Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha RX-397 100 Watt Natural Sound AM/FM Stereo Receiver

My not so old (10y) old Technics receiver gave out suddenly, and I needed a replacement with a phonograph input and would work with two old Dynaco speakers. The Yamaha seemed a modest unit at a modest price which filled the bill. I works OK, although I find the setup for station presets is awkward, and the tone quality is not as full bodied as with the Technics. (I play mostly classical music, instrumental and vocal.) Also, it seems to me that the sound of speech doesn't have the clarity desired---distortion present?.
I'm modestly satisfied with my purchase, but not impressed. These kinds of stereo receivers seem to be going out of style in favor of fancier ones to be used with video and surround sound (with no phono input).

Inputs at rear are confusingly labeled (except for "phonograph," of all things). No one but me will know what turns on what, and I can't get everything to work. Had to plug in my TV to "Aux"; nothing works for audio cassette deck. The manual is badly written and even worse organized---disgracefully so---which makes it wholly unhelpful. The remote turns the receiver on, but not off (quality control, anyone?). I've owned some twenty receivers in my life... this is the only one where neither labeling nor manual helps at all and where intuition avails not. I'm not sure where the high reviews come from, but get something else.