Best price for Yamaha receivers

[saul]

I'm interested in the Yamaha receivers in particular and was wondering who has the BEST prices on the net. Also, is there any difference between the HTR and the RXV series on these receivers? Thanks!

[KRiTiKaL]

hey i paid $580(best buy$799) for my HTR-5790 1 month ago. Check www.pricegrabber.com

[JDiddy]

I'm interested in the Yamaha receivers in particular and was wondering who has the BEST prices on the net. Also, is there any difference between the HTR and the RXV series on these receivers? Thanks!

I'm not sure what the differences are between the HTR and RXV series. I think all of yamaha are very good. I like the prices on Etronics.com, I've ordered from them before and was happy with the service. Simplycheap.com is pretty good too.

[saul]

Thanks for the reply. Are you happy with your purchase?

[Woochifer]

I'm interested in the Yamaha receivers in particular and was wondering who has the BEST prices on the net. Also, is there any difference between the HTR and the RXV series on these receivers? Thanks!

Word of warning, RX-V models are NOT authorized for mail order sales. If you buy a RX-V model thru a website, it will not come with a factory warranty, and you have no assurance that you'll get a U.S. model.

If you get a HTR series model, it will be similar to the RX-V models with some cosmetic differences and a feature missing here and there. Those models are authorized for mail order purchase, but check with Yamaha as to which websites are authorized vendors. As reliable as Yamahas generally are, you're asking for a lot of trouble if something goes wrong since Yamaha's service centers might not accept an unauthorized unit even if you offer to pay for repairs.

[pwh03]

I posted a similar question earlier

heres a link to their website I didn't see it at first either

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/customer/...ivers/faq00.htm

[ibhim]

Yamaha (and Denon) controls prices (including sales prices) with all their authorized dealers and will not honor warranty. Personally, I wish some State attorney generals would take a look at that business practice that is consumer unfriendly. Afterall, if Yamaha is receiving $x for selling the widget, they should stand behind it. They received their profit as they shipped it from the factory! The distributor received their profit as they released it to the market.

If you see a low price, such as Etronics, Nice, etc, they are NOT authorized dealers. I bought mine from Nice Electronics (and good experience Etronics on other purchases.) While Nice noted 'full USA warranty' since they are not authorized dealers, they as a company cover repairs during warranty period. It was worth the $140 savings to puchase from them, and not have to buy a 3rd party repair contract. Interestingly, it was not a grey market unit- full USA warranty sheet/instructions were enclosed. Also, no requirement to register immediately - if a problem, take with the purchase receipt to an authorized repair shop.

That brings up an ethical issue. I haven't done this yet, but, should I go down to an "Authorized Dealer" purchase it to obtain a receipt, then return unopened after a few days? Give some excuse - knew was getting B&W speakers (retailer across town - not carried there) for birthday, but spouse surprised me with Marantz or NAD receiver (also not carried there) as a package deal. Obviously, make a copy of the receipt before they mark it up as returned! For what it is worth, I did try to negotiate with Tweeters (Sound Advice), the authorized dealer, but they wouldn't budge on MSRP unless I got full 5.1 speakers from them also. As a consequence, Nice Electronics (whom I bought cameras from before and has good internet rating) earned the business.

Purchasing a receiver (or any other product) shouldn't bring up an ethical issue - but leave it to the manufacturer to demand a free market...then deny it to the consumer and end retailer. Bose takes it to an even higher extreme. After limiting retailers to MSRP, Bose opens a factory outlet in the same market and sells below MSRP - 'reconditioned' units that previous customers got wise and returned!

[kexodusc]

Some HTR models are IDENTICAL featurewise to the RX-V line and aren't stripped down...just cosmetically different. I'd go that route if the price was cheaper, the HTR-5790 and HTR-5760 are great receivers.
Etailelectronics.com is a great on-line retailer who has bent over back for me twice now. And despite them not being "authorized", there was absolutely no problem getting Yamaha to honor my friend's RX-V740 receiver purchased through them. The story the Yamaha tech gave us was that as long as Yamaha can trace distribution to an authorized wholesaler all is good. After all, it is often Yamaha who sells directly to these stores in large quantities.
But be careful...when in doubt, I'd buy the HTR line provided it has the features you need. And don't forget, there's something to be said about buying locally from a dealer.

