Yamaha's New AVENTAGE AVR's

pearsall001

A good friend of mine is looking to replace his aging AVR. He asked me for some advice on the different brands out there. Of course I highly recommended the NAD line (always been a fan) but they are over his budget. He then askes me about the new Yamaha AVENTAGE line (in particulay the RX-A2000 & the RX-A1000). I checked them out at the Yammie site & they do sound like a nice AVR for the money. I know that Pioneer Elite & Onkyo get a lot of plugs here from you guys & not a whole lot from the Yammie crowd. His budget is maxed out at $1400. He only wants new, nothing used. Any thoughts or recommendations. His speakers are older ENERGY series that he really likes, I think they're pretty efficient so the AVR can handle them without any issues. He's not really into the whole audio thing, just looking for a nice AVR to last him a good number of years.

AudioGenics

rx-a2000 on amazon is 1399.99 just made his budget and with free shipping.
looks like a nice unit.

check the page
its got a side by side comparison chart

larry777

Yamaha are known for not putting out its advertised amp specs and its something to be aware of when looking at these new Receivers. Pioneer and Onkyo do give good Bang for the Buck Receivers and the Marantz 7005 is another good choice. Energy speakers are more laid back so may match up ok with the Yamaha Bright sound. But so would the other options. These Yamaha Receivers are a new line with a completely new look so they are asking Premium Pricing at this point.

LuSh

Larry,

Yamaha have always built powerful receivers when moving up their line. The infamous (and very misleading) All Channels Driven tests have led some would be buyers down the wrong path. In two channel driven tests within 4-8ohm (20-20) loads the Yamaha higher end amplifiers are incredibly dynamic and test very well against other brands.

Google 'All Channels Driven Test Fallacy' to learn more about specifications and their worth.

larry777

Thanks for the update Lush and I will check out the site you recommend. I was thinking more about 5.1 or 7.1 sound when I commented on the Yamaha's actual power. When I Read reviews on some Yamaha Receivers from places like Home Theatre and others, when they measured the actual power it would come in much lower than advertised, when all channels were driven. VIDEOGON has a NEW Yamaha RX-A3000 on sale for $1299 which is at the top end of the stated budget, but may be the better choice over the 1000 and 2000 models.

concealer404

How exactly is the "all channels driven" test a bad thing?

LuSh

All Channels Test is a bad thing because it really doesn't measure dynamics but instead a static test on output, this leads some people to believe a receiver that tests better in these scenerio's are in fact more powerful or dynamic then amplifiers that don't measure as well with all channels driven.

Some manufactures purposely put self limiters on their products as an ALL CHANNELS DRIVEN test is not a realistic test, what is important with movies and music are dynamics and how quickly those dynamics can swing. Because thermal output is never measured in ACD tests one brand might self limit while another brand might not in order to look better on paper.

There have been a number of conflicting reviews put forth, where one magazine hails a receiver as being powerful because it looks good on paper with an ACD, while another magazine might do a more comprehensive test with only 1 or 2 channels driven but at full bandwidth (20-20khz) within more then one impedance. The manufacture that doesn't perform well in an ACD can sometimes output perform in 1 or 2 channels (full bandwidth) under more difficult loads. This would lead one to believe it is in fact the more powerful and dynamic receiver.

Polkie2009

I've got a Yamaha 663 that I basically use as a pre/pro these days. I think Yamaha stated the AVR is 90 watts a channel, but in all honesty,it's more like about 45 watts a channel . They put a dinky power supply(transformer) in these things nowadays that can only supply so much power to all of the channels. This is why I went to external amps with their own transformers.

AsSiMiLaTeD

There's a reason the Pioneer Elites get mentioned alot on here. Many of the Polk speakers are on the bright side, and that just doesn't usually work too with with Yamaha receivers, since they're also on the bright side.

I don't know which Energy he has, but all the models I've heard are also on the bright side, and I personally would not pick a yamaha AVR to pair them with.

LuSh

Polkie...

I don't think you bothered reading what I wrote. All channels driven test's are quite meaningless. For the price point that older RXV663 had a very good power supply, very very good. The RXV665 on the other hand was a gong show...

Polkie2009

Oh, believe me Lush, I got your point just fine and totally agree with it. I'm sure the transformer in the 663 was even weaker than one in a AVR from 7or 8 years ago. Seems like the older stuff was built to last and had some heft to it. Yep, the weak sister RXV665 was the reason I bought the older model 663.

dorokusai

Fidelity firewall is the only test that ever made any sense to me.

grimmace19

Marantz 7005 is right around that price.