Upgrading From Yamaha RX-A820 Aventage Receiver

Goliath626

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Hey all. Just ordered a Sony A80J 77", and looking at possibly upgrading my old Yamaha RX-A820. It states it does 4K passthrough, but no dolby vision or HDR. First, is there a connection workaround short term? The 820 only has ARC. Using a PS5 for now for 4k content. Everything into TV and optical audio to AVR? Or ARC to AVR? Temp solution until I can find a replacement AVR. Currently looking at Yamaha's, but seems only when you hit the Aventage RX-A4A line do you get 2.1 HDMI with 40gbps. also looking at Denon AVR-X2700 and AVR-X3700. And Marantz SR5015. All these AVR's aren't new releases, so wondering if waiting for some new models is smarter. Im currently running a 5.1 system with my Yamaha, with B&W 683's Fronts, HTM61 Center and DS3 Rears and an old Polk PSW450 12" Sub. I have a great room with cathedral ceilings, so I really cant implement dolby atmos as much as I would like to. Probably continuing with 5.1. If there's a different AVR you recommend I would love your input. Thanks guys!
 
The fact that your current AVR hasn't eARC makes it impractical to try workaround its video and HDR deficiencies. If the AVR had eARC then you could cionnect HDR sources directly to the TV and then use eARC to pass the associated audio through said TV to the AV receiver. Conventional ARC would limit the types of audio you'd be able to passthrough the AVR though. and you'd ideally want eARC to be able to access HD lossless formats or multichannel PCM. The same is true of an optical audio connection and this too would be limited to SD lassy formats and or just 2 channel PCM. You cannot convey JD formats such as DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD via optical and no form of onject orientated audio such as Atmos would be accessible either. Even DD+ wouldn't be possible via optical although it is possible to convey Dolby Digital Plus via conventional ARC and this is how Atmos is packaged when accessed via streaming services.

You could utilise height as opposed to ceiling speakers to give you Atmos? This is a compromise, but would be one that still rewarded you with a more imersive experience.

The X3700 would be a good option an will give you 8 channels for less than the Yamaha RXA6 retails for.
 
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Leave your current AV. This adapter works like a harm for me but I'm not using ps5 so not sure about 120hz compatibility if you're expecting this from your TV.
 
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thought I'd join in and clear a few doubts...

if i connect a firestick 4k into a smart TV with ARC and then connect the smart TV out to hdmi in on the a820....

1. Will I be able to control the volume up/down of the avr with the Firestick 4k remote?

2. will the a820 decode dolby digital plus signal coming from prime/Netflix via the smart TV out to a820 hdmi in?

Thanks.
 

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