Yamaha RX-V2065BL 7.2-channel home theater receiver

Get it together!

In this digital age we live in, you get your music from a lot of sources. You have your CDs in the living room, internet radio, satellite radio in the car, an iPod for working out to, and a handful of songs on your music phone. It's great to have such a wide array of audio at your disposal, but it can also be pretty inconvenient when the music source you want is not where you are. Well, at least it used to be. The RX-V2065BL from Yamaha makes simplifying your entire music library simple. And when we say entire, we're not kidding. First of all, this receiver features an ethernet port and DLNA certification to signify it will easily connect to your home network. This allows it to play MP3, WMA, or WAV files from up to 15 different PCs on your home network when used with Windows Media Connect ver. 2 or later. But it also gives you access to the full spectrum of internet radio stations as well as to Rhapsody music service (with a subscription). If hooked up to the internet, it can also serve as a client in the Yamaha MusicCast2 system. This lets it be controlled by the MCX-RC1000 Network Music Commander, and with three-zone output, this is a great way to add three clients to your system without adding three different players. But that's just the beginning. The RXV2065 has plenty of connectivity options to connect to players of physical media sources like tapes, CDs, and albums. A built-in tuner for FM and AM radio stations can also receive HD radio signals. There is also a dock connector that allows you to add an additional dock for either an iPod or Bluetooth-enabled devices. They can even be linked together to enable both to work at once. Finally, a front USB port allows you to easily play files from USB flash drives or other sources with USB outputs. With the RX-V2065 network receiver from Yamaha, it's easy to get all your music sources together.

Lookin' good

Many receivers will only output displays received from external sources such as Blu-ray players or cable boxes. The RX-V2065 took an entirely different approach, though. It features a newly-improved GUI to allow you to easily navigate through the on-screen display. And it can even display album art when it's available from the source!

Expand your experience

One of the coolest features on some of today's high end receivers is the support for multi-zone, multi-source output. This allows you to listen to content in additional areas by running wires from your receiver there. The RX-V2065 is proud to offer three-zone, three-source audio output, with both powered and pre-amp connections for each zone. With this capability, you can watch a Blu-ray with full surround sound in your home theater while playing a CD in the kitchen and listening to internet radio from the deck. This allows you to greatly expand your listening experience without expanding the number of A/V components you have.

Connect this!

Your receiver wouldn't be very useful if it didn't have hook-ups for all your sources. So there are more than enough connections on the RX-V2065 for all your audio and video equipment. For starters, let's talk about HDMI. This cable is the lifeblood of modern home theaters, able to carry both Full HD 1080p video and uncompressed 7.1-channel audio simultaneously. There are four HDMI inputs on the back of the RXV2065 and an additional convenient input on the front. There are also two outputs on the back. All the HDMI hookups feature support for Deep Color (30 or 36-bit), x.v.Color, 120Hz/24Hz refresh rate, and Auto Lip Sync Compensation. But HDMI's just the beginning. There are two component video inputs and an output for slightly older video sources, as well as two optical and two coaxial digital audio inputs and an optical output for matching sound. Two composite video inputs and three composite audio inputs expand your connectivity options, along with the two other composite A/V sets (plus an additional set on the front for three sets total). There are also a set of composite A/V outputs as well as separate video and audio inputs. For 7.1-channel analog audio, there is an input set. To play your sound on surround systems, there are both pre-amp and powered (130W per channel) outputs. Each set has seven-channel output and then two subwoofer ports allow you to integrate one or two powered subwoofers with either set. There are also both pre-amp and powered outputs for two channels of sound in both zone two and zone three. An ethernet port opens up your networking options. There also inputs for both SIRIUS and XM satellite radio docks (sold separately). A separate dock connection allows you to purchase an additional dock for either an iPod or Bluetooth devices (or both). FM and AM antenna hookups allow you to get better radio reception. There's an isolated ground terminal. From a control standpoint, there is an input and an output for a remote. There are also two separate 12V trigger outputs, and finally an RS-232C port. A front USB port furthers your hook-up options. Wrapping up the cables is the detachable power cord. The sheer length of this paragraph should provide testament that there are plenty of ports for your home theater equipment.

Write A Review

Yamaha RX-V2065BL (August 17, 2010)

Ease of Use		(5/5.0)
Value		(5/5.0)
Performance		(5/5.0)
Overall Rating		(5/5.0)

Reviewed By: Bradley A Maycock - Gillette, WY

I have owned a number of receivers over the years and had not purchased a new one in over five years. I did not have enough inputs on the receivers I had to enjoy 5.1 surround sound with all my components, so I decided to upgrade.

Before I bought this receiver, I had to have an HDMI switcher since my old receiver did not have any HDMI inputs. For 5.1 surround, it only had two optical and two coaxial inputs. None of my components had coaxial outputs, so I had to pick and choose what I wanted to enjoy in surround sound. Between the Xbox 360, BluRay player, Satellite, and Playstation 3, I was a little frustrated.

When I installed this receiver, I was amazed at how much easier it was to hook up. All I had to do was plug each of my components in using HDMI cables and run one HDMI cable to my TV. I have a new LED TV and found that there was no effect on the quality of image. The surround sound was much more dramatic than my last receiver. I found it to be the easiest hook up I have ever done with a receiver. There was also a lot less clutter since all a person needs is some HDMI cables. It still takes a bit to hook up all the speakers, but it was no more difficult than on any other receiver I have used. With the on screen menus, it was quite easy to set up and rename all the inputs.

I was going to give it a 4 for value until I wrote this, and now I realize just how amazed I am by this unit. I highly recommend this receiver for anyone looking to upgrade. It is amazing.

