Yamaha HTR-6180BL 735 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver (Discontinued by Manufacturer) Review

From the Manufacturer

Yamaha’s new 735-Watt 7.1-Channel HTR-6180 Home Theater Receiver offers full support for HD audio formats and ensures maximum enjoyment of all high-definition sources. Other exciting features include full HD 1080p video upscaling with 3 HDMI inputs, an HD Radio™ tuner, as well as exclusive Yamaha features such as Pure Direct, YPAO sound optimization and four SCENE buttons.

Multiple inputs make the HTR-6180 your home theater hub View Larger

Full Support and Pure Direct for High Definition Sources
The HTR-6180 lets you enjoy the best possible and newest surround sound from Blu-ray Disc players and HD-DVD players. It supports the two lossy formats–Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD High Resolution–as well as lossless formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Pure Direct is a special receiver mode that causes the signal to bypass all but the most basic audio circuitry, and even turns off the display to prevent any chance of noise interference. It provides the purest possible high-fidelity sound from all sources including USB and HDMI inputs.

Pure Direct mode provides outstanding high-fidelity sound by bypassing receiver components that can potentially cause interference

The HTR-6180 does full HD 1080p upscaling from a variety of sources

CINEMA DSP Digital for Enhanced Surround Realism
Conventional multichannel audio reproduction systems base their sound on Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, using matrix and steering technologies to create surround sound effects. Yamaha CINEMA DSP is much more advanced, actually creating richly realized independent sound fields that envelop you in an unmatched surround sound experience. With dialogue, music and effects ideally located in these separate sound fields, you will hear sound with accurate placement, smooth movement, exceptional clarity and richness, and startlingly realistic presence. It will seem as if the walls of your room have disappeared and you are in the middle of your own immense theater. The decoding circuitry performs Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-ES (DTS-ES Matrix 6.1 and DTS-ES Discrete 6.1), DTS Neo:6 and DTS 96/24 decoding with extreme accuracy, as well as all digital sound field processing.

When volume is low, CINEMA DSP effects may be difficult to hear. Adaptive DSP Level overcomes this problem by evaluating the difference between the volume level and a reference level, and adjusting the DSP level to ensure optimum effectiveness–that is, the best possible sound.

Full HD 1080p Video Upscaling and Deep Color (30/36-bit) Transmission
The HDMI 1.3a interface upgrades the transmission of standard, enhanced, and high-definition video signals via HDMI for higher-than-ever quality through a single cable. With three HDMI input terminals, you can connect a variety of high-definition sources such as Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD players and switch easily among them.

The HTR-6180 supports the latest HDMI 30- and 36-bit color depths, improved from the 24-bit depth of previous versions. This “Deep Color” allows the rendering of billions of colors for far greater accuracy. Colors are so vivid they seem to jump off the screen, with perfectly smooth tonal transitions and ultra-fine gradations between colors. It also enables many times more shades of gray, for higher contrast ratio.

The HTR-6180 is built with the highest quality components available, such as custom block capacitors, Burr-Brown DACs and ADCs, and Schottky barrier diodes

Refresh your MP3s with the Compressed Music Enhancer

Analog Video to HDMI Digital Video Upconversion
This is a function that converts analog signals from composite, S-Video or component terminals to output from higher quality HDMI digital video. This ensures the highest possible picture quality from the AV receiver to a monitor or TV via a single cable. It also performs down-conversion among component, S-Video and composite signals.

Auto Lip-Sync Compensation Keeps Your Experience On Track
When video and audio signals are transferred via HDMI and the video is shown on a display and the audio output is performed by an A/V receiver, the video delay time (time from signal input until it is seen) and the audio delay time (time from signal input until it is heard) are different. This can result in the video and audio slipping out of sync. The Auto Lip-Sync compensation function monitors the video delay time, and automatically adjusts the amount of audio delay to eliminate the difference, so you always hear the dialogue just as the person is speaking.

SILENT CINEMA and Virtual CINEMA DSP
SILENT CINEMA makes it possible to hear large-scale surround sound through ordinary headphones. This is a variation of CINEMA DSP technology that Yamaha developed to let you listen in private to movies and other multi-channel sources for hours without listening fatigue. Virtual CINEMA DSP lets you enjoy the effects of CINEMA DSP surround sound without using surround speakers, perfect for use in custom installations where some rooms don’t have surround speakers. It can be used with the front/center/presence speakers, or even with just the two front left and right speakers.

