Official Yamaha RX-Z7 Receiver Review Thread

[rawj7]

Darn

Excellent suggestion. I encourage any users here with this problem to please list the serial # of your unit. thanks.

I'v been watching this and others. I guess this reciever is out of the question now. Well I do have a question for you if I may Gene. I greatly aprciate your opinoin as I was wanting to get this reciever untill this happened. Now my choices are the SC-07, 3808, 4308, or ONKYO 906. I would love it if you could give me your apinion of which would be better for Home Theater? HT is what i do 80% of my listening with. The other 20% is music. I plane of getting the samsung 2500 BD and will just pass it through since it has the HQV chip so Video isnt as much of an issue on the reciever with me. I also would like to have The THX sound processing CODECS. but I have read over and over that its just a mark and not really any processing. thanks for any opinions you would impart with me.
Rob

 

[pbenj]

Excellent suggestion. I encourage any users here with this problem to please list the serial # of your unit. thanks.

Not sure on the goings on with Gene's original review unit, for example has it been returned to Yamaha for evaluation. But it would be very interesting to see if they can duplicate the issue with the original review unit and what their take is on the root cause.

I would think they would be chomping at the bit to resolve this issue and not draggin their feet as this is part of the flagship Z line.

I'v been watching this and others. I guess this reciever is out of the question now.

Just because an issue was found I have not ruled this unit out yet. I find this issue very interesting and am in suspense just waiting to find out what is causing this issue, what is the scope of the issue and what is the resolution for the units affected by this issue.

The question is... how swiftly will Yamaha answer these questions?

 

[Azz123]

My RX-Z7 came with a perforated plastic cover attached to the metal cover (the top that is). The perforations exactly match the primary cover. It's pretty ugly and has no discernible use that I can see. It's held on by a bunch of plastic clips. They could be cut but pieces would probably fall inside -- not a good plan. Anybody have a clue why this thing is in place? The 180-pg manual doesn't mention this particular "feature."

Ive got the same on an Australian delivery model.

MarkH do you have the plastic insert on the top of yours?

 

[quenthal]

Ive got the same on an Australian delivery model.

MarkH do you have the plastic insert on the top of yours?

I think those plastic inserts have been top of Yamaha's EU models for few generations now. I remember reading about it in Yamaha Germany FAQ. If I remember correctly, it was there so that kids wouldn't burn their fingers...

I have it on my Z7, and my previous receiver (3800) had that too.

 

[quenthal]

Not sure on the goings on with Gene's original review unit, for example has it been returned to Yamaha for evaluation. But it would be very interesting to see if they can duplicate the issue with the original review unit and what their take is on the root cause.

I would think they would be chomping at the bit to resolve this issue and not draggin their feet as this is part of the flagship Z line.

What could be the most clear way to test for this? I have only 720p projector, but it is capable of receiving 1080p too. For sources I have PS3, Wii and HTPC available in addition to few old S-Video devices.

 

[cdub]

So I was cranking some Tool last night @ ~100 db or so though my Z7 (sounds absolutely amazing), something I have done before with no issues, and about 10-15 minutes in it shuts off. When I turn in back on I get "CHECK SP WIRES" displayed on the screen and it shuts back off again within a few seconds (the cd source was still playing). This happens a few more times with the volume turned down a bit. I checked the temp on the top of the unit and, as expected for the load I was putting on it, it was fairly warm/hot, not hot enough to burn you, but definitely very warm.

After I turned off the cd, lowered the volume to normal tv level, and switched the input back to an HDMI DVR source, I was able to run it for several hours (fell asleep with the tv on) without issue.

The manual has only this entry:
"CHECK SP WIRES - Speaker wires are short-circuited."

I find it hard to believe my speaker wires are actually short circuited since I have been using the same wires/speakers/etc with this Z7 for over 2 weeks now, had extended 1-2 hour sessions of LOUD 100 db+ music sessions, as well as watched many LOUD BD movie scenes in the course of calibrating/showing off/just making myself giddy with the new toys.

I checked all the speaker wires termination points and all the wire that is visible and everything looks fine.

