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

[Replicant 7]

I think a lot of speakers would be hard pressed to do better than 1% from any distance.

Good point Pogre.

 

[Pogre]

The UMIK-1 mike was slightly more than 10 feet from the mains when I ran the tests. Average THD of the mains and centre just under 1%.

Yeah I noted that. You put up some very good looking numbers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think a lot of speakers would be hard pressed to do better than 1% from any distance.

Let’s throw in some food analogies here. I think it’s due for some commercials.

What’s the point of eating Filet Mignon if you’re gonna burn the steaks. Okay, maybe that was bad.

 

[Pogre]

By really focusing on tracking distortion on a SPECIFIC distortion test, I am able to catch it for treble between 1% and 1.5%. So when listening to an actual music score

That's 1 - 1.5% in the original signal, plus whatever your speakers may have added.

 

[Pogre]

Let’s throw in some food analogies here. I think it’s due for some commercials.

What’s the point of eating Filet Mignon if you’re gonna burn the steaks. Okay, maybe that was bad.

I worked with a guy who cut some really nice looking filets for dinner that night. Later when he went to the kitchen to see how dinner was coming along his wife decided the best way to cook them was to boil them in a pot of water...

 

[AVR Enthu]

What issues? I read the whole review nothing to loose sleep over. No one is gonna hear anything from the Center, SL,SR at 0.05 THD. But gives the spec heads something to fuss about.

Just buy Yamaha and keep your keys safe.

I must confess I have Yamaha sticker on my PC gear, as AVR is in heart of efforts to understand the world

 

[TheLamonster]

Just buy Yamaha and keep your keys safe.
View attachment 52536

I must confess I have Yamaha sticker on my PC gear, as AVR is in heart of efforts to understand the world
View attachment 52538

This reminds me - did you guys know that the A8A came with a Aventage-branded watch (like a nice wrist watch) in a country that isn't in North America? I don't remember where it was, maybe Australia...

 

[ryanosaur]

Y’all b crackin’ me up!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I worked with a guy who cut some really nice looking filets for dinner that night. Later when he went to the kitchen to see how dinner was coming along his wife decided the best way to cook them was to boil them in a pot of water...

DOH!

I’ve also seen people spray a bunch of SOY SAUCE all over the Filets.

 

[clone1008]

Or is it the speakers that add the distortion? From what I understand the speakers, pretty much all of them, add more distortion than anything else in the chain.

That was my thought exactly!

 

[panteragstk]

I worked with a guy who cut some really nice looking filets for dinner that night. Later when he went to the kitchen to see how dinner was coming along his wife decided the best way to cook them was to boil them in a pot of water...

I would be horrified. Was she British?

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

That's 1 - 1.5% in the original signal, plus whatever your speakers may have added.

Yes, you are definitely right, let's order these Perlisten ! Call me distortion warrior now !

 

[gene]

Gene, we really appreciate the work you put in testing the A6A.
Found a tiny typo in the article. Under the heading "HDMI Inputs" is a sentence ending, "the output level exceeded 650Vrms." I'm guessing the problem shows up at 650 millivolts?
Thanks.

I'll change the header to "HDMI Source".

 

[iraweiss]

Thanks for doing this video. I love listening to your explanations in the video in addition to the written review. I hope Yamaha can fix the issues you discovered.

 

[tparm]

@gene Excellent video concerning measurements and I am looking forward to your practical use video/review And your experience with YPAO and the PEQs. A couple questions that I assume you’ll address anyway, but just in case:

-Do the new Aventage receivers have anything like D&M for “turning off” selectable amps? Or a preamp mode? Ideally one could use an external amp for front two (balanced) or maybe three channels and onboard amps for effects channels without losing too much performance. Especially for Spatial music.
* How assignable are the amps? Let’s say I use an NAD C298 for the LR channels, can I use the A6 for my 5.2.6 (four ceiling speakers and two front wides)?

-Can you use PEQs for full frequency range (well points along the full range) and keep the analog inputs in a true analog (pure direct) path? I just ordered an Ares 2 to use downstream of my Node and CD transport and it would be cool if you could EQ points of the range and still be analog (not possible on my AVM 70 - matter of fact I am finding the analog path being average in that processor).

-I understand the lackluster HDMI multichannel performance likely isn’t audible, especially with YPAO engaged and for soundtracks where the output is mostly effects (well not the center channel) anyway, how do you feel it would manifest itself in Atmos music tracks? Or would it?

That’s about it for now. I seem to be in a never ending quest for the perfect 2CH/11CH system at the lowest budget possible…. I thought the AVM 70 was it, and it may be as I love the UI and ARC, but I am not loving the Analog performance. I like the idea of balanced inputs for sources like the Denafrips, even more so than amplifier outputs, so maybe the Yamaha could serve my needs. Or perhaps I should have just bought an SR-8015.

Thank you.

 

[gene]

Can I just confirm that I'm reading the data correctly, the 22dB distortion is only on the C, and L & R surround channels, listening to pure stereo on the main front L&R won't be effected?

The main L/R channels don't have the increased distortion at the preamp level. However, ALL channels have higher distortion (70dB SINAD) regardless of input level drive.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

The main L/R channels don't have the increased distortion at the preamp level. However, ALL channels have higher distortion (70dB SINAD) regardless of input level drive.

Then having different distortion depending channel preamp, would you advise against using bi-amp mode. I can see two issues with be amp if this lineup performs in a non homogenous way with preamp, and also cut down the power a lot when multiple channels are used.

Edit : I re re re re watched the review and realized for 4 channels it's still 152w per channel on the RX-A6A so I think it's ok the use bi-amp

 

[AVR Enthu]

I don't remember where it was, maybe Australia...

In Australia, A8A is currently sooo expensive (equivalent of ~$4,550 USD), that some retailers offer 10 years of warranty to encourage enthusiasts... This is how much future AVRs will cost once Besos starts Luna Prime delivery service to brave colonizers on the Moon. Less gravity, less harmonic distortion too

 

[Padinn]

Yea it's OK. I put content on Patreon first as one of the perks but I've that people have been waiting awhile on this. I spent more time testing and reconfirmed my results on this product than any other product I've measured prior.

Really enjoyed the article and video. From the video, it sounds like Yamaha is still investigating if a firmware fix is possible for the issues you found? Thought I had read it was a hardware issue, so that is encouraging. Doesn't appear to be a huge issue either way for my usage case and appreciate the indepth analysis.

 

[Torqueflite]

Ok got all my stuff. Is seems that most of the time when you look really forward to something you are in some way disappointed in some way but not this time. Wife and I set a limit of 6K and I went from there. At this point don't know if the audio or the video are more outstanding. Biggest problem is trying to figure out how to make it simple enough for the females to operate. Any ideas on that? Also redecorated.