- 7.2 channel
- 7 HDMI 4K/3D passthrough
- Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS-HD Master Audio
All around excellence
05/18/2013
This review is from: YAMAHA AVENTAGE RX-A820 7.2-Channel Receiver
Pros:
I bought this receiver on sale from Newegg, the deal was too good to pass up. I have been researching receivers for 3 years now and went from Onkyo (too many problems) to Denon (very good but 2013 quality went down), then finally to Yamaha's. the only thing that the Yamaha's were behind the Denon's in was YPAO instead of Audyssey MultEQ XT. Unfortunately because Denons weren't getting good reviews on their 2013 models it was the current Yamaha A720 or A820 vs Denon 2112 or 2312. The Yamaha's features were more advanced due to being newer, especially AirPlay. So Yamaha it was.
The A820 has it all. This is for two purposes, surround sound for movies and for music. It excels at both. YPAO set up with 8 locations is nice, but probably not a big enough deal over the single position of the A720. I ended up only using 5 positions and really had to hunt for the 5th location. It did a very good job setting my Polk RM 705's; which I actually have set up as recessed ceiling speakers. (I've Jerry-rigged them in the attic space with speaker cloth and plastic trim hiding them from view). I have tweaked the settings a little for the center and rear speakers after the auto setup. I also make use of the Dialogue Lift and Dialogue Level features. Only downer is I have to up the volume for movies (-24) to get the same loudness as music (-40). This could be because I have to use a digital optical cable instead of ARC (TV limitations).
Music is awesome. I think this receiver is better for music than for movies. The selections for sound presets are many, although I only use a couple of the options. The rest sound muted. The music source options are endless. Pandora, Internet radio, other music streaming abilities, AirPlay, direct streaming from iPad, iPhone, or android device. All have pretty much worked flawlessly and are very easy to figure out how to make work.
AirPlay is soo nice and is another example of simple Apple technology at its best. Streaming music directly from an iPhone/ ipad or android phone works almost as seamlessly as AirPlay. Except, videos are included in the music playback so you have to be on top of that to skip to the next song. Playlists are lost and everything is in alphabetical order.
The most pleasant surprise I've discovered is the free app Yamaha offers. I rarely use the remote. Aside from the initial setup and the occasional tweaking of setting accessible only via the remote, I use the app 98% of the time. I remember several years ago when high end systems offered a portable large screen remote. Well now with the iPad Mini, we can get that ability for a mid-level receiver. Plus the iPad does 1000x's as much as those old music system only remotes. Because of the app, my entire system is hidden from view. The satellites are in the ceiling. The center is only visible when watching TV since they are all in an armoire. The sub and receiver are stacked in the corner behind some bookshelves. Although all this equipment maybe nice to
Cons:
No video airplay.
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- Timothy C.
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Verified Owner
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Owned For:
1 week to 1 month
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