I did recently add an APC AV H15 1.5kVA H Type Power Conditioner to my system with the Z7 on the PREAMP/RCVR port. I am not drawing more than ~30% with everything on. The H15 is showing that my power is fine, I did have to set the AVR range to wide before the Line Boost light went off. Not sure if this could be related?

So my questions are this:
1 - Is there any other reason this message would be displayed?
2 - Could the speaker wire itself fail? It has been installed for ~4 years, the rear & side surround wires run though the attic.
3 - Could the H15 be responsible?
4 - I have a few weeks left on the no questions asked return policy, how seriously should I be considering taking advantage of this?

Gene did you do any extended loud listening tests with the Z7? Any issues?

 

[gene]

Not sure on the goings on with Gene's original review unit, for example has it been returned to Yamaha for evaluation. But it would be very interesting to see if they can duplicate the issue with the original review unit and what their take is on the root cause.

I just sent back the 1st review unit. They sent me a 2nd unit and it has the same issue. I can make this problem go completely away by setting HDMI to HDMI to "through" which bypasses the ABT processing. I think the problem may lie somewhere in there.

Gene did you do any extended loud listening tests with the Z7? Any issues?

No I abused the amp section in this receiver at full blast in my 6,000cuFt room with my main speakers set to bi-amp mode which dip down to 2 ohms and had no issues. All of my speakers in my rig are 4 ohm rated as well. The amp section of the Z7 is solid and class leading as far as receivers go. This is why the HDMI issue pains me so much. Other than that, I believe its the best receiver in its class!

You need to check your speaker cables for shorts or whiskers at the terminals, and also make sure none of your speakers are blown. Run test tones and make sure they all work and that the tweets arent fried.

 

[cdub]

No I abused the amp section in this receiver at full blast in my 6,000cuFt room with my main speakers set to bi-amp mode which dip down to 2 ohms and had no issues. All of my speakers in my rig are 4 ohm rated as well. The amp section of the Z7 is solid and class leading as far as receivers go. This is why the HDMI issue pains me so much. Other than that, I believe its the best receiver in its class!

You need to check your speaker cables for shorts or whiskers at the terminals, and also make sure none of your speakers are blown. Run test tones and make sure they all work and that the tweets arent fried.

When I listen to music I just run the mains, which are CWS T500's (8 ohm), would this mean the short would have to be in one of those speaker/wires, or could it still be in any wire/speaker? I have been thinking of dumping the T500's and going with Axiom M80's. I don't need the powered subs built into the T500's anymore with a PC13-Ultra and would prefer having the additional mid/tweeter drivers in the M80's, plus I am sure they blow the doors of T500's in SQ. I guess if the T500's are the problem, I will be "forced" to upgrade

I agree that the amp in the Z7 is a beast, the SQ and sound staging is incredible compared to my old Marantz SR8500, even with my current mains, glad to hear it held up on the bench. I really don't want to return this unit and I hope that my shutdown issue is just a wiring issue. The blue line issue seems to be more widespread than it initially looked and Yamaha needs to get this addressed ASAP, I certainly hope they are giving it the attention it deserves.

 

[cdub]

In response to cdub, I can report that my Comcast DVR box also interacts a bit strangely with the receiver. I set the DVR to “auto HDMI” to pass through whatever resolution it is receiving. When tuned to a channel broadcasting at 480i, I briefly see a message from the DVR saying “the DVI/HDMI output is blocked” then it finally locks in the picture. If I toggle the zoom control, I get the same message again before locking in at “zoom2”, “normal” or “zoom1” (no “stretch” setting is available). If I tune to an HD channel (at 720p or 1080i) the zoom toggle works normally between all 4 settings without any error message. If I set the receiver to output 1080i, 1080p or 720p, I get the same behavior, but the “normal” view is stretched regardless of the receiver aspect ratio setting (“through” or “16:9/normal”). The best solution for 480i material with this DVR, therefore, seems to be to either pass through the resolution or zoom the upconverted picture.

-Doug

Where did you find the "auto HDMI" setting in the comcast DVR? I have not been able to find anything like that.

The HDMI blocked message is being shown while HDCP resolves between the source and the display, I have seen a similar message on both my comcast and tivo DVR's.

