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AV Receiver Reviews
Yamaha RX-Z7 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 26, 2010
Price: $2,700 At A Glance: Numerous networked music options including Rhapsody • Anchor Bay VRS video processing • HDMI 1.3 connectivity excludes 3D

Features, Performance, or Both?

In Akira Kurosawa’s classic film Rashomon, a violent crime is followed by several markedly variable versions of the same story as told from the viewpoints of four different characters: the criminal, two victims, and finally a relatively neutral observer. In the same manner, readers may finish this review with wildly divergent ideas of what’s important and whether the Yamaha RX-Z7 is right for them.

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CEDIA 2014
Yamaha Shows Atmos Receivers
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 12, 2014
Yamaha's excellent Aventage surround receiver line now features two Dolby Atmos compatible models, both with nine amp channels: the RX-A3040 ($2199, 150 watts with two channels driven) and RX-A2040 ($1699, 140 watts with two channels driven). The semi-enclosed demo, with Yamaha speakers, was crisp enough to rise above the noise of the show floor, and the height effects (from ceiling speakers) were clearly discernible. Yamaha also showed its first sound base, the SRT-1000 ($500), which features eight front "beam drivers" along with two oval mid-woofers and two bottom-firing bass drivers. Made of sturdy MDF, it is designed to hold sets up to 88 pounds and 55 inches. In addition Yamaha showed two soundbars, one with HDMI input and lossless surround decoding for $1000 and one with legacy inputs for $399. The former is the YSP-2500, which simulates "true 7.1" surround from 16 beam drivers. It is the first soundbar we've encountered with a headphone jack.
Yamaha Stokes Fires of Class Prejudice
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 05, 2008
ONLY .00001 PERCENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION WILL OWN ONE, says Yamaha of its top-line RX-Z11 receiver. What Yamaha does not mention is that the other 99 point something percent are getting ready to slit their throats and steal the receiver.
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Yamaha Uncorks Soavo Speakers
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 15, 2006
Didn't get to hear them, unfortunately, but don't the Yamaha Soavos look great? They include a full surround set, shown, plus the floorstanding Soavo-1 and monitor-sized Soavo-2, not shown. Pricing TBD. Yamaha also showed the RX-V2700 receiver ($1799) with 140 watts times seven, iPod dock (of course, $100), XM satellite radio (the antenna goes for about 20 bucks), and network jack for Internet radio or connection of a multi-zone Yamaha MusicCast system. Is there an all-Yamaha system in your future?
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CEDIA 2009
Yamaha Wireless System Goes Proprietary
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 11, 2009
Yamaha used a proprietary wireless connection for the yAired music system. Unlike, say, Bluetooth, it has no compression, no latency, and no delay. Look for the MLR-140 in mid October.
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Soundbar Reviews
Yamaha YAS-207 Soundbar System Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 30, 2017

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $300

AT A GLANCE
Plus
DTS Virtual:X mimics height/surround
HDMI in and out with ARC
Pleasant voicing in most modes
Minus
Only one video input
3D Surround mode can be slightly harsh

THE VERDICT
The Yamaha YAS-207, which uses DTS Virtual:X processing to simulate height and surround effects, sounds pretty good and is easy on your checkbook.

When Dolby Atmos and, shortly thereafter, DTS:X made their debuts, I expected I’d soon be reviewing a flood of speaker systems and receivers supporting object-oriented surround in a 360-degree soundfield. My hope was that height-capable surround would spark renewed interest in surround speaker packages and receivers — and in home theater overall.

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Home Theater Systems Reviews
Yamaha YHT-591 HTIB
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 03, 2009
Price: $650 At A Glance: A/V receiver, five slim speakers, and powered sub • Slightly rolled-off treble, but pleasing sound • Good remote, lousy supplied cable

Home Theater Comfort Food

On my first trip to London, when I was much younger, my first meal was a mediocre steak in a fifth-rate restaurant full of reveling Australian soccer fans. It was one of the most disappointing meals I’ve ever had. While Britain doesn’t exactly lead the world in cuisine, you can eat well there if you know what you’re doing. The reason I got stuck with a leathery, tasteless, uninspiring piece of meat was that I was jet-lagged and desperately hungry, I didn’t know my way around, and I couldn’t find anything better. HTIBs can be like that. People who might be better served by a higher-quality component system settle for a less fulfilling one because they don’t know their way around the labyrinthine world of A/V receivers and speaker systems. Mixing and matching surround gear can be too steep a hill to climb.

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CES 2011
Yes, Sony Does Speakers
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 06, 2011  |  Published: Jan 07, 2011
The SS-AR1 floorstander ($27,000/pair) has appeared at various shows in the past and we've seen it before. But CES 2011 marked its real entry into popular consciousness as part of a Sony division that also includes ES receivers and projectors. Ray Kimber of Kimber cable and IsoMike recording fame and Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds lent their credibility to the proceedings. The speaker's blend of woods includes a cabinet of Hokkaido maple that's harvested only in November when it's at the peak of its powers. Drivers are designed by Sony and custom made by ScanSpeak. The piano black finish is done by a company that makes, um, pianos. Demos included a Nat King Cole tune in which the strings were vivid yet unhyped and the voice reproduced so well, it practically burnt a hole in our brain. We're convinced this is a very fine speaker indeed, and not at all surprised, having liked Sony's long-gone SS-series speakers from the 1990s.
Ears On
Yes, the High-Res Difference Is Audible
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 05, 2014
Would you like to feed your audio system with signals equivalent to what the artist, producer, and mixing engineer heard in the studio? For most people, this is a no-brainer. Why would you not want to hear what the pros heard? And on that basis, a new generation of music players, USB DACs, and other high-resolution audio products is now on the market, seeking open ears and open minds. You'd think this would be cause for celebration. But a small cadre of rigid ideologues are not celebrating. They're insisting that there is no audible difference between CD-quality audio and high-res audio. They bought Perfect Sound Forever, the ancient Compact Disc marketing slogan, hook, line and sinker. Infinitely condescending, the Perfect Sound Foreverists claim to have science on their side and dismiss any other point of view. But the latest science flatly contradicts their long-held dogma.

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CES 2014
Yes, You Can Afford Totems
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2014
Canada's Totem Acoustic has been making great speakers for the high-end market for quite some time, and by high-end standards, they're not all that expensive. But Totem reaches into the most affordable territory yet with the Kin monitor. It has a four-inch honeycomb paper woofer, 0.75-inch silk dome tweeter, and (despite its modest size) dual terminals for biamping or biwiring. The Kin ships in May for $499/pair, and can be bought in odd-numbered lots for surround use. There will also be a Kin sub ($699).

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