RX-V3800- Great specs and Performance, Hard to Use

After seeing a Bose demonstration of their automatic speaker calibration, I wanted the feature given my horrible audio environment. However, I sought the Yamaha out as an alternative, given the Bose Lifestyle reviews.

I usually buy Sony, but their version of the calibrator only manages volume and distances, not tone (ie no automatic equalizer, at least according to the ads and manual which I found on the internet.) The Yamaha seemed to be the way to go.

The unit itself looks fairly cool. The remote, unfortunately, looks like it belongs with a $175 no name off brand receiver, not a $1400 near top the of line unit. I did program it to manage most of my components, but I can't get past the cheap plastic, unintelligible key descriptions, and big-pixel 5 character display with tough to understand abbreviations (ie "BD/HD" for high def DVD).

The remote keys are multi-function and require key combinations to accomplish tasks- yuck. The unit default inputs make no sense- one called "DVR" and another "DTV/CBL", which would often be redundant- but none for a game system, for example.

A dedicated geek / tech product guy by profession and background, this was a much tougher setup than I imagined. After hook up, I had no picture, just a flashing screen on my circa-2003 Hitachi 50V500 DLP with DVI input.

A week of trying later, I adjusted the advanced setup (set HDMI Check to "skip") after talking with a very good customer service person at Yamaha. The picture now syncs 3/4 of the time. I occasionally have to rotate the DVR outputs (480i - 480p - 720p - 1080i) and cycle the power on multiple components to get them to sync. Depending on how much hassle this turns out to be, I may need to revert the entire system to component or bypass the receiver for digital video.

Once I had video, it all became much easier. The Automatic System Calibration for the speakers was very good. The system detects the size of your speakers, wiring problems (out of phase), distance of each unit to the provided microphone for your seating area, required volume adjustments by speaker, and, most importantly, a full spectrum of output for each speaker, which it shows graphically on screen.

The system then automatically adjusts all controls and the "parametric equalizer" to flatten the frequency output to match the source, by speaker. This allows the system to adjust for room impediments that affect the sound field, and, obviously, weaknesses in speaker response.

When the video works, it automatically upscales to the HDMI output level that you set, in my case 1080i (it also supports 1080P). This makes for nice video from a DVD, VCR, PS/2, etc.

End result? My wife hates it, because it doesn't "just work." I find, once properly set, it makes for a great audio and home theater experience. Net net? The RX-V3800 offers great specs and capabilities, but is in desperate need of an Apple or TiVo designer, especially for its remote.