Yamaha CX-A5200 owners thread

[sebna]

I think we are missing owners thread for Yamaha CX-A5200 pre. and as I have acquired one recently and it looks to be staying with me for foreseeable future so I though it would be good idea to have one.

I wonder why it is so little popular in our part of the world? Or maybe users are not as vocal as of other brands and models?

Either way, Yamaha CV-A5200 owners unite!

I will add some usual info about capabilities and spec to this post at later stage.

We are probably looking at its successor to be released in next 6-7 months? So in relation to creation fo this thread, as they say better late then never.

Cheers

 

[UPTHEOWLS]

Thanks for starting this thread mate it's about time it had some limelight

 

[HeadBanger]

Hi

I’m very happy with mine - superb SQ and the build quality is excellent as usual from Yamaha. Not much else to say really - no issues to report, no firmware bugs etc.!!

I did call Yamaha UK before I purchased this back in the early summer and ended up speaking to one of their engineers. He advised that a new pre-pro was not scheduled for release until Q3/4 2021.

I also looked into the rising THD&N issue on the L&R XLR output over 2V as raised on Audioholics. I calculated that with my speakers and power amps I’d only realistically ever need 1.1V so this ended up being a non-issue for me. This is enough to hit approx 108dB - plenty loud enough. I can share an Excel spreadsheet that I put together to calculate this if anyone else wants to check their own configuration.

With the recent issues unfolding with the new 8K HDMI boards, I’m not in any hurry nor any need for 8K so this will likely be part of my system for many years to come.

HB

 

[sebna]

I have to read the manual and figure out how to bump centre channel when needed.

Do you use AI?

When I turn on the AI also DSP lights up on the display - if I have all DSP turned off in the settings it means nothing that it lights up am I right (other that of course AI function is a form of DSP).

Thanks for starting this thread mate it's about time it had some limelight

Absolutely, about time

Hi

I’m very happy with mine - superb SQ and the build quality is excellent as usual from Yamaha. Not much else to say really - no issues to report, no firmware bugs etc.!!

It is early days so far for me but also very happy. I like that Yamaha tend to be able to create sounds not attached to the speakers so perceived as emanating from space rather then from membranes.

Also so far everything works as afvertised altough I have not checked almost any functions at all. I have not even run YPAO yet. How do you find it guys? Is it bringing worthwhile improvements? Does it not muddy up the sound like Audyssey tend to do (loss of resolution and air suck-out with Audyssey was staggering in my experience).

I did call Yamaha UK before I purchased this back in the early summer and ended up speaking to one of their engineers. He advised that a new pre-pro was not scheduled for release until Q3/4 2021.

Great info and nice to hear. I do not care about 8k (I think) so the only reason for me to change to different Pre is when and if I will be ready to change to 16 channels with 9.x.6 config. Or when some more important changes them 8k would come along which I would really like to have.

I also looked into the rising THD&N issue on the L&R XLR output over 2V as raised on Audioholics. I calculated that with my speakers and power amps I’d only realistically ever need 1.1V so this ended up being a non-issue for me. This is enough to hit approx 108dB - plenty loud enough. I can share an Excel spreadsheet that I put together to calculate this if anyone else wants to check their own configuration.

Please share your Excel if you can, it would be interesting to see.

I use (high efficiency) L + R with 2 channel amp which reaches its max power at 2v so should be ok as well. I have them connected over XLR as cable run is about 15m.

 

[sebna]

Right so I have looked at the manual and seems for bumping Center channel on the fly I should go to options and dialogue option and I have 0-3 scale to adjust the volume?

Is this how you do it guys or do you adjust DB for centre channel in speaker setup? If particular movie is difficult to hear?

 

[HeadBanger]

Right so I have looked at the manual and seems for bumping Center channel on the fly I should go to options and dialogue option and I have 0-3 scale to adjust the volume?

Is this how you do it guys or do you adjust DB for centre channel in speaker setup? If particular movie is difficult to hear?

Before you adjust this setting I’d run YAPO first as this will calibrate all speaker levels to match. Or have you done this manually?

With regards to YAPO I find it OK and certainly more natural sounding than Audyssey. I do have it set to the front speakers setting so that it only tunes the surrounds to match and set all speakers to small so that all low bass is sent to sub. For music I listen in Pure Direct mode.

