quality is as well, when it works correctly. Not sure why these two pieces of hardware don't mate up well. Support offered little help.