Yamaha RX-A3000 Aventage 11.2 Networking A/V Receiver Review

[Raudi]

Recorder connections

Dear Gene or Clint, no answer to my questions?

Would you say the features and sound quality of the RX-A3000 have so significantly improved compared to the Z7 or RX-V 3900 that you would prefer the new RX-A3000 and to forego the missed recorder connections, in particular if there is a work-around with adpators or switches?

I must admit that I make recordings and re-recordings not more than 4 times a year, but it is however nice to have the valuable equipment ready on board to play music directly in succession from different tapes and sources.

So, trying to get quickly the older, but better equipped Z7/RX-V 3900 or is the best buy for audioholics the modern and brand new RX-A3000?

Thank you and season's greetings.

Raudi

 

[gene]

Dear Gene or Clint, no answer to my questions?

Would you say the features and sound quality of the RX-A3000 have so significantly improved compared to the Z7 or RX-V 3900 that you would prefer the new RX-A3000 and to forego the missed recorder connections, in particular if there is a work-around with adpators or switches?

I must admit that I make recordings and re-recordings not more than 4 times a year, but it is however nice to have the valuable equipment ready on board to play music directly in succession from different tapes and sources.

So, trying to get quickly the older, but better equipped Z7/RX-V 3900 or is the best buy for audioholics the modern and brand new RX-A3000?

Thank you and season's greetings.

Raudi

As a fellow RX-Z7 owner, I have no plans/desire to swap out my unit for an RX-A3000 but I also could care less about 3D support. The Z7 is wired to 4 zones of audio in my home and its too much of a hassle to swap it out for a product that basically does everything my Z7 does with a few extra perks I don't personally need. If I owned an iPad, I may consider swapping out my unit but I have no plans on buying an iPad anytime soon. As for amp sections they are so similar that any likely audible differences would be subtle at best, requiring a controlled blind test to confidently discern.

 

[Buckster]

As a fellow RX-Z7 owner, I have no plans/desire to swap out my unit for an RX-A3000 but I also could care less about 3D support. The Z7 is wired to 4 zones of audio in my home and its too much of a hassle to swap it out for a product that basically does everything my Z7 does with a few extra perks I don't personally need. If I owned an iPad, I may consider swapping out my unit but I have no plans on buying an iPad anytime soon. As for amp sections they are so similar that any likely audible differences would be subtle at best, requiring a controlled blind test to confidently discern.

Gene - great review by the way - superb quality thanks.

one query about your power tests though, in the pre-amble of the power test section you state all 3 tests were performed at 0.1% THD (which seems to be the norm looking at other amps you've tested) - yet your tables for the A-3000 all seem to be at 1% THD ? - except for the 1st test that is

 

[gene]

one query about your power tests though, in the pre-amble of the power test section you state all 3 tests were performed at 0.1% THD (which seems to be the norm looking at other amps you've tested) - yet your tables for the A-3000 all seem to be at 1% THD ? - except for the 1st test that is

Check the tables again. I did 0.1% for continuous fullbandwidth tests and 1% for ACD or burst tests. This is likely how I will do it going forward to simplify the data and also be more inline with how consumers typically see power measurements in other magazines.

 

[Buckster]

Check the tables again. I did 0.1% for continuous fullbandwidth tests and 1% for ACD or burst tests. This is likely how I will do it going forward to simplify the data and also be more inline with how consumers typically see power measurements in other magazines.

ok fair enough thanks- just makes it difficult to compare the Yamaha vs previous amps received - as for instance the Denon 4310 managed slightly lower dynamic power across ACD but at < 0.1% THD which is quite a difference

I still opening statement in the section is a bit odd given what you've said above:

"we conducted a full barrage of multi-channel amplifier tests on Yamaha RX-A3000. We tested power using three methods all of which were taken at < 0.1% THD + N:"

it just reads a bit confused

cheers

 

[gene]

ok fair enough thanks- just makes it difficult to compare the Yamaha vs previous amps received - as for instance the Denon 4310 managed slightly lower dynamic power across ACD but at < 0.1% THD which is quite a difference

I still opening statement in the section is a bit odd given what you've said above:

"we conducted a full barrage of multi-channel amplifier tests on Yamaha RX-A3000. We tested power using three methods all of which were taken at < 0.1% THD + N:"

it just reads a bit confused

cheers

It's old verbiage from prior reviews. For dynamic power, the results are only slightly lower at 0.1% (like 5% lower).

 

[Nemo128]

Ok, I need to know if it has finally happened...

The specs on this and all of the RX-A models say "HDMI Out for Zone B." Does that mean I can finally output my XBox 360 in Zone A and my Cable Box in Zone B simultaneously?!?!? I don't care if Zone B only has stereo audio, that's all it has as far as speakers go anyway.

