About the Yamaha RX-V661
Yamaha's RX-V661 lets you enjoy movies, music, TV shows, and video games in rich, room-filling surround sound. It combines seven channels of high-current home theater power with Yamaha's sophisticated digital processing to deliver an enveloping home theater experience. You also get convenience features like HDMI video switching and automatic speaker setup, plus cool entertainment options like XM Satellite Radio capability and iPod® integration.
Quick, accurate auto setup
The 'V661's automatic speaker setup feature takes the guesswork out of getting great sound. Just plug in the included microphone and place it in your favorite seat. The receiver takes care of the rest, individually adjusting the volume, delay, and EQ settings for each of your home theater speakers. In minutes, your system is configured for optimum performance with your specific speakers and their placement within the room.
Preset "SCENE" buttons for easy operation
Yamaha's special SCENE modes let you get to your entertainment sources in a hurry. Just press one of the four preset SCENE buttons on the receiver's front panel or remote, and the 'V661 automatically switches to the correct input setting and sound mode for DVD viewing, disc listening, TV viewing, or radio listening. Plus, you can individually reprogram each button for different activities of your choice, such as playing video games, listening to records on your turntable, and more.
Versatile video connections
This receiver boasts 1080p-compatible HDMI digital video switching, too. It lets you hook up two high-definition video components via HDMI connections and switch between them easily, while maintaining the best possible picture quality for both. And component video conversion means you can route all your older video sources to your TV via a single component video connection.
Multi-room audio and a powerful remote
Dual-room/dual-source output lets you listen to home theater in your main room while a housemate enjoys stereo music in another room. Plus you get a multibrand remote for controlling your entire home theater system, and an on-screen display that lets you view the receiver's menus and settings on your TV.
Product highlights:
- 90 watts x 7 into 8 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.06% THD
- Dolby® Digital EX, DTS-ES®, DTS Neo:6, Pro Logic® IIx, and DTS 96/24 processing
- YPAO sound optimization for automatic speaker setup (microphone included)
- SCENE presets for easier source switching
- XM Satellite Radio Ready (requires XM subscription and optional XM Mini-Tuner package)
- Neural Surround decoder for XM's HD Surround channels
- iPod integration (requires optional Yamaha YDS-10)
- music, video, and photo playback with on-screen menu
- control your iPod with the receiver's remote
- Compressed Music Enhancer for MP3s and other digital music files
- dual-room/dual-source audio (powered and fixed line-level stereo audio output for 2nd room; using powered 2nd-room output allows 5.1 home theater in main room)
- 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown DACs for all channels
- high-current, low-impedance amplifier construction
- Pure Direct mode for better sound from stereo sources
- selectable subwoofer crossover frequencies and phase switching
- Silent Cinema for simulated surround sound via standard stereo headphones
- on-screen display (requires TV with direct video input)
- 40 AM/FM presets
- multibrand remote
- 17-1/8"W x 6-3/4"H x 16-1/16"D
- warranty: 2 years
Connections:
- 1080p-compatible HDMI switching (2 in, 1 out)
- HDMI version 1.2a
- component video switching: 3 in, 1 out
- digital audio outputs: 1 optical
- 2 sets of main speaker outputs
- MFR # RX-V661
What's in the box:
- Black AM/FM/Dolby Digital/DTS receiver
- Wireless remote control (RAV326)
- 2 "AA" batteries
- Acoustic Optimizer microphone with attached 19.75' cable (has 3.5mm miniplug on the end)
- AM loop antenna
- FM wire antenna (with push-on "F" connector)
- Owner's Manual
- Warranty card
- Product Registration sheet
- Front panel and remote diagram sheet
- Manual correction sheet
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More details on the Yamaha RX-V661
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Features
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Notes
Cinema DSP Digital: Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP (Digital Soundfield Processing) Digital technology goes beyond Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, which uses relatively simple matrix and steering techniques to create surround sound effects. Cinema DSP Digital draws on a huge memory of real-world data from actual venues, especially for the music programs, and input from movie sound technicians to deliver a more realistic surround experience.
Quad-Field Cinema DSP: Yamaha's latest technology, Quad-Field Cinema DSP creates four independent soundfields (Front, Surround Left, Surround Right, and Surround Back) that merge to envelop you in an unmatched surround sound experience. Movies and music have accurate sound localization, smooth movement across the sound space, exceptional clarity, and realistic presence.
SCENE: The RX-V661 features four SCENE buttons on the front panel and remote to make operating the receiver easier. These buttons are initially set to default settings for DVD viewing, Disc listening, TV viewing, and Radio listening. You can also program a SCENE button for iPod listening, XM listening, TV sports viewing, or Action Game playing. There is a total of 18 SCENE templates that can be used for various situations.