Digital ToP-ART Philosophy Brings You Superior Receiver Technology
Digital ToP-ART (Total Purity Audio Reproduction Technology) is the name Yamaha has given to a design philosophy whose goal is to maximize digital quality while minimizing analog circuitry. The culmination of Yamaha’s long experience in digital engineering and design, it brings together several key elements to create the best-sounding A/V components available on the market. These include 12,000uF custom-made block capacitors, high-grade Burr-Brown DAC and ADC units, Schottky barrier diodes for high signal-to-noise ratios, as well as other high quality audio-grade parts. The RC-V863 also has an all-channel discrete amplifier configuration. Its amplification circuitry achieves high-current power with low impedance for superior amplifier performance.

Next-Gen Connectivity and Flexibility
In addition to great video and sound quality, the HTR-6180 lets you bring music from multiple next-generation sources into your home. It is HD Radio ready, offering you crystal-clear, CD-quality sound via existing AM/FM radio bands. In addition, it gives you program-associated data and the ability to tune to multiple programs at the same dial position. Over 2,500 radio stations are in the fast lane upgrading to HD Radio broadcasting to reach 95% of America’s population, and more than 230 stations are on-air now.

The HTR-6180 is also compatible with Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. This Sirius-Ready receiver lets you access your favorite SIRIUS Satellite Radio entertainment, including 100% commercial-free music, plus sports, uncensored talk, comedy, exclusive entertainment, world-class news and more, directly through your audio system with the use of an optional SIRIUS ConnectT Home Tuner kit. With an optional XM tuner, you can hear over 150 digital channels of music, news, sports, talk and entertainment. And now with XM HD Surround, you can tune into XM stations with six discrete channels of digital full-fidelity audio powered by Neural Audio technology.

You can even bring your own tunes to the HTR-6180. It is equipped to use Yamaha’s optional YBA-10 Bluetooth Wireless Audio Receiver, giving you the flexibility to stream music from Bluetooth enabled mobile phones, portable devices and even your personal computer. The optional YDS-10 Universal iPod Dock connects the HTR-6180 to all versions of Apple’s iPod, giving you the power to navigate and play via an onscreen menu.

Optional docks for your iPod or Bluetooth phone set your music free

Improved YPAO for Hassle-Free Configuration
Yamaha’s YPAO Sound Optimization system analyzes the acoustics of the room and adjusts various speaker parameters to provide optimum sound quality at the listening position–all in less than three minutes. Yamaha’s YPAO system uses a small microphone and sophisticated equalization to automatically set the best sound for any room, no matter where the speakers are. First it checks the speaker connections and phase of each speaker. Then it sends out tones which are captured by the microphone to analyze the room acoustics and sets a variety of parameters, such as the speaker size, the distance of the speakers and even the sound pressure level, etc. It does this until it achieves the best sound conditions for your room, and you don’t have to adjust a thing. The HTR-6180 has an improved YPAO system that automatically selects the crucial frequency bands for the listening room, and then adjusts the level of the selected bands to create a cohesive sound field in the room.

Compressed Music Enhancer Refreshes Your Music
Yamaha employs sophisticated digital signal processing with exclusive algorithms to enable playback that improves the performance of compressed music formats, including MP3 and WMA. With the Compressed Music Enhancer, highs and especially lows are richer and smoother, bringing music back to life to be as close to the original as possible.

Independent Zone 2 Operation for Second-Room Audio
You can enjoy sound in a separate room because the HTR-6180 provides Zone 2 audio output. Furthermore, Zone 2 power amplifier assignability and speaker terminals mean that Zone 2 can be fully independent with its own 2-channel power, while you still enjoy 5.1-channel sound in the main room.

SCENE – A New Level of Operating Ease
Four SCENE buttons make operating the HTR-6180 easier than ever. Pressing a single SCENE button automatically launches the multiple operations that initiate play of the source controlled by that button. They are initially set to default settings for DVD Viewing, Disc Listening, TV Viewing and Radio Listening. Other SCENE settings are also available, such as iPod Listening, XM Listening, TV Sports Viewing and Action Game Playing. Browsing and selecting the settings is quickly accomplished by rotating the Input knob and watching the on-screen display. The settings can be selected for one-time use, or they can replace the original default settings. The SCENE names can be changed also.

On-Screen Display with GUI Makes Navigation Easy
An on-screen GUI (Graphical User Interface) display makes operating the HTR-6180 easy and intuitive. It is compatible with iPod, internet radio, PC and USB displays. Access and control everything you need from a simple and easy-to-navigate interface.