Yamaha AVENTAGE 2021 AV Receivers Bulk Up on Power and 8K Features

Epsonfan

Epsonfan

Full Audioholic
I had a good look at the unit V6A NOT my cup of tea can't stand the vents the interface is cartoonish.Denon & Marantz are a cut above. I have to wait to see the ONKYO RZ50 . The Amp on the Denon X2700 sounds powerful to me.
 
E

EBN

Audioholic
First real review of Aventage A8A is out and also measured! Almost identical wattages to Denon X8500H. This looks very beefy unit and the new YPAO is step in right direction. I will translate the intresting parts below:



The RX-A8A sometimes clearly outperformed the A3080 when it came to measuring performance. In 7.1 operation with a 6-ohm load, it was almost 50 watts more with 118 watts. When 5 channels were loaded at the same time, the Yamaha delivered 146 (6 ohms) and 171 watts (4 ohms) and thus 21 and 10 watts more than the previous flagship. The newcomer delivered a full 260 watts in stereo mode at 4 ohms, also 11 watts more than its predecessor. The average power consumption of the RX-A8A was 361 watts, the eco mode reduced the consumption to 229 watts


We were excited to see the effects of the “low frequency” EQ. Compared to all other filter curves, this one was ahead of the curve in the low frequency range and characterized the bass in a more differentiated manner in terms of frequency and pressure. The “Linear” and “Natural” filters, on the other hand, screwed bass too far out of the frequency response. For audiophiles who only want to tune the sound of their speakers in the bass anyway,the new “low frequency” EQ is a good choice.

Yamaha's new top-of-the-range model with 3D material achieved maximum sound performance. Dolby Atmos clips extended extremely impressively in terms of width, depth and height of the sound fields, our listening room grew acoustically beyond its dimensions - and not too narrowly. Effects sounded differentiated in both coarse and fine dynamics and also offered a plasticity that could be touched. Even height effects were nicely located over the entire ceiling of our listening room.

In stereo mode ("Pure Direct") the RX-A8A played very clearly, with high resolution and with a subtle tendency towards analytics. Details could be heard very clearly. The amp sounded tight, dry and clear below. The YPAO calibration also did a good job here. The favorite for our listening room turned out to be the “low frequency” EQ, which played a little more precisely in the bass than the “Direct” mode (YPAO off) and thus also brought the spatiality to the point.





rx-a8a.png
 
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TheLamonster

TheLamonster

Audioholic Intern
First real review of Aventage A8A is out and also measured! Almost identical wattages to Denon X8500H. This looks very beefy unit and the new YPAO is step in right direction. I will translate the intresting parts below:



The RX-A8A sometimes clearly outperformed the A3080 when it came to measuring performance. In 7.1 operation with a 6-ohm load, it was almost 50 watts more with 118 watts. When 5 channels were loaded at the same time, the Yamaha delivered 146 (6 ohms) and 171 watts (4 ohms) and thus 21 and 10 watts more than the previous flagship. The newcomer delivered a full 260 watts in stereo mode at 4 ohms, also 11 watts more than its predecessor. The average power consumption of the RX-A8A was 361 watts, the eco mode reduced the consumption to 229 watts


We were excited to see the effects of the “low frequency” EQ. Compared to all other filter curves, this one was ahead of the curve in the low frequency range and characterized the bass in a more differentiated manner in terms of frequency and pressure. The “Linear” and “Natural” filters, on the other hand, screwed bass too far out of the frequency response. For audiophiles who only want to tune the sound of their speakers in the bass anyway,the new “low frequency” EQ is a good choice.

Yamaha's new top-of-the-range model with 3D material achieved maximum sound performance. Dolby Atmos clips extended extremely impressively in terms of width, depth and height of the sound fields, our listening room grew acoustically beyond its dimensions - and not too narrowly. Effects sounded differentiated in both coarse and fine dynamics and also offered a plasticity that could be touched. Even height effects were nicely located over the entire ceiling of our listening room.

