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Introduction

AV receivers are constantly changing,

constantly leap-frogging one another in

features and capabilities. This year Yamaha

announced its Aventage (RX-A) line and,

in the process, jumped over a lot of the

competition. And not a little jump, more like

an Olympic gold medal long jump. Much of

that jump is simply in the way of value - I

mean the Aventage line in general has build

quality and features that seem like it should

cost a lot more than it does. The RX-A3000

takes that to the nth degree.

There are five receivers in the Aventage

lineup and the RX-A3000 is the flagship.

The line is a simplified high-end run at the

AV receiver concept. As such, there is a very

defined delineation between models, but a

few specific break points define some key

places where some users will seek to spend

a little more and up the ante on the return

for their investment. Let’s take a quick look

(see chart on page 2).

As we see it, there is a definite line in the

sand drawn after the RX-A1000 which adds

a significant amount of power, HQV Vida

processing and Zone 2/3 video capabilities.

If you want the high-end of what Yamaha

is now offering, you’re going to want to

get into the RX-A2000 or RX-A3000. Take

a look down the line, however, and it’s

remarkable what the first three of the line

manage to cram in at much lower price

points. Economy of scale has done much to

bring down the price for features you would

simply not have dreamed of just a few years

ago. HDMI Standby-through mode in a $600

receiver with a motion GUI interface and

12V trigger outputs? 2011 is going to be a

good year for upgraders.

Now for a trip back through memory

lane. Back in 2008 Yamaha released its

Yamaha RX-A3000

Aventage

11.2 Networking

A/V Receiver

Review

Review by Clint DeBoer & Gene DellaSala

of Audioholics.com

review

12.14.10

Summary of content (16 pages)

