UPDATE
Yamaha has announced UK pricing for the first of its new '71 series receivers for 2011, first seen when they were launched in the States in April (see below).
The entry-level RX-V371 is £230, the RX-V471 is £300, and the RX-V571 is £400. All three models have already shipped to dealers, so should be available immediately.
Coming next are the £500 RX-V671, on sale at the end of this month, and the RX-V771 (above), which wasn't part of the original US launch announcement.
It hits the shops in July at £650, and has six-in-two-out HDMI connectivity, 7x95W output, full DLNA network streaming capability and a multipoint version of Yamaha's YPAO automatic set-up and calibration system.
Other features include assignable amplifier channels, front panel HDMI and USB inputs (the latter with direct digital iPod/iPhone/iPad connectivity) and an HDMI standby through mode for use when watching TV with the receiver in standby. This even allows the option of changing HDMI input without firing up the unit.
Also launched this month is the £250 BD-S671 Blu-ray player (above). As well as 3D and BD-Live capability, it has built-in DLNA streaming including access to YouTube Leanback, and like the receivers can be controlled by Yamaha's iOS app.
Other models, including updated 'Desktop Audio' systems and speakers, will follow soon.
Posted 13.04.11
Just launched in the USA is an all-new line-up of mainstream AV receivers from Yamaha: the 71 Series starts at just $250 for the RX-V371 and goes up to $600 for the RX-V671 (above), which has DLNA and Windows 7 streaming certification.
All the models in the new range are are 3D-capable and have Audio Return Channel compatibility, as well as having Yamaha's in-house Compressed Music Enhancer.
They also have a new power supply configuration designed for low standby consumption (0.5W-1W), and automatic power down after a user-selectable period of between 4 and 12 hours.
On all but the entry-level RX-V371 (above) there's a direct digital iPod connection via a front-panel USB socket, Yamaha's YPAO automatic set-up and an improved Graphical User Interface, which overlays on the image being watched for simple adjustment.
The 5x100W RX-V371 ($250) offers 5.1-channel working, four HDMI inputs and one output, iPod/iPhone compatibility via the optional YDS-12 Universal Dock and Bluetooth connectivity using the YBA Wireless Audio Receiver.
It also uses Yamaha's Scene buttons for swift access to surround and other setting presets.
The $380 RX-V471 adds the new on-screen GUI (below), a front-panel USB with direct digital connection for iPods/iPhones, and the Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimiser to the RX-V371 specification.
It also has Yamaha's Cinema DSP 3D processing, designed to give 'a wide, high and dense soundfield': Virtual Presence Speaker is also available, giving the effect of extra speakers in the system to expand the soundfield.
Move up to the $500 RX-V571 and you get 7.1 channel decoding, 7x105W amplification, a 6-in-1-out HDMI provision (including one input on the front panel), and analogue and HDMI video upscaling to 1080p.
This, it's said, gives 'extremely precise motion adaptive and edge adaptive deinterlacing and multi-cadence detection (including 3-2 pull-down)'.
As well as the digital iPod input and compatibility with the Universal Dock and Bluetooth receiver, the RX-V571 can also be used with Yamaha's yAired Wireless Dock System.
Completing the range is the $600 RX-V671, which has 7x125W output, and also adds a range of networking facilities. It can stream music (in WAV, MP3, WMA, AAC and FLAC formats) from a wide range of computers and storage devices over Ethernet.
Internet radio access is available using the vTuner platform and the receiver's compatible with streaming services such as Napster and Pandora. In the States it's also Sirius Satellite Radio ready.
The RX-V671 can be controlled over a network from iPods, iPhones and iPads using a revised AV Controller app, to be available from the Apple iTunes store.
The new receivers go on sale in the USA by the end of this month, apart from the RX-V671, which follows a month later.
There's no information yet about UK/European availability or pricing.