In stereo mode ("Pure Direct") the RX-A8A played very clearly, with high resolution and with a subtle tendency towards analytics. Details could be heard very clearly. The amp sounded tight, dry and clear below. The YPAO calibration also did a good job here. The favorite for our listening room turned out to be the “low frequency” EQ, which played a little more precisely in the bass than the “Direct” mode (YPAO off) and thus also brought the spatiality to the point.
Thanks! What is the source?
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
First real review of Aventage A8A is out and also measured! Almost identical wattages to Denon X8500H. This looks very beefy unit and the new YPAO is step in right direction. I will translate the intresting parts below:



The RX-A8A sometimes clearly outperformed the A3080 when it came to measuring performance. In 7.1 operation with a 6-ohm load, it was almost 50 watts more with 118 watts. When 5 channels were loaded at the same time, the Yamaha delivered 146 (6 ohms) and 171 watts (4 ohms) and thus 21 and 10 watts more than the previous flagship. The newcomer delivered a full 260 watts in stereo mode at 4 ohms, also 11 watts more than its predecessor. The average power consumption of the RX-A8A was 361 watts, the eco mode reduced the consumption to 229 watts


We were excited to see the effects of the “low frequency” EQ. Compared to all other filter curves, this one was ahead of the curve in the low frequency range and characterized the bass in a more differentiated manner in terms of frequency and pressure. The “Linear” and “Natural” filters, on the other hand, screwed bass too far out of the frequency response. For audiophiles who only want to tune the sound of their speakers in the bass anyway,the new “low frequency” EQ is a good choice.

Yamaha's new top-of-the-range model with 3D material achieved maximum sound performance. Dolby Atmos clips extended extremely impressively in terms of width, depth and height of the sound fields, our listening room grew acoustically beyond its dimensions - and not too narrowly. Effects sounded differentiated in both coarse and fine dynamics and also offered a plasticity that could be touched. Even height effects were nicely located over the entire ceiling of our listening room.

In stereo mode ("Pure Direct") the RX-A8A played very clearly, with high resolution and with a subtle tendency towards analytics. Details could be heard very clearly. The amp sounded tight, dry and clear below. The YPAO calibration also did a good job here. The favorite for our listening room turned out to be the “low frequency” EQ, which played a little more precisely in the bass than the “Direct” mode (YPAO off) and thus also brought the spatiality to the point.





View attachment 50505
Looks good. Too bad they didn't run an FFT like I did. I found some things I'm not thrilled with in how this platform handles 0dBFS input signals. Hoping it can be resolved via firmware. In contact with them now.

Here is a pic of the RX-A6A I have under test.
rx-a6a.jpg
 
Replicant 7

Replicant 7

Audioholic Samurai
If anything is out of the norm, Gene will find it. Thank you Gene for All that you do for us your hard work doesn't go unappreciated!!
 
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gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
If anything is out of the norm, Gene will find it. Thank you Gene for All that you do for us your hard work doesn't good unappreciated!!
Thanks but I would have preferred smooth bench tests to get the job done. This puts a kink in the chain for me RN.
 
TheLamonster

TheLamonster

Audioholic Intern
I have an A8 and the only issue I've had with it so far is how YPAO treats my subwoofers. I have dual SVS PB-3000s and YPAO puts their levels around -2.0dB which doesn't make any sense because I have the subs set at -5dB volume which should be loud as hell. And now my subs sound weak unless I bump up their levels across the board (the subs themselves, YPAO speaker level settings and +6 bass in tone control). Something funky is going on.
 
AVR Enthu

AVR Enthu

Full Audioholic
So far the ones who have the new RX-A4A the reviews are very good no 2.1 issues, and some are reporting the OSD menu is much better.
What is this about?
There are "no HDMI 2.1 issues" because HDMI 2.1 software and features have not been rolled out by Yamaha. It does not work out of the box. No one knows when HDMI 2.1 firmware would arrive and how reliably it would work.
 
Replicant 7

Replicant 7

Audioholic Samurai
What is this about?
There are "no HDMI 2.1 issues" because HDMI 2.1 software and features have not been rolled out by Yamaha. It does not work out of the box. No one knows when HDMI 2.1 firmware would arrive and how reliably it would work.
You are right, I went back and read his review again, he is waiting on the 2.1 update.I miss read his review. He has his PS5 and his XBox HDMI going straight to his TV. So yeah, No update from Yamaha as of yet. Good catch bro, I deleted that post.
 
AVR Enthu

AVR Enthu

Full Audioholic
Thanks but I would have preferred smooth bench tests to get the job done. This puts a kink in the chain for me RN.
Gene, have they loaded your unit with Beta software to test for HDMI 2.1 features and port speeds?
 
