Picked up an AVENTAGE RX-A3010 AVR tonight

pearsall001

I had no plans on doing this but I couldn't resist. I was in Best Buy buying a new mouse for my laptop & I wandered into the Magnolia Audio store (I do that a lot when I'm there). I got talking to the sales guys & we were chatting about the new Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A...20 line coming out in Sept & I asked when would the RX-A3010 AVR be discounted. They weren't sure. They looked on their computer & they only had 5 left for all the stores & wouldn't be getting any more in.

Now I've been looking into a new AVR for some time now & the Yamaha AVENTAGE line really caught my eye. I looked at all the usual suspects but I heard so many good things about the AVENTAGE line & also Yamaha's extensive DSP knowledge. It sounded like a great "Fun" AVR. And since picking up my Panny 65" 3D Plasma I really wanted to get current with the new formats. My aging NAD served me very well but was long in the tooth.

Well back to the sales guys in Magnolia, the RX-A3010 lists for $1899.00 & they usually won't budge. I guess tonight the moon & stars were lined up in my favor. The fellow says...give me $1500.00 & I'll order one tonight for you. Well he certainly had my attention but I wasn't ready to pull the trigger just yet. So for **** & giggles I came back with an offer. I said make it $1400.00 & we have a deal. Done he says & he ordered it & it'll be delivered next Wed. It gets a little better yet, there was some kind of funky discount he applied & the final total was $1381.00. I can't complain.

I also just ordered a pair of KEF Q100's for my rear surrounds & I'll move the Def Tech ProMonitor 1000's to the front as my Front Presence speakers for a 9.2 system. This should be a lot of fun & I'm looking forward to really tweaking this puppy for both audio & video performance.

Please no AVR vs Separates rants. We can always start another thread on that subject.

chumlie

Congrats. I have a RX-V2400 that served me well since 2003. Only reason i swapped it out was wanted HDMI inputs.

mdaudioguy

I've been very pleased with my AVENTAGE. Wish I had at last the 2xxx series, though. Enjoy!!

Rampittman

i bought the 2010 after yet another onkyo crapped out on me (this time the 1009 - will never buy any onkyo again). this is the best receiver i have ever had, better than my current denon 4311ci, which is good. sound quality is wonderful and i love the gui. makes my rtia9s sound particularly good and tames any residual brightness. bought the 2010 after blowing the dust off an old yamaha v663 and noticing that it sounded better than 1009. curious to hear what others have to say about yamaha sound quality, paticularly the 1010/2010/3010s. also new generation of these is coming out soon. didn't see any big differences- did i miss something?

pearsall001

Rampittman wrote: »

i bought the 2010 after yet another onkyo crapped out on me (this time the 1009 - will never buy any onkyo again). this is the best receiver i have ever had, better than my current denon 4311ci, which is good. sound quality is wonderful and i love the gui. makes my rtia9s sound particularly good and tames any residual brightness. bought the 2010 after blowing the dust off an old yamaha v663 and noticing that it sounded better than 1009. curious to hear what others have to say about yamaha sound quality, paticularly the 1010/2010/3010s. also new generation of these is coming out soon. didn't see any big differences- did i miss something?

I think the only noticable difference is the addition of Airplay which is a great feature. But for me that's not a biggie, I would never use it...hell I don't even have a smart phone. My SONOS system takes care of that need.

Erik Tracy

Pics?

:cheesygrin:

tonyb

pearsall001 wrote: »

My SONOS system takes care of that need.

Not to derail, but thanks to Phil and his suggestions on the Sonos system, I have had more guests at my house who want to run out and buy this device than I can count.
Just last night, the neighbors were over and we all sat out on the deck drinking wine,and everyone had a chance to pick out their favorite songs. Took a whole 60 seconds to get the hang of the Sonos from people who never saw one before.
Incidently, no smart phone here either. Not paying those stupid rates so I can play youtube videos or google what time the sun will set.

Congrats on the new avr. You know we expect some sort of review/comparison now pal.:cheesygrin:

mantis

In History , Yamaha has been building some of the very best AVR's. Sound quality wise has always been top notch at all levels.
The DSPA1 and the RXZ1 stood out in their time lines. The Might rxv992 then rxv995 where the work horses of their error and powered so many systems I installed and every single one of them performed well.
Yamaha is not known for failure. Actually I never pulled a bad one out of a job. Hard to say for other companies.

