Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha HTR-5950SL 6.1-Channel XM-Ready Digital Home Theater Receiver, Silver

I upgraded from a Denon AVR-1801 that gets pretty good reviews and this thing kills it. The amp is clearly stronger than my old one, and the sound is much better. For a reasonably priced amplifier, this thing is great. Especially the bass.

It also does component video switching. So all of my devices (Xbox 360, HD Cable box, etc.) run optical sound and component video through it and it switches between them with the remote. As far as I know, the Yamahas are the first series of amps to do this and have at least 3 component inputs for less than $1000.

The main thing that the more expensive version of this amp does is have a microphone that you place in the center of the room and it automatically sets up the speaker levels. For $100, I can do this myself.

For less than $300 this is an excellent amp with a good remote. All the AV features you'll need for home theatre use and not difficult to setup if you follow the manual. I'm no audiofile but unless you want to spend $1500 and up for fancy speakers systems this should be all you'll need. I have it hooked up to a set of JBL SCS180-S surround 6-1 speakers and sound is great...amp, speakers and cables for for a little over $500.

This is a great A/V receiver and an amazing bargain: it compares favorably with other units I looked at up to the $700 price range. The one feature it lacks, HDMI switching and up-conversion, is often problematic anyway, because the industry is in the middle of changing to the new 1.3 HDMI standard. In any case, the Yamaha does a fine job of component switching and composite to component conversion. The optional iPod dock works well (but it took me a while to figure out that it is necessary to switch the remote control from AMP to SOURCE using the side slide toggle before pressing the DISPLAY button to activate the on-screen display; except for this omission, the users' guide is pretty well written).

First of all, comparing to the price, it's a good product.

But,... there is no HDMI cable holes.

Honestly extra one more channel does not work that well even though listening to 6.1 channel dvd disc. Back middle channel is almost unnoticeable.
I decide to change into 7.1 product Onkyo one even though I haven't use Yahaha product more than 6 months yet. So sad about it. This is actually second Yamaha home theater receiver I had. First one came with the speaker package which was 5.1 channel. i liked it so I changed into same Yamaha 3 years after. Maybe this time I expected too much.


Also if the bass sound is high-for instance gun shot or monster noise or plain crash sound, the sub wuffer cannot stand the sound and begins to crack which means the base sound tone is not stable enough.

XM redio is not that usable since we have to pay 20 dollar and something a month. Who will pay for receiving radio program?

When listening to the radio, sound enhancer is a lot of help. It's powerful than 2 channel stereo. More bass and clear sound.

Ablove all, this product is in between professional and amateur product, I would say.


I still give it a 4 star because using the product is simple and comparing to the price, there are a lot of options in this product. It can be like a bridge going to home theater mania.

I bought this receiver specifically to replace a Sony 5.1 AV receiver I purchased just a few years ago. This is the second Yamaha receiver I have in my home now and the sound fields far surpass what Sony, Pioneer, or normal consumer brands offer. This unit performs video signal switching, allowing me to "upconvert" a few S-video connections to a component monitor output. This works well.

I noticed a large audio improvement after replacing my older Sony receiver when listening to DVDs. I also recommend the 6-channel audio mode for music.

This purchase should last me a few more years and again demonstrates the quality Yamaha brings to the AV market. I do recommend this receiver for the average home enthusiast.