Yamaha RX-V2400 vs. Denon AVR-3803

I contacted Yamaha, and the rep took my info down to be forwarded to the eng. dept. I contacted my local dealer, and the tech guy asked me to go through all possible different combo set up to make sure that it's not the Yammie. It boils down to 3 diff. scenarios. If I run my cable box into the VCR (typical recording setup) and into the receiver for up conversion, some channels flicker on TV. If I bypass the receiver and run the S-video up to the plasma, all channels work fine. If I bypass the VCR by running the cable box into the receiver, all channels work fine. I suppose that it's time to look into Tivo. Can't have my cake and eat it too, I suppose.

To replace my old Yamaha HTR5540, I just bought the Yamaha RX-V1400 as a pre/pro to mate with my Marantz 5-ch amp. I am such a rookie that I am glad I got this model with the YPAO feature. I let the YPAO do all the quick and dirty work, i.e. to calculate the flat equilibrium, which I never had before since I didn't have a SPL meter. Calculated flat equilbrium definitely improves my HT sound quality. Moreover, I let the Yahama does all the up conversion to component video since my plasma TV has only 1 component video input. Such feature was a wife and kids well welcome. This was not my intention, but my gears are quasi THX certified. I just did not have the heart to change my Audioquest, Tributaries, and IXOS cables to Monster THX cables. heh heh heh

I have had this model for a month. Since my plasma has only 1 video component input, I use the video up conversion. What I have noticed is that some channels flicker badly. When I bypass the unit by hooking the S-video directly into the plasma, all channels work fine. I'll contact Yamaha tomorrow, but either I have a defective unit or the unit still has bug. If any one else has similar problem, please advise.