PAGE 1
review 12 . 1 4 . 1 0 Yamaha RX-A3000 Aventage 11.2 Networking A/V Receiver Review Review by Clint DeBoer & Gene DellaSala www.audioholics.coM of Audioholics.com Introduction AV receivers are constantly changing, constantly leap-frogging one another in features and capabilities. This year Yamaha announced its Aventage (RX-A) line and, in the process, jumped over a lot of the competition. And not a little jump, more like an Olympic gold medal long jump.
PAGE 2
top of the line RX-Z7 AV receiver. It had 7 channels of amplification with 140 watts each. All manner of video upscaling (analogue and digital) was included and it had a whopping 5 HDMI inputs and even two paralleled outputs. For room correction, Yamaha pulled out the stops and debuted a new proprietary YPAO-based multi point room calibration system.
PAGE 3
Specifications Yamaha RX-A3000 Aventage Channels: 7.2 Advanced Features RMS Output Power: (20Hz - 20kHz): 140W x 7 Four SCENE Buttons Total Power: (20Hz - 20kHz): 980W iPod Compatibility (With Optional YDS-11/12 or YID-W10) Audio Dolby TrueHD Dolby Digital EX / Pro Logic IIx DTS-HD Master Audio DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 DTS 96/24 / DTS Neo:6 Pure Direct D/A Conversion: 192 kHz / 24 bit HD Radio Tuner Bluetooth Compatibility Compressed Music Enhancer Network Receiver Functions (DLNA 1.
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www.audioholics.coM Build Quality and Features 4 We ran a full suite of amplifier tests on this receiver below, but for now let’s talk some more about features - cause there’s a LOT of them. The receiver is packed with inputs and outputs. If you haven’t yet gotten your head wrapped around just what this behemoth offers, we’ll help you through that here. Take a look at the back of the RX-A3000 receiver. Of particular note, check out the number of HDMI inputs.
PAGE 5
Speaker Set-Up There are a lot of HDMI functions that I want to espouse on behalf of the RX-A3000. First off, the receiver can take in anything and output it via HDMI - we already went into that. What we didn’t talk about was the new HDMI Standby feature. Ever want to watch something on TV without turning on your system? Me neither... but your wife or spouse probably has. HDMI Standby means that you can pass HDMI (audio and video) through the receiver without turning it on.
PAGE 6
www.audioholics.coM 6 Take this scenario, for example, which is my favorite: I am operating a 7.1 system + a second Zone. In this configuration I am not bi-amping the mains, but I am using an external 2-channel amplifier to power my Zone 2 speakers. This is designated as EXTRA SP1: Zone 2. It also gives me the flexibility to select how I am using my last 2 channels of amplification - as Surround Back speakers, or in Zone 2.
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That’s an extensive list, driven by the new HQV Vida video processing chipset. Since you can customize and store up to six different presets, it’s incredibly powerful and offers a great way to tweak the system when your display or source doesn’t allow for easy application-specific customization. HDMI As with most receivers with dual HDMI outputs, the Yamaha RX-A3000 lets you set which output will handle CEC functions (and enable or disable the function entirely).
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read audio from an HDMI input and also send that audio out through one or both HDMI outputs on the back. This means that you can do a sort of multi-cast of program material. Why is this important? At times, during our annual Super Bowl party for example, we’ve wanted to take audio from a source and also pass it along to another room where it can feed a television.
PAGE 9
Returning back to where we started, the Function menu is what lets you set the front panel dimmer level, scrolling mode, trigger functions and the wallpaper for the menu. While Yamaha gives you 4 options for the wallpaper, none of them is custom - and odd thing since they have both USB access and networking functions as a means to grab a compatible file.
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maybe the person who sets up this receiver) batty in less than 60 seconds... Scratch that, it drove us batty - and we’re the ones who set it up! With a new GUI interface, perhaps Yamaha is subconsciously drawing users to use that (and their iPhone/iPad app). Advanced users will want to take advantage of Yamaha’s Receiver Manager software integration capability which we’ve covered in prior reviews. This will come in handy to relabel inputs into more meaningful names.
PAGE 11
honest and natural. I love the gentle vocal singing and the timbre of John’s voice really sounded warm through the Yamaha receiver. The lyrics may be odd, but the sound of this album is exceptional. Listening Tests - Movies I had an enjoyable time listening to music on the Yamaha RX-A3000, but movies were an absolute blast... sometimes literally. We watched a ton of movies on this receiver and I made a few notes on some of the more impressive titles.
PAGE 12
of (-.733 +108.15)dBv = 107.4dBv or 100*alog^-1(-107.4/20) = .0004% THD + N. The output, residual noise products were virtually nonexistent. Using the HDMI input driven at -20dBFS with 1Vrms out of the preamp analog outputs, I measured 86dB (unweighted). This is a pretty clean measurement. I repeated this test via the analog inputs and noticed an elevated result likely due to clock noise or just digital artifacts well above the audio band corrupting the measurement.
PAGE 13
Yamaha RX-A3000 Frequency Response (HDMI In, Speaker Level Outputs) Yamaha RX-A3000 FFT Distortion Analysis at Full Rated Power power (140wpc) odd order harmonics started to dominate (30.2 +64.6)dBv = 94.8dBv or 100*alog^-1(-94.8/20) = ..002% THD + N. This is still a good measurement and comparably cleaner to what I measured on some dedicated multi-channel power amplifiers. Driving the RX-A3000 with a -20dBFS input signal via HDMI, I measured 84dB SNR at 1 watt with all channels driven.
PAGE 14
print magazines, this is an instantaneous power vs distortion test at 1kHz. The problem with this test is it often masks slew related and or frequency response problems some amplifiers exhibit at the frequency extremes, and thus inflates the measured power results. It does provide an instant gratification # for consumers to argue over on the forums so we are now incorporating this test to please the masses. www.audioholics.coM Dynamic PWR - 1kHz CEA-2006 Burst Method testing.
PAGE 15
Yamaha RX-A3000 1kHz Power Test ACD, 8 ohms TheYamaha RX-A3000 handedly exceeded its 140wpc power rating continuously with two channels driven and stomped out an impressive 236wpc both channels driven into 4 ohms; and that’s a full power bandwidth measurement (20Hz to 20kHz at 0.1% THD + N). It proved to be every bit as powerful as their more expensive RX-Z7 mode. You can see the protection circuit kick on during our ACD tests, purposely limiting power to 65wpc.
PAGE 16
Conclusion Booyah! Yamaha has hit it out of the park with this one. The RX-A3000 proved itself to be a worthy and most importantly less costly successor to the venerable RX-Z7 (though we do miss Yamaha’s signature orange frontpanel display). Say all you want about our ranting about the remote - apart from that, the Yamaha RX-A3000 is a real winner that shows its true colors as an audiophile product that has legs. It’s an incredibly flexible and powerful system that works well, measures well and looks...