Yamaha RX-V663 ok with RTi10's?

[bookertbab]

I'm in middle of a long needed system upgrade. Money is a major hurdle so I'm doing the upgrade piecemeal. I am getting a pair of RTi10's for my fronts from Tweeter to replace my old fronts. This will leave me with the following...

Yamaha R-V1103 receiver
(2)Polk RTi10's front
(1)JBL center(forget model)
(2)Polk R150's rear
(1) Yamaha YST-SW200 Sub

I want to replace the receiver next and was thinking of the Yamaha RX-V663. Will this rec be able to drive the RTi10's OK?

Any other rec recomendations for $500 or less?

Thanks.

[Erik Tracy]

I'm in middle of a long needed system upgrade. Money is a major hurdle so I'm doing the upgrade piecemeal. I am getting a pair of RTi10's for my fronts from Tweeter to replace my old fronts. This will leave me with the following...

Yamaha R-V1103 receiver
(2)Polk RTi10's front
(1)JBL center(forget model)
(2)Polk R150's rear
(1) Yamaha YST-SW150 Sub

I want to replace the receiver next and was thinking of the Yamaha RX-V663. Will this rec be able to drive the RTi10's OK?

Any other rec recomendations for $500 or less?

Thanks.

The V663 is a good starting point, but I think you should seriously consider prying open your wallet just a bit more and add an external amp to make those RTI10s 'sing' with sound. Look for a good deal on a used external power amp with some juice (with ~200 watts/channel).

By itself the V663 may run out of power if you turn up the volume too far and be driven into clipping (sending distortion because of inadequate power across all frequencies - but notable the high frequencies - and that is what will potentiall fry your tweeters).

I had a set of Infinity Quantum Jrs driven by a modest Sansui receiver - kept pushing the receiver too loud and went thru alot of tweeters! :(

Power is your speakers friend - not enemy!

Erik

[xandra]

With the RTi10's eventually you'll end up with an external amp.
In the meantime:
1. follow Eriks advice & don't overdrive 'em
2. Assuming the Yammie allows you to:
Bi-amp your new fronts. For me there was a dramatic improvement - for others nada.. . (there's an endless argument here about how much if at all this helps - but the upshot is that it doesn't cost anything and only takes a few minutes to setup - so what the hay)

Again - you'll eventually want an Amp - For now: Choose some of your old favorite discs, & beverage of choice - turn off all the lights - and let your ears feast.

[dorokusai]

Yes.

[djlogix]

I have the 863 and 663. They sound beautiful (to me) with the RTi10's. Like others here however, I'd suggest an external amp. I'm in the process of doing the same and thankfully I haven't killed the RTi's yet. They sound so damn good at high volume.

And yeah, you can bi-amp with the 863/663.

[mantis]

I'm in middle of a long needed system upgrade. Money is a major hurdle so I'm doing the upgrade piecemeal. I am getting a pair of RTi10's for my fronts from Tweeter to replace my old fronts. This will leave me with the following...

Yamaha R-V1103 receiver
(2)Polk RTi10's front
(1)JBL center(forget model)
(2)Polk R150's rear
(1) Yamaha YST-SW200 Sub

I want to replace the receiver next and was thinking of the Yamaha RX-V663. Will this rec be able to drive the RTi10's OK?

Any other rec recomendations for $500 or less?

Thanks.
I suggest getting the Pioneer Elite vsc92txh which might still be on sale for 799.99. I'm not sure when the sale ends but if you can swing the extra cash, you will be extremely happy with the better receiver. Not to mention the Pioneer Elite in my opnion is a better match to the Rt series polks.
The Rxv663 will power the 10's fine. It has no problems running 8 ohm speakers. Personally I don't like the 6 series from Yamaha especially the 661

[skykeys]

I have the 863 and 663. They sound beautiful (to me) with the RTi10's. Like others here however, I'd suggest an external amp. I'm in the process of doing the same and thankfully I haven't killed the RTi's yet. They sound so damn good at high volume.

Hello Djlogix,

I have a couple of questions for you. Why do you have both an 863 and 663? Two completely independent systems perhaps? Otherwise, that seems to be redundant. Just curious.

I have an older Yamaha RX-V620 which I am using with new LC265i fronts, LCi-RTS-C, and LC80i rears in a 5.1 config. (DSW-500 sub). The V620 still does fine; it is rock solid reliable and works well. But I can't help wonder how my speakers would sound with more power, plus - I will eventually want the newer lossless HD audio formats for Blu-Ray movies. The V620 is rated at 100 watts RMS / 8 ohms, and the specs say it can deliver 190 watts peak / 4 ohms and 240 watts peak / 2 ohms, and I believe it. So it probably has adequate power; but even if power is not the issue, I will still eventually upgrade.

What amps are you looking at?

I have been thinking about going with a digital (Class D, ICEpower) type amp. The ones that I'm currently interested in are from D-Sonic, Nuforce and Rotel, because they will fit in my cabinet. (15" depth is about the max that will fit).

I see a lot of people use receivers as preamps so I assume you would do that too? The unfortunate aspect of the V620 is that I can't use it as a preamp, like you can with the 863/663, so I'll need a preamp if I go with a separate amp. My V620 is only around 14", but I see that the newer 663/863 units are about 15 1/5", which might just be a tad too deep. But if it would fit, I could go with the 663 as a preamp.



Do you have any suggestions for preamp units?

Thanks.

[apphd]

Not familiar with the RTi10s, but have a 663 and I think you would be making a good choice for an economical start. IMHO with 8 ohm spks that are in the 90db sensitivity range would be no problem except at very high outputs. Higher than most would listen unless you have a huge room. (the 663 is rated for 4 ohm for the mains) I found that the internal amp was more than sufficient for me but always wanted to go with a separate amp. After about a month I was able to follow through on my original plan and picked up a Emo LPA1 b-stock for $399. So my total investment was $798 (+shipping for the Emo) and I am very happy with the results.
There are lots of AVRs better than the 663, just nothing close in price for the performance/features you get. Unless the new Pioneer is shipping.

Or if you do not need the latest HD decoding and HDMI features of the 663 then there are some good prices on the 661, Onk 605, 705, Marantz SR4001. All have their strong points and weaknesses, along with there own sound. I've heard many say that the Yamaha's are a little "bright" with some Polk speakers....and others say the newer Yamaha's are more neutral. Go and listen to some of your choices (with some Polks)and decide from there.

[metal83]

I suggest getting the Pioneer Elite vsc92txh which might still be on sale for 799.99. I'm not sure when the sale ends but if you can swing the extra cash, you will be extremely happy with the better receiver. Not to mention the Pioneer Elite in my opnion is a better match to the Rt series polks.
The Rxv663 will power the 10's fine. It has no problems running 8 ohm speakers. Personally I don't like the 6 series from Yamaha especially the 661

+1 I Have the Pioneer 92 with some RTi10's, works great. No need for an external amp.