★★★★★ 1
Weak, Flat, Tinny Sound
Style: R-S202BL, Configuration: receiver only
My Insignia NS-STR514 suddenly died after a year of glorious sound (device still turned on, switch inputs, etc, just no sound), and I had to find another stereo receiver to replace it. Yamaha seemed to be a pretty popular brand, especially among musicians and home theater enthusiasts, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Wrong.
From the minute I hooked this receiver up I noticed a significant drop in power, range, and overall quality. This device is advertised as having the same 100w of power per channel, so this is really surprising for a major brand. I used to have to turn the Insignia up to 20, but this device has to be turned up to 44 to get the same loudness. When you do get this device cranked up enough to hear something, the sound is very flat. There's no other way to describe it. There's no range. Even if bass cranked to max you can barely hear it. The treble is weak, flat, and distorts at high volume. This device is literally making my stereo speakers that cost $300.00 each sound like a boom box from the 90's. I was considering upgrading my turntable to a higher quality one, but now, what's the point?
On the flip side, the sound is clean, crisp. But man oh man is it flat. These days I mostly listen to music on high grade headphones and watch movies and streaming on my projector so it's not a huge loss (high fidelity sound on video games and movies isn't a huge deal to me), but don't buy this for your entry-level audiophile needs. There's got to be better options out there than this. The weak bass especially is unforgivable.
*Update 04/25/17*
My wife finally grew so tired of this piece of junk that I got rid of it and bought another Insignia Stereo Receiver. Unreliable as it is (dead after 2 years) it's still better than this garbage.
The bass response is absolutely horrible, and the neighbors started complaining about the "booming". That's pretty much the only bass you get from this device. A loud, cheap-sounding thumping. The frequency response of this device is so poor, and the sound so thin and tinny, that even my wife couldn't stand it! Do yourself a favor and avoid this one.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2017
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