Yamaha RX-Z9 First Look

[av_phile]

But when it comes to listening to 2-channel stereo in any format, my dedicated audio system gets a lot closer to accurately reproducing the original recording.

Best

O'Shag

Austin Powers of Audio

This is often the criticism for receivers, whether stereo or multichannel. They can never approach the stereo quality of separates.

 

[W4ZOO]

My review is about 95% done. Will be peer reviewed this week. If all goes well it will be posted over the 4th holiday. Be patient however, this monster review will take me several hours to post

Hey Gene,
I'll volunteer to be a BETA reader this week for you ?

 

[gene]

Good one W4Zoo But if I let you read it, you won't have an incentive to come back here when I post it.

My review is completed and ready. I am scheduled to have it posted and uploaded to frontpage by July 4th. However, astute readers may find it on the site at least a day in advance if you recognize how we do url links

 

[Unregistered]

What's good i.Link SACD player to go with RX-Z9?

I'm getting the RX-Z9 tomorrow and although I'm not a huge SACD buff, I'd like to take advantage of the i.Link. What's a good SACD player with i.Link that you would reccomend? What's the lowest priced? I've been doing lots of searches online and it seems most SACD players with i.Link are also DVD players, etc, which I thought may be contributing to higher prices, and since I don't need it as a DVD player I was wondering if there were any stand alone SACD players with i.Link that cost less. Thanks.

 

[W4ZOO]

Good one W4Zoo But if I let you read it, you won't have an incentive to come back here when I post it.

My review is completed and ready. I am scheduled to have it posted and uploaded to frontpage by July 4th. However, astute readers may find it on the site at least a day in advance if you recognize how we do url links

But you'r wrong Gene.

I have had my Z9 for about 2.5 month's now and love it.

I'm looking fwd to the barage of posts from owners and non owners. This could turn into a MONSTER post.

I have a lot of questions reguarding operation and setup. I almost have all the inputs maxed out !

I think this review will be a great thread.

Thanks

 

[O'Shag]

Every DVD I've played so far seems to upconvert to 1080i

I am in LOVE with my RX-Z9. The video section is setting a new standard for home theatre that is required on high def monitors with the various input standards. We have a new 6th gen 50inch plasma and it really showed up the noise in the low def signals. The RX-Z9 does amazing things with analogue and low def signals. I once read that the real test of a system isn't "The 5th Element" or "Finding Nemo" but an old, cruddy print. Well this is where the RX-Z9 just will blow you away - as all the DSP and Faroudja circuits make a difference.

We're in love with the same receiver! My new Z9 is awesome. With respect to what the Z9 does for cruddy picture signals, I'm fortunate enough to own a Loewe 38" (the best and most advanced tube TV ever made). The tube television may have seen its day, but, if you watch high-def at 1080i, or hi-res DVD on this TV (I use Zenith HD420 terrestrial), the picture will leave you speechless. Like the Z9, the Loewe has very sophisticated circuitry that does wonders for ordinary cruddy pictures. It upconverts regular signals -including non-digital to progressive.

The 1080i upconversion capability of the Z9 is amazing. It seems to work on DVD for me, but am not sure. Every DVD I played so far with the 1080i resolution option selected has worked beautifully The only very slight problem is in resolving pitch black, with a slight splodginess apparent where the whole screen is black. It is most noticable when a picture frame ends, and there is a black transition frame, before the new frame appears. There are no other anomolies with the picture other than this black frame splodginess however, and the picture is terrific. It doesn't seem overly sharp and artificial looking and is cinema-like in appearance, a lot of detail, an depth-focus.

Yamaha are the first to adopt video processing as part of the package. This reciever has definitely established the new benchmark standard.

This baby is well worth every penny.

 

[O'Shag]

I would have the exact same response as O'Shag. I probably will end up buying a Z-9 but because I already have 7 channels of very powerful external amplification, I will not be using the Yammie's internal amps. Even so, when compared to "hi end" separates, it is still a good VALUE. Once I got over the fact that it does not switch DVI, then the Yamaha became my clear choice. I have now decided to switch video with an external scaler, not the receiver.

Hi Jaycan,

I just made an entry on the thread. The 1080i video processing on the Z-9 is really fantastic. I've scaled every DVD I've played so far to 1080i through my component video connection. I'm sure Yamaha will come out with a firmware update that will include a DVI port. I'd hold of on buying an expensive video scaler just now. The Z-9 does a bang up job!

Cheers Mate

 

[Jaycan]

DVI Switching

O'Shag
Most videophiles will eventually end up with more than 1 DVI source (DVD, DBS, CABLE), and it is unlikely that any receiver, even flagship models, will have more than 1 DVI input when the manufacturers decide to to include this connector. Most reveiwers conclude that DVI looks better than component. My decision to go with an outboard HD scaler is not only for convenience, but to also maximize the signal potential arriving at the display. The Z9 is a remarkable piece of machinery, however I doubt it can compete with a decent dedicated scaler. Believe it or not, my interest in this baby is actually almost exclusively digital audio processing. Yamaha has the most pleasing DSP of any receiver I've ever heard.

 

[gene]

O'Shag;

According to Yamaha, the Z9 limits the 480i signal of your DVD player to 480p due to copyright issues. More on this when I post my review.

