Yamaha 861 or 663?

[Underdog]

I am at a terrible dilemma between those 2 AVRs.
My source is a PS3 (LPCM output anyway), so i'm considering going for the higher series instead of the new codecs. What do you think? Is the discounted 8 series actually an improvement over the newer 6 soundwise?

[z24lucifer]

I was in the exact same position as you.

I just picked up the 861, since I found it cheaper than the 663 (in Canada anyways). I decided to go for more power/features on the 861 vs the 663, and hoping that my gamble will pay off.

I just got it last night, and I didn't have a chance to hook it up just yet. I'll let you know how it goes.

[kingofgrills]

The 861 would probably be the better choice sonically, if you have external decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. The 861 has a bit of a better power supply and amp section to generate the extra 20 wpc. However, it does give up a few things on the video side of things. The 861 only upscales to 1080i, as opposed to 1080p for the 663. It also has HDMI v1.2 versus 1.3 on the 661.

If it were me, I'd probably get the 861 for the added space on the amp side. I use my PS3 for Blu-ray, so it does all of the decoding. If I had a standalone player that could bitstream, I'd probably search for a deal on the the RX-V863, the 861's replacement, or I'd get the RX-V663

[z24lucifer]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

However, it does give up a few things on the video side of things. The 861 only upscales to 1080i, as opposed to 1080p for the 663.

I'm pretty sure that the 663 doesn't do any upscale to 1080p. The 863 does though.

[kingofgrills]

It doesn't? I thought for sure it did. Maybe that's one of the reasons I've been focused on the 863.

[hagar852]

v663 upconverts to 1080p.. So if you have a component source at 1080p it will upconvert to HDMI 1080p..