Congrads Phil , as usual I suggest trying first without your power amps just to hear pure Yamaha sound. You'll be shocked how powerful the internal amps are and not to mention how good they sound.

A review is always in order around here.

pearsall001

tonyb wrote: »

Not to derail, but thanks to Phil and his suggestions on the Sonos system, I have had more guests at my house who want to run out and buy this device than I can count.
Just last night, the neighbors were over and we all sat out on the deck drinking wine,and everyone had a chance to pick out their favorite songs. Took a whole 60 seconds to get the hang of the Sonos from people who never saw one before.
Incidently, no smart phone here either. Not paying those stupid rates so I can play youtube videos or google what time the sun will set.

Congrats on the new avr. You know we expect some sort of review/comparison now pal.:cheesygrin:

Same experience here too Tony...I must have sold at least a half dozen systems for SONOS after friends & family saw & heard the system. Everyone simply falls in love with's it's simplicity & audio quality. Yeah I'm lookinfg forward to the new AVR & I'll being doing a review once it's been set up & dialed in.

mantis wrote: »

In History , Yamaha has been building some of the very best AVR's. Sound quality wise has always been top notch at all levels.
The DSPA1 and the RXZ1 stood out in their time lines. The Might rxv992 then rxv995 where the work horses of their error and powered so many systems I installed and every single one of them performed well.
Yamaha is not known for failure. Actually I never pulled a bad one out of a job. Hard to say for other companies.

Congrads Phil , as usual I suggest trying first without your power amps just to hear pure Yamaha sound. You'll be shocked how powerful the internal amps are and not to mention how good they sound.

A review is always in order around here.

Not to worry Dan a full review will be coming. And about Yamaha's build & sound quality, that seems to be the concensus about their audio lines. They jusy seem to perform year after year without any issues.

mdaudioguy

Rampittman wrote: »

makes my rtia9s sound particularly good and tames any residual brightness. bought the 2010 after blowing the dust off an old yamaha v663 and noticing that it sounded better than 1009.

I love the Yamaha sound, however, I previously owned both a V661 and a V863. While there were definite improvements going up the line, I just couldn't get a handle on the brightness when paired with my RTi series speaks (only talking music here - HT was and always has been acceptable no matter what AVR I've run, and I've run several). Even though I thought the V863 was a very nice AVR, I eventually convinced myself to move on to something with a reputation for warmth - HK, which definitely improved my enjoyment of music through my double-duty HT system.

Then came the Aventage line. I jumped in immediately, but quickly realized that I had jumped into the low end of the pool... I started with an RX-A800, and realized that it basically sounded just like my previous V series models. After studying them a bit more, I determined that the real noticeable improvements started with the A1000, which I was able to snag an exceptional deal on (open box, new models coming out). Also, I think initially, the Aventage line was flying a bit under the radar (and still is somewhat).

I'm keeping my eyes open for a deal on an upgrade. After buying and mounting a pair of RTi4 to use as Presence speakers, I realized that my model only allows for the use of Presence OR Back surrounds - not both at the same time... When I purchased my A1000, I didn't realize that the option of having sound go to 9 speakers at once wasn't available until moving up to the A2000. Btw, I love the Presence effect and how it broadens my soundstage, however, my real reason for using it is for the Dialog Lift feature. My left, right, and center are all right below my screen, and Dialog Lift really help move the voices up toward the center of the screen, height-wise. Pretty nifty feature, IMO.

polkfarmboy

I always thought you would have went with Anthem. I too look forward to a review on how the yammy pairs up with the KEF

pearsall001

polkfarmboy wrote: »

I always thought you would have went with Anthem. I too look forward to a review on how the yammy pairs up with the KEF

The Anthem line was certainly looked at & I called them & asked if they had a 9.1/2 channel AVR in the works & they told me no. That was the end of that, because I wanted a 9.1/2 AVR.

cnh

I've never been a fan of "recent" Yamaha AVRs (except for their very highest offerings). But these Aventage series AVRs are Yammies attempt to re-enter the top tiers of the AVR market. They pulled out all the stops in designing these and, from the reviews, all the past criticisms of Yammie sound (bright, thin, etc.) DO NOT apply to this series.

I look forward to the review, Phil. And, nice negotiating there. Good price!

