Yamaha RX V2440 Questions-

[EdR]

<font color='#000000'>I have a few questions about the Yamaha Rx-V2400.  My current situation is that I just upgraded my speakers to Cambridge Soundworks Towers and am still running my low end Onkyo 5.1 receiver.  I have a difficult room, and suspect that in my case room acoustics are as big a factor in what I hear as the speaker quality.

When my house was built, a second floor bedroom was converted into a loft (about 12 x 16 ft.) which is our music/theater room.  There is a 42&quot; half wall that drops about 15 ft to our entryway.  There is also a hall that is effectively part of the room, so the ceiling is shaped like a fat 'L'  about 20 x 25 ft on the longest dimension.   Thus, I think that the Yamaha YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer)  might be a huge help.

Here are my questions.  While the V2400 has ProLogic II, the IIx has been announced.  Do I care?  Any chance that Yamaha will be adding it to this receiver any time soon?   Whatever I buy, I'll be living with for a long time.  In fact, my Yamaha 1030 lasted from 1978 to 1996.

The YPAO seems to be the first generation of this technology.  Does anyone think that the next version will be improved enough to be worth waiting for.  I might mention that the sound I'm getting from the Onkyo is good enough that I can live with it for quite a while if I need to, so I'd rather wait to do the right thing then rush.

I think that the V2400 offers enough that it's the only receiver that I'm seriously considering, as the Z9 is a bit too rich for my blood, as well as being overkill for the rest of my system.  However I am also looking at the Outlaw 950/7100 combo.  Any opinions?

For the record, I have the Cambridge Center Stage and Newton S300 Surrounds.  I also purchased a pair of their Newton MC200's to use for the rear channels.  

I've been a Henry Kloss fan for quite a while.  I lived with someone who had a pair of the old AR's (3a's.. I think) and who was really into classical music.  When I got the Yamaha 1030, I also got a pair of the original Advents after auditioning many other options.  They were later replaced with another pair of AR's.   The Towers are, I believe, his last (and possibly best) design.  I've listened to CSW's new Newton towers which, IMHO, can't hold a candle to them.  I had been about to buy Paradigm Reference 60's when CSW website put the Towers on a blow-out special.  Also, I have a Paradigm PW 2200 subwoofer.</font>

 

[abe]

<font color='#000000'>I have 1400 which is not much different.

If your main interest is home theather, 2400 is fine. &nbsp;As a matter of fact, 1400 is enough IMHO. &nbsp; If music/sound quality is an absolute for you AND you have a relaxed budget, go with Z1 (Z9 is overkill indeed). &nbsp;

YPAO may be fun to play with but I'd trust my manual calibration. &nbsp; There is really no need to go for automatic calibration since it is not always accurate and even it is accurate it may not be what you want either.

just my 2 cents.


Abe</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>Since the 1400/2400 already have a good pre-amp section, adding a used Yamaha amp from e-bay is another way to musical nirvana.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I recently purchased the rv-v2400 and it has the pro logicIIx.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Sorry that's rx-v2400</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I have to further agree on the optimizer. Not in to that whole concept of differant volume &amp; eq levels for each speaker. I like to have each speaker playing the same level, so when I have it cranked, I know when enough is enough, and one speaker is not working harder the another. This might be cool if we all could sit where the mic is. &nbsp;

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[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>&quot;Not in to that whole concept of differant volume &amp; eq levels for each speaker. I like to have each speaker playing the same level,&quot;

So do you mind my asking of how you balance and calibrate your system? &nbsp;How do you achieve a balanced system with all speakers ouputing at the same level? &nbsp;Also, do you run all large &quot;full range&quot; speakers? &nbsp;Or maybe, you have an independed sub hooked up in line with each speaker... &nbsp;For the rest of us, that don't have perfectly acousticly designed rooms, we have to &quot;settle&quot; in the method of adjusting speaker levels so that the sound arrives at our ears in a balanced manner.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>My point is, everyones ears are not sitting where you put the optimizer mic! I have my set-up in the living room. I have the speakers placed in a basic 5.1 set-up. I have the furniture,(sofa, loveseat, etc.) set up in a way that a basic living room without a HT might appear. Have to keep the wife approval factor in mind. I did have an available room for HT, but the system I built was way too massive for that small room, and that room will have a future guest at some point or another. NO time soon!

