Yamaha RX-N600 Digital Network-Ready Home Theater Receiver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have had this unit for about 2 weeks now. Sound is as good as anything in this price range. I was coming from a Sony 900 series receiver which was failing. This is my first Yamaha. No other manufacturers had networking capability that didn't cost 3 times as much. Plan on spending most of a day setting this up unless you do that kind of thing often.
Most of my comments center around the networking and USB functions because that's why I bought it, to perhaps eliminate my PC as a music source and go direct from this receiver. We'll, it kinda works... The remote is a bit of a sore spot too as with just a bit more functionality it could have been really good, I could have gotten down to one remote but unfortunately it does not control my cable set top box.
Strengths
*Works great with my Sony VCR, remote controls everything nicely.
*Ipod dock (an extra item purchased separately) seems to work very well. Does not play Ipod video though. Remote controls this too
*Nice remote, after you figure it out it is pretty logical. Controls 3 of my 4 components nicely.
*Internet radio is a real winner, seems to have jillions of stations arranged fairly logically by locale. It would be very difficult to duplicate this on your PC unless you enrolled in a pay service. Its like having a short wave radio.
Near misses
*Remote works great with my Sony DVD player, but make sure you have the side switch on "source" to control play, fast forward, etc. Otherwise you won't be able to move the cursor through DVD menus that appear in the movie menu and make choices on how the movie plays.
*If the Remote could just have a little learning it would be great. You won't know if it will control your unit until you try it out. The list of remote codes that Yamaha supplies is vague, does not list models just a bunch of codes for each manufacturer. You just have to try each one for your manufacturer and see if any work. Hit or miss.
*Net/USB did not work with my Creative Zen Nomad jukebox MP3 player, but did work with a Corsair Memory 2gb flash voyager stick. Go figure. I did notice recently that I can set my Zen to act as a mass storgae unit, and to be fair I have not tried that yet.
Weaknesses
*Network music does not work with Microsoft Media Player 11, only 10. I called Yamaha and they said Media Player 11 was not supported. The N600 does not connect reliably to the media library store, sometimes it works fine, sometimes it errors out or just shows an empty list. Very finicky. Media player 11 is in beta so beware, it will become mainsteam shortly and is not supported. I'm not sure if/how Yamaha will remedy this for me.
*Plays wave, WMA and MP3 but not Itunes
*Crude character interface display for the Net/USB functions, like looking at a pong game on an old IBM CGA PC. About as much functionality as a typical MP3 player, you have to scroll through a page at a time in everything. A pain in the neck if you have a large music collection
*Will not control my Motorola DCT700 Comcast cable box, I tried all the Motorola codes and Yamaha says that's all there is, if they don't work you are outta luck. I am.
*Remote has no learning capability.
*Limited inputs for other components, but enough for what I need
*Documentation is OK but the manual is all there is. There is no FAQ or deeper level of detail on their website or anywhere else that I could find. You have to call Yamaha and you will get a live person, but from what I found from 2 calls is they didn't know any more than the manual.
Conclusion: Would I buy this again? Probably not because the networking is so limited, and that was the main reason I selected this model. If you buy a good receiver and go with an attached high quality PC/soundcard you'd be better off.The Yamaha interface does not come anywhere close to the ease of use and nice presentation you get on any PC media player program. That's like comparing a typewriter to using a PC with Word. The USB feature is nice but could be a lot better if it supported more devices.

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The RX-N600 is the first Yamaha receiver to offer network receiver functions. Using network connection and Windows Media Connect ver.2 technology, it lets you play MP3, WMA and WAV music from a remote PC. You can also listen to any of the thousands of stations available on Internet radio.

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Monster HTS 1000 MKIII 8-Outlet Power Center with Clean Power Stage 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I received the Monster HTS 1000 MKIII from Amazon about a week ago, after losing my DVD player, VCR, Tivo, and Wii to a massive power surge. I was immediately surprised by the size and weight of the unit. It is quite large, weighing several pounds and measuring just over 16" long by 5" wide by 3" high when laying flat. It feels quite sturdy, made of what appears to be brushed aluminum and black plastic or thermoplastic. The cord is long (6 to 8 feet) and is of high quality (true rubber, not vinyl or shiny plastic).

Upon plugging it in for the first time, you'll notice that it seems to check itself and the power coming into it. There is a brief delay, where it measures the voltage and checks for ground - something I immediately found reassuring. There is a circuit breaker/reset button on one end, a jack for a remote cable on the other end. Monster has included labels for your various cords, so you know what you're unplugging, as well as a coaxial cable, a phone cable, and a remote cable to connect it to a receiver.

I haven't yet had the "opportunity" to test the unit as a surge protector - and I hope I never do. I purchased this as a sort of insurance policy that I hope I never use. But should a surge hit, Monster provides a $350,000 warranty covering properly connected equipment. Good enough for me.

This unit is one of the more expensive surge protectors out there, but it's less expensive than an insurance deductible, and it's certainly less expensive than replacing your electronics. A good buy by any estimate.

