Yamaha RX-V567 review

It’s not exactly pocket change but £360 is competitive for an AV receiver with 7.1 surround capability. There are a few less sockets than appear on competing models from other manufacturers, though. The most significant omission is of a zone 2 speaker output for piping music to another room. The four stereo phono inputs on the back and another on the front are fewer than we’d expect at this price, but they should still be plenty.

Otherwise, the V567’s features are comprehensive, with plenty of video and audio inputs in both digital and analogue formats, plus the ability to pipe all types of video input to the HDMI out. Binding posts are used for all the speaker outputs for secure cable retention. A proprietary socket on the back can accept a Yamaha YBA-10 Bluetooth wireless audio receiver or YDS11 iPod dock – both of which are elegant ways to listen to portable music players in the living room. However, both of these optional accessories cost much more than third-party products with stereo phono outputs.

The remote control is littered with masses of buttons but still manages to be reasonably easy to use, with the most important buttons standing out clearly. The OSD helps for the more complex functions, despite being spectacularly ugly.

Sound quality is far from disappointing but direct comparisons with its competitors revealed a few issues. It demonstrated slightly less high-frequency presence than other receivers, although it gave a greater sense of depth and space.

The V567 is a decent product, but it doesn’t do enough to stand out. For us, 7.1 surround has limited appeal compared to 5.1, not least because nearly all Blu-ray and DVD soundtracks are mixed in 5.1. If you agree, there’s not a huge amount on offer here that isn’t available from the Onkyo SR308, which sounds better, has a zone 2 speaker output and costs almost £140 less.