A review - Yamaha RX V371 paired with Yamaha NS 8390

[RetinalNV]

Hey thanks for this. I will read it again in detail as Im looking at similar gear

The RX-V371 is called the HTR-3064 in my neck of the woods and I am very keen on making the purchase. It will cost me about 15k INR for the AVR or about 21k as a HTiB bundled with a 5.1 speaker system (NS-B20, NSC20 and NS-SW20 sub).

YHT-296 HTiB Owners Manual

 

[balaji.ananth]

This was indeed a great review especially for newbies like me.

@ RetinalNV - The price of Rs.21,000 that you are getting for YHT 296 seems very tempting, is this a dealer or online price? I am interested in buying one at this price too.

 

[pupupuchi28]

Do you mean you will get HTR 3064 at 15K in New Zealand (converted to Indian rupees) or in India?

Although in terms of specifications, they are same but HTR 3064 is not sold stand alone. It comes as a HTIB with cheap speakers, from where Yamaha makes money. Though you will get to purchase the receiver individually in lot of retails in India. Also note that the HTIB speakers are typically weak and you will soon realise a need to upgrade them (specially given the choise you made). Yamaha is ready to give you 5 speakers and a sub too at additional Re 5K, what else would you expect from it.

 

[RetinalNV]

Hi pupuchi!

The RX v371 is available standalone to me. The price being quoted are Australia/NZ. Not INR (typically markup 30-40% taxes)

My option is a Pioneer. Im unable to audition this. I believe while Yamaha is great with their higher end stuff the entry level products dont hit the mark. That being said, no complaints. I cant imagine getting an HTIB in this price when logitech etc command such high $ for their "boom boxes"

Anyway thanks for you input and enjoy!

 

[RetinalNV]

@ RetinalNV - The price of Rs.21,000 that you are getting for YHT 296 seems very tempting, is this a dealer or online price? I am interested in buying one at this price too.

Sorry. I'm oversea's and these are end of year clearance sales. India the taxes/duty ensures that consumers are forced to dig deeper in their pockets

 

[rahman naveed]

Hello, Congratulations on buying the amp that is suiting your needs perfectly. And a big thank you because your review helped me in taking a decision finally. Since last two weeks I was searching for an amp which can create a wonderful 5.1 surround effect and at the same time plays songs to the best of quality. My budget is around 20-25k and this amp fits just right. I will start browsing for sellers in Hyderabad.

Thanks again, U did a big help. Enjoy the sound.

 

[baijuxavior]

Stretch your budget a little and buy 471 instead of 371. Also consider denon 1612.

 

[isoton]

Hello PuPuPuChi28

You are good in explaining things Elaborately.

Can try a profession in writting Audio/Video magazine .

Regards,

 

[pupupuchi28]

Hello, Congratulations on buying the amp that is suiting your needs perfectly. And a big thank you because your review helped me in taking a decision finally. Since last two weeks I was searching for an amp which can create a wonderful 5.1 surround effect and at the same time plays songs to the best of quality. My budget is around 20-25k and this amp fits just right. I will start browsing for sellers in Hyderabad.

Thanks again, U did a big help. Enjoy the sound.

Thank's buddy. Couple of things to note is, it will play good music if paired with good speakers and some tweaks are made to set-up, but dont expect it to be at par to a dedicated stereo amp.
For movies, since last night, I have watched three movies till now and oh boy, with every day I'm just loving it. I was amazed to hear some of the 'crystal' sounds in Ra-one.
You can go for RX V471 if you want GUI, slightly higher power per channel and usb port. All other features are the same.

 

[pupupuchi28]

Hello PuPuPuChi28

You are good in explaining things Elaborately.

Can try a profession in writting Audio/Video magazine .

Regards,

Thanks. I would have considered your suggested profession, only if I ws an engineer

 

[PhaniKumar]

Hi Papupuchi....

Congrats on your purchase...
Iam already having an Yamaha HTib 3064 which AVR is same as v371...
As you said Iam not satisified with the speakers.. they are really crappy...
so Iam planning to just change the front two speakers with new ones (May be floor stands)
Any advice on that would be really helpful as i have a very basic knowledge on these things...
As it is htib i already sub and surrounds. I just want to change front two speakers so that i need not again spend a lot of money...

Thanks in advance

 

[pupupuchi28]

First decide what you expect from the 'modified' set-up or what is lacking in your current set-up as per you, the budget (if it is split across years). After that, things should be fairly easy to suggest.
There are not too many floor stands below 20k, just FYI.

 

[jbnpaul]

I am planning to buy one of the below configurations for 5.0 setup @Hyderabad.

1.
NS8900
NSP8900

2.
NS- 8390
NSP-60

AVR
RX-V371

I already auditioned the above speakers, they sounded good enough.
I am no audiophile and my usage will include 99% movies. (The 1% i will play some songs to hear how the setup sounds with music and that will be it.)

My current budget is 40k for the setup.

Also heard Onkyo 3400 etc, but some how felt the floor standers are better (May be they look bigger and I am no audiophile)

I expect the speakers and the amp will pair well since they are from same brand.
I tried calling usk and their quote sounded like more than MRP to me. I demoed them at hyper city and reliance digital and in fact they offered much better first quote than Yamaha dealer, I am yet to discuss best price.

