Yamaha RXA-1010 input

[David LR]

Hello-

Asking for whatever input/comments you might have on the Yamaha RXA-1010 receiver. I'm about ready to plunk down some hard-earned, long saved cash (actual cash !) on this receiver, thought I'd get some advice before I actually parted with the green stuff though.

I've not heard any thing bad about the Aventage line of receivers from Yamaha, except that maybe the video perhaps is a little lacking, but only a little. Any comments from anybody ?

As an aside, I bought my first receiver in 1977, also a Yamaha, the CR-1020 with 75 watts per channel if I remember right. I've not purchased another receiver since, I've been using early 90's separates (Adcom amp/NAD Preamp), so high time to move to the HDMI surround sound world.

Just for interest, I've attached a picture of the 1977 Yamaha. Still got it although not functioning.

Thanks for any input.

Dave

 

[David LR]

Anybody ?? Please ??

Thanks

 

[fuzz092888]

Yamaha RX-A1010 AVENTAGE AV Receiver Preview — Reviews and News from Audioholics

This is the preview from audioholics. I'm not sure if you saw it or not.

The other issue is that YPAO isn't as good as Audessey multiEQ XT or multiEQ XT32

Definitely not a bad receiver, have you looked at any of the other brands, and what are you going to pay for the yamaha is you don't mind me asking?

 

[David LR]

Thank you for answering. Yes, I saw the preview, done a fair amount of reading, but hoping to get actual owner input.

Regarding other brands, I purchased a lower end Denon ($350) for my daughter, definitely like the sound, but kept reading about quality issues with Denon. Considered Onkyo, heating issues & maybe quality ?? Isn't there an thread here about "time to downgrade Onkyo receivers to junk status ?"

Marantz seems to have a good reputation but I don't know very much about them, also the Pioneer Elite(I think). Yamaha always has such a consistent good reputation for build quality.

On the price, I'm getting a very good quote (over the phone) for $800, which is a superb price for the 1010. I originally called the store to see if they had any of the previous model, the 1000, for a cheaper price, but the salesman gave such a great quote on the 1010, I'll go for that. They are usually advertised right at $1000. $800 is about as high as I want to go for whatever brand I buy. Anything beyond that & the wife is going to have "reasonableness" issues.

 

[fuzz092888]

On the issue of quality, you can find issues with just about any brand. That being said, I have a Marantz, know someone with a pioneer (and therefore I have firsthand experience) and now own an onkyo.

Eh, you can find the 1010 for 800 in more than a few places online (amazon for one).

I just realized audioholics has a full review on it, did you see that?

Anyways back on topic onkyos do seem to have more problems than other brands, but the higher up the food chain you go the more reliable they seem to be. Which probably puts them out of your price range.

I think Denon has worked out most of their issues, but the same logic applies. The higher you go the less problems there are.

Marantz are usually rock solid. I have a 5006 and it's great. I'm thinking about selling it because I have the onkyo now, but I can't say a bad thing about it. Marantz may lack a few features here and there compared to some models and brands, but it's because their build quality is generally much higher than other brands.

I don't personally have any experience with yamaha other than playing with a few at a store here and there. I'm sure you'd like the yamaha. Marantz, can't go wrong excellent sound, comparable or better to the Denon.

Onkyo is awesome.........if you can get one without a problem.

Pioneer elites are very good too, but I can't recommend them to anyone who doesn't feel very comfortable with electronics. Their manuals and UI are too complicated for the average user in most cases.

I think the yamaha is a good choice, the price is about averageish for what I can find for online prices after only a quick look. If you'd like more information on a brand I have more experience with I can answer those questions, but all I can say about yamaha is what audioholics has said and what I've read and they seem pretty darn good.

 

[David LR]

Really good info, thanks. At the $800 level, does the Marantz give me the ability to stream content from the PC ? I've seen some brands that don't at that price level, although you'd think it would be a standard item pretty soon.

 

[fuzz092888]

What content would you like to stream? The marantz does music and photos. Personally I haven't done photos on mine and I've used airPlay but haven't tried to stream from a PC so I'm not entirely sure how that will work for you. All in all the streaming I have used (Internet radio and AirPlay) has been excellent

 

[David LR]

I'd be streaming music only, like to try some of the higher quality digital audio formats. Correct me if I"m wrong but the way I understand it, Studio Master files & the like, as sold by Linn Records, are too big to fit on a CD, so they have to be streamed one way or another.

