Yamaha's RX-V479 receiver offers performance and value
AV Receivers
If you're after a $500 home theater receiver, there are plenty of options available to you.
But for the money, one of the best is the Yamaha RX-V479.
This receiver offers home theater punch and a truck load of features.
One of the most interesting is the company's new music cast multi-room system.
It's coming to almost every Yamaha product in 2016.
And it's now in speakers, sound bars and receivers.
Musiccast lets you play streaming content such as Spotify and Pandora in one room or the whole house.
It also supports music on your phone or your network.
And if you're an audiophile, it also plays back high res downloads.
Of course, the receiver also supports plain old Bluetooth.
If music isn't your thing then the Yamaha also offers the latest standards including 4k compatibility for up to six HDMI inputs.
It's not the most powerful amp in the world, with only 80 watts for five channels, but it should power most living room set ups.
Unless you have some really hard to drive speakers, or want to do more music listening than movie watching, The $399 RXV479 should do the job for most people.
This is Ty Pendlebury for Cnet.com.
[MUSIC]
