Yamaha RX-V475 Pro Reviews

Reading back over everything I’ve just written, the RX-V475 almost comes across as an iffy purchase, and when you consider the lack of substantial updates (if you’re not MHL equipped), combined with my setup woes, it may well be for some people. And yet, I keep coming back to the fact that, for a $450 receiver, Yamaha’s new next-to-bottom-of-the-line offering actually sounds really excellent. I haven’t had a chance to hear Denon’s new $499 IN-Command AVR-X1000, which for fifty bucks more adds Audyssey’s more advanced MultEQ XT room correction system (quite an oddity at that price point), not to mention additional zone outputs, Spotify, and a much more user-friendly back panel. That AVR raises the bar on value this year, but only if the sound quality is there to back it up, something I can’t comment on just yet. But taken on its own, the Yamaha RX-V475 really does deliver on the sound side of things in a way that few receivers at this price point do. So if you’re on a sub-$500 budget and audio performance is your only concern, if streaming features are inconsequential, if five channels of amplification are enough and your speakers don’t present particularly demanding loads, and if you’re willing to put a bit of work into the setup (via some very rudimentary UI screens), the RX-V475 really should be on your short list of receivers to audition.

The main reason you'd opt for the Yamaha RX-V475 over other $400 receivers is sound quality as shown in its performance in our listening tests, but for most buyers that won't make enough of a real-world difference to outweigh its other shortcomings. The Yamaha doesn't have any deal-breaking flaws, but unless you get it at a discount, the alternatives will likely offer a better value.