Yamaha Announces the RX-V2700 and RX-V1700 !

[jcPanny]

HDMI 1.3 availability

No one can honestly say that Yamaha doesn't have any access to these technologies at this time. They are basically going for one more lap around the block with what they have before they REALLY have to upgrade.

I hate to brake it to you, but Yamaha Doesn't have access to HDMI 1.3 chips. This is why the PS3 wont be out until November.
http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/HDMI13siliconimagechips.php

If you don't need some of the new features on the 2700, than save some money and buy a 2600 or 2500. If you want an audio upgrade from the Yamaha, then use it as a pre-pro with an outboard amp.

 

[shperez]

Where is the official AUDIOHOLICS RX-V2700 Review

In case anyone's missed it... the RX-V2600/2700 is now more akin to the old 3000 series and the RX-V1600/1700 has more in common with what was expected of the 2000-series line. As prices, features and power have crept up the lines have morphed somewhat.

After CEDIA will be a great time to buy to 1600/2600 models if you're looking for a bargain.

Clint,

When is the official Audioholics review for this bad boy coming out, any ideas? Thank you in advance for all the great work you guys do.

 

[Audioholics]

I believe Gene is handling the RX-V2700, and I will review the DVD-S1700/2700 (not sure which yet)

 

[ggunnell]

Just got a 2700 today, so far I've just done manual setup. Two quick comments:

Peering inside with a flashlight, we have a new design from the 2500/4600/2600. Hopefully Gene will open her up and comment further -- to my untutored eye component count has gone down even through features have increased!

And thank you for the more efficient design, Yamaha -- no longer is the receiver a room heater even in standby.

 

[EastCoaster]

SACD over HDMI 1.2 on RX-V2700?

HDMI v1.2a (SACD over HDMI added)

http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/YamahaRXV2700receiver.php

Emasculated amplifier section though, look at the weight and capacitors

Just brought the new Yamaha RX-V2700 home and hooked it up tonight. Although it's supposed to pass SACD over HDMI (isn't it?) I couldn't get it to work for some odd reason... Well, with HDMI (and none of my analog cables plugged in) I got music to come out of the speakers with a SACD if I used any of the sorround sound fields, but when I pressed the "MULTI CH IN" button - no sound came out.... So, I hooked up my six cables back up... Any ideas anyone?

By the way, the verdict is still out (in my own mind) on the YPAO - it did an okay job of setting things up (it seemed better than the one on my "old" RX-V2600), but the results weren't "terrific". I've learned that I have to run the setup several times before I get nice results.

Also, the GUI interface seems more stable - it doesn't jump up and down when I turn it on - that's a comfort....

 

[EastCoaster]

The RX-2700 and RX-V1700 are capable of HDMI 1080p signal pass through and up-converting analog composite, S-video and component signals to HDMI output, with a time base corrector (TBC) that stabilizes the video signal. Both models employ the latest Oplus™ de-interlacer to convert 480i to 480p. The RX-V2700 can also upscale to HD resolution of 720p/1080i by utilizing Anchor Bay Technology’s ABT1010 video scaling chip.

[Read More]

If I understand this correctly, there's no upscaling of any DVD content to HD resolution if I'm connecting the DVD to the 2700 via HDMI? Would I need to connect the two via component cables to get the upscaled resolution? (and if so, has anyone checked it out to see if it's worth it).

And I guess same thing holds true for HD Box - connect the HD Box to the receiver via component, then: (i) "turn on" the up-conversion; (ii) then also activate the Component I/P (component interlace/progressive conversion); and (iii) activate the HDMI upscaling (to 720p in my case); and finally (iv) set HDMI aspect? (I assume to 16:9 so no stretching occurs)

am I getting this right?

 

[ggunnell]

I'm using the 2700 as an audio only prepro, Rotel 1095's for amps.
I started off with an analog RCA connection (Audioquest Diamondbacks) between a Denon 3910 and the 2700. After one movie DVD and one music
CD:
In 'direct' mode, not quite as musical as my AVM30. Frequency response a little overemphasized in the 2k-4k range, a little underemphasized in the 200-400 range. On ....Saint-Georges Violin Concertos V2, Naxos 8.557322, violins were a slightly steely, lower end of body resonances was not loud enough. Still the Yamaha is good enough to present good imaging and 'hearing into the performance'.

With front presence speakers connected, Stargate Season 1 disc one in DPL II had the same frequency response compared to an AVM 30 as above -- even so, the Yamaha beat the AVM30 in theatrical sound field. I have yet to hear a front end that can beat, for subjective enjoyment, Yamahas theater sound fields.

