Will these Yamaha be the first AVRs to have HDMI 2.1?
Not surprising, but still always kind of funny how these Yamaha AVRs will have HDMI 2.1, but all the $4K-$20K Pre-pros won't have it yet until a year or more later.
I think that is because the turnover for pre/pros is slower. For one thing I'm certain they have a much longer life span than receivers. Also I think those of us who go for more robust systems, do not turnover our equipment very fast and buy for the long haul. I really only replace units if they fail and can not be repaired, or if there is some pressing required facility, that is rare.
So I needed three TVs rather then the two I had before. So I bought a 4K TV. That will stay until it fails. It will be the same for the Marantz AV 7705. The two 2 K TVs and the 2K pre pros are still giving good service. I have no intention of going to 8K, the 4K picture is excellent. I have a long viewing distance so I doubt 8K would be an advantage. I really can't say I can tell the difference from a 2K or 4K sources. I do think HDR makes a difference though. So with those upgrades, that meant going to a 4K player. The Oppo would not work with the new system, it would not even play a CD. So that went next door in a 2K system. I had to rebuild the HTPC, but it was due, as it was developing some hardware issues.
So I had to add four amp channels, which I did from my stock of amps. I had the ceiling speakers bas they came from my stock of JW modules. They are doing excellent work. So it just was the cost of box construction and the speaker wire. Everything else was existing gear. So I have zero urge for any upgrades. I think that philosophy is pretty general in people happy and content with their systems.
One thing I will say needs improvement. That is noise issues. As you add channels the S/N has to improve. 100 db weighted does not cut it. These weighted specs are BS and obfiscate the truth.
Here is what I mean. I have 18 amp channels. Spec. 105 db unweighted. When all these amps are on there is dead silence. The room sounds no different whether they are on or off, and that is with the 7 active crossover channels turned on. Now turn on the Marantz 7705 and you can hear faint hiss at the listening position. Now I admit it is covered even in the quietest passages. The spec for S/N is 100 db weighted. However it is not good enough. The other spec, never mentioned is RF rejection and it should be. I took great care to limit RF generation. However when all the SCR dimmers in the place are on you can hear a faint buzz. There needs to be more attention to RF rejection and it needs to be specified. This is far more important than the useless bells and whistles.
