Product Description

The Yamaha RX-V1800 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver offers excellent levels of sound and video quality for total home theater enjoyment. It provides 910 Watts of total power, pushing 130 Watts to each of its 7 channels. With features including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoders, the latest HDMI 1.3a specification support, video upscaling to 1080p, iPod compatibility, YPAO Auto Setup with Quick Start and multi-zone custom installation support, it will become the cornerstone of your home theater experience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33916 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Yamaha
• Model: RX-V1800BL
• Dimensions: 6.75" h x 17.13" w x 17.25" l, 39.54 pounds

Features

• 7.1-channel home theater receiver with 910 Watts of total power (130 Watts-per-channel)
• Latest HDMI 1.3a (4 in/1 out) specification supports deep color (30/36 bit) transmission, 120Hz and 24Hz refresh rates and auto lip-sync
• Analog video (480i or 480p) upscaling to full HD 1080p
• Supports Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio
• iPod compatibility via optional Yamaha YDS-10

From the Manufacturer
The Yamaha RX-V1800 is truly a high-end home theater receiver, introducing new technologies and features such as the latest HDMI 1.3a specification support, upscaling to 1080p, full support for high definition audio formats signals, Adaptive DRC and Adaptive DSP Level, and Network Receiver functions.

On-Screen Display with GUI

An on-screen GUI (Graphical User Interface) display makes operating the receiver easy and intuitive. It is compatible with iPod, internet radio, PC and USB displays. Access and control everything you need from a simple and easy-to-navigate interface.

Use the RX-V1800 as your portal to all your digital music

Improved Compressed Music Enhancer

Yamaha's Compressed Music Enhancer is a popular feature that restores the sound of the original music from digitally compressed formats such as MP3. This receiver offers an upgraded version that processes multi-channel signals with a DSP algorithm, so all channels are enhanced, providing more accurate reproduction and more expansive sound. There are two modes: Straight Enhancer that enhances and outputs each input channel as-is, and 7ch Enhancer that downmixes the input channels to 2-channel and then outputs them as X-channel stereo (X being the number of input channels).

Adaptive Dynamic Range Control

Adaptive DRC is a new volume control technology that is effective for low-volume listening, such as at night or with headphones. It applies DRC processing to eliminate the volume differences between loud commercials and ordinary programming and to take into account our ears' loss of sensitivity as volume decreases. The compensation is performed automatically, so all dialogue is heard clearly even at low levels, and there are no sudden loud bursts of sound.

HD Audio Format Signals Capability

This receiver lets users enjoy the best possible and newest surround sound from Blu-ray Disc players and HD-DVD players. It supports the two lossy formats--Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD High Resolution--as well as lossless formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

YPAO Sound Optimization and Pure Direct for Highest Sound Quality

Yamaha's YPAO Sound Optimization system analyzes the acoustics of the room and adjusts various speaker parameters to provide optimum sound quality at the listening position--in less than three minutes! A new Quick Start function displays the YPAO Auto Setup menu when the microphone jack is inserted, so Start can be immediately selected. Six YPAO settings can be memorized.

Pure Direct is a special receiver mode that causes the signal to bypass all but the most basic audio circuitry, and even turns off the display to prevent any chance of noise interference. It provides the purest possible high-fidelity sound from all sources including USB and HDMI inputs.

The RX-V1800 does full HD 1080p upconversion from a variety of sources

Full HD 1080p Video Upscaling and Deep Color (30/36-bit) Transmission

The HDMI 1.3a interface upgrades the transmission of standard, enhanced, and high-definition video signals via HDMI for higher-than-ever quality through a single cable. With four HDMI input terminals, users and connect a variety of high-definition sources such as Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD players and switch easily among them.

The receiver supports the latest HDMI 30- and 36-bit color depths, improved from the 24-bit depth of previous versions. This "Deep Color" allows the rendering of billions of colors for far greater accuracy. Colors are so vivid they seem to jump off the screen, with perfectly smooth tonal transitions and ultra-fine gradations between colors. It also enables many times more shades of gray, for higher contrast ratio.

Auto Lip-Sync Compensation

When video and audio signals are transferred via HDMI and the video shown on a display and the audio output by an AV receiver, the video delay time (time from signal input until it is seen) and the audio delay time (time from signal input until it is heard) are different, so the video and audio slip out of sync. The Auto Lip-Sync compensation function monitors the video delay time, and automatically adjusts the amount of audio delay to eliminate the difference, so you hear the dialogue just as the person is speaking.

Analog Video to HDMI Digital Video Upconversion

This is a function that converts analog signals from composite, S-Video or component terminals to output from higher quality HDMI digital video. This ensures the highest possible picture quality from the AV receiver to a monitor or TV via a single cable. It also performs down-conversion among component, S-Video and composite signals.

Control up to three zones throughout your home with ease

Network Capability Makes Your Yamaha a Portal to All Your Digital Music

Using network connection and Windows Media Player 11, the RX-V1800 lets you play MP3, WMA, and WAV music from a remote PC. You can also listen to any of the thousands of stations available on Internet radio via LAN. And the RX-V1800 provides even more listening options: it can function as a Client in Yamaha's MusicCAST home audio network, seamlessly integrating with the MCX-2000. A USB terminal on the front panel makes it convenient to play music from USB flash drives and portable USB audio players.

Superior Custom Zone Control

Users can enjoy audio in three rooms as well as video in the second room with an extensive array of Custom zone Control features. These include Main/Zone 2/Zone 3 power control, front panel selection of XM/FM/AM tuning, volume and input source, Zone 2 video output and on-screen menu display, and Zone 2/3 tone and L/R balance control for ceiling or wall-mounted speakers. A separate Zone Remote Unit is provided and there is also an RS-232C interface for a touch-panel controller.