I’ll upload my output voltage calculator spreadsheet later when I’m on my PC .

HB

edit - excel spreadsheet now attached. I had to zip as AVF does not allow .xlsx files. I cannot take credit for the formula in cell B7 - this was provided by another AVF member. I will amend my post to credit him once I can find his original post!

edit2 it was Thatsnotmynaim here

 

[jamesthomas]

Hi, I'm using the cx-a5200 with an LG oled tv through ARC. Most of my viewing is through apps on the TV (Netflix, Prime, etc), and I find I am constantly adjusting lipsync settings and almost never finding a satisfactory setting. I have no adjustment set on the TV and I'm trying to adjust the sync via the a5200. Any ideas?

 

[HeadBanger]

I’ve never had 100% success with ARC on any kit I’ve owned!

Does your TV support lip sync adjust over ARC? My Panasonic does so on the 5200 I have it set to ‘delay enable’ and auto adjust for all inputs (setup>sound>lip sync) and the sound appears to be in sync most of the time. Random stuff on Prime does occasionally seem out a little but not enough for me to start manually adjusting.

HB

 

[UPTHEOWLS]

I see The Yamaha CX-A2500 gets best AV processor under £5000 for 2020 from AVforums

Best Home AV Products 2020 - Editor's Choice Awards

A roundup of the best home audio visual entertainment products we reviewed in 2020

www.avforums.com

 

[sebna]

Hi, I'm using the cx-a5200 with an LG oled tv through ARC. Most of my viewing is through apps on the TV (Netflix, Prime, etc), and I find I am constantly adjusting lipsync settings and almost never finding a satisfactory setting. I have no adjustment set on the TV and I'm trying to adjust the sync via the a5200. Any ideas?

Not very helpful in your situation, but lipsync works very well for me with JVC PJ. Did not have to touch it at all other then living it enabled. I can see it adjusted to 127ms and it is perfect

 

[rccarguy]

I see The Yamaha CX-A2500 gets best AV processor under £5000 for 2020 from AVforums

Best Home AV Products 2020 - Editor's Choice Awards

A roundup of the best home audio visual entertainment products we reviewed in 2020

www.avforums.com

Only thing is poor bass equalisation.

 

[sebna]

Only thing is poor bass equalisation.

I have not tried it yet but it seems to be well established opinion

Not a bother if one uses MiniDSP

So far I am very happy with my 5200. Still exploring all of its options but it sounds very good.

 

[rccarguy]

If you already have antimode then not a problem. Also means you have ability to us pure mode/through but subwoofer is still EQ


And if you prefer the sound and reliability of Yamaha over marantz...

Issue with XLR out though so ideally I'd wait for next gen model.


Yamaha is about £2500?

 

[sebna]

If you already have antimode then not a problem. Also means you have ability to us pure mode/through but subwoofer is still EQ


And if you prefer the sound and reliability of Yamaha over marantz...

Issue with XLR out though so ideally I'd wait for next gen model.


Yamaha is about £2500?

Issue with XLR is far from ideal but at the same time it does not bother me at all as my AMP is reaching full power at 2v and those 2v are almost not affected by the design flaw at all. Even if my AMP would need 2.6 for max power (like my class-D for other channels does) how often one would need to draw full 250W? For quite a lot of speakers that is way above 100db. I know I would not like to listen at that levels for any periods of time.

Or one can use RCA for L + R, which is free from the problem.

I think new are about 2500 but there are some great deals to be made on 2nd hand market and the warranty is fully transferable (3 years).

If you dont need one waiting is an option. If you want one, I do not see a reason to wait.

 

[sebna]

Maybe YPAO is not great with EQing bass but at the same time it gives access to PEQ so even without MiniDSP or other external DSP one can achieve, with a bit of extra effort, flat bass response. Denon / Marantz and many other brands lack this functionality.

I think it is also quite common opinion that YPAO does much better job with speakers EQ in compare to Audyssey which I did not like at all. That is also the reason why I still have not enabled YPAO. I eventually will but first want to use REW to see what I can achieve with it before running YPAO.

 

[rccarguy]

Might consider the next version of it..if I didn't have XLR amps then ok.