AVR Enthu

AVR Enthu

Full Audioholic
You are right, I went back and read his review again, he is waiting on the 2.1 update.I miss read his review. He has his PS5 and his XBox HDMI going straight to his TV. So yeah, No update from Yamaha as of yet. Good catch bro, I deleted that post.
They really need to nail HDMI 2.1 this time around, otherwise one-year long embarrassment would endure. They delayed entire higher tier line for one year in order to install second gen 40 Gbps HDMI chips.

There will be no excuse if firmware has glitches, as Onkyo works out of the box with 40 Gbps signals, including DolbyVision 4K/120 pass-through from Xbox SX.
 
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T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Yeah, I'd say selling units as pricey as the Aventage models at this point without having HDMI 2.1 features online out of the box is definitely an "issue." According to a little bird I heard singing, firmware updates will come AFTER HDMI boards are changed out in the other models. No guarantees here and not a good idea to buy anything that does not have what you want out of the box. Nobody thought they'd have to connect a little black box to their Denon, did they? The Yammy A model droids are nice upgrades for anybody coming from a very old model if they do not care about HDMI 2.1. Firmware updates need to be happy surprises, not empty promises.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I think Sound United taking the year off is one of the smartest decisions these companies have made. Now if they botch it with next years release... :rolleyes:
At least at that point we should be into 3rd gen Chipsets, so... *fingers crossed ...things should be good.
 
Replicant 7

Replicant 7

Audioholic Samurai
They really need to nail HDMI 2.1 this time around, otherwise one-year long emabarrassment would endure. They delayed entire higher tier line for one year in order to install second gen 40 Gbps HDMI chips.

There will be no excuse if firmware has glitches, as Onkyo works out of the box with 40 Gbps signals, including DolbyVision 4K/120 pass-through from Xbox SX.
So very true, I will be getting Sony's PS5, not now, but would have Peace of mind knowing that it would work with the Yamaha. Can't do Onkyo, had two of them crash on me in the past with HDMI issues my Son had his crash on him also. Hopefully they got their HDMI issues resolved.
 
Replicant 7

Replicant 7

Audioholic Samurai
Yeah, I'd say selling units as pricey as the Aventage models at this point without having HDMI 2.1 features online out of the box is definitely an "issue." According to a little bird I heard singing, firmware updates will come AFTER HDMI boards are changed out in the other models. No guarantees here and not a good idea to buy anything that does not have what you want out of the box. Nobody thought they'd have to connect a little black box to their Denon, did they? The Yammy A model droids are nice upgrades for anybody coming from a very old model if they do not care about HDMI 2.1. Firmware updates need to be happy surprises, not empty promises.
When I get my A2A setup and if it has issues, I won't hesitate to send it back. I'll get the V6A to hold me up till Yamaha are confirmed with no 2.1 and firmware, HDMI issues.
 
AVR Enthu

AVR Enthu

Full Audioholic
At least at that point we should be into 3rd gen Chipsets
This is not clear as yet. The third gen chips with 48 Gbps ports could be in development stage, but everyone is super tight-lipped about it. 2023 the earliest.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
I think Sound United taking the year off is one of the smartest decisions these companies have made. Now if they botch it with next years release... :rolleyes:
At least at that point we should be into 3rd gen Chipsets, so... *fingers crossed ...things should be good.
I have to say, after looking at what they're doing with Onkyo and Pioneer AVRs, I'm almost sold on a new Onkyo with Dirac just because it has every feature I'm looking for AND a new ARC to play with. Plus, all the VRR goodies that HDMI 2.1 offers will be appreciated when I get an OLED to replace my old plasma.

I should be able to use my UMIK and the PC version. I haven't gotten to really see what the Pioneer Atmos upfiring speakers I got can do because I don't have a 5.1.4 capable AVR that isn't already running my theater.
 
AVR Enthu

AVR Enthu

Full Audioholic
When I get my A2A setup and if it has issues, I won't hesitate to send it back. I'll get the V6A to hold me up till Yamaha are confirmed with no 2.1 and firmware, HDMI issues.
Your A2A operate at 18 Gbps now (HDMI 2.0b). V6A and A2A have the same board and qualify for free board replacement scheme. Once boards are replaced, those AVRs will be able to operate at 24 Gbps max (semi-HDMI 2.1).

You are either happy with 18 Gbps or with 24 Gbps after board swap. Is this what you wanted?
 
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