Features:

• 7-channel 630W powerful surround sound (90W x 7), 2 Zone/2 Source Receiver
• 4 SCENE buttons on front panel and remote unit offering easier operation
• Video up-conversion and component video output with Time Base Corrector
• iPod compatibility via optional Yamaha YDS-10
• XM Ready with XM HD Surround powered by Neural Surround

Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
Yamaha's RX-V661 7.1-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver is flexible, versatile home theater. This 7.1-channel home theater receiver has an amazing array of new features. The four programmable SCENE buttons give you one-button access for everything from your DVD player to your iPod. High quality sound reproduction, assignable amplifiers and 1080p-compatible HDMI give you optimized sound. Give yourself a true Home Theater experience. 1080p-compatible HDMI (2 in/1 out) Max. Power - 130W x 7 channels (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 10% THD) Min. RMS Power - 90W x 7 channels (8 ohms, 20Hz - 20kHz, 0.06% THD) Upgraded CINEMA DSP with 17 DSP programs Compressed Music Enhancer Burr-Brown 192kHz/24-bit DACs used in all channels Initial Volume Setting and Maximum Volume Setting Assignable amplifiers for bi-amp connection 3 HDTV compatible component video inputs iPod song titles displayed in English and Western European languages on thefront panel and on-screen display Night Listening Enhancer (Cinema and Music) High-performance CINEMA DSP LSI (64-bit floating point quantization) SILENT CINEMA and Virtual CINEMA DSP Audio Delay for adjusting lip-sync (0-160ms) Preout terminals for front, center, surround and surround back and subwoofer out 9 selectable subwoofer crossover frequencies Analog mixdown 8-channel external decoder input Speaker A, B, A+B selection 40-station auto preset tuning Preset remote with illuminated buttons Inputs - HDMI; Dock Terminal for YDS-10; Fixed and assignable Optical Digital and Coaxial Digital; S-Video; Fixed and assignable Component Video; Analog A/V and Audio; Multi-Channel External Decoder (8 ch) Outputs - HDMI; Analog A/V; Analog Audio; Optical Digital (fixed and assignable); S-Video; S-Video/Composite Monitor; Speaker (without subwoofer) 7 ch/9 ter; Subwoofer Dimensions(WxHxD) - 435 x 171 x 393 mm Weight - 11.6 kg

Rating : - So far it has been working out very well.
This receiver was much deeper than the old Technics it replaced, so I had to relocate it to the center cabinet, on the top shelf above our very nice Samsung lcd TV (<3 Samsung). Running the wires was, by far, the hardest part with the setup at my parent's house, because they have this big, fancy, wooden set of entertainment cabinets pressed within 8 inches of the back wall, so it is tricky moving a lot of cables around back there.

Well, we have just gone from 5.1 surround to 9.1 surround with this sucker, (if you count the Presence speakers). Two Bose 301 Series bookshelf speakers serve as the front mains, then there are 7 Klipsch speakers - 4 in the upper corners of the room (presence and rear surround) and two more, placed halfway back, along the sides of the room (known simply as the surround speakers). I haven't really tested whether the presence speakers do much yet (depending on the DVD, of course), but the side surrounds really add to the experience and allow effects from the DVD to be placed more accurately around you.

I believe that Yamaha is known for the quality of their Receiver/Amplifiers and so far I don't have any doubts. The auto-setup works well as a starting point and seems to be very perceptive (accurate) in measuring the speaker distances. It also checks the speakers against cross-wiring, which is a nice touch... I did not even know it, but the rear left surround had been crossed since forever, and this little, I mean big, guy brought it to my attention! I really like the feature set this thing has. You can set the initial volume when it is powered up, as well as set the maximum volume allowed, so it will never be possible to accidentally crank the volume too high and blow your ears or a speaker out. I did have an issue with the pre-out for the sub... it didn't seem to always be "on", with certain sound programs (8 channel enhanced audio), so I also wired the sub from the front speaker leads and this lets it work consistently, regardless, and therefore sound better. I will have to look into that again, as to why the .1 was not utilized, or did not seem to be working, for the 8 channel enhanced audio program.

I may write more later, but overall I am pleased and impressed and it is what I expected from Yamaha. I probably wouldn't trust another brand.