Yamaha Dolby Atmos Receiver Listening Tests and Review

[gene]

The Yamaha RX-A2040 is a powerful AV receiver that features Dolby Atmos, nine channels of amplification and two HDMI outputs that can be assigned for multiple zones in a whole house audio system, and streaming audio from Pandora, Spotify, or your DLNA Home Network. We spent several months with the RX-A2040 to see if could transform our home theater with object-oriented audio and high-resolution audio. We compared Dolby Prologic II with the new Dolby Upsampler and discrete vs Dolby reflection speakers. See what configuration gave us the best results by reading this review and watching our associated YouTube video.

Read: Yamaha RX-A2040 Dolby Atmos AV Receiver Review

Are you upgrading to an Atmos receiver? If so, which one and what type of height speakers will you be adding?

 

[gene]

 

[AllanMarcus]

"That said, the first AVR manufacturer that allows me to rename inputs on the AVR, set speaker crossover frequencies, and assign amp channels, all from a smartphone, also gets cookies."

I believe you can do those things in the set up Web App, which should work on a Smart phone. I do it from my iPad.

 

[hk2000]

No HDCP2.2, or did you just overlook it?

 

[wiyosaya]

Wow. An RX-A2040 review when the 2050 is on their web site and the new model includes HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0a, DTS-X and Dolby Atmos? What's up with this??

 

[gene]

Wow. An RX-A2040 review when the 2050 is on their web site and the new model includes HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0a, DTS-X and Dolby Atmos? What's up with this??

It's hard to keep up with AV receiver company 8 month product cycles and our review schedule. Just take everything Marshall said about the 2040 and add HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0 and DTS:X to it and you've got a 2050 review

 

[wiyosaya]

It's hard to keep up with AV receiver company 8 month product cycles and our review schedule. Just take everything Marshall said about the 2040 and add HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0 and DTS:X to it and you've got a 2050 review

Fair enough.

 

[3db]

With this review, you are beginning to change my mind about the value add of Dolby Atmos. Maybe I will have to upgrade my receiver one more time but finding the financial means will be difficult

I also found it interesting that Yamaha's proprietary height speaker settings came very close in performance to that of Dolby Atmos.

 

[gene]

"That said, the first AVR manufacturer that allows me to rename inputs on the AVR, set speaker crossover frequencies, and assign amp channels, all from a smartphone, also gets cookies."

I believe you can do those things in the set up Web App, which should work on a Smart phone. I do it from my iPad.

The web amp isn't that great to be honest. The smartphone app is much more intuitive and should allow more flexibility of user settings like Marshall said regarding bass management and EQ, etc.

 

[nickboros]

With this review, you are beginning to change my mind about the value add of Dolby Atmos. Maybe I will have to upgrade my receiver one more time but finding the financial means will be difficult

I also found it interesting that Yamaha's proprietary height speaker settings came very close in performance to that of Dolby Atmos.

I don't know if Marshal saying that Yamaha's presence height speakers sounding very close to Dolby Atmos is a good thing. From reviews that I have read, it was mentioned that Yamaha's height speakers aren't worth the time and effort, because of the minimal added effect.




I'm still a little lost and trying to understand what Marshall was saying in another place though:

"I found the experience dizzying on many of the clips, which is probably why I came back to a clip called 'leaf' where more subtle wind and insect noises rustles through the trees while a seed pod whirls around the listening position."

"I’m pretty convinced that, for those few who can squeeze the requisite speakers into the requisite positions in their room, Atmos is a worthy upgrade."

I don't think of "dizzying" as a positive attribute though. I know some people like 3D video, but for me it gives me a headache after about 45 minutes, so if listening 3D audio can induce a "dizzying" effect, it may really divide people in the same way. Then again, perhaps Marshall was wan't using the word "dizzying" in a literal sense. Honestly though, I am excited about the possibility of having an improvement in the home theater experience and I need to go and audition a system with Dolby Atmos for myself to see if it is something I think will add to the experience.

 

[3db]

I don't know if Marshal saying that Yamaha's presence height speakers sounding very close to Dolby Atmos is a good thing. From reviews that I have read, it was mentioned that Yamaha's height speakers aren't worth the time and effort, because of the minimal added effect.

