Yamaha BD-S681 Blu-ray Disc Player

Well, it's really too soon to do this, so I will update it, but this seems to be just what I wanted in an audio-oriented bluray player. The cd mode, properly set up (if I can do it, and I did, you can) seems to eliminate whatever isn't cd sound related, and the stereo version of Revolver and the recent Steven Wilson cd of Yes's Tales of Topooceans sound fantastic to me. The Yes bluray also sounds great, and the Pure Direct mode also seems to further "purify" the bluray sound. I don't have surround capabilities, and my Presonus monitors are probably not what a true audiophile would consider proper, but I like to try to hear recorded music as the musicians, engineers and producers made it.....or as close to that as I can come. So much as I love vinyl, I also enjoy hi-tech modern remix/remaster work on cd and bluray, ala Wilson (Tull, Yes, King Crimson, and his own music), and for a music loving wannabe audiophile on a budget, this Yamaha seemed the way to go. Out of the box I think I was right (video discs seem to work fine too but that was secondary for me). It was also very easy to set up, remote seems just fine..... Oh, the cd mode transition is iffy...if you've started play without the mode and turn it on you've got to start play over. Not a huge deal but there it is.Anyroad, I'll come back after all the new Sgt. Pepper recordings come out and opine further...for what it's worth.

Most of the DVD and blue ray players are small and break down quickly I have gone through a half dozen players of one particular model and it seems this company does not make them any longer..The Yamaha player looks like a professional piece of audio equipment . It's well built and heft enough to hold up to constant play and in this ere of Covid, a lot of us are staying home and need some sort of entertainment. So besides a subscription to Amazon Prime Video, I take advantage of a vast collection of DVD and Blue rays disks and watch movies and this machine can take it.Pro: A heavy piece of equipment that says to a person this is a durable product. Great image and it will even upscale to a 4K TV even though it does not support that formatCon Small buttons on remote control, On screen menu can be intimidating to some. Since this unit was made in 2018 I opted to grab a backup remote. But do not trust the 3rd party member on Amazon prime to fill your order in a timely manner

Very good picture quality when upscaling standard DVD's on a 1080p flat panel TV. Pin sharp image quality for blu ray DVD's on a 1080p flat panel TV. Sound quality is very good when you connect the DVD player using the optical audio out cable. Wish the build quality was more robust for its price, but build quality is still head and shoulders above the blu ray players that sell for $75 - $150. Hope this unit outlasts its warranty by at least 2-3 years, but only time will tell.

Great player great picture and sounds great. To be honest I got this player for the SACD CD capabilities and and I'm not disappointed Excellent sounding deck all around. I bought mine at the used price but knowing what I know now, I would pay full retail for this player. Everything about the player Is not complicated easy to use with alittle practice. This player will satisfy most normal demands.The main components of my system Is Yamaha and I'm very satisfied to this point. I would do It again In a heartbeat.

I normally wait some time before writing a review about something electronic as I like to break the item in, evaluate, etc. With the Yamaha BD-s681, I've had the player for 2 days, and I am sending it back. Here's why. If you are looking at this player, chances are you didn't want to spring for the $$$ Oppo like me, but were hoping for a good alternative. Or, you have Yamaha equipment and want this to match the set. Or, you read about the sound quality of this item and want a good multi-disc player. I fall into the Oppo category myself, so please use that as a basis for comparison. The unit itself is very light and fragile given it's price. I was expecting a bit more from the build quality. I have a pretty elaborate home theater set up, so I was attempting to incorporate it into that. It took me 4 hrs the 1st night, and 2 more hrs the next day to finally get this up and running. No need to go into the issues, but it was all HDMI / Color settings / Resolution related. When I got it up and running, I was not pleased at the result. I have a Sony BDPS-790 and it blows the Yamaha out of the water in the video dept, hands down. I did an A / B comparison of both machines and the Sony won in every test. Color, black & white, contrast, black levels, etc. The video on the Yamaha was a bit washed out, and nowhere near as clear and colorful as the Sony. In the audio dept, the Yamaha is ace. I played some CDs through it using the HDMI / Coax / Analog connections and the sound was superb. Yamaha is known for it's sound so that was no surprise. I did have to turn up my receiver quite a bit to match the audio settings of the Sony for some reason. The Sony has tons of manual settings for you to peruse, the Yamaha has no manual settings and a few built in settings. No tweaking your picture here. In the end, I felt that the price was a bit too steep for what I was getting, and compared to the Sony S-790, which was $100 less, it was not worth keeping. If you don't care about the visuals as much as the sound, you would do well here. But, if you want the video to match the excellent audio that this unit offers, you will not be happy. Therefore, the unit goes back. I was looking for a superb multi-unit, and not looking to spend the $$$ on the Oppo, but in the end, you always get what you pay for.

I should have returned unit when it first started acting up(first month) It would just continually freeze and required restart again and again. Image is average but it has great sound. After almost a year of living with this thing it finally died completely. No HDMI signal at all. Getting a hold of anyone at Yamaha is close to impossible. I'm finally returning the unit after weeks of non-responsiveness from Yamaha. Frankly, i'm not even sure I want it back. It's been a nightmare! Worst blu-ray player i've ever owned!