Yamaha Upgrades Its Lineup Of Receivers
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 4/5/2004
BUENA PARK, CALIF.— Four new receivers due in April from Yamaha will reduce the company's opening price point for units with 6.1-channel decoders, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, second-zone capability and S-video up-conversion.
With these introductions, all receivers in Yamaha's 2004 line automatically delay a video program's audio to match the video delay caused by video processors, said national training manager Phil Shea.
At the $499- and $599-suggested price points, the company for the first time will offer an automatic setup process for selecting speaker size, delay, level and phase settings. That feature was previously available at prices starting at $799. At $799, the automatic setup process expands to include automatic digital-parametric equalization to compensate for room-induced response errors at seven points in the audible frequency range.
In the RX-V450 at a suggested $299, Yamaha offers Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES 6.1-channel decoding, Dolby Pro Logic IIx and HDTV-compatible 60MHz component-video ins and outs.
At $399, Yamaha adds S-video up-conversion, aluminum front panel instead of plastic front panel, and second-zone line-out for audio. At $499, Yamaha adds powered second-zone output.
The $299 and $399 models feature six-channel amp, and the $499 and $599 models feature seven-channel amp.
Previously, EX/ES started at $499; S-video up-conversion started at $499; and HD-compatible component ins and outs started at $399.