Vintage Yamahas have always been among my favorite pieces!

Enjoy!


cnh

pearsall001

mantis wrote: »

In History , Yamaha has been building some of the very best AVR's. Sound quality wise has always been top notch at all levels.

Congrads Phil , as usual I suggest trying first without your power amps just to hear pure Yamaha sound. You'll be shocked how powerful the internal amps are and not to mention how good they sound.

A review is always in order around here.

My initial plan was to go right to the Rotel RMB-1095 / 5 channel amp & let the A3010 power the rear surrounds & front presence speakers, but now you've sparked my interest. I'll have to see how the A3010 performs powering the whole system. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

mantis

pearsall001 wrote: »

My initial plan was to go right to the Rotel RMB-1095 / 5 channel amp & let the A3010 power the rear surrounds & front presence speakers, but now you've sparked my interest. I'll have to see how the A3010 performs powering the whole system. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

When you get a chance , post some pic's. I'm curious in your thought on the Yamaha sound quality. Run YPAO and see if it craps up the sound. When Yamaha came out with YPAO , I found a few jobs where I was not pleased with the overall results after calibration. I went back and cleared then calibrated manual old school style. I'm hoping in the newer models they made some improvements.

pearsall001

mantis wrote: »

When you get a chance , post some pic's. I'm curious in your thought on the Yamaha sound quality. Run YPAO and see if it craps up the sound. When Yamaha came out with YPAO , I found a few jobs where I was not pleased with the overall results after calibration. I went back and cleared then calibrated manual old school style. I'm hoping in the newer models they made some improvements.

From what I've read comparing the older YPAO to the new generation is an apples to oranges comparison. This calibration sequence is head & shoulders over the older version. I won't be able to do any type of comparison because I never heard the older YPAO version. My only feedback will be on how well it calibrates my system. I'm very familar on how well it sounds now so that will be my benchmark.

B Run

I've heard the Rx-A3000 and was very impressed with the sound. I demo'd it at a Magnolia on a pair of B&W 683's and found it to be surprisingly very musical but extremely dynamic and powerful for the few HT demo's I watched. It was when they first came out so they weren't willing to budge on price or I would have snagged one myself. I've personally always liked the Yamaha sound, plus they're built like a tank. Congrats!

evhudsons

I had an older Elite that I was running because it had preouts. Now I have the avantege xa-1000 because it had many of the features I knew I would use. At first I thought the sound was almost tinny, and I was worried that I went for features over substance and was ill rewarded. I just needed to be patient. It must have had a period of break in because it didn't take long to be awesome as an AVR. So far I have added separate amps for everything except the front presence. I just reshuffled my speakers after doing some repairs and am simply amazed. I also have presence speakers which only come on different times, but there are some preset sound setttings to have all the speakers come on at the same time. I also have two amps I'm using for Zone 2 for my outside kef c75's, parasound, b&w, bose speakers by the pool/rainforest. The features are supremely easy to use, especially zone 2. I had an issue with zone 2 on the Pioneers which is a problem with the wife. Now my wife can simply turn on the main avr which turns on all the amps, and she can use the iphone app to play anything she wants inside, outside, separately or whatever, and she even learned to stream from the computer all the music she loaded on the mac. Before she would wait for me to come home just to be able to watch tv.

I know that separates are better, but the avr helps me out with the wife factor, as well as being easy on the budget and still gets the job done. having separate amps is killer. I think all avr's should have full preouts.

Make sure you increase the speakers +6, because by default they are set lower in order to balance the volume when switching sources. You will get a lot more sound by changing the setting which is the only strange thing I thought was on the avr. It should be a lot more up in your face info on this setting because if you don't change it you might think the avr is underpowered.

I used my autocalibration which for the most part is fine, but using the ratshack spl tuned it up much better to the level of extreme happiness. For music I still put the setting a 2 channel, but for movies and gatherings I can change to the other settings.

Anyway, you have a nice one there buddy, you probably are only just beginning to use it to it's full potential.