I don't want to get into a quoting argument with you but I suggest you reread page two of the review. It clearly states that Yamaha comes close but Atmos still holds the advantage.

 

[wshuff]

Are you conducting your usual measurements? I'm looking to see what the output voltage is on the pre-amp outputs. I'm running a Crown XLS 1500 with my 2040 and I want to know how close I can get to getting full power.

 

[mhdaniels31]

what happened to your detailed receiver reviews such as internal pictures of construction and hardware measurement these are the things that always made audioholics stand out to me over everybody elses presumptious reviews based on this review I didnt really get a sense of the receiver itself just personal feelings and hard to understand opinions I know that this review was done several months ago but was hoping to use it to help base my choice on a new yamaha receiver possibly since the amp and dac overhall from your last detailed flagship yamaha receiver review no hard feelings im a marshall also so we marshall,s have to stick together but would love if you did the comprehensive testing like gene does next time and hopefully you guys will get some flagship receiver reviews this year with it being the first year since my last upgrade 3 years ago that i felt i had to upgrade for my 75inch 4k tv upgrage or hdmi 2.0 and hdcp 2.2 i forced myself to wait all year anyway thanks for the review please keep in mind my request

 

[Wellz]

I recent purchased the Yamaha RX-A2050 to drive my full Andrew Jones pioneer elite dolby atmos set up. I have a 5.2.4 set up with the elite atmos towers up front, the elite center channel and the elite atmos bookshelf speakers in the back. The Yamaha seems to drive them well, but after contacting Yamaha, I am now looking at possibly having to change receivers. My speakers are all rated at 4 Ohms, and according to the Yamaha tech, the RX-A2050 can only handle the 4 ohms in the front channels. So even though the amp is currently running all of my speakers, the tech said that it could be a matter of time before the amp gave out due to the extra load that all of the additional 4 ohm speakers place on it. I read the article here about using 4 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm amp as long as it was a high quality amp. I think the Yamaha could fall into that category, but the Yamaha tech's hanswer is not comforting. At this point I'm considering a Pioneer Elite SC-95, which I'm being told can drive all channels at 4 ohms. What do you guys think?

 

[gene]

I recent purchased the Yamaha RX-A2050 to drive my full Andrew Jones pioneer elite dolby atmos set up. I have a 5.2.4 set up with the elite atmos towers up front, the elite center channel and the elite atmos bookshelf speakers in the back. The Yamaha seems to drive them well, but after contacting Yamaha, I am now looking at possibly having to change receivers. My speakers are all rated at 4 Ohms, and according to the Yamaha tech, the RX-A2050 can only handle the 4 ohms in the front channels. So even though the amp is currently running all of my speakers, the tech said that it could be a matter of time before the amp gave out due to the extra load that all of the additional 4 ohm speakers place on it. I read the article here about using 4 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm amp as long as it was a high quality amp. I think the Yamaha could fall into that category, but the Yamaha tech's hanswer is not comforting. At this point I'm considering a Pioneer Elite SC-95, which I'm being told can drive all channels at 4 ohms. What do you guys think?

That tech gave you the lawyers approved answer. The Yammie will drive your speakers just fine as long as you don't change the impedance switch from its default 8 ohms or more setting.

The Pioneer counterparts have no advantage of driving low impedance loads than the Yamaha. In fact up until recently the Pioneers used ICE Class D amps which did not do well at all with 4 ohm speakers.

 

[Wellz]

That tech gave you the lawyers approved answer. The Yammie will drive your speakers just fine as long as you don't change the impedance switch from its default 8 ohms or more setting.

The Pioneer counterparts have no advantage of driving low impedance loads than the Yamaha. In fact up until recently the Pioneers used ICE Class D amps which did not do well at all with 4 ohm speakers.

Thanks for the swift reply Gene. So judging by your answer would listening at reference level with the Yammie be ok? I have all the speakers set to 80Hz at the amp with the subs set there too (although the yammie's auto setup had the speakers set lower at 40-70HZ and the sub at 120Hz).
Alternatively, would you I be safer with the new Class D3 amps in the Pioneer SC-95? I called Pioneer and the tech said that their MCACC PRO calibration software would calculate all of the specs from the speakers and calibrate the unit so that it would not damage itself nor the speakers..

 

[Dean1219]

Why no testing of DTS:X? That is what I am most interested in.