Yamaha Upgrade Question

[Captaincmdorgan]

My old Yamaha HTR has served it's purpose well and it is time for new one, looking at the Yamaha RX-A1020. Much has changed over the years ....which has me wondering which will give me the most for the price, is the AVENTAGE AV the way to go and is this the upper mid range ? Cost for the RX-A1020 (110w) is $799.00... been out loop for a long time as I wonder about the RX-V, HTR.....the Networking and all the new additions to various model's. Will upgrade speaker set-up.... likely Maggies.......old school big boy CV's eat up too much room....will keep the CV, LW 12 Sub woofer
Thanks for any and all advice

 

[Pyrrho]

What you should get depends on what you want to do (and your budget). The Yamaha RX-A1020 is a good receiver, though, like virtually all surround receivers, will not be up to driving very difficult to drive speakers at high volume. For that, one would want a separate power amp (which can be hooked up to the preamp outputs on a receiver like the Yamaha RX-A1020). The Yamaha RX-A1020 was the third to the top model of Yamaha surround receivers at the beginning of last year (it is now a discontinued model), so it is more toward the top than the bottom of what Yamaha offered.

Usually, the most for the price is the cheapest receiver (from a good brand, like Yamaha) that has all of the features you require.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Just to clear What Pyrrho is saying - Maggies are notoriously hard to power and it is highly recommended that you get a dedicated amp for them which could stable handle speakers at 2ohm - AFAIK most receivers are not capable of this feat

 

[Pyrrho]

Just to clear What Pyrrho is saying - Maggies are notoriously hard to power and it is highly recommended that you get a dedicated amp for them which could stable handle speakers at 2ohm - AFAIK most receivers are not capable of this feat

That is not quite right. All of the reviews of I have read in which Magnepan speakers were actually measured indicate that Magnepan is giving accurate impedance information (unlike some companies that will presently remain nameless). In other words, if Magnepan rates the speaker as 4 ohms, all you need is an amplifier that can handle 4 ohms. Now, they do tend to be inefficient, and so plenty of power is recommended for high volumes, but they typically are just what Magnepan says. For example:

Magnepan MMG Speaker System Measurements | Sound & Vision

Magnepan Magneplanar MG3.6/R loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Of course, most surround receivers are not designed to deliver high power into 4 ohms, and so they are not what one should use for driving Magnepan speakers if one wants high volume.

 

[Captaincmdorgan]

Thanks for the input, I'm still researching the maggie speaker's.......do like the Yamaha - is there a Yamaha that can handle the maggie's?? is the 1020 a "good receiver" or do you recommend a better option.... is the maggie's a good option or better to go a different route......500.00-to 800.00 for receiver..... 500.00 for speakers..
Thanks very much

 

[Pyrrho]

Thanks for the input, I'm still researching the maggie speaker's.......do like the Yamaha - is there a Yamaha that can handle the maggie's?? is the 1020 a "good receiver" or do you recommend a better option.... is the maggie's a good option or better to go a different route......500.00-to 800.00 for receiver..... 500.00 for speakers..
Thanks very much

The RX-A1020 is a good receiver. Going up primarily gives you more features (for example, better video processing in the RX-A2020, which will only matter if you need such processing in your receiver; your TV does such things, too). The power output will not be dramatically higher with going with a higher receiver. If you are looking at a total of $1300 for a pair of speakers and a receiver, the Magnepan MMG would be a good choice, provided one is not wanting to listen at deafening volumes. That would leave you only $700 for the receiver, so you would have to drop down a level to keep on budget.

The main thing to consider when buying a receiver is to get a good brand (Yamaha is good), and then get the features you need. Going higher gets you slightly more power (usually, though not always, an insignificant increase in power) and more features. If you want high power, buy a receiver with preamp outputs, and then buy a separate amplifier for that high power. Obviously, that increases costs considerably, but you do not need to replace the separate amplifier when you decide you need new features in a receiver later on.

At moderate volume, the Yamaha will drive Magnepan speakers. But not at very high volume, particularly for an extended period of time. Here you can see some measurements:

Yamaha RX-A1020 A/V Receiver HT Labs Measures | Sound & Vision

If we look at the specifications for the MMG:

MMG
Description	2-Way / Quasi-Ribbon Planar-Magnetic
Freq. Resp.	50 - 24 kHz ±3 dB
Rec Power	Read Frequently Asked Questions
Sensitivity	86dB / 500Hz / 2.83v
Impedance	4 Ohm
Dimensions	14.5 x 48 x 1.25
Available in natural or black solid oak trim with off-white, grey or black fabric.

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http://www.magnepan.com/model_MMG

There are a couple of things to note. With 4 ohm speakers, the 2.83v will be 2 watts, not one. So it is 2 watts to give you 86dB (which is not very loud for 2 watts), 20 watts to give you 96dB, and 200 watts to give you 106dB. The Yamaha is not up to giving you that 200 watts into 4 ohms. Note also that this is, presumably, at one meter, so it will be a lower volume at normal listening distances (though what it will be will depend on room acoustics, etc.).