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NETGEAR Powerline AV Adapter with Ethernet Switch Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I picked up one of these along with the V101 in a combo package to run my Xbox 360 and DirecTV DVR downstairs from the cable modem and router in my upstairs office. I had been using wireless networking for the past several years but had issues with wireless failing from time to time and went through 3 routers over 3 years accordingly. Since the wired portion of the routers worked just fine at retirement in each case, I thought I'd give an alternative a try. I researched a few different brands and finally settled on Netgear's Powerline offering. I specifically went with the ones rated for 200Mb for HD streaming options.
I am very satisfied with the performance so far. The Windows Media Center functionality with my Xbox 360 is finally performing in a manner that I expected. With wireless I was getting VERY slow response in the Media Center menu but it operates much more smoothly with the Powerline adapter connected.
I ordered an additional adapter for a computer and DirecTV DVR in another room of my home and all 3 devices are operating well together with excellent connection speed. In addition, setup was completely simple. It was literally plug and play. No configuration required whatsoever.
I would definitely suggest this product line without reservation.

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Perfect for connecting HDTVs, Blu-ray players, DVRs, and game consoles to your home network and the Internet; Extends a high speed Internet connection to any power outlet1; Provides wired reliability with no new wires; Connects up to 4 devices

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Denon AVR3310CI 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The AVR 3310CI is loaded with nice features. Excellent sound quality, inputs for just about anything, and decent menus for setting up and using the receiver. The amplifiers give a very good quality sound, not as good as my MacIntosch system but not bad for the money. Construction is good and it runs fairly cool being it is in a somewhat enclosed area. Technical support is good in that there is little wait time when calling.
Now for the bad. I have now gone through 3 AVR 3310CI receivers trying to get one that works. I believe that most if not all of the issues I have are due to firmware problems as the hardware seems to work just fine. I would try to update the firmware but there are even problems with this function as it takes forever (many hours) and most of the time it will abort or hang in the middle of the download/update process so you have to try and try again. My first unit eventually got into a hang state in that it couldn't update the firmware and as a result the receiver just kept on trying with no success. During this time the other functions were not available. According to Denon there was no over the phone fix for this problem and suggested I either return it to the store and send it in for repair but that I am responsible for the shipping costs.
My second (and as of Saturday my 3rd unit) has two out-of-the-box issues. First is when connecting to Internet radio I get a "Please Wait" window. Sometimes this hangs the system and sometimes I can recover from it. On my recently installed unit this past weekend I immediately got this message and waited 15 minutes or longer and still no resolution. I turned off/on the unit and after a while the message went away and I was able to use the Internet function.
The second problem is when selecting the setup menu button. The menu comes up fine but within 5 seconds it starts to go dimmer and dimmer and to the point that you cannot see the menu on the TV screen anymore. This occurred with units number 2 and 3. I am afraid to do a firmware update due to the many problems that I had with the first unit and I was told that others had the same problem (even Denon admits to this and recommended to me NOT to perform updates).
I have spent many hours on the phone with the Denon Techies and they say to just send the unit back and they will repair it. However, I have to pay for the shipping costs (estimated at $50). I refuse do this on out-of-the-box problems. These are design problems and not normal failures.
So at this point in time I'm considering switching to a different model number and hope that it has a more stable design.
One other area is in regards to the search and general navigating capabilities on the Internet. Given the price of the AVR 3310CI this function could be a lot more sophisticated as the current function is pretty basic.

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The AVR-3310CI is a technological tour de force, designed for consumers wanting to network their AV system. Ethernet connectivity opens up your AV system to host of exciting capabilities like audio and jpeg photo streaming and Internet radio. Additionally, subscription music services like Rhapsody and Napster are supported. The AVR3310CI packs a punch with 7-channels of onboard amplification producing 840-watts of total power (120 per channel). The amplifiers can be assigned for 7.1 channel surround sound, or a 5.1 channel system in the 'main" room and power a pair of speakers in a second 'zone". This only scratches the surface of the AVR3310CI Multi-zone (3) / multi-source (3) capability. Enhanced power amp assign features, second and third zone programming feature allow the AVR3310 to be the hub of a sophisticated whole house system. For video connectivity, the AVR3310CI is equipped with 1080p compatible HDMI 1.3a Repeating technology, delivering both audio and video to your HDTV with single HDMI cable. This HDMI connectivity supports the latest generation surround sound formats available on Blu-ray disc, including Dolby TrueHD and DD+, dts-HD and dts-HR. Also included is Dolby Laboratories new Pro Logic IIz Matrix decoding featuring front height effects channels that expands front soundstage. The AVR3310CI boasts a number of Audyssey technologies. Advanced Audyssey MultEQ analyzes a speaker systems interaction with room acoustics, and then delivers custom tailored correction processing to optimize clarity and tonal balance throughout the listening space. Audyssey Dynamic Volume is an automatic volume-leveling system that tracks audio dynamics to eliminate the irritating volume swings between TV shows and commercials. Audyssey Dynamic EQ is also on board to ensure rich bass and smooth tonal balance at low volume listening levels.

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