Yamaha AV Receiver RX-V4A - Network receiver with MusicCast surround sound, gaming functions and voice control, all-round talent with 5.1 channels, in black

The item was delivered on time and in perfect condition! I ordered this to replace an old Yamaha RX-V477 which I thrashed to death for 8 years before it finally concked out and the capacitors or transistors failed to do their job and I'm very impressed with this one. Although the price was a shock which has almost doubled and reduced availability of most Yamaha systems in recent years - the market was affected by a fire at the factory which caused a mad dash for electronic components (mainly processor chips) but given that I know the reliability of Yamaha should make this system last me as many years as the last one I owned and will prove to be a good economic decision for the features it has compared to my old sytem and other systems at much higher prices. There's plenty to like about the features on the V4 - it's upgraded 4K upscaling capability which definitely helps with picture/sound quality to your TV and bass/treble seems much smoother and less punchy or too difficult to adjust like in older systems, independent speaker equaliser for infinite setting choice to suit almost every ear, simplified and neater device connections on the rear of the unit for beginners or experienced users, simplified speaker set up for home cinema experience using the YPAO method which detects all the speakers in your room in one go and calculates their positioning and power for you, etc, etc. I have always used 8 ohm speakers (Wharfedale for all 4 surround and powered pre-amp sub-woofer) with my amp even though this has been rated for speakers that work on 6 ohm resistance purely for the reason that I was advised that the higher ohm rating does not overwork the electonics as much because if you use the home cinema system as much as I do for all your sound outputs (PS3 for CD's, LG TV, PS4 for gaming/music/DVD/streaming & 4K Firestick). Bluetooth connectivity is another plus if you just want to easily connect other media devices you have and was hassle free too. I do not use the HDMI connection for audio output as I use the optical option from my TV to the amp as it seem to keep the amp and HDMI output lead cooler which tends to heat up quite a lot which contributes in my opinion to a shorter life for the lead and the amp. I think the sound in comparison to the old Yamaha unit I had is so much crisper especially when it comes to hearing voices through the centre speaker when watching films or just ordinary TV programs and the sound separation to all speakers is also improved. Try to connect all your speakers (for simple stereo or 5.1) with good quality and fully insulated 26AWG wiring as this has proven to be the best and does not deteriorate the sound quality over time. Considering the price and everything else that's good about the V4A and past reliability/build quality I've experienced from Yamaha, I don't think I'll be disappointed for years to come as the unit does have downloadable firmware updates available off the internet which makes it a no brainer. Sorry for the long review but I tried to put in as many pluses in as I could with full explanation to hopefully assist other people's decisions what to choose out there because home cinema set up or even receiver amps are not the easiest things to get right at any cost! Buy with confidence if you like what you see in this case but do not buy naff speakers to get the best out of it and you'll not be disappointed.

I bouth this to replace the yamaha AS-501 amp, i also compaired them to each other, the AS 501 is a more professional sound if your looking for a 2 channel setup, but once your setup this receiver correctly which is really easy, its mind blowing, its sounds amazing no matter if your gaming watching tv netflix or have spotify running while gaming its very enjoyable. I've pair this with the Elac b6 2.0 range of bookshelf speakers and i wont be looking back on my old setup using the Q Acoustic range anytime soon. Basically it does everything that the manufacturer has claimed, i suggest you watch some receives on youtube, because this is what i did and im happy to report all the reviews were spot on. When you have high end speakers like kefs you can hear were this amp struggles, at higher volume it fails to layer sound correctly, but with buget range bookshelf speakers, its 5.2 system really shines through, the detail is outstanding at this price range. If i was to rate this out of ten, im thinking 8.5 because after comparing this to the AS 501 class D amp running the same 2 speakers at the same volume there is a big difference between the two, the AS 501 is a much bigger more dynamic sound its top class, And this just sounds like noise compaired to it. But dont get me wrong this system is still fantasticly good, i can just tell the parts used in this amp are of lower quality compared to the AS 501, but that wont do home theatre sound and this does and does it well, so its the one to have if you love movie, music and gaming. Everything it does it does well and no degraded picture quality because it looked the same as the source imput. This review is a bit all over the place my apologies for that. Final thoughts are, a great system with an endless amount of customization and an EQ for each speaker, it allows the user to setup the system whatever way the prefer and because of this and how simple it is to use + its future proofed with 8k tec via future update. I have to!!!!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Coming from various systems since the 1990's, this is quite a modern unit with Bluetooth, network capabilities and 4 HDMI inputs.I only need a simple 5.1 set up for music, occasional movies and gaming. When my 25 year old hifi system started showing issues I noticed how very few well known manufacturers (to me) still produce amplifiers or receivers.I already owned Yamaha brand surround speakers and a subwoofer, so this seemed a logical choice.Positives: powerful, natural sound for the money.Enough connections for basic users.Detailed set up and adjustment possibilities.Will sound even better with quality speakers.Negatives: it needs an HDMI connection to a TV to access the menus, which are so basic in appearance that I wonder why for the price Yamaha can't include a small colour screen on the unit itself. The dot matrix display on the front panel is fairly useless as it doesn't allow any menu settings.The remote control is fairly cheap with small buttons and, to my old fashioned preference, strange wording. Not sure yet what all buttons do.Weird modern touch controls on front panel accompanied by huge, plasticky, old fashioned volume control that won't be used in reality. I prefer the old style Yamaha equipment which made a more solid impression to me.

I had four spare Kef speakers that no one wanted, not even the charity shops so I installed them into my study along with this AV receiver. For the money I think it is great and with Bluetooth I can transmit sound from my PC to it. When I compare the quality to my high end system there is a difference, but then I would expect there to be. I play my secondary TV and Firestick through it and the sound fills the room. I added a sub woofer though, just for the fun of it. Now when my wife wants to watch Tennis 24 hours of the day I can retire to my own personal sound syetem. Purists will find fault of course but this is a pretty good piece of kit.