Customer Reviews

Not for weak of heart
I was forced to upgrade to the Yamaha RXV 1800 earlier than planned as my older Yamaha model gave up the ghost. I was very pleased with the previous model which I had for over 10 years. This past November I had acquired the Samsung 52 LNTF and the Toshiba HD A35 player, with plans to upgrade the amplifier sometime this year. These are all HDMI 1.3a enabled devices, supporting true 1080p

First the amplifier is impressive in size. It is not your father's amp. It is feature rich and is intimidating for those who are technically challenged.

Since most of my components are HDMI enabled, it was good to run less cables from these to the unit. (My wife was very pleased with, this.) This is the beauty of HDMI cables, one cable carries the stereo audio and the three primary colors. This is the first gain to be realized from the system, the reduction of wires needed. The unit has 4 HDMI inputs already pre-programmed. By this, I mean each input has been configured for a particular device. There is one for 1080p DVD players (Blu Ray or Toshiba HD), one for regular DVD players, one for cable box/satellite set top box etc. Meaning you cannot criss cross the inputs with the devices and expect it to work. I discovered this the hard way.

Connecting the wires is less intimidating than originally thought. I used screw in banana plugs that made connection to the speakers a breeze. It does require one to have enough free wire to allow for slack when the unit is positioned.

There is a cool feature "YAPAO" that is used to set the sound levels for the speaker based on the listening position. The test showed me that one of my main left front speaker was out of phase (that is the rec wire from the speaker was connected to the black input port on the unit.) The trick is to be able to locate the supplied microphone in the right location to conduct the test.

The entire wiring with assistance from my wife took about an hour. Plan everything ahead and read the set up instructions. You cannot afford to short circuit such a monster of a unit.

I am still struggling with the multi-room zone controls. They are not simple. All I really want to do is to share the audio from the main zone to my bedroom which is zone 2. My previous model had an A/B switch that was easy enough to use. Just turn in on and the sound was distributed to my bedroom. I am still researching the multi-zone set up.

The remote control is not user-friendly either. It is overloaded and lacks in ease of use or human-tech friendliness. Others have recommended using the Harmony to control all other units. I struggled with the set up and was able to get it to control the TV, the DVD player and the CD player. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to get it to control the Cable set-top box.

The sound settings and offerings are too numerous to mention. Most of this you will only master over time.

Once I had it connected, I listened to some cds, watched a HD sourced movie, and HD sourced TV. I use Comcast and it have some nice HD on Demand features, especially the Gallery Player photos. The sound is awesome. It really makes a huge difference to the entertainment experience. It is hard to imagine how much you miss when you do not know what you are missing. I thought my previous sound experience was very good, the unit moved it up about two more levels.

Setting up the physical connections is not a challenge, less wires to deal with, but the programming and use of the remote will set you back many hours just trying to figure it out.

Am I pleased with my investment, very much so. So if you plan on purchasing this unit, realize it is no walk in the park, you do pay for what you get.

Great Receiver - Ready for the next gen in Home entertainment
So I buy this receiver after upgrading my TV 1080P Plasma(Samsung FPT-5084) and getting a 7.1 system installed into my ceiling. I originally had the Onkyo SRX-674 but was disappointed that its upconversion was really just a de-interlacer. Converting 480i to 480p. Also it ddnt have dolby true-hd decoding nor did it have dts-hd decoding. but I digress. So I looked at my options. I was looking to upgrade this 2 week old receiver FAST... I looked at the Onkyo TX-SR875 as an option but the $1399 price tag was a bit much. Lo and behold I look to the left and I see this receiver RX-V1800. I examined the options and almost everything was very comparable. 2 things to note this Receiver upscales to 1080P is it great - no, good - no, decent - yes. It also doesnt have the fancy THX certification But for a retail of $200 less I could deal with it. Also I was able to negotiate the deal down on this to $880 + tax (SOLD) - No brainer at that point. 4 HDMI 1.3a inputs 1 output... unprecedented at this price range and this is a repeater not pass through). I paired this with my Xbox (w/hd-dvd add-on) and my PS 3 (Bluray) and all I can say is WOW. Attach the microphone and have it auto calibrate your speakers and you are good to go! This receiver rocks! Halo 3 wouldnt have been the same without it!

So the bad... The receiver is somewhat complicated to work. The OSD (On screen display) and manual are not intuitive or really helpful. It took me a couple hours to get the receiver to recognize the proper audio output from my PS3... Probably Sony's fault!

Summary:
If you understand what I am talking about- you know what you are gonna get and you want these specs for the next gen in home entertainment. If you just need a receiver this would be a waste of your money (an extreme waste of your money).

Great Value, Awesome Receiver
This is a great home theatre receiver that is as future proof as you can get right now. Multiple HDMI inputs, outstanding sound qaulity, upconverts the quality of your inputs if you are still using things like a VCR. The automatic speaker calibration program is nice. If you are true high end tech expert, you will probably want to tweak the values (which this allows you to do), if you more of a person who wants a great home theatre experience without the hassle of fine tuning every aspect, this receiver is for you. Yamaha quality is outstanding. I finally upgraded my last Yamaha receiver after 11 years...and it still runs fine. The listening modes of the receiver are neat, you will probably be able to figure out a few of them you like and will not use the rest. But with 20+ to choose from, you have options. This receiver has Yamaha's ability to use extra front presence or extra rear surround speakers which do enhance the quality of the sound on movies. The only drawback to this receiver is that it does so many things, that you can almost become overwhelmed reading through the book. This receiver is a steal if you can get for under $1000 from an authorized Yamaha dealer (all of the places Amazon uses to sell this are authorized). If you call on the phone the stores Amazon sells this product through, you can probably get a better price. Yamaha doesn't have near as many issues with quality or non-functionality that some of the other competitors have.