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

[OldAndSlowDev]

I don't know how homes are wired in Canada but in England we have a 'ring-main' system where sections of the house have a wiring circuit with sockets attached where needed. Anyway, in the house I had 35 years ago I put in a seperate mains spur for my hifi stuff, which got rid of the interference from the washing machine and microwave. So probably a good thing for you to have done.

Or maybe not. These days any decent amplifier, or subwoofer, should have a power supply rectification and smoothing to handle any old rubbish mains problems. I don't know if you've ever read any of Amir's reviews on AudioScienceReview of the power supply rectifiers they sell to the gullible for hundreds of dollars. But they either do nothing or make things worse. So I reckon any decent, preferably surge protected, multi-plug will do.

Coincidentaly, being nnear Black Friday (we even have it here in the UK now) I was checking out prices to buy more TP-link KASA smart plugs. Saw that they now have three outlet ones - see here. I ordered three.

In addition to being able to turn them off/on via app they can tell you how much electricity is being used. Which I sometimes find useful to know.

For example, when in use but content paused (no sound) the A8A uses about 103 watts. When I'm playing music pretty loud it goes up to a massive - errr - 200 watts. And my mains speakers are pretty inefficient. The sub amps are doing the heavy lifting of course.

UK plugs are the best in the world. You have to know that, because most of the time when you are used to things from your country you lose appreciation about what's great in you country. Going oversee is a good way to find better things, and to really appreciate what you got before.

 

[UltimateGattai]

Question, I recently bought the A6A and over the past week, I've more or less set it up how I like it (it's an awesome unit, love it!), everything is working fine, the 4K blu-ray player, the Switch, the PS4, ect... but I'm having trouble with connecting my gaming PC to it. When I connect my PC, the AVR just passes through the video and audio, I want video pass through, but have the AVR process the audio. I have it connected at every step via HDMI like so: PC --> AVR --> TV

On my old Pioneer AVR that died prematurely, I had the same setup and was able to enjoy surround sound (it only passed through the video, not the audio), the AVR also showed up as a sound device in the audio icon on Windows 10 while the Yamaha A6A doesn't (I actually can't find it in any of the sound settings).

I have a Nvidia 1080Ti, a Sony KD55X8500E TV and the Yamaha A6A, all connected with HDMI cables. If someone could point me in the right direction, that would be great, I have the feeling it's a setting I need to change on the Yamaha to get it right.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

Question, I recently bought the A6A and over the past week, I've more or less set it up how I like it (it's an awesome unit, love it!), everything is working fine, the 4K blu-ray player, the Switch, the PS4, ect... but I'm having trouble with connecting my gaming PC to it. When I connect my PC, the AVR just passes through the video and audio, I want video pass through, but have the AVR process the audio. I have it connected at every step via HDMI like so: PC --> AVR --> TV

On my old Pioneer AVR that died prematurely, I had the same setup and was able to enjoy surround sound (it only passed through the video, not the audio), the AVR also showed up as a sound device in the audio icon on Windows 10 while the Yamaha A6A doesn't (I actually can't find it in any of the sound settings).

I have a Nvidia 1080Ti, a Sony KD55X8500E TV and the Yamaha A6A, all connected with HDMI cables. If someone could point me in the right direction, that would be great, I have the feeling it's a setting I need to change on the Yamaha to get it right.

Do you mean when connecting your PC to the AVR then AVR to TV the sound is played only on TV and not through the AVR ? I am using my PC plugged to the AVR and the AVR plugged to TV and my RX-A8A is playing sound. That said I don't know if the sound reach the TV and then get back to the AVR or if it's the eARC that is doing it's job.
Maybe I should disable eARC on the TV to check.

Edit : I disabled eARC and I don't have any sound so it means the audio was going through the AVR to the TV and then back to the AVR through eARC. I am also intersted on how to get the audio to be decoded by the AVR without eARC.

Edit2: in this configuration my amp is stuck to -29dB, don't have output speakers, and I can't change the volume whatever I do.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

I would love any help on how to make the audio coming from any hdmi input to be played by the AVR and not sent to TV and then retrieved by eARC. I don't get why when the audio and video signal are going within the amp, then the audio isn't directly decoded.