Jaycan; regarding DSP processing, you got that right!

 

[O'Shag]

O'Shag;

According to Yamaha, the Z9 limits the 480i signal of your DVD player to 480p due to copyright issues. More on this when I post my review.

Jaycan; regarding DSP processing, you got that right!

Gene,

Thats interesting, and also puzzling. I have selected the 1080i option and its works. Could it be that it allows my selection but is not actually upconverting? If this is true, the picture still looks terrific, probably something to do with my Loewe also. On a slightly different subject, given your bodybuilding hobby, I was wondering if you know of the Mentzer brothers (both passed on very sadly). I trained under Mike's guidance (great trainer by the way, and creator of the Heavy Duty Principal) at Gold's Gym in Venice CA for a while and made great gains. I also got to know his brother Ray(a very very nice guy) Just thought you might know of them, because in my opinion they are some of the greats of bodybuilding....

Jaycan, thanks for the heads up on DVI. My Z9 seems to be terrific for scaling so far, but If I were to upgrade my system with a scaler/DVI processor while remaining compatible with the Z9, do you have any suggestions on what would be best? By the way, the one weakness of my Loewe is that it doesn't have a DVI port, but I understand there are outboard boxes that can convert RGB or VGA component to DVI. Any ideas?

 

[gene]

O'Shag;

Yes according to Yamaha even if you set to 1080i the Z9 is giving you 480p for your 480i DVD output. I still have a call into them for more info on this, and stay tuned for my review where I do go into more details here.

I was never a big fan of Mr. Mentzer's training principles, but one mans meat is another mans poison. Both my training partner and myself have devised an adaptive training program that involves supersetting major bodyparts in short time duration to keep the heartrate up while also working the muscles to failure. The beauty of our routine only takes 30min and is effective if done at least 3 times a week (preferably 5 times) to each each bodypart 1/week (preferably 2 times/weeek). This also helps to reduce stress on the joints and overworking the muscles/ligaments. I just simply can't pound the heavy weights like I used too (Which if I am not mistaken are Mentzer principles) and prefer this method, especially since I achieve better results.

 

[Unregistered]

weight lifter?

gene, you are a body builder? how much can you bench.

 

[W4ZOO]

gene, you are a body builder? how much can you bench.

Ask him how many RX-Z9's can he press !

 

[gene]

Man how did we get off track here Asking a bodybuilder how much he benches is like asking an audiophile how many watts his amp is. I was never a powerlifter and bench was always one of my weakest exercises, but the best I did back when my joints didn't hurt was 375lbs (almost 6 RX-Z9's) for 4 reps. I never believed in maxing out. But now my goals are different, I just want to stay in reasonable shape so I can enjoy Pizza

Please continue the bodybuilding discussion in the new thread I created below:
http://www.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15953#post15953

Its great stuff and I asked Hugo to participate as well, but let's try to keep this thread reserved for disseminating info on the RX-Z9. Thanks.

 

[Jaycan]

O'Shag
I have only done a cursory search so far for dedicated HD scalers. I still haven't found one that swithches more than 1 DVI input. I don't get it. It is an area of obvious need but the manufacturers don't seem to be responding. Maybe they are out there, if someone knows of such a unit maybe they could post it. One interesting item can be found on www.bettercables.com/switchers.html , which basically is a 2-in-1 or 4-in-1 HDCP compatible pure pass-thru switcher, with no upconversion, very reasonably priced (thanks Moab). I suppose you can use this machine to organize your DVI sources, and then pass the signal digitally to an HD scaler which would be upconverting your other non HD material. Or you could output the DVI from the 2-in-1/4-in1 to the Z9 (Z19?) when Yamaha decides to cave in. I would be astounded if any manufacturer includes more than 1 DVI inputs on their flagship receiver models, so maybe the best option will be the affordable bettercables deal (thanks Moab).

 

[Jaycan]

The 2-in-1 is $230 and the 4-in-1 is $330

 

[Jaycan]

Gene
Can you ask Yamaha why they went from Z1 to Z9? What happened to Z2-8?

 

[gene]

Can you ask Yamaha why they went from Z1 to Z9? What happened to Z2-8?

No idea on that. I can only assume Z9 means 9 channels?

BTW I confirmed Z9 does NOT do 1080i for 480i DVD signals.

 

[Jaycan]

I have a lot of questions but I'm sure they'll be covered by the review.

 

[Ricky]

guys,
forget about the video upscaling capabalities of the Z9 since HD-DVD is going to come out sooner than later. even if Z9 has the ability to upconvert the video signals up to 1080i , it is still not a real high resolution picture. so if you own a high end dvd player with P-scan out put hooked up to a HD capable TV, you can still get a very fine picture. so if someone out there is going to buy this reciever just for the video section, that is something i am not going to do. guys, my advice is just wait for HD-DVD. because i was in japan last month and i saw some HD movie trailers there, the picture was obsolutely stunning. so it is up to you...... ok now the audio section. i am a long time yamaha fan and very pleased with their unmatched movie sound with surround capabilities that no one can do.i think Z9 would not disappoint since i am planing to upgrade my Z1. waiting for gene's review
THANKS!