Just wanted to share my thoughts on the new Yamaha Series 373 and 473.
I auditioned these at the Yamaha store in Mumbai. The purpose of the below text is to highlight some subtle differences in features.
While networking is supposed to be the only difference between a 373 and 473, there is a difference of playing FLAC files. While the 473 can handle these with ease, the 373 does not.
The 473 is capable of playing 24/96 FLAC files through USB input.
Another difference worth noting is that the 373 will allow you to connect the only the ipod through USB but the 473 will allow you to use the Ipad as well.
An annoying thing about connecting Ipad through USB is that the Ipad screen blanks out - so are left with the small display on the receiver itself !! Also if you try using FLACplayer on Ipad, the Yamaha wont detect the player (if used in USB mode) !!
I havent tried airplay since the store did not have a network.
Radio (FM) reception on 473 was quite good.
However music sounded better with one of the pseudo music modes (5 channel) instead of stereo.
So though AVRs have evolved over the past few years, IMHO a stereo setup can still beat it hands down (i am only talking about the sub 50 k receivers).
On the price front, the 473 retails for around 35-36k while 373 retails for around 27k.
The 473 undoubtedly offers huge convenience through its networking and USB features- you can copy your entire music collection on a drive and keep it in the USB slot. The other useful features are Airplay and NAS compatibility.
Ofcourse the sonic signatures of both models is the same and do very well on the movie front.
I auditioned these at the Yamaha store in Mumbai. The purpose of the below text is to highlight some subtle differences in features.
While networking is supposed to be the only difference between a 373 and 473, there is a difference of playing FLAC files. While the 473 can handle these with ease, the 373 does not.
The 473 is capable of playing 24/96 FLAC files through USB input.
Another difference worth noting is that the 373 will allow you to connect the only the ipod through USB but the 473 will allow you to use the Ipad as well.
An annoying thing about connecting Ipad through USB is that the Ipad screen blanks out - so are left with the small display on the receiver itself !! Also if you try using FLACplayer on Ipad, the Yamaha wont detect the player (if used in USB mode) !!
I havent tried airplay since the store did not have a network.
Radio (FM) reception on 473 was quite good.
However music sounded better with one of the pseudo music modes (5 channel) instead of stereo.
So though AVRs have evolved over the past few years, IMHO a stereo setup can still beat it hands down (i am only talking about the sub 50 k receivers).
On the price front, the 473 retails for around 35-36k while 373 retails for around 27k.
The 473 undoubtedly offers huge convenience through its networking and USB features- you can copy your entire music collection on a drive and keep it in the USB slot. The other useful features are Airplay and NAS compatibility.
Ofcourse the sonic signatures of both models is the same and do very well on the movie front.