Edit : in HDMI menu, HDMI Set Control should be OFF to let the AVR decode directly the audio.

 

[VASKION]

I would love any help on how to make the audio coming from any hdmi input to be played by the AVR and not sent to TV and then retrieved by eARC. I don't get why when the audio and video signal are going within the amp, then the audio isn't directly decoded.

Edit : in HDMI menu, HDMI Set Control should be OFF to let the AVR decode directly the audio.

Well, if you don't want to use eARC why don't you just plug the TV into HDMI out 2 of the receiver. Then it will get only picture while the AVR will process the sound.

Edit: This also made me think how exactly my setup at home is working because it is absolutely the same as yours except that I use ARC not eARC. I have laptop connected to the AVR through HDMI, I get picture on the TV and the AVR is decoding the audio directly because the TV does not support passthrough of DTS sound to the AVR. I have ARC enabled and ARC control as well because I'm able to change the AVR volume through the TV remote. Is it possible that it depends on the content...?!

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

Well, if you don't want to use eARC why don't you just plug the TV into HDMI out 2 of the receiver. Then it will get only picture while the AVR will process the sound.

I managed to get what I want, ie having the receiver to decode the sound stream directly by setting HDMI Control off. I don't get exactly what it means but now I now I have no extra latency going to the TV then back to the AVR. I am sure I save a few nanoseconds...

Edit : I brought back HDMI control that also allow for AppleTV control trough the Yamaha Remote and plugged the TV to HDMI output 2 as adviced.

 

[Verdinut]

I have a question about multi plug. I had an electrician to install a 20A isolated ground outlet with 10AWG wires after reading Audioholics recommendations. Right now I have the amp and the subwoofer plugged but I will need another plug for the second sub. Any advice on multi plug to use/avoid ?

Edit: Subs are able to draw about 6.5 amperes so two of them would be 13A, it remains 7A for the RX-A8A. Hope it's enough. 600W at 110v is technically 6A. I have 1A spare

The 20A circuit should be sufficient. Music and subwoofer frequency peaks are transient. Moreover, a breaker will handle overloads for several seconds before tripping, which is not the case with a fuse.

I'm questioning why your electrician used a 10 AWG wire, when a 12 AWG is amply sufficient for 20 amperes on a 120 volt circuit, unless there is a very long distance from the power panel to your outlet.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

The 20A circuit should be sufficient. Music and subwoofer frequency peaks are transient. Moreover, a breaker will handle overloads for several seconds before tripping, which is not the case with a fuse.

I'm questioning why your electrician used a 10 AWG wire when a 12 AWG is amply sufficient for 20 amperes, unless there is a very long distance from the power panel to your outlet.

For the 10AWG, it's me, not the electrician, I am overreacting
Actually it wasn't expensive, I have less than six feet between the electric panel and my outlet so.
But don't worry, for speakers cables aren't audioquest, my under floor cables are 12AWG because I don't want to rewire if some day I change my setup and want to increase the wire length. But my "accessible" speaker cables are 14AWG.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

Being an Audioholics leads to uncharted territories. Currently drying some sand in my oven to get dry sand for my speaker floor stand... At least the oven is used for something since my ex wife left

 

[AVR Enthu]

Do you mean when connecting your PC to the AVR then AVR to TV the sound is played only on TV and not through the AVR ? I am using my PC plugged to the AVR and the AVR plugged to TV and my RX-A8A is playing sound. That said I don't know if the sound reach the TV and then get back to the AVR or if it's the eARC that is doing it's job.
Maybe I should disable eARC on the TV to check.

Edit : I disabled eARC and I don't have any sound so it means the audio was going through the AVR to the TV and then back to the AVR through eARC. I am also intersted on how to get the audio to be decoded by the AVR without eARC.

I would love any help on how to make the audio coming from any hdmi input to be played by the AVR and not sent to TV and then retrieved by eARC. I don't get why when the audio and video signal are going within the amp, then the audio isn't directly decoded.

