Specifications

6
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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. The beauty is, with
11 pars of binding posts, I don’t have to do
any fancy rewiring; everything is all set. Here
is how it looks:
Now, suppose I wanted, instead to opt
for pulling both the Surround as well as
the Surround Back amplifiers in order to
power two additional zones? No problem,
Yamaha’s RX-A3000 can allocate amplifiers
as needed to do that as well. Here’s how
that particular configuration looks:
But I want to use my Presence channel
speakers, you say. You know what, that’s a
great idea. Yamaha allows you to configure
those for use with an external amplifier
(they have dedicated preamp outputs) and
now you can opt to allocate the internal
amplifier between Surround Back channels
and the optional Zone 2 you configured.
This is how that scenario would look on
the setup menu:
We complained (OK, whined) about that
for years, and finally Yamaha seems to
have taken the hint and allocated enough
processing power and preamp outputs to
handle even the most difficult configurations.
It seems that if you can add external
amplifiers, you can truly harness the power
of this 11.2-channel receiver. Not since
their flagship RX-Z11 selling for more than
2 ½ the price, was this possible.
OK, so that’s just the speaker allocation
and power amp assignments. You still
have the ability to configure the speaker
levels (0.5dB steps), distances (0.2 ft/.05m
increments), and Extra Bass (where the
receiver can send fullrange information to
the front speakers and bass from the front
speakers to the subwoofer). You can also,
and this is a BIG deal for a receiver at this
price point, connect two subwoofers with
independent level and trim control and set
the subwoofers for either mono, stereo
(left + right), or front/rear. We typically
recommend Mono, but some audiophiles
may want to experiment with the stereo
setting. We don’t recommend the front/
back setting since it only sends LFE info to
the rear sub.
For more
information, read:
Home Theater
Multiple Subwoofer
Set-Up Guide
http://www.
audioholics.com/
tweaks/get-good-
bass/multiple-
subwoofer-setup-
calibration-1)
Bass Management
As was the case with the RX-Z7, the
RX-A3000 provides for variable crossover
settings per speaker group (ie. Mains, Center,
Surrounds but doesn’t give you a choice for
the subwoofer crossover which I found
through my testing to be dependent on
the main channel crossover setting. Thus I
highly recommend you keep each speaker
group’s crossover setting within 20Hz to
ensure a more optimal integration with
the subwoofer during all playback modes
(ie. discrete 5.1 sources and 2 CH music in
PLIIx Music Mode).
Yamaha still allows you to the center and
surround channels to “large” even if you
select “small” for the main channels. I would
have preferred Yamaha to automatically set
all speakers to “small” if the mains were set
“small”. Pay extra attention when manually
configuring speaker size groups or use one
of their presets that sets all speakers to
“small”.
The crossovers worked as expected for
a THX Ultra2 certified receiver (except
the RX-A3000 is not THX certified) as
indicated by the 12dB/oct High Pass Filter
(HPF) slopes on speakers set small and
24dB/oct Low Pass Filter (LPF) slopes on
the subwoofer output which we measured
with our Audio Precision APx585. The only
oddity was that the subwoofer channel
was down about 1.5dB at 10Hz which to
us indicated a rather conservative HPF
employment on this channel since this slight
attention didn’t show up on any of the
seven main channels.