 

[gene]

When I listen to music I just run the mains, which are CWS T500's (8 ohm), would this mean the short would have to be in one of those speaker/wires, or could it still be in any wire/speaker? I have been thinking of dumping the T500's and going with Axiom M80's. I don't need the powered subs built into the T500's anymore with a PC13-Ultra and would prefer having the additional mid/tweeter drivers in the M80's, plus I am sure they blow the doors of T500's in SQ. I guess if the T500's are the problem, I will be "forced" to upgrade

I agree that the amp in the Z7 is a beast, the SQ and sound staging is incredible compared to my old Marantz SR8500, even with my current mains, glad to hear it held up on the bench. I really don't want to return this unit and I hope that my shutdown issue is just a wiring issue. The blue line issue seems to be more widespread than it initially looked and Yamaha needs to get this addressed ASAP, I certainly hope they are giving it the attention it deserves.

1. You need to check all speaker connections regardless
2. Make sure the impedance switch is set to 8 ohms or more, REGARDLESS of the impedance of your speakers. NEVER set it to 8 ohms or less EVER!

You can access the impedance switch in the advanced menu by holding down the "Straight" button when you turn on the Master power switch (the one that goes in and out).

 

[cdub]

1. You need to check all speaker connections regardless
2. Make sure the impedance switch is set to 8 ohms or more, REGARDLESS of the impedance of your speakers. NEVER set it to 8 ohms or less EVER!

You can access the impedance switch in the advanced menu by holding down the "Straight" button when you turn on the Master power switch (the one that goes in and out).

I will definitely be checking all of the speaker wiring, just wondering if I could narrow down the cause of the shutdown last night to the mains.

I followed the manuals setup procedure to set the speaker impedance to 8 ohms min when I first set it up. Currently only the mains/center have banana plugs on them, I am going to put them on the other 4 speakers to eliminate any possibility of whiskers shorting out tonight.

I am curious as to why I would not set it to 6 ohms min if I were connecting M80's (or other 4 ohm rated mains) as long as all the other speakers are rated for 6 ohm or more?

 

[gene]

I am curious as to why I would not set it to 6 ohms min if I were connecting M80's (or other 4 ohm rated mains) as long as all the other speakers are rated for 6 ohm or more?

B/C all that switch does it lower the rail voltage so the amp will clip sooner under the UL test. Thus under a 4 ohm load on their test, it will dissipate less heat since it will also product much less power. You will see in my review that it totally crushes 8 ohm and 4 ohm power when its set to the low impedance setting.

 

[DougSmith]

Where did you find the "auto HDMI" setting in the comcast DVR? I have not been able to find anything like that.

On the SA8300, press menu twice and scroll to "Set: Picture Format" it is in that list (which also includes upconversion or fixed resolution). Also, my DVR was set up initially to enable all resolutions, not just the general HD 16:9 setting (not sure if that makes a difference, but if you don't do that the fixed output settings are not available on the quick settings menu).

-Doug

 

[rbhudelson]

B/C all that switch does it lower the rail voltage so the amp will clip sooner under the UL test. Thus under a 4 ohm load on their test, it will dissipate less heat since it will also product much less power. You will see in my review that it totally crushes 8 ohm and 4 ohm power when its set to the low impedance setting.

Gene, my center, L and R are infinity prelude compositions which are 6 ohm's. my 4 surrounds are 8 ohm's. The manual says if you are hooking up a speaker with 6 ohm's to set the switch.

Are you saying to leave the switch at 8 ohm's regardless if you have 6 ohm speakers?

 

[gene]

Are you saying to leave the switch at 8 ohm's regardless if you have 6 ohm speakers?

Yes and I've been saying that ever since Yamaha incorporated that switch in their receivers.

However, if you prefer to lose amplifier power and increase amplifier clipping, than by all means put it to the low impedance setting.

 

[cdub]

Just wanted to post an update on the shutdown issue I was having with my Z7. After not locating a speaker wire short with extensive multimeter testing, I began to notice some sound quality degradation and concluded that the issue may be internal to my CWS T500 (4 ohm) mains. When I measured the impedance at the speaker terminals, it showed ~470 ohms, obviously this can't be correct or no sound would be coming out at all, but still begged further investigation.