Edit : in HDMI menu, HDMI Set Control should be OFF to let the AVR decode directly the audio.

It also depends on how you set ouputs in Windows and in player software on PC. If you have GPU and motherboard with multiple HDMI ports, then there is Sound setting in Windows where audio output is set, as shown below. Sound can go around in different directions depending on cabling and chosen settings.

I have a 'triangle' HDMI connections between PC-AVR-TV, so three cables, and sound can be configured differently, depending on needs.
Cable 1 - GPU-TV (Ultra-high speed cable for 4K/120 video) - sound can stay on TV or go to AVR via ARC
Cable 2 - TV ARC input-AVR out (for ARC/eARC) allow sound from sources to bypass TV's internal speakers
Cable 3 - GPU-AVR - sends sound directly from PC to AVR

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

When I think I didn't get why there were Scenes...

You can have a Music scene with extra bass active but speaker Pattern 1 without any subwoofer so the amp isn't outputting bass through the LFE, and then Movie scene with speaker pattern 2 where the subwoofer is enabled. So I don't have a kind of "double bass signal" while listening to music and relying on high level input on my subwoofer to integrate bass in the stereo. Then I benefit of LFE and stereo signal for driving the subwoofer in movies.

This is GREAT !

I want extra bass because without the bass are cut of the front channel

Then with extra bass the front channel get full range

 

[AVR Enthu]

Edit: This also made me think how exactly my setup at home is working because it is absolutely the same as yours except that I use ARC not eARC. I have laptop connected to the AVR through HDMI, I get picture on the TV and the AVR is decoding the audio directly because the TV does not support passthrough of DTS sound to the AVR. I have ARC enabled and ARC control as well because I'm able to change the AVR volume through the TV remote. Is it possible that it depends on the content...?!

Yes. Content could be set to be sent out as PCM from sources (laptop/player's software/BD player decodes) or Bitstream (raw audio is passed to AVR to decode it).

 

[AVR Enthu]

I managed to get what I want, ie having the receiver to decode the sound stream directly by setting HDMI Control off. I don't get exactly what it means

HDMI control has several functions.

HDMI Control and synchronized operations

manual.yamaha.com

 

[diablo676]

When I think I didn't get why there were Scenes...

You can have a Music scene with extra bass active but speaker Pattern 1 without any subwoofer so the amp isn't outputting bass through the LFE, and then Movie scene with speaker pattern 2 where the subwoofer is enabled. So I don't have a kind of "double bass signal" while listening to music and relying on high level input on my subwoofer to integrate bass in the stereo. Then I benefit of LFE and stereo signal for driving the subwoofer in movies.

This is GREAT !

I want extra bass because without the bass are cut of the front channel
View attachment 51743
Then with extra bass the front channel get full range
View attachment 51744

I used to have an easy life until you reminded me about high level input! Now I keep thinking about it.

In my lounge I have an A2080 and tower speakers plus surrounds etc. Behind the TV is a sub connected as normal via low level. Now the sub also has a Neutrik connector for high level. The 2080 only has two Patterns and these are taken with settings for my two favourite seating position. I have those on Scenes.

After readng the sub's manual I think I can connect both low and high at the same time. In theory the 2080 sub outputs won't be outputting anything when in Pure Direct mode - and in other modes the main speakers won't get much output below 80Hz?

Had thoughts about similar on the A8A. Though I'll have a spare pattern for that.

Hmmm? Dammit.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

I used to have an easy life until you reminded me about high level input! Now I keep thinking about it.

In my lounge I have an A2080 and tower speakers plus surrounds etc. Behind the TV is a sub connected as normal via low level. Now the sub also has a Neutrik connector for high level. The 2080 only has two Patterns and these are taken with settings for my two favourite seating position. I have those on Scenes.

After readng the sub's manual I think I can connect both low and high at the same time. In theory the 2080 sub outputs won't be outputting anything when in Pure Direct mode - and in other modes the main speakers won't get much output below 80Hz?

Had thoughts about similar on the A8A. Though I'll have a spare pattern for that.

Hmmm? Dammit.

Twice the fun ! Two patterns to calibrate!