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[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I'm still curious as to how you calibrate and balance your system without varying the speaker levels. &nbsp;I'm not saying that you HAVE to use the mic, but what method (s) do you use?</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>System is not calibrated. I want every speaker to be at the same volume, and also set same on eq. The reason I left it at equal balance is because my set-up is in a living area with your basic furniture. Every person viewing movie can't be in the sweet spot, and although I am sure I would benefit from this, at the moment I am pleased with the performance. Not sure if it would make a big difference, but when I am listening to music, I will crank it up to a level that seems to be peak. Different cd's make it to different levels. I would NOT want one speaker to be louder than another. Also, due to the fact that my speakers are 4ohm, I am a little over on power, this makes it even more exciting. Volume is NEVER over 0. Thanks for your concern. I am sure in the future I will be bored one day &amp; pull out the mic, but I spent a little over a week fine tuning the eq to get desired sound. It is perfect!</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Balancing was the biggest improvement my sytstem ever received. &nbsp;This is why spl meters and test discs (ie. DVE, S&amp;V) are so popular among HT enthusiasts. &nbsp;&quot;Cranking&quot; your speakers to the same level is actually more dangerous than not. &nbsp;By balancing your speakers, the output in db (spl) will arrive at your ear equally. &nbsp;Example, if your mains can play ungodly loud, would you want your rears to go to that same level, or how bout the sub? &nbsp; Your rears and/or sub may blow (be overworked---decreased lifespan) up before your mains even start to break a sweat. &nbsp;The forementioned example is just a little food for thought...but I'd like to reiterate the fact that the most noticeable tweak my system ever received was proper calibration. &nbsp;Even if you are anti-mic, you may just want to borrow a friends spl meter and do a basic speaker balancing. &nbsp;Just think, if movie theaters weren't properly calibrated, then our cinematic experiences would be nightmares!!!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>My rears are the same as my fronts, model &amp; size. Also, I have the sub set to the point that it produces low bass extension without you being able to point it out as the sound source. I only used the gain on the sub. It can handle WAY WAY more than I am getting it to produce. I am certain that IF I blow a speaker, it would be the fronts. I have five years, but at my age, I believe I am mature enough to not be blowing speakers. As I said, in the future, I am sure I will be bored one day and pull out the mic or SPL meter &amp; give it a test!
Thanks again!

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[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Just a follow up:

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/product/av/index.html

&gt;click on the DSP-Z9 icon over to the right of the screen.

&gt;click on the 3rd category labeled &quot;Easiest to Use&quot;.

&gt;click on the purple flashing bar labeled &quot;Click here for How YPAO optimizes the sound&quot;.

Finally, go through the 5 setup steps to see how a calibrated system is set up.

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[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I have read my manual at least six times and understand this process. I have also read many reviews where different outcomes have been achieved with mic placement. If I put the mic in my listening position, there would be furniture in the way of one rear surround speaker. I have considered removing the furniture and setting up a tri-pod. This is the way I would do it. But as I said before, this is a living room full of furniture, and the sound I have achieved is not &quot;out-of-the-box&quot;. Thanks for the link! I WILL use it in the future when I have the time to move all the furniture. Wife would HAVE to be gone for this one!

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[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Moved furniture, set-up tri-pod, &amp; got busy. After set-up, I had less volume &amp; no sub output. Went back through &amp; found that it set my speakers to large. Set them to small, &amp; did set-up again, skipping speaker size. System now sounds better than ever. It did set eq different for every speaker, but seems to sound great that way! I started a new thread about losing volume because I forgot where this was. Oh well.
Thanks for the help!

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[superman180]

<font color='#000000'>Correct me if I’m wrong but why move the furniture having it were it normally is in the room is going to allow the receiver to adjust correctly as the furniture directly relates to the characteristics off the room?

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[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Getting your room as close to &quot;ideal&quot; as possible is the first step. &nbsp;You never want to totally depend on any sort of wiz-bang equalizer if your listening environment is in total disarray, acoustically that is.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>More digitizing and equalizing is never a good thing, especially if it isn't needed. &nbsp;By forcing a setup like YPAO to try and compensate for a poor listening environment is like adding insult to injury. &nbsp;Equalizing should only take place IF IT HAS to, and no more than necessary. &nbsp;Compensating, wether it be in gain or loss across different frequencies, should only occur if all other alternatives have been exhausted up until that point.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Equalizing was done by YPAO in auto set-up. Only moved sofa a little, to set-up tri-pod in listening position. It sounds 10 times better than it did.

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