The sound field programs are not the same as the 2500/4600/2600. Yamaha's 'Enhanced' Dolby decoding modes are no longer menu options. Also, DPLIIxMovie mode now requires rear speakers -- I'm pretty sure I was able to run DPLIIx on the 2500/4600/2600 in my 5.1 setup.

Gene will have some interesting comparisons to make

 

[EastCoaster]

Just brought the new Yamaha RX-V2700 home and hooked it up tonight. Although it's supposed to pass SACD over HDMI (isn't it?) I couldn't get it to work for some odd reason... Well, with HDMI (and none of my analog cables plugged in) I got music to come out of the speakers with a SACD if I used any of the sorround sound fields, but when I pressed the "MULTI CH IN" button - no sound came out.... So, I hooked up my six cables back up... Any ideas anyone?

SHEESH... It was very late at night when I posted this... Of course it won't work with my DVD Universal player, as that particular unit is HDMI 1.0! Sometimes you can't see what's right infront of your nose...

 

[EastCoaster]

Just brought the new Yamaha RX-V2700 home and hooked it up tonight. .....
By the way, the verdict is still out (in my own mind) on the YPAO - it did an okay job of setting things up (it seemed better than the one on my "old" RX-V2600), but the results weren't "terrific". I've learned that I have to run the setup several times before I get nice results.

Okay here is another report on the 2700, for anyone interested. In my mind the verdict is out on the YPAO - it's a bit crazy, just like the the RXV2600. It ran just fine a couple of times, and for every try thereafter it's telling me the phase is incorrect and stops. I finally noticed that if my subwoofer is disconnected, the YPAO seems to work okay - I don't know what it has against my B&W ASW 825?

So, I can try and run the set-up again without the "wiring" test, and let it ride, or run the test without the sub, and then come back and adjust the results manually.

While the YPAO does the distances correctly, and I think the EQ is really not half bad, I'm not enthralled by the rest (I mean, this receiver is $1,700 - everything should work on it...) Maybe one day we'll get a proper YPAO on a Yamaha receiver? One can only hope...

 

[ggunnell]

It is sad to watch receiver manufacturers try to implement automatic eq and multipoint eq, when they haven't even given us single point manual EQ...
At least Yamaha does provide 7 PEQ bands @ channel, but only 2 bands on the LFE channel -- two bands below 200Hz limited to preset 1/3 octave frequencies is still not good enough to for room resonance correction.

I'm being critical here -- Yamaha IS moving in the right direction. Anthem is working on room correction. Outlaw is working on room correction. Remember, guys, that even though some existing solutions just use three bands below 200Hz, I've never heard of an SMS-1 owner who ended up using fewer than 6 bands.

Switching from an analog to a digital connection from my 3910 to the 2700 resulted in slightly better SQ in DVD movie sound. And I was very pleased to note that as with previous Yamahas I can unplug the 2700 for an hour, plug it back in, and have all settings retained -- even a one second power 'blink' is enough to have to totally redo all setup on an AVM30.

 

[EastCoaster]

And I was very pleased to note that as with previous Yamahas I can unplug the 2700 for an hour, plug it back in, and have all settings retained -- even a one second power 'blink' is enough to have to totally redo all setup on an AVM30.

I would take a hammer to my AVM30 if it did that to me... I like Anthem... If they come out with a good YPAO (where I have to move the mic around the room) that doesn't put out a different result every single run, I'd love it... For me, the RX-V2700 is a way station before I end up buying high-end gear in a year or two. But I'm not about to drop $10,000 on audio equipment before I see the dust settling a bit in the video/audio format wars.

 

[ggunnell]

All they need to do is display the output of the mic on the screen and let us take it from there.

Getting that to work and sound good is the first step.

Automating it for a single location is the second step.

Automatically integrating multiple locations is the third step.

These guys are trying triple reverses before getting the run down.

 

[ggunnell]

Getting multiple PEQ bands down to 20Hz is no problem for Yamaha (or others) in their pro equipment. Look at the the manual for Yamaha's SP2060 speaker processor:
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/result.php?WORD=SP2060&div=pa

 

[jgersic]

2700 vs 2600, worth the upgrade?

I have read through the discussion so far on the 2700 - but I guess my one question is - is it worth upgrading from an 2600 to the 2700? From my understanding, it looks like the audio is basically the same, with no new decoding methods like DolbyHD, the differences are basically the networking feature, and the upgraded video scaling engine.
I am a huge Yamaha fan, and have owned Yamahas since the DSP-A1 - using the receiver as a pre-amp going to external amps..so already decided I am going to move to a newer Yamaha.
So, for someone who already has the 2600 and has the money, would you upgrade to the 2700, or wait for a newer model to be released that is based on the HDMI v. 1.3 with the newer decoders like DolbyHD,etc?