If anyone have bought these recently i could use some help to figure out the best price.
Suggestions are welcome ...

 

[pupupuchi28]

I am planning to buy one of the below configurations for 5.0 setup @Hyderabad.

1.
NS8900
NSP8900

2.
NS- 8390
NSP-60

AVR
RX-V371

I already auditioned the above speakers, they sounded good enough.
I am no audiophile and my usage will include 99% movies. (The 1% i will play some songs to hear how the setup sounds with music and that will be it.)

My current budget is 40k for the setup.

Also heard Onkyo 3400 etc, but some how felt the floor standers are better (May be they look bigger and I am no audiophile)

I expect the speakers and the amp will pair well since they are from same brand.
I tried calling usk and their quote sounded like more than MRP to me. I demoed them at hyper city and reliance digital and in fact they offered much better first quote than Yamaha dealer, I am yet to discuss best price.

If anyone have bought these recently i could use some help to figure out the best price.
Suggestions are welcome ...

Personally I didn't like 8900s. They sounded shrill to be. But your preference may differ, again personal choice matters. But both these speakers can be blindly paired with any Yamaha amp. They marry very well.

I personally would not go for the surround packages you have mentioned. All of them sounded bogus to me and specially the center channels were weak. I'm planning to get Yamaha NS C444 (@ 8400 by technoguruindia.in). Its power packed and sounds amazing when compared with center channels from other companies, even 1.5x more than its price.

"May be they look bigger and I am no audiophile" - Bigger does not necessarily mean good sound. But yes these bigger bass drivers (8") of 8390 help it reach 35k without strain not compromising on the mid, drastically. Trust me, for a moderate (12' x 15') sized room you will not need a sub with these towers.

Price in usk for 8390s seems too exciting for a pair. Check if the price mentioned is for a piece.

AVR - There are several entry level yamaha AVRs on sale in olx/quickr. Check them out if you are comfortable with seconds. Should save you some money for the rears.

My take for a 40k budget: AVR 3064 (@17-18k) in Hypercity + 8390 for 14k @ hypercity (I purchased it for 12800 may be prices have increased. 8900 will cost higher by 4k) + NS C444 Rs 8400 + Accumulate some money for decent book shelve speaker as rears (cambridge audio S30 is a VFM @ 9500). Or Search olx/quick for old Sony/other 'powerhouse' systems which are available for 2-5k. Throw the machine use the speaker.

You can also checkout Wharfedale Vardus @ 17k, Mission 33i @ 17k but both these have a different sound quality/tone etc. Also you will have to consider on what the center and surrounds will be pairing the fronts.

Keep us posted on your final purchase.

 

[jbnpaul]

I personally would not go for the surround packages you have mentioned. All of them sounded bogus to me and specially the center channels were weak.

Same is the case with other surround packages i have heard in this price range which (5-7k). The ones i liked sounded much better but costs 2x or 3x.
I feel the Yamaha ones are much cheaper and discarding them for a future upgrade will be less painful.

Price in usk for 8390s seems too exciting for a pair. Check if the price mentioned is for a piece.

They are for piece. The initial quotes over phone were sky high. Not sure if a trip to their show room will make a difference. Going over the prices on this thread i understand i am getting a comparable deal else where. Reliance digital and Hyper city sells these models.

My take for a 40k budget: AVR 3064 (@17-18k) in Hypercity + 8390 for 14k @ hypercity (I purchased it for 12800 may be prices have increased. 8900 will cost higher by 4k)

Yes i will take a closer look today. AVR 3064 is same as RX-V371 as per Yamaha India website.

You can also checkout Wharfedale Vardus @ 17k, Mission 33i @ 17k but both these have a different sound quality/tone etc. Also you will have to consider on what the center and surrounds will be pairing the fronts.

matching pairs were costly with this combo. Preferred the Yamaha ones ... esp the NSP-60. Also I felt the combo sounded dull without a sub woofer for the movies. The Yamaha sounded quite good without a sub, at least until the upgrade strikes.

Keep us posted on your final purchase.

Yes I will.

 

[pupupuchi28]

Same is the case with other surround packages i have heard in this price range which (5-7k). The ones i liked sounded much better but costs 2x or 3x.

Yes i will take a closer look today. AVR 3064 is same as RX-V371 as per Yamaha India website.

at least until the upgrade strikes.

Its better to get decent / good center when your pocket permits rather than buy these and repent later and then spend additional money on better ones. Just my perspective.

Technically 3064 and 371 are the same but 3064 is part of the package which includes 3064 + 8390/8900 + sub + cheap surrounds. If sold individually then I'm not sure if the warranty would be valid. Though you will find 3064 being sold individually in lot of places.

Upgrade: If you are hit by upgrade bug very soon then you will loose at least 50% on mrp for Yamaha speakers. Not many people prefer this brand for speakers. I have applied mortien as a shield to restrict 'upgrade bug' in my brain.

 

[pupupuchi28]

After long time I managed to upload a video of the system. Please go through the description to get an understanding of the settings. Please watch it in 360p to get the correct impression. 240p hampers the sound quality.