Enjoy your audio Sunday!

leftwinger57

MD,Are there any comparisons between the Adventage line and my era Rx-v665.To perfectly honest w/ you I was mildly disappointed w/ the avr on a whole.It clipped when I pushed it and this was a test and not my usual listening volumes. Since music overtook movies I did go the sepeartes route but I can't fault the 665 for having 2opticals ,4hdmi,2 coax,and plenty of audio ins. What I do think is a big waste of time are music settings to where you choose if this sounds like a chamber hall,theater,club
and for me all these settings are just a varying degree of echo and delay and nothing more so if they had to ditch
these sound field programs I wouldn't loose any sleep over it..The remote isn't as horrible as some make it out to be and looking back yes, there are better avrs out there but for a living room tv/dock and occasional movie I'll keep it.

mdaudioguy

leftwinger57 wrote: »

MD,Are there any comparisons between the Adventage line and my era Rx-v665.To perfectly honest w/ you I was mildly disappointed w/ the avr on a whole.It clipped when I pushed it and this was a test and not my usual listening volumes. Since music overtook movies I did go the sepeartes route but I can't fault the 665 for having 2opticals ,4hdmi,2 coax,and plenty of audio ins. What I do think is a big waste of time are music settings to where you choose if this sounds like a chamber hall,theater,club
and for me all these settings are just a varying degree of echo and delay and nothing more so if they had to ditch
these sound field programs I wouldn't loose any sleep over it..The remote isn't as horrible as some make it out to be and looking back yes, there are better avrs out there but for a living room tv/dock and occasional movie I'll keep it.

Having already owned a RX-Vxx1 and -Vxx3 model, I was very disappointed in the Yamaha -Vxx5 series. It seemed like they downgraded/cheapened every model in the line. All you had to do was check the specifications - particularly the weight. When I listened to them, they sounded lean, as if they were lacking in power. I would take the 661 I had over the 665 any day, despite the latter being two model lines newer. Yamaha lost me with that line, I don't know if the later series are any better or not, but they definitely won me back with the Aventage line - night and day versus your model, IMO.

Btw, the various DSP programs (chamber, etc...) are a Yamaha staple - they're not going to drop them. Some people love them. I don't use them.

pearsall001

I've always been an NAD AVR guy but I read so many great reviews on the new AVENTAGE line that had to check them out. So far I'm extremely impressed with the RX-A3010. The new advanced YPAO did a remarkable job with a room that already sounded excellent. I'm still playing around with the unit & I keep finding new settings that can be tweaked to one's own desire. I'm running it in a 9.2 system for now & I can say I can't ever see going back to a 7.2 channel system. The front presence speakers are remarkable in what they add to the experience. Till later....

evhudsons

I like the front presence too. However I would like to find a setting that plays all speakers at once. Playing the 7 speaker selection plays all the speakers except for the presence speakers. The other settings such as hall etc I don't use, but some of them do play the presence speakers, but not all speakers equally.

pearsall001

evhudsons wrote: »

I like the front presence too. However I would like to find a setting that plays all speakers at once. Playing the 7 speaker selection plays all the speakers except for the presence speakers. The other settings such as hall etc I don't use, but some of them do play the presence speakers, but not all speakers equally.

The 3010 has a 9 channel setting that plays all the speakers equally. I'm still playing around with all of the different sound fields that the unit offers. You can customize all of the settings for each sound field to fit your listening habits & your room. They are different to say the least but they are enjoyable when tweaked the way the like it & also matched to the right music. They will never replace two channel listening nor were they designed to do so. Listening to Diana Krall & Patricia Barbara on the Jazz Club & Warehouse Loft setting are exellent for a nice change of pace. This 3010 has so many different settings I don't think I've even scratched the surface yet. The front presence speakers really surprised me on how well they add significant space, depth, dimension to both movies & music. I'm just having a lot of fun!!!!

roost28

i just ordered a rx-a3010 to replace my stolen rx-v3900 and am just currious as to what you think about this receiver?

pearsall001

roost28 wrote: »

i just ordered a rx-a3010 to replace my stolen rx-v3900 and am just currious as to what you think about this receiver?

Probably the best kept secret of the AVR market. You're going to love it. I'm still amazed at how well it sounds. I'm currently running a 9.2 channel system & probably will bump that up to an 11.2 channel system shortly. The 9.2 channels are simply amazing when watching a Blu-Ray. I can just imagine what 11.2 channels will bring to the table.