[eqm]

Yamaha (and Denon) controls prices (including sales prices) with all their authorized dealers and will not honor warranty. Personally, I wish some State attorney generals would take a look at that business practice that is consumer unfriendly. Afterall, if Yamaha is receiving $x for selling the widget, they should stand behind it. They received their profit as they shipped it from the factory! The distributor received their profit as they released it to the market.

If you see a low price, such as Etronics, Nice, etc, they are NOT authorized dealers. I bought mine from Nice Electronics (and good experience Etronics on other purchases.) While Nice noted 'full USA warranty' since they are not authorized dealers, they as a company cover repairs during warranty period. It was worth the $140 savings to puchase from them, and not have to buy a 3rd party repair contract. Interestingly, it was not a grey market unit- full USA warranty sheet/instructions were enclosed. Also, no requirement to register immediately - if a problem, take with the purchase receipt to an authorized repair shop.

That brings up an ethical issue. I haven't done this yet, but, should I go down to an "Authorized Dealer" purchase it to obtain a receipt, then return unopened after a few days? Give some excuse - knew was getting B&W speakers (retailer across town - not carried there) for birthday, but spouse surprised me with Marantz or NAD receiver (also not carried there) as a package deal. Obviously, make a copy of the receipt before they mark it up as returned! For what it is worth, I did try to negotiate with Tweeters (Sound Advice), the authorized dealer, but they wouldn't budge on MSRP unless I got full 5.1 speakers from them also. As a consequence, Nice Electronics (whom I bought cameras from before and has good internet rating) earned the business.

Purchasing a receiver (or any other product) shouldn't bring up an ethical issue - but leave it to the manufacturer to demand a free market...then deny it to the consumer and end retailer. Bose takes it to an even higher extreme. After limiting retailers to MSRP, Bose opens a factory outlet in the same market and sells below MSRP - 'reconditioned' units that previous customers got wise and returned!

not to sound like an a**, but i am of the opinion that the internet will probably be the death of affordable, but good home audio. for example, companies like yamaha keep pushing their standards lower and lower, making cheaper and cheaper products they never would have released a few years ago...because the market is making them change their focus from sound quality to price only. think about it...how many questions do we see on this board that ask for "best receiver under $xxxx?" or "i've got $xxx to spend...what should i get?", as opposed to trying to work with somebody to figure out what the person really wants and then seeing what can be afforded and still fit the experience wanted...? price is obviously and blatantly about the only thing we seem to care about when it comes to audio...but why is that? i will grant you that, the audio and video stores (with a trend that was begun by best buy) has taught us that audio and video are negotiable commodities with the "sale of the century of the week" promotions and what-not...but i keep seeing lighter and lighter weight receivers when i go into the stores and the smaller shops keep closing one after the other. i think dvd players may be a perfect example of this...you'll see 100s of players in the $100 and under category that look about as substantial as a happymeal toy, a few in the $1000 and up category that only a few can afford, and almost nothing in between. will the rest of a/v end up that way, with only wal-mart selling us our equipment because they'll give us a free dvd player if we buy some pork chops from them...? anyway, i apologize for the rambling nature of my post, but i've had a few obervations i'd like other people's opinions on. thanks.

[Woochifer]

Yamaha (and Denon) controls prices (including sales prices) with all their authorized dealers and will not honor warranty. Personally, I wish some State attorney generals would take a look at that business practice that is consumer unfriendly. Afterall, if Yamaha is receiving $x for selling the widget, they should stand behind it. They received their profit as they shipped it from the factory! The distributor received their profit as they released it to the market.

If you see a low price, such as Etronics, Nice, etc, they are NOT authorized dealers. I bought mine from Nice Electronics (and good experience Etronics on other purchases.) While Nice noted 'full USA warranty' since they are not authorized dealers, they as a company cover repairs during warranty period. It was worth the $140 savings to puchase from them, and not have to buy a 3rd party repair contract. Interestingly, it was not a grey market unit- full USA warranty sheet/instructions were enclosed. Also, no requirement to register immediately - if a problem, take with the purchase receipt to an authorized repair shop.

That brings up an ethical issue. I haven't done this yet, but, should I go down to an "Authorized Dealer" purchase it to obtain a receipt, then return unopened after a few days? Give some excuse - knew was getting B&W speakers (retailer across town - not carried there) for birthday, but spouse surprised me with Marantz or NAD receiver (also not carried there) as a package deal. Obviously, make a copy of the receipt before they mark it up as returned! For what it is worth, I did try to negotiate with Tweeters (Sound Advice), the authorized dealer, but they wouldn't budge on MSRP unless I got full 5.1 speakers from them also. As a consequence, Nice Electronics (whom I bought cameras from before and has good internet rating) earned the business.