Simplay HD: The Simplay HD Testing Program represents a standard of excellence in testing for a premium-HD "plug and play" consumer experience, and to maximize user's access to HD content. This receiver bears the Simplay HD logo, meaning it has undergone stringent quality testing related to the HDMI and HDCP specifications, as well as compatibility testing with a suite of other devices that have been Simplay HD verified.
Silent Cinema: The Silent Cinema mode allows private listening of multi-channel music or movies, with an accurate simulation of surround sound, through ordinary stereo headphones. Silent Cinema activates automatically whenever you connect headphones to the receiver while listening to Cinema DSP or HiFi DSP sound field programs.
Night Listening Enhancer: During low-volume listening, such as late as night, dynamic range suffers and some sounds are missed. The Night Listening Enhancer offers two modes, Cinema and Music, each with three levels of effect, to ensure you don't miss movie dialog or quiet passages, or lose overall surround spaciousness.
Compressed Music Enhancer: Compression formats such as MP3, WMA, and AAC generally remove sounds that are undistinguishable to typical human hearing, resulting in a loss of fidelity. The Compressed Music Enhancer regenerates the missing harmonics in compression artifacts and compensates for the loss of low- and high-frequencies to provide improved performance.
YPAO Technology: This unit employs the YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer), which helps you automatically achieve highly accurate sound adjustments. Using the supplied Optimizer Microphone, YPAO performs the following checks and makes appropriate adjustments to give you the best possible sound from your system:
- Speaker Wiring: Checks which speakers are connected and the polarity of each speaker.
- Speaker Distance: Checks the distance of each speaker from the listening position and adjusts the timing of each channel.
- Speaker Size: Checks the frequency response of each speaker and sets the appropriate low-frequency crossover for each channel.
- Parametric EQ: Adjusts the frequency and the parametric equalizer level of each channel to reduce coloration across the channels and create a cohesive sound field. This is particularly important if you use different brands and sizes of speakers, or if you have a room with unique sonic characteristics.
- Volume Level: Checks and adjusts the volume level of each speaker.
Digital ToP-ART/High Current Amplification: Yamaha uses the Digital ToP-ART (Total Purity Audio Reproduction Technology) design concept, which combines the latest and best technologies, parts, and circuit designs, to maximize sound quality. High Current Amplification uses superior quality components from input to output to achieve high current power with low impedance.
Wide-range Frequency Response: The receiver's wide-range frequency response, 10Hz to 100kHz, allows you to enjoy the full fidelity of DVD-Audio and Super-Audio CD players.
On-screen Display: You can display the operating information of the receiver on a video monitor, through the composite, S-video, or component video monitor jacks.
Presence Speakers: The receiver has a pair of speaker terminals that can be used for Presence speakers, Front B speakers, or for driving a pair of speakers in Zone 2. The presence speakers supplement the sound from the front speakers with extra ambient effects produced by Cinema DSP. These effects include sounds that the filmmakers intended to locate a little farther back behind the screen in order to create more theater-like ambience. The Presence speakers should be placed at the front of the room about 1-3 feet outside the front speakers. Note: You must select in the menu whether the speaker terminals are being used for Presence, Front B, or Zone 2.
Dialog Lift: When Presence speakers are in use, you can activate the Dialog Lift feature, which assigns some of the front and center channel elements to the presence speakers to "lift" the dialog to a higher position. The effect of the Dialog Lift can be set between 0 and 5, with the higher adjustments reflecting a higher position of the front/center channel sound.
Dual Zone Capability: The RX-V661 allows you to play two different sources in two zones. The receiver has a pair of stereo preamp outputs and a pair of speaker terminals for Zone 2. Only sources that are connected via analog audio inputs can be output to Zone 2. You can control the receiver from the second zone using the supplied remote control when an infrared signal repeater system is used. If you're using the Zone 2 preamp outputs, a separate amplifier or stereo receiver with a pair of speakers, or a powered speaker system are required.
iPod Universal Dock: With the optional YDS-10 iPod Universal Dock (item # 022YDS10), you can connect your iPod digital music player to the RX-V661, and control playback using the remote control. Only iPod (Click Wheel), iPod nano, and iPod mini are compatible with the YDS-10.
XM Satellite Ready: You can listen to XM Satellite Radio by connecting the XM Mini Tuner and Mini Tuner Home Kit to the RX-V661's proprietary plug. A 50' extension cable is available if the Home Kit's 25' cable is not long enough. XM Satellite Radio offers over 150 commercial-free channels of music, news, sports, comedy, talk, and entertainment to choose from--all in digital quality. During XM playback, you can display the channel number and name, category, artist name, and song title on the front panel. Note: A subscription is required in order to receive XM Satellite Radio.
Neural Surround: Neural Surround has been adopted by XM Satellite Radio for digital radio broadcasts of XM HD Surround recordings and live events in surround sound. Neural Surround employs psychoacoustic frequency domain processing which allows delivery of a more detailed sound stage with superior channel separation and localization of audio elements.