Derm

pearsall001 wrote: »

The 3010 has a 9 channel setting that plays all the speakers equally. I'm still playing around with all of the different sound fields that the unit offers. You can customize all of the settings for each sound field to fit your listening habits & your room. They are different to say the least but they are enjoyable when tweaked the way the like it & also matched to the right music. They will never replace two channel listening nor were they designed to do so. This 3010 has so many different settings I don't think I've even scratched the surface yet. The front presence speakers really surprised me on how well they add significant space, depth, dimension to both movies & music. I'm just having a lot of fun!!!!

^^Exactly my view on the 3010 that I own.
I have mine paired with a NAD C275 BEE to run the A9's and the other 7 run off of the 3010.
I have a single 350 watt powered sub as well.
I too am impressed with the added dimensions of the front presence.
Plenty of power with my setup and I am very pleased with the 3010 and have absolutely no complaints to report to date.

roost28

thanks for the reply's, i just picked it up today and so far i am impressed with the build quality and can't wait to hook this beast up! i picked up the rtia7 for front, csia4 for center rtia1 for rear surround and front presence and a psw125 sub and now just need to finish up some painting and repairs from the robbery and then i can unbox everything and get it all hooked up. its been almost 2 months with no system and i can't wait! man ins companies are slow!!

roost28

i gotta say this receiver sounds fantastic i havn't run the auto set up yet i just did a quick manual set up. i was not expecting much of a difference over my 3900, but there is actually quite a difference! i am really looking forward to playing with it more:cheesygrin:

billbillw

Add me to the ranks of Aventage owners here. I feel kinda like Phil. I wasn't planning on getting one, but m Onkyo 805 started having HDMI issues a few weeks back, so I started looking around, mostly at $500-700 refurbs from AC4L. (Denon/Onkyo/Sherwood 972)

I read briefly about the Aventage line, but for the most part, I've not been too impressed with Yamahas in the past since they tended to be underpowered compared to the similarly priced Denon or Onkyo receivers. Well, after this Onkyo only giving me 4.5 years, and reading less than stellar reports from the newer Onkyos and Denons, I decided Yamaha might be worth a chance. Seems like the higher level Aventage series have more than enough power and reviews were mostly positive.

Went into Magnolia last night and found several open box clearance models. I ended up picking up an open box A3010 for a crazy low price. They had it mis-marked with the open box A2010 price. After checking it out for a bit and making sure it had all the accessories (it did), I asked the sales guy and pointed out the confusing price situation. I wanted to make sure the receipt had the correct model. They said no problem, we will give you that price so I said done deal. No brainer really. A flagship receiver for less than most mid-range units.

I did a quick setup last night, didn't have time to run YPAO, but I like what I hear already. Very smooth sound, nicely balanced. Plenty of grunt. I watched the 1st 30 minutes of Master and Commander, and it had more than enough power to handle the canon blasts, splintering wood, etc. It has more features than I'll ever use, great video processing, good audio processing, and a very good amp section. Hoping for bliss after YPAO.

Gotta say, I do prefer the older amber displays. Yes, the new white is probably easier to read, but it just doesn't look like Yamaha to me. Also, I hope there is a way to dim the readout. It was distractedly bright last night. (Note: I haven't made it through the entire manual yet)

I'm just running 7.1 right now, but after reading about the positive affect of the presence channels, I might look into adding a couple more in the front.

shadowlight

Another Aventage owner. I have the low end A1000 but it gets the job done for me for surround speakers. The fronts have external amp :biggrin: when watching movies. For music it is usually tube integrated unless listening to vinyl than it is back to using the a1000 as phono pre.

billbillw

I ran YPAO. Sounded better, but still seemed a little subdued. Checked the settings further and noticed the Adaptive DRC was enabled. Turned that off and WOW, what a difference! I suppose the DRC works ok for TV viewing to tame the commercials, etc., but it has no place in movies. Still need to tweak the settings and set up my "scenes" for the different sources. Not sure how to integrate the scene function into my Harmony remote sequence, but I'm sure there is a way. So far, I'm very impressed with this beast. I also think the Yamaha Android App is amazing! It works great. I freaked my wife out by turning on the receiver when she was alone in the basement. (Tee hee!) Its not just a gimmick, it has most of the receiver settings available and in some cases, they are easier to find on the App than they are in the receiver onscreen menus. Having it available makes me less worried about programming every button into my Harmony.

My love for the old Onkyo is fading fast. Anyone interested in an 805 with one working HDMI input?