Is the Yamaha 863 really that much better than the 763?

admin_exported

New member
Aug 10, 2019
2,556
4
0
Visit site
I ask because its possible to get the 763 from Richer Sounds for £299, and the cheapest I have seen the 863 for is £529 from Amazon. Is the sound really that much better? I would hate to think I was about to pay an extra £240 for an Amp, if the only noticeable differences were 3 HDMI inputs instead of 2, and 1080P upscaling...
 

Fisty1967

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2008
2
0
18,520
Visit site
There are a few places selling the 863 for £499 at the mo - so you're looking at about 200 squid the difference.

According to the specs, the difference (apart from xtra hdmi and upscaling) is in the sound realism department.

[*]Fine-tuned CINEMA DSP and Adaptive DSP Level
Improved Compressed Music Enhancer
Adaptive DRC (Dynamic Range Control)
[*]UK tuned

Does it sound better than the 763 - I honestly don't know as I've only heard the 863.

I do know that the sound on my 863 is absolutely amazing though IMO.
emotion-2.gif


I did quite a bit of research before buying the 863 but both receivers have had very good reviews.

Maybe your local dealer could give you a demo ?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Thanks for the info. :)

I did think about getting a local dealer to do a comparison for me. But if I do that I would be honour bound to then buy whichever amp I decide on from them, so would probably end up paying £600 or £400 depending on the model I chose rather than getting the cheaper deals available on t'interweb...
(Silly of me possibly, but if I go somewhere for a demo and get good service from them I'm not going to just say 'thanks for the demo' and then leave and buy it cheaper from elsewhere. it just wouldn't sit right with me)

I instinctively want to buy the 863, maybe I should just go for it :)
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
its £299 at richer sounds if you sign up to their VIP email
 

roger06

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2007
374
0
18,890
Visit site
rdsoftware:Thanks for the info. :)

I did think about getting a local dealer to do a comparison for me. But if I do that I would be honour bound to then buy whichever amp I decide on from them, so would probably end up paying £600 or £400 depending on the model I chose rather than getting the cheaper deals available on t'interweb...
(Silly of me possibly, but if I go somewhere for a demo and get good service from them I'm not going to just say 'thanks for the demo' and then leave and buy it cheaper from elsewhere. it just wouldn't sit right with me)

I instinctively want to buy the 863, maybe I should just go for it :)

I'd agree with that - I had a 3 hour demo when I bought by hi fi so there was no way I was then going to buy else where - bad karma!

Get the 863 - you know you want to ! In my opinion buying more expensive / better quality stuff works out cheaper in the long run as you don't replace it...

I'm just jealous if you get either as my 8 year old processor badly needs replacing but funds don't allow an upgrade at the mo!
 

roger06

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2007
374
0
18,890
Visit site
rdsoftware:its £299 at richer sounds if you sign up to their VIP email

I've just signed up - well I think I have. I put my email address in twice and an alert box told me it was an invalid postcode (eh?) and then thanked me! But no confirmation email yet though...
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I ended up going for the 763, it was just too much of a bargain to resist, I picked it up last night from Richer Sounds. First impressions after I had it all wired in and had run the auto setup were very disappointing. The sound was very bright, and my centre speaker in particular was very harsh. Whereas on my Marantz SR4200 it had a full rounded sound.
So much for the Auto setup!

I then delved around in the manual setup options for a while, Firstly turning the DRC off and then discovering that each speaker has its own graphic equaliser, after a bit of tweaking I had everything sounding much better, and a definite big step above the 4200. I still have a lot of tweaking to do to perfect the sound,(looking in the manual it seems that everything can be fiddled with in some way or other) but I'm very pleased with my purchase so far.

I did find it a bit strange that the review didn't mention the rather naff plastic volume control knob. I'm used to Metal controls with a solid quality feel to them, and the volume on the yamaha is really rather pants.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I hoping to get the Yamaha 863 very soon. Does anybody know if there is a recommended minimum speaker impedance for this amp ?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Fisty1967:
I do know that the sound on my 863 is absolutely amazing though IMO.
emotion-2.gif


Out of interest, which speakers have you paired the 863 with?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I have heard that the 863 does not output HD audio formats correctly if you run a 5.1 speaker system and NOT a 7.1.

It simply does not downmix the additional channels to the two rears. This means if u have only two surrounds you get nowt out the rear when using Dolby Tru HD and DTS Master audio.

Is it true???
 

Clare Newsome

New member
Jun 4, 2007
1,657
0
0
Visit site
No, it's not true. There's an answer on another thread detailing this issue (or non-issue, I should say). I'll try and find it and post it here...
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Hi Claire,

ÿ

Seems its partly true... check out this mail from Yamaha

ÿ
Thanks for your email and for your interest in Yamaha.
With reference to the DSP-AX863SE. The Surround back L/R channels are NOT
directed to surround L/R.
This will only be in the case of Dolby True HD contents playback, other
audio formats
such as Dolby digital plus, DTS-HD Master Audio are supposed to be
directed to surround channel, when setting surround back to "NONE".

Unfortunately, it is a Dolby True HD specification. So we can not change
it.
Many thanks

Steve
Product Specialist A/V

Yamaha Technicalÿ
 

blakenhall

Well-known member
Dec 16, 2003
8
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi,

Found this email from Yamaha about 5.1 / 7.1 surround sound interesting, surely this means that because of the "Dolby True HD specification" all AV's will have this problem.
 

blakenhall

Well-known member
Dec 16, 2003
8
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi,Re post by belmiro99 -----

Found this Yamaha email about 5.1 / 7.1 surround sound interesting, surely this means that because of the "Dolby True HD specification" all AV's will have this problem.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts