Yamaha RX-V1700 vs RX-V665

I currently have a Yamaha RX-V1700 that I'm using in my son's bedroom setup.

Here is his setup:
Speakers: Klipsch RF-7, Klipsch RC-64ii
Audio: Yamaha RX-V1700, Rotel RB-960BX (60w x 2) Amplifier
Video: PS4

I just purchased a system on craigslist and it included a Yamaha RX-V665. I need some advice on which is the better receiver to use for his setup.

From what I can see, the benefits of the 665 is it's 2 years newer, has dual sub outs, decodes Dolby TrueHD & DTS-Master, and it has 2 extra HDMI inputs.

The benefits of the 1700 is that it was twice the MSRP ($1200 for the 1800 vs $600 for the 665), has more power (130 x 7 vs 90 x 7), and has a nicer look (ie front door to hide controls).

I'm not really concerned about the lack of power since the RF-7's have a sensitivity of 102db and the RC-64ii center channel has a sensitivity of 99db.

Here are a few pics of his room. Most of the time, he sits in that rocker chair in front of his bed so he's only 2' - 3' from the center channel speaker and the room is 12' x 11' with 10' ceiling.

For his setup, which receiver do you think would be the better fit? My brain says even though the 665 is probably a lower end model than the 1700 was, it still offers more features.

Any advice on which is the better receiver?

I also just thought about the fact that the Rotel is 60x2 and the Yamaha RX-V1700 is 130x7. Would I be better off using the Yamaha's internal amps instead of the Rotel?

Thats on hell of a system as it is...the old adage "if it works - don't fix it" applies here. Although, I am partial to the Yamaha gear.

Thx Thomas. My son is now 15 and he loves his Klipsch setup and takes very good care of his gear.

No contest, use the 1700. The 665 was a low point in Yamaha HTR designs:

http://www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/trading

They were better before and had to up their game after. The 1700 is almost identical to the 1800 I had, great receiver. The only downside is the lack of HD audio formats but you can set the Blu Ray player to decode those and have the best of all worlds.

Thx for the advice Raynald and for the link to the article. Definitely some good info there.

The 1700 does seem to have a much better build quality to it. I too had the 1800 prior to purchasing my HK AVR3600. The 1800 was a work horse. I just needed something that sounded as good for 2ch as it did for HT. The HK gave me the best of both worlds.

I'll have to check the PS4 and the bluray to make sure it's sending the audio to the 1700 as bitstream. If that's the case, then he is getting HD Audio and at that point, there would be no "benefit" to switching it with the 665.

So now I wonder how the internal amps of the 1700 compare to the 60x2 Rotel amp I'm using. When my son was 11, I was given the Rotel, a Parasound 2ch Pre/Pro. As my son began to watch more and more movies, I sold the Parasound and began moving towards using a receiver. A few receivers later, I kept the Rotel hooked up but never thought to see how the internal amps of the receiver compared.

Any idea if the 1700 would sound better than the Rotel powering the RF-7 mains? As I mentioned, right now, the 1700 is just powering the center channel and the Rotel is powering the mains. Both the mains and the center are extremely efficient so I'm guessing either would be more than sufficient to drive the RF-7's. One thing to keep in mind is that the RF-7's have been known to have impedance dips down to something like 2.8 ohms when driven hard.

Never hurts to split up the load. I went from the 1800 to a newer and more convenient HTR-6063 (RX-V667). Love the HDMI link where the units power each other on and off. BUT the 6063 is only 23 lbs vs the 37 lb 1800. Also, unlike the 1800 the 6063 can't do HD sound and add DSP at the same time. I just run the surround and presence off the 667 and have a DSP-A2070 (46 lbs) for the CLR and I get the HD right out of my player. Best of all worlds. I am about to switch the A2070 to a NAD T753 with a 12V trigger in so I won't even have to hit an extra button to power it up and down.

Bottom line, it is fun to mix and match in order to get better results, so why not? Head to head the Rotel may not be that much better but by giving the Yamaha less to do it will be better so you should come out ahead. Easy enough to unhook, compare and report back.

Just an update, I decided to keep the RX-V1800 since it's a higher quality unit and I'm able to send the decoded HD Audio formats to the unit as PCM. I removed the Rotel 60x2 amp and at the same volume, it was much louder. Not sure if this was due to the receiver being 130 x 7 or having to do with different signal strengths. Either way, there wasn't any "loss" by removing the amp so the amp is now listed on my local craigslist. Thx again for everyone's feedback.