About pure mode, I was always using Direct mode on my Denon, so I tried the pure mode when in stereo with the Yamaha, and compared to Straight it is night and day. Straight allows to get the room correction enabled while pure doesn't and in my room it's a game changer. The scene is so wide when properly calibrated, I am losing all the wider and better spatialized scene when going pure. I was thinking about all people running just stereo without running room calibration (which is to me something more home theater oriented but I have been of the audio scene for twenty years or so...), such a waste...

 

[EBN]

Which audyssey unit did he review like this, please?

Sorry for the late response i rarely visit here. X3600H using the app.

Audyssey Room EQ Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audyssey Room Equalization. Audyssey is standard technology in a number of Audio/Video Receivers such as the Denon AVR-X3600H I recently reviewed. The standard version in the AVR is mostly all or nothing so I downloaded the Marantz/Denon...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[EBN]

Sad to see this, but i wonder how big of issue the low SINAD really is. Sorry if this has been talked by Gene earlier, i just saw this post below today on ASR.

" The current AxA line have a serious YPAO bug that will not allow accurate calibrations if more than 3 measurement points are used (will results in speaker distance error that will cause serious comb filtering effect). Atmos + DD+ will results in erroneous object location when AI is used. And finally, the low SINAD on the Center, and surround channels is hardware related so it cannot be fixed by future FW updates. Yamaha engineers are aware of this and promise to replace some component in upcoming future revisions of these AVRs (mid 2022).

So the bottom line, you should avoid the new line of Yamaha AVRs until after the second half of 2022 (component shortages is the blame for the long delay)."

Yamaha RX-A8A (Japanese website)

If your using amps from the pre-outs do you need to worry about these measurement? I'm only using the A6A for the front presence. Anybody?

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Replicant 7]

Sad to see this, but i wonder how big of issue the low SINAD really is. Sorry if this has been talked by Gene earlier, i just saw this post below today on ASR.

" The current AxA line have a serious YPAO bug that will not allow accurate calibrations if more than 3 measurement points are used (will results in speaker distance error that will cause serious comb filtering effect). Atmos + DD+ will results in erroneous object location when AI is used. And finally, the low SINAD on the Center, and surround channels is hardware related so it cannot be fixed by future FW updates. Yamaha engineers are aware of this and promise to replace some component in upcoming future revisions of these AVRs (mid 2022).

So the bottom line, you should avoid the new line of Yamaha AVRs until after the second half of 2022 (component shortages is the blame for the long delay)."

Yamaha RX-A8A (Japanese website)

If your using amps from the pre-outs do you need to worry about these measurement? I'm only using the A6A for the front presence. Anybody?

www.audiosciencereview.com

I used just one for measurements. Worked for me.

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

Sad to see this, but i wonder how big of issue the low SINAD really is. Sorry if this has been talked by Gene earlier, i just saw this post below today on ASR.

" The current AxA line have a serious YPAO bug that will not allow accurate calibrations if more than 3 measurement points are used (will results in speaker distance error that will cause serious comb filtering effect). Atmos + DD+ will results in erroneous object location when AI is used. And finally, the low SINAD on the Center, and surround channels is hardware related so it cannot be fixed by future FW updates. Yamaha engineers are aware of this and promise to replace some component in upcoming future revisions of these AVRs (mid 2022).

So the bottom line, you should avoid the new line of Yamaha AVRs until after the second half of 2022 (component shortages is the blame for the long delay)."

Yamaha RX-A8A (Japanese website)

If your using amps from the pre-outs do you need to worry about these measurement? I'm only using the A6A for the front presence. Anybody?

www.audiosciencereview.com

I am just waiting for the review. About the SINAD being “low” for center and surround I will take that with a grain of salt as to my knowledge the amps are the same for all channels and the only input difference is different silicon for the front and surround decoding on the A6A but it’s a pair of same silicon (don’t remember if it’s the Sabre 9026) on the A8A so where could be the weaker components for center and surround. Will wait for Gene review

 

[OldAndSlowDev]

I used just one for measurements. Worked for me.

And YPAO can be improved by updates, it’s a software