Easy to set-up. Good quality for price

I got a quick reply from Yamaha on the issue below - there is an option for re-assigning digital inputs and outputs. Worked like a charm.

This system was easy to set up right out of the box. The optimizer microphone made good adjustments and the 4 listening templates were simple to alter as desired. It is also one of the few AV receivers in its price range to include a phono input - a big plus in my book.

I'm not a big fan of digital sound enhancers, but Yamaha has done a nice job with theirs. Nevertheless, being sort of a purist, I prefer the straight, pure direct sound of the amp.

The remote is a bit confusing, especially when it comes to controlling other components. You'd think it would be perfect with the Yamaha CD changer I bought alongside it, but I still struggled a bit, and I consider myself tech-savvy.

One of the truly annoying drawbacks, however, has to do with some of the digital input options. The Yamaha CD changer I bought (CDC-697) only provides RCA and digital optical (TOSLINK) outputs, while the receiver only has RCA and digital coaxial inputs for CD. This leaves you only two options - stick with the CD players analog output, or use an empty TOSLink input (such as MD/CD-R) if you have one. You'd think that a company like Yamaha would have enough forethought to make them digitally compatible. They need either to provide both sets of inputs on the receiver (which they do for the DVD input) or standardize both components with digital coaxial.