XM HD Surround: XM and Neural Audio Corp. have developed XM HD Surround, which provides content with six discrete channels of digital full fidelity audio. Only a handful of XM channels are offering programming in XM HD Surround.
192kHz/24-bit DACs: The RX-V661 uses high quality, audio-grade Burr-Brown 192kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog converters for all channels to maximize sound quality.
Surround Modes: The RX-V661 offers the following Surround Modes for movies and music:
- Decoding Formats:
- Dolby Digital
- Dolby Digital EX
- DTS Digital Surround
- DTS 96/24
- DTS-ES Matrix 6.1
- DTS-ES Discrete 6.1
- Dolby Pro Logic
- Dolby Pro Logic II (Music, Movie, and Game)
- Dolby Pro Logic IIx (Music, Movie, and Game)
- DTS Neo:6 (Music and Cinema)
- Neural Surround
- Hi-Fi DSP Modes:
- Classical: Hall in Vienna, Hall in Munich, Chamber
- Live/Club: Cellar Club, The Bottom Line, The Roxy Theatre
- Stereo: 2-channel stereo, 7-channel stereo
- Cinema DSP Modes:
- Entertainment: Sports, Action Game, Roleplaying Game, Music Video
- Movie: Standard, Spectacle, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama, Mono Movie
- Compressed Music Enhancer: 2-channel Enhancer, 7-channel Enhancer
Virtual Cinema DSP: Virtual Cinema DSP is an algorithm that allows you to enjoy DSP soundfield surround effects while using a minimal two-speaker system.
Audio Delay: You can delay the sound output up to 160 ms to synchronize it with the video image.
Pure Direct: The Pure Direct mode turns off the video circuitry and the front panel display, allowing sources to bypass the decoders and DSP processors of this unit so you can enjoy pure hi-fi sound from 2-channel PCM and analog sources. During Pure Direct playback, tone control and sound menu settings are not available, no sound is output from the subwoofer, and the front panel automatically dims.
Subwoofer Crossover: You can select a crossover frequency for the subwoofer, or for any speaker set to "Large" in the Speaker Setup menu. Selectable low-pass filter frequencies are 40Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 90Hz, 100Hz, 110Hz, 120Hz, 160Hz, or 200Hz. In addition, you can switch the phase from Normal to Reverse if the bass sounds are lacking or unclear.
Multi-brand Remote Control: The receiver comes with a multi-brand wireless remote control (RAV326). In addition to the receiver, the remote can control multiple brands of cable TV receivers, cable/PVR combos, DBS/PVR combos, satellite receivers, HDTV receivers, TVs, PVRs, VCRs, DVD player/recorders, LD players, CD player/recorders, MD player/recorders, tape decks, and AM/FM tuners. The remote has a combination of back-lit and glow-in-the-dark keys.
Assignable Inputs: You can assign the HDMI, component video and digital inputs to the component being used with that input. You can select DVD, DTV/CBL, V-AUX, or DVR for each of the HDMI and component video inputs. You can select PHONO, CD, MD/CD-R, DVD, DTV/CBL, V-AUX, or DVR for the two optical and the two coaxial digital inputs.
HDMI Inputs/Output: There are two HDMI inputs on the rear panel, and one HDMI output. These HDMI jacks can be used for 2-channel and multi-channel linear PCM (CD, DVD-Audio), Direct Stream Digital (SACD), and Bitstream (Dolby Digital, DTS) digital audio formats as well as digital video signals up to 1080p resolution.
HDTV-compatible Component Video Outputs: The RX-V661 offers three component video inputs and a component video monitor output. These inputs and outputs have a frequency response of 5 Hz to 60 MHz, which is capable of switching High Definition video sources.
Front Panel Input: The front panel's Video Aux input features analog stereo RCA and optical digital inputs, plus composite and S-video video inputs.
Multi-channel Analog Input: This unit has a discrete 5.1-channel analog input for accommodating DVD-Audio and Super-Audio CD players or an external decoder. You can convert the input to 7.1-channels, and use an assigned pair of input jacks along with the 5.1-channel input to connect the 7.1-channel device.
Digital Inputs/Outputs: Digital audio signals input at the optical or coaxial input jacks can be output at the optical digital output.
Speaker Terminals: The receiver has binding post speaker terminals for the front A, front B/Zone 2/presence, center, surround, and surround back channels. The binding posts can accept bare wire, pin connectors, and single banana plugs. The terminals are spaced too far apart for using dual banana plugs. The collar surrounding the binding post terminals prevent the use of spade connectors.
Preamp Outputs: The RX-V661 offers preamp outputs for all channels: front L/R, center, surround L/R, surround back L/R, and subwoofer for connecting to separate amplifiers if desired.
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Bottom line: This receiver is easy to hook up, easy to operate, runs cool, puts out great sound and has a huge amount of features not found on other receivers in its class. I am completely thrilled with it and would highly recommend it.
Joe from Winter Park, FL