Purchasing a receiver (or any other product) shouldn't bring up an ethical issue - but leave it to the manufacturer to demand a free market...then deny it to the consumer and end retailer. Bose takes it to an even higher extreme. After limiting retailers to MSRP, Bose opens a factory outlet in the same market and sells below MSRP - 'reconditioned' units that previous customers got wise and returned!

Yamaha and other manufacturers have the right to control their distribution and who sells their products, and the warranty enforcement is one of the few means available to them to protect those dealers that abide by the terms of their contracts. In order to be an authorized retailer, the retailer has to agree to provide a certain level of aftersales support and not sell their stock to other vendors. Obviously, a lot of their dealers don't abide by the latter part of those terms, and it's up to the manufacturer as to how they want to deal with those situations. Klipsch has resorted to terminating dealer relationships with several stores and suing the website operators that sell their speakers unauthorized online. And most other high end audio companies do not authorize their products for sale online.

A lot of it boils down to companies wanting to sell their products through retailers that will help uphold the company's reputation. These retailers will go help promote and demo the products, and in return a manufacturer will grant these retailers exclusive territories. The relationship has to go both ways, and that's pretty much what sank JBL in the U.S. high end market. JBL decided to expand their market by selling to mass merchants, and their dealer network responded by dropping the brand in droves.

If you want to buy from an unauthorized source, then you assume all the risks that go along with using the third party distributors. It's pretty simple.

The warranty is not something that companies are obligated to provide by law. It's more of a contract with the consumer that the company stands by their products. If the consumer wants to go outside of the authorized distribution channels, then it's no longer an equal relationship and the company has the right to not honor the warranty since the consumer chose to play by a different set of rules to save some money.

Your widget analogy is also incorrect. A product sold at retail has several value added components that come along with it. The aftersales support, demo rooms, liberal return policies, and the warranty are part of that value added. Something from an unauthorized mail order vendor trades the value added for lower price. If the value added components mean nothing to you, then obviously you're judging value more by price.

If you want the best of all worlds, the lowest price, the full backing of a factory warranty, and the aftersales support from a retail store, then you need to have a lot more patience and do more legwork/bargaining. I got my receiver at a local retailer's annual warehouse sale, and the price was lower than anything posted thru unauthorized vendor sites. Right now, Good Guys is selling the Yamaha RX-Z1 and RX-V3300 for half off. So, it is possible to get all of the above if you're patient and diligent.

[Woochifer]

not to sound like an a**, but i am of the opinion that the internet will probably be the death of affordable, but good home audio. for example, companies like yamaha keep pushing their standards lower and lower, making cheaper and cheaper products they never would have released a few years ago...because the market is making them change their focus from sound quality to price only. think about it...how many questions do we see on this board that ask for "best receiver under $xxxx?" or "i've got $xxx to spend...what should i get?", as opposed to trying to work with somebody to figure out what the person really wants and then seeing what can be afforded and still fit the experience wanted...? price is obviously and blatantly about the only thing we seem to care about when it comes to audio...but why is that? i will grant you that, the audio and video stores (with a trend that was begun by best buy) has taught us that audio and video are negotiable commodities with the "sale of the century of the week" promotions and what-not...but i keep seeing lighter and lighter weight receivers when i go into the stores and the smaller shops keep closing one after the other. i think dvd players may be a perfect example of this...you'll see 100s of players in the $100 and under category that look about as substantial as a happymeal toy, a few in the $1000 and up category that only a few can afford, and almost nothing in between. will the rest of a/v end up that way, with only wal-mart selling us our equipment because they'll give us a free dvd player if we buy some pork chops from them...? anyway, i apologize for the rambling nature of my post, but i've had a few obervations i'd like other people's opinions on. thanks.

Well, I think you're halfway there, but the flipside that you're leaving out is that in inflation-adjusted terms, what you can buy for $1,000 right now will sound much better than what was available for the equivalent of that amount 20 or 30 years ago. I'll put it to you this way, my dad bought his Marantz 2275 for $600 in 1976. I bought my Yamaha RX-V800 for $600 three years ago. The Marantz sounds subtly better with two-channel sources, but not by a huge margin. It also comes with a much better tuner, but at the same time, it cannot do any digital format decoding and it does not do multichannel. If you inflation adjust the dollars, that Marantz would actually cost about $2,000 in today's dollars. Think of what kinds of two-channel amps you can buy nowadays for $2,000 and compare that to the vintage Marantz receiver, which would be the better value?