After taking removing the tweeter, mid, & powered sub, I measured the impedance at the speaker they all checked out @ 4 ohms. I located a circuit board on the inside of the cabinet, which I believe must be the crossover board, it has one input from the speaker terminals, and 3 outputs to the mid/tweeter. There was a melted inductor on it along with some melted/broken zip ties holding various other items to the board, and some loose winds. The board is poorly laid out and looked poorly made imo. The interesting thing is that both T500's had the exact same failure, which leads me to believe that this was not a fatigue issue but rather just poorly made components.

It's too bad because CWS touted these as high end speakers made with the quality components, from the manual:

"The Product Development Team at Cambridge SoundWorks believes there is no better combination of audiophile-level attention to detail and reasonable
cost."

Another thing I find odd is the manual does not state what the max watts is for these speakers, rather it says:

"The T500 can be safely used with receivers rated above 30 watts per channel. There is little advantage to using a receiver larger than 200 watts per channel with these speakers, but any size receiver may be used should it be available, so long as the receiver is not operated at excessive levels."

wtf is that, just state the max watts per speaker...

According to the Z7 manual it would be pushing 265 WPC @ 4 ohms for the L/R channels. I guess this was too much for the T500's to handle.

Just wanted to let anyone considering a Z7 know that the issue I experienced was not the fault of the receiver. Spoke with JC @ Axiom a few minutes ago about getting a pair of M80's shipped out today, I guess I'm "forced to upgrade" once again

 

[cdub]

M80's will be here tomorrow by 10:30 AM, can't wait to hear them with the Z7. I would also like to say what a pleasure it was to deal with the good people @ Axiom and thanks to JC for accommodating me with a rush shipment, can't have a Superbowl party with no mains now can I?

 

[gene]

M80's will be here tomorrow by 10:30 AM, can't wait to hear them with the Z7. I would also like to say what a pleasure it was to deal with the good people @ Axiom and thanks to JC for accommodating me with a rush shipment, can't have a Superbowl party with no mains now can I?

The Z7 has some great power capabilities, obviously enough to melt the inductors on your old speakers The M80s will do just fine as I've seem them hit at ear bleeding levels with an A-1400 and they didn't falter. Enjoy your new speakers.

 

[deltron0]

i am a bit perturbed and disheartened after reading this thread. i thought that i had settled on a receiver, but the problems experienced by gene and others with the rx-z7 have caused me to seriously reconsider my decision. i had originally planned to go with a pioneer elite sc-07 (or sc-05) but after reading gene's review, it lost some of it's shine due to a somewhat limited feature set. that led me to the yamaha rx-v3900/rx-z7; i was favoring the rx-z7 because of it's enhanced video processing capabilities. now i am at a loss for what to do, every receiver that i have looked at seems to have some potential downside. the receiver will be housed in a bdi avion 8527 and will be connected to a pioneer pdp-6020fd and b&w 6 series speaker (which i plan on upgrading sometime over the next year). the receivers that i have been considering are:

oknyo nr-876/nr-906
===================
pros: isf calibration, video processing
cons: heat, bad customer service, long delays in switching video inputs or from hd to sd

pioneer sc-05/sc-07
===================
pros: osd over hdmi (have pio pdp-6020fd), runs cool(er)
cons: weak video processing, limited network capability, no HD radio

yamaha rx-v3900/rx-z7
===================
pros: abt video processing, HD radio, osd over hdmi, surround sound modes
cons:blue lines

should i be looking at another receiver? is this blue line problem very widespread? would i be better off getting a pio sc-05 and vdo edge? any suggestions would be welcome.

thx

 

[pbenj]

should i be looking at another receiver? is this blue line problem very widespread? would i be better off getting a pio sc-05 and vdo edge? any suggestions would be welcome.

I too am very disappointed as I sold my RX-V3800 @ 2 months ago with the intention to purchase a RX-Z7. The 3800 sounded sweet. I do miss it. However, I am waiting a tad bit longer to see what is the resolution for the "Blues" with the RX-Z7 in hopes all is resolved with this issue.

I'm not sure what your time frame is to purchase and if you can hold out any longer, but I would recommend holding out to find out the outcome of this issue.

Hopefully this oddity can be explained and completely resolved very soon.