Yamaha NS 8390 - YouTube

 

[Acrossblues]

Hi pupupuchi28,

Thanks very much for the post which is more than a year old now and is helping me decide even today. I'm yet to come across such detailed review. Boy oh boy... that was one heck of a review.

Just to introduce myself, I am an absolute novice in Hi-end Home theatre systems. I've always been the Phillips & Sony guy but have always been passionate about owning a good..perhaps a great music system. Bose is of course the dream

Recently, I had visited a Yamaha store to check out a deal for myself. The prices, I must admit are quite steep (at least for me) and will hurt my purse a big time but found their stuff amazing.
The guy there has suggested a combination of the following:

RX-V471 - Amplifiers - RX-V371 is also a good buy .. i guess
NS-8390 - Floor standing speakers
YST-SW215 - Subwoofer
Center & 2 Rear speakers (sorry, unable to recollect the model no. at this moment)

Any Center & rear speakers of Yamaha which you may want to suggest please.

Are the above a fairly decent combination?
I am also looking for Onkyo and Denon.

Kind Regards...

 

[pupupuchi28]

I'm glad that you like the post. Thank you.

Your budget please, taste of music, room size, movies to music proportion etc.

Difference between 471 and 371 is 471 has additional 5 watts/channel power, Graphical user interface and a USB connectivity option for marginal price of Rs 4k. Decide if you need these additional features.

NS8390 - They are no the best speakers you will come accross in the market but certainly the best given the price point. There is no other floor stand in the market @ 13k which has such wide frequency delivery range and sounds good. The next level of Floor stands are from 17K but they will not reach as low (low frequency) as the 8390 does. If you can extend your budget then from 20k there are other options (Polk, Wharfedale 10.2 (BS), Wharfedale Vardus, Mission m33i etc) but then again we are talking about 40% more price compared to 8390. I'm very satisfied with 8390. There is another school of thought who would suggest you for bookshelves, but BS do no deliver good lows like FS, additionally you should but good stands. Unless you are using the HT setup to listen to a lot of music, floor stands would be waste. Get four 'good' bookshelves and a subwoofer. Wharfedale 10.2 is my favourite @ 20K\pair, Morduant Aviano 1 and 2 followed by Polk, Tannoy Mercury series. You will have to listen to understand what you like. I can only direct you to the option that are available.

Yamaha YST215 is strong enough for a mid sized room. other option is Polk, for the same price range. If you get floor stands then first see if you need a sub at all for your room size. I dont use a sub and my FS are good for a 20' x 12' hall. I will build one only to get the 20-35hz range which my FS is not capable of.

Centre and Surrounds : All yamaha budget surrounds sound absolute crap (to me). For centre I'm getting Yamaha NS C444 (8.5K), then I will look for surrounds from other brands. Ideally the front imaging should be from the same brand. The best is to have all speakers from the same brands and same series, say four wharfedale 10.2 for front (left/right) and surround (left/right) and center channel from wharfedale.

For movies - Onkyo AVR and Yamaha AVRs are good.
For music - Denon AVRs are good followed by Yamaha.
Denon & Onkyo do not have 'good' speakers series. All three have Home-theatre-in-a-box (HTiB) starting 25k, but their satelite speakers are no match to any cheapest floor stand / bookshelves.

Whatever you do first listen to the system with your own ears and then decide what you like.

 

[Acrossblues]

Thanks again for your response !!

--> Budget : 45k ~ 60K (Started with 15k... but after going through various options, I guess I would bee fool to have a budget below 45~50K to have the complete HT system setup but also like to have a ceiling of 60K). It will be a one time investment for me. Not sure when will I be able to upgrade the setup.

--> Taste of music : All genre of music except hard rock (Rock, Blues, Mozart, Beethoven, Rabindra sangeet to Rap (fan of Eminem), Old Hindi melodies etc

--> Room size: ~ 15' X 20' Hall.

--> Movies : Music proportion: 30:70

-------------------------------------------
On my second visit to the store....I've also liked NS-F8900

Hence the current config stands as
RX-V471 - Amplifiers (27k)
NS-F8900 - Floor standing speakers (19k)
NS-P8900 - Center/Surround (5k)(Not very convinced though with the audition. i would prefer clear and crisp vocal )
YST-SW215 - Subwoofer (12K) (Thinking of Polkaudio... perhaps)

Does the quotes mentioned seem fine or slightly on the higher side.


Is NS C444 a package of center and 2 rear surround or jsut center?. From model no. it seems to be just the center.

So now I'm confused about the center&surround and the Sub.

Though I'm not sure where can I audition Polk, Wharfedale or any of the other brands that you've mentioned in Bangalore.

Also, I was wodering if I plan to buy different speaker of different brand, I may end up paying higher as compared to buying of a single brand. Hence, was thinking of only buying the sub from eslewhereWhat would you Suggest?
AVR & FS - Yamaha
Center/rear- Yamaha or do you suggest a different brand since you personally do not like Yamaha Centers?
Sub - May be Yamaha, Polk or Wharfdale

Thanks in advance for your time spent in explaining me