I will agree that there is a bargain hunting mentality to audio products today, but that's pretty much an extension of how it's always been with entry level equipment. The only difference is that the entry price for getting into components is much lower now than it was a decade ago. In the early 70s, my dad bought a record changer for $50. That $50 would equal over $200 today, and I can tell you that today's $200 mini system would best that $50 record changer in every aspect.

What does concern me is that the way that the audio market has gone, the middle market is eroding in several areas. I would prefer to get a nicer DVD player than the entry level units, but there's a pretty wide gap between the price leaders and the next steps up. Also, I would not necessarily lump Yamaha in with the price leader mentality, since they are one of the few component manufacturers that does not outsource their manufacturing, and as far as I know, their product quality has remained consistently high. They've managed to hold their price points, and still improve their receivers with each revision.

[Woochifer]

Some HTR models are IDENTICAL featurewise to the RX-V line and aren't stripped down...just cosmetically different. I'd go that route if the price was cheaper, the HTR-5790 and HTR-5760 are great receivers.
Etailelectronics.com is a great on-line retailer who has bent over back for me twice now. And despite them not being "authorized", there was absolutely no problem getting Yamaha to honor my friend's RX-V740 receiver purchased through them. The story the Yamaha tech gave us was that as long as Yamaha can trace distribution to an authorized wholesaler all is good. After all, it is often Yamaha who sells directly to these stores in large quantities.
But be careful...when in doubt, I'd buy the HTR line provided it has the features you need. And don't forget, there's something to be said about buying locally from a dealer.

The thing though is that if you go with an unauthorized vendor, you really don't know what you're getting until it lands on your front door. You have no idea if the serial number is intact, if it's a U.S. model, or if it's b-stock. People on this board buying from web vendors have received all of the above in the past. The assurance from going through an authorized vendor is that you know that the retailer received the product directly from Yamaha. The risk with the unauthorized channels is that you don't know where the product got routed once Yamaha delivered it.

And I've heard some other stories about how Yamaha will not honor the warranty if you bought from an unauthorized vendor, and won't work on the unit even if you offer to pay for the repairs.

[kexodusc]

The thing though is that if you go with an unauthorized vendor, you really don't know what you're getting until it lands on your front door. You have no idea if the serial number is intact, if it's a U.S. model, or if it's b-stock. People on this board buying from web vendors have received all of the above in the past. The assurance from going through an authorized vendor is that you know that the retailer received the product directly from Yamaha. The risk with the unauthorized channels is that you don't know where the product got routed once Yamaha delivered it.

And I've heard some other stories about how Yamaha will not honor the warranty if you bought from an unauthorized vendor, and won't work on the unit even if you offer to pay for the repairs.

Agreed....I'll be the first to admit it's easy to get burned on-line...However, I only put so much value on the fact Yamaha won't touch it. Most parts are easily available, and there's no shortage of qualified technicians out there who can perform most repairs.
I would be quite worried if a processing chip or one of their proprietary DAC's died, but that doesn't seem to be a problem in any brand or model.
Quite often one can do quite well on-line, but yes, no matter how much effort you put into it, you are always making a calculated gamble at best.

[marky]

i got the rxv2400 for 650, which i think is a decent price.

[Bryan]

Count me among those who went with an unauthorized vendor. I bought a HTR-5760 from Nice Electronics. However, as they didn't have any in stock and "attempted to contact me to see what I wanted to do" (never received any messages nor emails and ended up calling them) they did upgrade the receiver to the RX-V650. The box the 650 came in looked like it had gone to war with UPS and lost. Bigtime. Pictures were taken as an in case. However, the receiver is working well and I haven't had any problems with it. So would I do business with them again? Probably not but here's hoping my receiver lasts a very long time to come.

[Eric Z]

I got the HTR5760 from Abt Electronics (www.abtelectronics.com) for $325 before taxes. Their physical location is in the suburbs of Chicago. They are an authorized dealer and there are some products they don't sell via the Internet, but you can always call them and buy it over the phone- you can haggle right on the phone as well.

I agree with the comments about buying a product locally in a store (luckily I live in the Chicago area that has plenty of electronics stores). I feel more comfortable when I can walk something in and return/exchange it.

Good luck!

