Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha HTR-6140BL 525 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

Since the time of my review, there are only two reviews, a 5 star and a 2 star, the 2 star being based on a supposed bad remote and manual. I thought I had to set things straight. I've owned many other brand receivers and both Yamahas I've owned are great. The sound quality is excellent and the only problem I might see with someone not liking the manual is that Yamaha has so many features and options it might scare away the type of person that likes to use it out of the box without barely any set up. As for the remote I see no problem with it... it's attractive, functional, all features on it work so I don't understand what's not to like. Sound quality and construction of the unit are also superior. After having other receivers in the past that burnt due to overheating and had a dry, radio like sound, I think I'll stick with Yamaha from now on. Their "music enhancement" setting makes all sound including voice sound so incredibly warm and rich that I use this setting for everything and prefer it to any other setting. Yamaha receivers are also extremely low distortion. You will be very plesantly surprised with this receiver as long as you can follow instrucions and read a manual, even if you don't like doing this, the pay-off is worth the initial effort.

I have been shopping for receivers for several weeks, and based on reviews was torn between Yamaha and Onkyo. My price point was sub 300. Well circumstances arose that I had this receiver and a Yamaha 5.1 speaker setup given to me. This is my first serious HT component, but I am tech savvy, and I found this manual difficult to follow, am actually still sifting through it all. My first comment is how pleased I am that this unit passes audio via HDMI, at this price level only the Sony 820 does that. While it doesn't upscale, the signal from my directv and hd dvd player have outstanding reproduction via HDMI. There are many sound field options and the microphone optimizer for the surround is a good start point for setup. Sub woofer options are awesome, I think there is 6 or 7 crossover settings. Sound is rich, not tinny, even when playing music from the ipod dock. I have a 12x18 viewing room and this system is pure overkill, I love it. This is a great intro unit that has everything but DTS Master.

I'm an above-average intelligence 61 year old guy, who started using computers in '81. I felt pretty frustrated at times trying to find my way through all the options and contingencies of different set-ups, much like reading/learning MS-DOS in the 80's. I didn't have a teenager to do it for me, so it took a while to figure out a few things. But the reward was there: this Yamaha receiver is a beautiful system-center, and the sound quality meets all my needs for my small 2-person home's "home theater". The Amazon price was right, and it arrived here in Hawaii in less than two weeks after I ordered it with free shipping! There's a few minor things I haven't figured out (it's been a month now)in the control options, but I'm very satisfied, given that there are many capabilities waiting for me if I ever change or move my system. If you're not a techie, invite a friend who is over for a non-alcoholic dinner to help you hook it up and operate it, or you'll be very frustrated.

I read the other reviews before purchasing. The only negative was a complicated setup and manual. They were right! But after the setup it works great! I also saved a lot of money by buying a demo model and their shipping and delivery time was great too. I have an older HDTV so the HDMI was useless, but I figured out a way with my existing optic cables by changing the input names to allow the video to go through the optic outputs.

I connected this device with a set of JBL speakers and subwoofer, a Sony DVD and Optoma Projector. Works perfectly through the HDMI connections. I find it an excellent choice for the price, you dont really need a 7.1 system specially if the room is not that big, I can't get it past half the volume because my windows star to shake.
The reason why I didn't gave the fifth star it's because the grill came with a dent, being a refurbished device you cannot argue about it, but it was easy to fix by the manufacturer.