 

[Grador]

The "studio master" files you are talking about will not fit on a CD, this is correct. You could burn them onto DVD's and play them in a compatible player. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but it seams that the network playback on this receiver is only DLNA streaming. I've found DLNA streaming to be...lacking at best, and difficult to get working most of the time. Beyond that I'm a yamaha fan, though I've not played with the A1010.

 

[fuzz092888]

Well theoretically you could burn them to CD but it would take too many CDs IMO and it would quickly become not worth it. There are work arounds of a sort where you burn audio DVDs but those usually require extra software that must be purchased and not all of those suppor FLAC. I like AirPlay streaming because it'll stream anything and stay true to the original format, but that doesn't really help if you have a PC.

My best advice would be to seriously consider a HTPC if you want to download and use those studio master recordings.

 

[Grador]

An HTPC is the best option [and I love mine] but there are various standalone streaming appliances that can be used as well. Slightly simpler to setup and a little less hassle to use.

 

[3db]

Yamaha RX-A1010 AVENTAGE AV Receiver Preview — Reviews and News from Audioholics

This is the preview from audioholics. I'm not sure if you saw it or not.

The other issue is that YPAO isn't as good as Audessey multiEQ XT or multiEQ XT32

Definitely not a bad receiver, have you looked at any of the other brands, and what are you going to pay for the yamaha is you don't mind me asking?

I actually don't find YPAO an issue considering the bullet proof reliability that Yamaha has. I have an older Yamaha receiver with YPAO and it sounds awesome inspite of not having Auddessy. I actually can't imagine it sounding any better.

 

[David LR]

An HTPC is the best option [and I love mine] but there are various standalone streaming appliances that can be used as well. Slightly simpler to setup and a little less hassle to use.

Showing my ignorance here, but, HTPC ?? Acronym for Home Theatre PC ??

How do those actually work in practice. What is it that you find to be a "hassle" ? I asssume, after loading all your files to the PC, they are streamed, either wirelessly or with cable, to the receiver ? What kind of user interface is there, do they need a screen or is the interface via the receiver. The PC always has to be on to listen to music, contributing it's own background fan noise to the other ambient noise going on. Something to be said for the simplicity of popping a CD in the player. Not grousing, looking at the pros and cons. Trying to get educated !

 

[fuzz092888]

There are a few things audessey does better, but one could argue that its like the differences between the XT and the XT32. I'm betting you would hear a bit of difference if you A/B'ed them, but yamahas reputation, like Marantz's definitely balances stuff like that out.

a HTPC is a home theatre PC. There are many different ways you can hook one of these up to a receiver, mostly it depends on the audio card you have installed and whether or not you choose to go with a commercial HTPC or turn a regular PC in a HTPC.

Fan noise is negligible, or can be by simply upgrading the fans. Simplicity is in the eye of the beholder. You can have hundreds of blu rays, tens of thousands of songs at your fingertips without ever leaving the couch depending on how in depth you want to get with a HTPC.

a commerical HTPC will have or can have it's own UI, but hooking up a computer isn't a problem. You really want to upgrade the audio/video card to either something that will stream optical (toslink) or hdmi. There may be another way, but those are the two I have used.

Theres a lot more information about them that I'm deficient with/don't know about so browsing around this forum and others will get you a lot more information that I'm giving.

 

[Grador]

The hassle I was referring to was interface. I have my HTPC hooked up via HDMI so you can look at it as if the TV is the computer's monitor, getting that all working is quite simple and works fantastic. On the other hand it can be slightly inconvenient to have a keyboard laying around to control things. I have mine set up so that it is 95% controllable by remote, but that took a lot of work and tweaking to get right.

To me the advantages far outweight the disadvantages. I can use any of the media streaming services that I desire, I can play pretty much any digital media ever created, and have a very spiffy library of all my movies complete with plot descriptions [via my media software: XBMC]. Fan noise is manageable, and there are even some systems that will work for you that are fanless.

 

[fuzz092888]

I also mentioned commercial HTPCs above, not really sure on the pricing on those though. The UI would be much more similar to something like Netflix where you could see titles maybe even cover art.

No idea on the price