I have antimode so I could use antimode + ypao, antimode + through or antimode + pure.

 

[sebna]

Might consider the next version of it..if I didn't have XLR amps then ok.

I have antimode so I could use antimode + ypao, antimode + through or antimode + pure.

The question is, is the slightly diminished performance of L + R channel over XLR, if you would even be in range where it affects your use as it is highly unlikely in the first place worth double the price of new model on its release date?

For me it was an easy call to make.

 

[rccarguy]

The question is, is the slightly diminished performance of L + R channel over XLR, if you would even be in range where it affects your use as it is highly unlikely in the first place worth double the price of new model on its release date?

For me it was an easy call to make.

My amps require 1.6v for full power.
Also point is it has a hardware bug.. for £2500 I wouldn't expect that.

I have a Yamaha avr it's ok bit it doesn't have DSP options like my lexicon, also I guess avm60 is simils price...and better room eq.

 

[rccarguy]

Suppose I may not even use XLR for left and and right if I keep my audiolab 8000q in the system

Yamaha left right RCA pre out into 8000q input. 8000q pre out into l/r power amp

 

[sebna]

My amps require 1.6v for full power.
Also point is it has a hardware bug.. for £2500 I wouldn't expect that.

I have a Yamaha avr it's ok bit it doesn't have DSP options like my lexicon, also I guess avm60 is simils price...and better room eq.

Well if your amps require 1.6v for full power then the bug does not affect you at all (over XLR).

So again the question is how much more you want to pay for not having HW flaw that does not affect you.

 

[rccarguy]

Well if your amps require 1.6v for full power then the bug does not affect you at all (over XLR).

So again the question is how much more you want to pay for not having HW flaw that does not affect you.

It's more resell issue... would devalue it...

 

[sebna]

It's more resell issue... would devalue it...

If you would get it 2nd hand you will not be loosing more the normal devaluation due to age as you would start at discounted point already.

Also lets face it. If you keep it for another 3-5 years (when it is already advanced in it's life cycle) it will not be worth much anyway as Pre are the fastest aging component you can get.

My plan is, if I like 5200 enough (and so far it looks like I might), to keep it either for 5-10 years unless I really want to go for 9.x.6 config or there would be some amazing feature coming out (like 4k 3d per eye) to tempt me to change if faster. If I would really keep it for that long it will be worth close to nothing anyway...

 

[william13]

I am considering this preamp. I see its original production date was 2018. If I buy a new one, am I buying a 2018 piece of gear or are they updated. Are there plans by Yamaha to replace with something new in the next year or two? Did the distortion issues with the xlr outs get settled?
Thank you
Bill

 

[sebna]

I am considering this preamp. I see its original production date was 2018. If I buy a new one, am I buying a 2018 piece of gear or are they updated. Are there plans by Yamaha to replace with something new in the next year or two? Did the distortion issues with the xlr outs get settled?
Thank you
Bill

Hi Bill,

It is the same construction as it was released in 2018. Production date might be 2020 but it is the same design.

The below quote is about introduction of the new model:

I did call Yamaha UK before I purchased this back in the early summer and ended up speaking to one of their engineers. He advised that a new pre-pro was not scheduled for release until Q3/4 2021.

XLR problem which only affects L + R cannot be fixed as it is design flaw but at the same time it is really not a problem at all for vast majority of users and for the rest who would venture into extremely high listening levels (with specific amps as others will run out of steam long before reaching troubled input voltages) to even have a chance to be affected is again not really a problem as it is well below audible threshold.

Do not buy it if you do not like it, or it is missing some functionality that you want but it really does not make much sense to cross if off the list because of this imperfection alone.

Hope that helps.

 

[william13]

It helps a lot. Thank you. My current home theater is ancient. I have a Lexicon dc-1 that works fine but belongs in a museum. It runs ancient Paradigm active speakers 450 RL and center which sound great and two passive rear paradigms
If I get a prepro I was choosing between the Marantz and this (favoring Yamaha). Atmos was a consideration for me and if I go that way I would need another 2 Channel amp. Because I would need more amps I did consider the Denon 8500 but it I get that I cant use paradigm active speakers unless I deactivate internal amps. Just sayin!