HTM review Yahama 1010 & Arcam high-end

[Buckster]

AcuDefTechGuy - what Sony measured that much power driving 7 channels ?

 

[PENG]

Just a cautionary note again: Be careful in trying to interpret HTM's ACD measurements. I found them inconsistent at times. Sometimes they would tell you the low values were obtained when the protective circuit was activated. An example I cited several times in the past was the comparison between ACD measurements for the Denon 4310, 4311 and 4810. The 4810 has the largest power supply and weighs 5 lbs more yet it yield ACD values of about 1/3 of that of the 4311. The only logical explanation is that the 4810 has a more aggressive protective circuit and/or HTM's methodology was lacking or not consistenly executed, resulting in inexplicable results. There are other examples but I am not going list all of them.

 

[3db]

I'm a big fan of Yamaha having one their receivers and most likely will buy another one to replace my RX-V1800 because Yamaha has bullet proof reliability and have excellent power delivery delivering clean power. However, the crosstalk spec as impressive as it is no reason to rush out and by this unit. As long as crosstalk is well below audibility, I will look at other things which are more important such as ease of use, features, power delivery, and reliability.

 

[DS-21]

1st, I need to correct a mistake on the prices.

The Arcam is the AVR360, and it's $1800, not $4K. Man, I missed that one.

Arcam ($1800): 105.9watts x 2ch 8ohms/1% THD, 90.2wpc x 5ch, 71wpc x 7ch

Yamaha ($1100): 133.9wpc x 2ch 8ohms/1% THD, 65.3wpc x5ch, 63wpc x 7ch

Sony ($2,000): 170.7wpc x 2ch 8ohms/1% THD,147.9wpc x 5ch, 111wlc x 7ch

So for 2ch power, the Yamaha is better than Arcam. Do we put a lot of weight into the All Channels Driven?

I say sorta/kinda/not really.

Basically it's a stress test for the PS, nothing more or less. IMO, it's a good indicator of the PS's ability to supply the amps stably into speakers that present lower-z loads, but not much more than that.

Just a cautionary note again: Be careful in trying to interpret HTM's ACD measurements. I found them inconsistent at times. Sometimes they would tell you the low values were obtained when the protective circuit was activated.

Agreed. Another example is the Anthem MRX 300 vs. MRX 700.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

AcuDefTechGuy - what Sony measured that much power driving 7 channels ?

Sony STR-DA5700ES

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just a cautionary note again: Be careful in trying to interpret HTM's ACD measurements. I found them inconsistent at times. Sometimes they would tell you the low values were obtained when the protective circuit was activated.

That is why I only look at the 2Ch driven measurements into 8ohms & 4ohms.