Thanks for the advice,
John

 

[jgersic]

Other 2700 Question

One other question came to mind - on earlier threads there were discussion about problems with using the HDMI connector with various cable boxes due to digital rights issues on the HDMI (think it was v1.1) protocol. Has anyone used the 2700 with their cable box successfully / is this issue resolved with the newer HDMI versions like 1.2a / 1.3? I am using an HDMI from a DVD player and as my monitor out to a projector with no issues, but would love to move to an HDMI for the cable box as well..

Thanks,
John

 

[EastCoaster]

Okay here is another report on the 2700, for anyone interested. In my mind the verdict is out on the YPAO - it's a bit crazy, just like the the RXV2600. It ran just fine a couple of times, and for every try thereafter it's telling me the phase is incorrect and stops. I finally noticed that if my subwoofer is disconnected, the YPAO seems to work okay - I don't know what it has against my B&W ASW 825?

So, I can try and run the set-up again without the "wiring" test, and let it ride, or run the test without the sub, and then come back and adjust the results manually.

Okay - I take it back... I tried the YPAO again this afternoon. I moved my sofa and ottoman clear away, away (leather surface - hard and reflecting), put the mic properly on a camera tripod, and ran the set-up again - worked like a charm. I haven't heard what it sounds like yet (that's this evening), but I did six auto tests, and the results came back very, very similar to each other (slight differences in volume level, THAT is all). This is a VERY different result from testing with the 2600, where results where all over the map, on each successive test. If it sounds good this evening, I would give it a thumbs up!

 

[EastCoaster]

One other question came to mind - on earlier threads there were discussion about problems with using the HDMI connector with various cable boxes due to digital rights issues on the HDMI (think it was v1.1) protocol. Has anyone used the 2700 with their cable box successfully / is this issue resolved with the newer HDMI versions like 1.2a / 1.3? I am using an HDMI from a DVD player and as my monitor out to a projector with no issues, but would love to move to an HDMI for the cable box as well..

Thanks,
John

The issue is with the cablebox, not the Yamahas. And it has nothing to do with what version HDMI you're using. As long as the cablebox firmware is not upgraded to allow HDMI switching, you can't run HDMI from the box through the receiver and to the TV. There are some indications that in some parts of the country the cable companies are beginning to update their boxes, but this is spotty, to say the least.

 

[EastCoaster]

I have read through the discussion so far on the 2700 - but I guess my one question is - is it worth upgrading from an 2600 to the 2700? From my understanding, it looks like the audio is basically the same, with no new decoding methods like DolbyHD, the differences are basically the networking feature, and the upgraded video scaling engine.
I am a huge Yamaha fan, and have owned Yamahas since the DSP-A1 - using the receiver as a pre-amp going to external amps..so already decided I am going to move to a newer Yamaha.
So, for someone who already has the 2600 and has the money, would you upgrade to the 2700, or wait for a newer model to be released that is based on the HDMI v. 1.3 with the newer decoders like DolbyHD,etc?

Thanks for the advice,
John

I had the 2600 and upgraded to the 2700. The 1.3 will be available only in a few months, and I came down with upgratitis (a disease where you get a rash and itch until you get new hifi equipment). The 2700 has some new sorround fields (not TruHD) and some other gimmics. It also has HDMI 1.2(a) which will pass SACD and 1080p. The GUI works better, and the YPAO is better. A bit more wattage (neglible). Think of the 2700 as a souped-up 2600. If you currently have a 2600 and can get good coin by selling it, it may be worth it to upgrade, if you don't want to wait some more months for HDMI 1.3 (and then a few months more for the manufacturers to iron out the kinks in the equipment - I wouldn't buy the first ones that come out).

 

[Muffin Man]

I believe Gene is handling the RX-V2700, and I will review the DVD-S1700/2700 (not sure which yet)

How's the review to the 2700 coming along guys? I'm especially hanging out to hear exactly how well it does now on the upscaling & deinterlacing with the new chip.

 

[jmone]

I've upgraded from the V2600 to the V2700 and while I have not had much time to play (had to rebuild the HTPC - gotta "love" windows) I notice:
1) Better: YPAO works alot better with and can now handle my Sub but I'm yet to calib with my sound meter
2) Better: Runs cooler than the V2600
3) Issue: There seems to be an issue with HDMI detection that was not present on the V2600. You seem to have to turn on you HDMI device (in my case a HTPC connected with a DVI-HDMI cable) while the device is selected on the YAMI. Once the conneciton is established you can then switch to other devices and back again. If I boot my HTPC first and THEN switch to it on the Yami I get no signal and the HDMI light does not come on.

Nathan