 

[AVRat]

No, they both output the same signal.

 

[Nemo128]

Looks like that's what the manual implies too. That's a lie then. That's not a different zone, it's just the same zone doubled. BAH!

 

[caazak]

Does this thing do networking?

Does this thing do networking? Of course it does. Yamaha thought it important enough to include it in the product name. But the review is silent on this point. Perhaps the review is about about a/v excellence, not gimmicks (we shall ignore the Apple genuflections). Which leads me to the "pros" and "cons" section of the review. Few (none IMO) of these really involve audio quality (or video for that matter). If, as a consumer, I don't care about these "Pros" and "Cons", can I presume that any A/V receiver in the price range is equal (outside of these Pros and Cons)?

 

[gene]

Does this thing do networking? Of course it does. Yamaha thought it important enough to include it in the product name. But the review is silent on this point.

Please re-read the review. There is an entire paragraph about its Networking capabilities which are similar to the RX-Z7 that I exhaustively covered in that review.

 

[jinjuku]

Gene,

Since Yamaha has made a point of advertising the audiophile fuses in the Aventage line, did you look to see if they were a 3rd party fuse?

 

[rez-illusion]

Phono stage review

Since the Aventage line seems to be targeted at the audiophile who has integrated HT into his system, I would like to see a review of the phono stage. Is it on par with the rest of the design or an afterthought? Otherwise, a very thorough and insightful review.

 

[WBD-Horns]

AVENTAGE Applet OS Options/Futures

I just bought the RX-A3000, as well. It looks solid and the natural upgrade from my RX-V2700. So, I'm looking forward to installing it this evening. My question is:

- Will Yamaha (or other Developers) be releasing an Android or Win-Mobile-7 version of the iPhone Applet to manage the AVENTAGE Series Receivers remotely?

- I'm contemplating the purchase of the new HP Slate 500 (tablet). And I'd sure love to know if I'll be able to easily use it to manage my AVENTAGE A3000 (without worrying about too much sliding back and forth on screens that aren't customized for the tablet screen).

 

[3db]

Since the Aventage line seems to be targeted at the audiophile who has integrated HT into his system, I would like to see a review of the phono stage. Is it on par with the rest of the design or an afterthought? Otherwise, a very thorough and insightful review.

If its at least as good as the phono stage of the RX-V1800 which I own, then I would say that the phono stage is of a fairly good quality. I have ProJect Xpression II and it sounds really good being played through this receiver.

 

[M Code]

Does anyone know if Yamaha is going to include the DTS Neo.X 11.1 surround system for the RX-A3000? Onkyo demoed this @ CES 2011..

Just my $0.02...

 

[Bass Bum]

It isn't in there now, so I don't think so.

 

[Casey01]

Dsp

I have owned a number of Yamaha products in the past, however, recent renditions have included this annoying switching option between presence and back surround speakers(but not both). It seems they finally got back to the "good old days" in this area and corrected this issue by at least offering the option of adding external amps.

After reading the manual, I do, however, have a concern that it still seems(and correct me if I am wrong) that Yamaha's proprietary DSP functions are not available with "lossless" audio on Blu Ray movies and music and I wondered why? Perhaps there are logical reasons for this, however, for someone who uses the system for primarily watching movies on Blu-Ray discs and enjoyed using the Movie Theater settings with earlier models utilizing DD and DTS, this is somewhat disappointing.

 

[Jacksmyname]

^^ I have a Yamaha RX-V3800, which decodes TrueHD, DTS-Master HD, etc.
I use PLIIx all the time with Blu Ray and HD-DVD.
Do I understand your question correctly in that you want to use, say, movie modes like adventure, sci-fi, spectacle, etc. on TrueHD, DTS-Master?
I use them here (usually adventure) with my 3800. Can't imagine Yamaha would eliminate it on these new models.

 

[Casey01]

I understood that the DSP functions(not PLIIX or Music etc. which CAN be used in conjunction with ALL types of soundtracks))but Yamaha's own proprietary ones( 17 on this new model) you mentioned, i. e. "Movie Theater" etc.. I understand, as with previous models, they can only work and overlay with the normal compressed Dolby and DTS soundtracks but NOT DD True HD and DTS Master Audio/DTS HD. In other words, you can't watch a Blu-Ray disc with DD True HD or DTS Master Audio and overlay their Movie Theater DSP on top of "them".

Yamaha's documentation seems to be "fairly" clear on the subject, however, I am somewhat surprised the reviewers have not touched on this since Yamaha's DSP, for several years, has been a feature quite unique to them. Quite disappointing since when I do watch a movie, it is now primarily on BR with the lossless tracks, so assuming this limitation exists, the DSP functions are essentially useless(to me anyway).

Hopefully Gene could confirm this since it was never mentioned in the review.