[soonerczech]

I checked the Abt webpage and they still have the HTR 5760 listed for the MSRP. Was the $325 an in-store price or did you call them to get that price? I live in Norman, OK and the B&M audio stores don't want to haggle on anything, always claiming that they can't take any money off, which is complete BS. So, I will be buying from the net as I wouldn't even think of giving any of these people one cent as they never attempt to treat me like a customer.

[eqm]

I checked the Abt webpage and they still have the HTR 5760 listed for the MSRP. Was the $325 an in-store price or did you call them to get that price? I live in Norman, OK and the B&M audio stores don't want to haggle on anything, always claiming that they can't take any money off, which is complete BS. So, I will be buying from the net as I wouldn't even think of giving any of these people one cent as they never attempt to treat me like a customer.

go sooners! i went to football camp there a couple of years in high school...it was after the switzer years but he showed up to one of the sessions.

btw: how close are you to tulsa or okc? they might be a little closer than chicago and you might find a store that will talk price with you?

[soonerczech]

btw: how close are you to tulsa or okc? they might be a little closer than chicago and you might find a store that will talk price with you? [/QUOTE]

I live in Norman and work in OKC, and no deal anywhere there. The one guy I found that would talk price with me only dealt Marantz and Pioneer Elite, he was quite adamant that Yamaha was behind the times because they didn't have THX certification. Every other place is a bunch of a holes. I truly will not give them my money. Why should I be forced to pay full price when thousands of people in other states are given a discount? I did get a price of $399 with free shipping and no tax from J&R, which is the best price for the HTR 5760 I've found so far from an authorized dealer.

[Eric Z]

soonerczech-

usually, abt has a decent price (lower than other retailers on their website), but it looks like lately they've been publishing the msrp. anyway, i called up the sales department and asked to speak with someone in the receiver area and then haggled with them. i think they may have given me the $325 price on the 5760 because i spent about $5K on appliances and electronics there in the past. however, i feel if you speak with the right person, you should be able to get it for around $350 or maybe a little more- that's still a great price considering buying from an authorized dealer. i think it depends on how much commision a sales person wants to make on a certain sale. in addition, i think you wouldn't have to pay shipping or tax, so it is like you're paying less.

good luck!

[Woochifer]

I live in Norman and work in OKC, and no deal anywhere there. The one guy I found that would talk price with me only dealt Marantz and Pioneer Elite, he was quite adamant that Yamaha was behind the times because they didn't have THX certification. Every other place is a bunch of a holes. I truly will not give them my money. Why should I be forced to pay full price when thousands of people in other states are given a discount? I did get a price of $399 with free shipping and no tax from J&R, which is the best price for the HTR 5760 I've found so far from an authorized dealer.

I think that guy you talked to was pretty far afield if he actually sees any real value in the THX certification outside of a seal of approval and marketing benefits. I was actually disappointed that Yamaha decided to join the lemmings and enter the THX program. All that the THX specs really add is some bench testing for the amps, an extra DSP mode, a different crossover point for the bass management, a label, and probably some licensing costs that get passed onto the consumer.

The thing about trying to get a discount is that you need to persevere or get the timing right. I got a discount through an authorized dealer because I go to their annual warehouse sale every year and know that's the time to buy.

Also, it helps to know when certain models are about to get discontinued. The dealers are under more pressure at that point to bargain because they need to clear their inventory of the older models. Right now, Good Guys (a west coast audio chain) is selling the RX-Z1 and RX-V3300 for half price. Obviously, replacement models for those units are coming out soon. I suspect that within about two months, you should be able to exert more pressure on your local dealers, because Yamaha typically updates their midlevel receivers around October, and that's also the time that the RX-V1400 and 2400 came out last year.

[Eric Z]

Very good point regarding timing, Woochifer! I think I just go into the electronics store so often, I'm bound to be there at the "right" time sooner or later.

[soonerczech]

My problem is that all I have is bestbuy, ultimate electronics (more high-end stuff), circuit city, and a handful of audio/video specialty stores to deal with, and I don't think these guys really care about having the latest equipment out as they had the denon 3300 out for almost a year after it was replaced and still wanted full price for it.

[Willow]

I own the rxv540 and am very please with it. I bought ours it was last yrs model and saved over 300$ cad
The difference I was told is the HTR is for mass stores and rxv is for boutiques, your choice prestige...hmmm maybe besides that I beleive they are almost the same like every says cosmetically maybe different but not by much...

just go out and see what deals you can get don't buy full price.