Product Description

Natural Sound AM/FM Stereo Receiver, 100W, Superior Sound Quality with Pure Direct Switch, Linear Damping, High Dynamic Power and Advanced Circuits

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1998 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Yamaha
• Model: RX-397
• Dimensions: 5.75" h x 17.13" w x 12.13" l, 16.31 pounds

Features

• 50W x 2 with .04%THD
• Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio Ready with Extended Frequency Response
• Remote Controllable Motor-Driven Volume Control
• Pure Direct Amplification
• Speaker A, B or A+B Selection

Customer Reviews

Excellent stereo receiver, highly recommended
Despite the current fad for multi-channel audio/video receivers, the majority of people still listen to music with two speakers and only need a two-channel stereo receiver to drive them. As fanatic audiophiles with excellent stereo speakers, my wife and I recently purchased this receiver because of very good previous experience with Yamaha electronics products. This is a superb receiver in all respects. Some people may think that they need more than this receiver's rated power of 50 watts per channel, but Yamaha's power ratings are extremely conservative and this receiver will drive virtually any speakers to deafening levels (which I don't recommend doing). More important than it's ample power is its very low distortion. Yamaha specializes in low distortion products for very clean sound. In addition to robust power and ultra-low distortion the RX-397 has a full complement of controls, plus an easy to use remote. But as a fanatic audiophile another feature, typical of Yamaha, which I particularly appreciate is a button which sends the signal from our CD player (or any other non-phono cartridge input) directly to the amplifier -- bypassing the preamp circuitry, which is not needed except when playing LPs (which most people rarely do these days) -- for the lowest distortion and best signal to noise ratio. There are plenty of slighty less expensive -- and less good -- stereo receivers available, but if you want suberb performance at a moderate price I highly recommend this Yamaha.

Amazing Sound
The first receiver i ever purchased was a Sony 5.1 500 watt surround system, that was when i was only 13 years old and didnt fully understand the little differences. Well im now 17 years old and im getting sick of the surround sound because for the most part i only use the stereo setting. So i had some extra money and thought i would pick of a new receiver. But what to get i looked at many different ones and even thought about getting a 7.1 pioneer. Then i realized its kind of a waste being that i only want to continue using 2 speakers. So i went to the store looking for a Stereo Receiver. I found some by Denon, Sony and Onkyo as well as Yamaha.

I have now had it for a week, which may not seem long but after hearing the difference in quality between this and my old system i had to write something. While my old system had more bass, this system has a cleaner tighter bass, not to mention the volume can go a lot high here. I loved having all the controls laid out without being Digital like some of the others i was looking at. I love this system my music sounds amazing.

So like i said im 17 you think i would want to follow the trend and get another surround sound system, but trust me they cant compete with the old basic system of receiver. I love Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues and R&B and they all sound great coming out of this system. I even played some ACDC and Pantera just to see how it sounds and i was blown away. For the most part i listen to Oldschool Hip Hop and most of my albums are originals which have not been remastered. I found a lot of times there albums dont sound great coming from my old system but on my new Yamaha receiver its like hearing the music for the first time.

right now i currently have a Record Player, 5 Disc cd Changer and an Xbox 360 hooked up and they all sound great. I forgot what it was like to listen to my Vinyl. I also have an old pair of Technic 12inch Floor Standing Speakers hooked up and they sound amazing, 10times better then when hooked up to a 5.1.

Stick to the basics as far as im concerned this new technology still can hold its own. Old speakers, record player and a basic receiver is all you need for a great system.

EDIT - I Should also mention that my parents own a Onkyo TX-8522 100 Watt Stereo Receiver which is currently the most popular receiver on amazon in terms of sales rank. We compared both receivers and all 3 of us came to the conclusion that we thought the Yamaha RX -397 was better then the Onkyo. We used the same speakers in the same room while doing the test.

So i strongly recommend this system to anyone looking for nice sound on a budget.


- Edit on July 30th 2008. While cleaning out my basement before moving i found an old pair of speakers under the stairs. I decided to try hooking them up to my receiver thinking i would turn it up and they would blow right away. Well they didnt so i know have this system hooked up to 4 Speakers, one in each corner of my room and now this system sound even better. the amazing thing is these new speakers i add are really good, actually i have never even heard of the brand. Accutech AR - 6LP is the model, then have 10 inch woofers. but anyways with both pairs of old speakers this sounds much better then when i only had the original pair.

-One Last Edit on Nov 7th. This receiver is now powering a pair of Soundstage 250 watt speakers. This 50 watt per channel system puts out more then enough power for the speakers.

Still the best
My RX-595 just died on its 10th birthday. Its grandchild, the RX-397, was at the funeral and I hired her on the spot. She is a worthy successor -- pure, clean sound for my classical collection and noise free reception from distant FM stations. With other reviewers I hightlight the "pure direct" feature which can bypass all treble, bass, and loudness filters, including balance control, to give the listener the most perfect sound possible. At its $200+ price there is simply nothing in its price range that can compete.