Works as advertised (August 05, 2010)

Ease of Use		(4/5.0)
Value		(5/5.0)
Performance		(4/5.0)
Overall Rating		(4/5.0)

Reviewed By: Earl F. - Black Mountain, NC

All in all, this is a great receiver well worth the money that I spent for it at Vanns.com. Like all products, it has its strengths and its shortcomings.

You can read the specifications and see most of its strengths. One item that left me impressed is the sheer number of Internet radio stations and the excellent job they have done categorizing these stations. The downside is that Yamaha has selected the very lossy MP3 stream from some of these stations when much better fidelity streams are available. Using such an inferior audio data stream for a classy receiver with a good set of speakers makes little sense to me. The other NetRadio downside is there is no user configurabilty to add your own URLs.

The HDMI CEC works, but not as well as it should. I can, of course, control the receiver volume and mute through my TV. When I turn off my Samsung TV, the receiver goes off and this lets me use the TV sleep timer to turn off both devices. But, I cannot get the TV to turn on the receiver, nor the receiver to turn on the TV through the HDMI CEC interface. I cannot tell whether this is a Yamaha receiver or a Samsung TV shortcoming, but I do know that HDMI CEC should permit one device to turn on another and to select the appropriate input on the receiving device. HDMI CEC is available only through HDMI output 1 it is not available for HDMI output 2.

The FM receiver works, but I have not yet connected my Winegard HD6055P antenna to the receiver. I therefore have not yet tested digital FM. I couldnt receive anything on AM, but that may be my location.

While the specs tell you this, I was nonetheless surprised to find only 1 Toslink optical and 1 coax digital audio input. I guess multiples of these have been supplanted by the many HDMI inputs. Also gone is the ability to assign component, HDMI, and digital audio inputs as with previous receivers. Each of these now has its own input selection on the remote or the front panel.

I was disappointed to learn that I could not use the Zone 2 or 3 feature with anything but an analog input. Since all of my sources are digital, my plans for a Zone 2 had to be discarded.

The receiver is a DLNA client that lets me play music from my PC. It does not show pictures nor videos from my PC. The DLNA PC interface is rudimentary in that there is no way to create an on-the-fly temporary playlist. The Sony PS3 and DirecTV DVRs are much better DLNA clients.

The receiver was easy to get updated firmware directly from the web. But the receiver does not have a web interface Apache or whatever to let me adjust receiver settings from my computer browser. I guess Yamaha thinks that the on screen display is all we need. I disagree.

The onscreen display flashes a 1-second window when the receiver is muted or unmuted even in 720 and 1080 modes, which is very nice. Unmute also displays the current volume level, but not in the dBm levels displayed on the receiver front panel. It would be nice to have a configurable on screen display for the volume level when the receiver volume level is changed.

Remote control is a big problem. I have used universal remotes for years URC and Logitech Harmony. Unfortunately, the Yamaha remote sends different sets of IR codes for the up-down-left-right cursor and the OKEnter keys depending upon the mode of the receiverremote. There is one code set for NetRadio, another set for PC DLNA, another set for receiver menu navigation, and more IR code sets for USB, IPOD, XM, etc. Dont plan to use your universal remote control with this receiver for anything but the simplest functions and keep the Yamaha remote nearby.

I also had trouble with power onoff from my universal remotes. The Yamaha remote provides only a power toggle no onoff for main, zone 2, or zone 3. My URC universal remote had been previously programmed for another Yamaha receiver, and its power onoff buttons also worked on the RX-V2065. The power on sent an all on to the receiver, but I could not find a way to send only a main on or a zone 2 on, main off, zone 2 off, etc. The Logitech Harmony remote was of no help on this problem. I wound up using the Yamaha Scene function to turn the receiver on.

My DirecTV HR23 DVR caused significant audio dropout on my older Yamaha HTR-5860 receiver. Thats one reason that I upgraded. I am now hearing occasional very short audio glitches. I dont hear these glitches when I enable the TV speakers, which are driven from the TV HDMI input i.e., the same DirecTV digital audio signal. I am hoping that a future firmware upgrade fixes this problem.

While I have dwelt on problems and shortcomings, most of these will affect only power users. If you dont understand one or more of my complaining paragraphs, it most likely wont be a problem for you.

Awesome receiver (July 27, 2010)

Ease of Use		(5/5.0)
Value		(5/5.0)
Performance		(5/5.0)
Overall Rating		(5/5.0)

Reviewed By: Wayne G. - Fairmont, WV

The RX-V2065 provides awesome sound. I replaced a top end Harmon Kardon unit that blew up within the first year twice and the sound quality on this unit is far superior. Loaded with features, most of which I am still learning, this unit is perfect as the center piece to your audio video system. The surround sound seperation is awesome. I give this unit a solid 5.

Comparison Specifications

Processing decoding: Dolby TrueHD, Digital EX, Pro Logic IIx; dts-HD Master Audio, ES Discrete 6.1, 96/24, Neo:6; Neural Sound; XM HD
Output power: 130W x 7 channels (910W total)
5 HDMI upscaling inputs (1 on front); 2 HDMI outputs
Best audio connections: 2 digital optical inputs; 2 coaxial digital inputs; 1 digital optical output
7.1-channel audio input
2 component video inputs, 1 output; 5 composite video inputs (1 front), 2 outputs; 6 composite audio inputs (1 front), 4 outputs (2 for main zone, 1 for each additional zone)
27 different sound field modes, including music, movie, and gaming modes
Virtual CINEMA DSP for surround sound without surround speakers
Front USB port for plug and play connectivity
Includes remote control