Yamaha RX-V565BL

Yamaha RX-V565BL

Yamaha is unique among home audio manufacturers in that its prepackaged home theater systems include the same AV receivers that are offered as standalone units. We received the Yamaha YHT-791BL home theater system for review and were impressed with the included RX-V565BL AV receiver (the included receiver is technically called the HTR-6250BL, but it's identical to the RX-V565BL) compared to other home-theater-in-a-box systems, but we also wanted to see how it compared to other standalone AV receivers. On its own, the Yamaha RX-V565BL wasn't as impressive. Yes, it has four HDMI inputs and plenty of analog video connections, but the RX-V565BL lacks the ability to assign inputs, which limits its flexibility. It also has the ability to upconvert analog video signals to 1080p over its HDMI output, but the quality of the video is poor enough that you're better off running a separate cable. Finally, the RX-V565BL's sound quality was acceptable, but we've certainly heard better at this price level. While the RX-V565BL offers a solid value as part of the larger YHT-791BL system, the receiver doesn't stack up as well when compared to other standalone receivers in its price range.