Yamaha RX-A3070 9.2 AV Receiver Review & Discussion

Phil Hinton

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Thanks Phil - Just a small point; your spec indicates 'AM/FM Tuner' but the back panel photograph shows 'DAB/FM'. I assume the latter is correct and it is also DAB+ ?
 
When you say the old fashioned way for setting up , could you give me more info on this. I would like to give it a go.
Thanks
 
Thanks Phil,

Great review!

I upgraded to this from the V2067 (6 years old but required the 4K options) and agree the Menus need an update, although it’s a bonus for previous Yamaha owners in that it’s easy to work your way around as I recall being a bit overwhelmed when I first purchased the 2067.
I struggled a bit in the first few months with my new sub and music, it was always quite quiet (after using YPAO) yet movies shook the room.

The scene function is always handy and the app pretty good. New buyers are getting a Bluetooth speaker thrown in to use with MusicCast, shame for those who bought in 2017.

I’m still 5.1 and thinking about 5.1.4 although even with 5.1, it creates such a nice bubble of sound with crisp dialogue.

So far it’s child proof bar mucky hand prints on the nicely weighted volume knob. Once again the app is handy when the kids decide to power off if they don’t like my choice of music!

Yamaha emailed last year saying as far as they know, it’s eArc compatible.
As we know and discussed in the latest podcast, only ever purchase on what is available at the time, but in fairness to Yamaha, my old 2067 had plenty of firmware updates over the years, so here’s hoping!
 
When you say the old fashioned way for setting up , could you give me more info on this. I would like to give it a go.
Thanks

I'm assuming white noise and adjusting each level manually.
 
Sorry for my ignorance ,what is classed as white noise? And would you need to put speaker distance in . Then use a spl meter?
 
Yeah I used YPAO initially and then changed some speaker sizes as it set them to large and adjusted levels with an spl, my sub needed more gain for sure. I initially added some bass trim too and nearly had a heart attack when first playing some John Wick !
 
Sorry for my ignorance ,what is classed as white noise? And would you need to put speaker distance in . Then use a spl meter?
There are test tones (white noise) you can use built in (the YPAO calibration uses them but can be used manually).
I used an SPL, I’m not an audiophile so may be wrong but it helped me.
 
Ah I see, I’m no audiophile either. I could give that a go in pattern2. Nothing to lose.
 
A very good amplifier, rightly this review makes a mockery of the review by a "rival" on-line reviewer a couple of months ago which was frankly, total nonsense.


Do you mean the What HiFi review that had to be subsequently rewritten after What HiFi decided that the review model they originally received was faulty and thus responsible for their poor appraisal of it?
 
I’ve had a go a that steviedr, measured to my mlp and used spl meter. Sounds good. Struggling to tell the difference from ypao set up ,
 
Just a note to say that the test tones associated with AV receivers are in fact pink noise as opposed to being white noise :)
 
Update, in actual fact after listen on my setup going back to ypao setup , ypao setup sounds more echoing. Mind this is on bbc 1.
 
Update, in actual fact after listen on my setup going back to ypao setup , ypao setup sounds more echoing. Mind this is on bbc 1.

Have you engaged one of the DSP Programs? I've found that they can result in certain types of dialogue sounding unnatural and echoey. This doesn't seem to effect discrete multichannel formats though and only effects audio when upmixing from 2 channel sources.
 
I am using Surround decode.
 
I’ve had a go a that steviedr, measured to my mlp and used spl meter. Sounds good. Struggling to tell the difference from ypao set up ,

Level wise after YPAO, it wasn’t far off for the speakers, just had to add a few clicks (bar YPAO naming my front L/R large instead of small), but the sub was way off.
I also got the best result taking a measurement from one position v multiposition.
Intrigued with the angled Atmos measurements.
With the exception of discs, I tend to use the Dolby Surround DSP, sounds really good, especially with some Nowtv 2.1 material, it’s actually very impressive.
I need to experiment more with the dsp’s regarding music.

Edit - watching Thomas the tank engine on Amazon with Surround engaged - I see what you mean, my rears do sound a little unnatural if I pay attention to them - guess it does really depend on the material.
 
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Thanks Phil and more than happy with my Denon 4400H. Not sure what ground-breaking developments in relation to AVRs are out there apart from hdmi 2.1 next year. You would think that they would have at least improved the menus and added a backlight for the remote control. All a bit deja vu as with this year's TVs and no apparent incentive for people to upgrade.
 
Level wise after YPAO, it wasn’t far off for the speakers, just had to add a few clicks (bar YPAO naming my front L/R large instead of small), but the sub was way off.
I also got the best result taking a measurement from one position v multiposition.
Intrigued with the angled Atmos measurements.
With the exception of discs, I tend to use the Dolby Surround DSP, sounds really good, especially with some Nowtv 2.1 material, it’s actually very impressive.
I need to experiment more with the dsp’s regarding music.

Edit - watching Thomas the tank engine on Amazon with Surround engaged - I see what you mean, my rears do sound a little unnatural if I pay attention to them - guess it does really depend on the material.


Your average SPL meter cannot accurately measure the sound pressure associated with the low frequency output of a sub. AV receivers use several other factors attained during the calibration to level the sub. You'd need a relatively expensive pro grade SPL meter with Z weighting if wanting to level a sub manually. The receiver's own calibrated level was probably more accurate than your modified manual adjustment resulted in? This is why almost all attempts to measure the SPL manually post calibration with an SPL meter typically result in the person taking the measurements concluding that the subwoofer is incorrectly levelled. What is in fact happening is that the meter being used isn't up to the task at hand. If your other speakers' levels were out by a few db then the same will have been true of the sub.

Note that all receivers determine the speaker sizes based upon their measured roll off. Any speaker with a roll off below 60Hz will result in the receiver designating them as being LARGE. It is generally suggested that you always manually reconfigure the bass management post calibration and reassign all speakers as being SMALL as opposed to LARGE irrespective of their size, their rated frequency handling or indeed their measured roll off.
 
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Any idea how this compares sonically to the old Yamaha DSP A1?
 
So what does this do better than the 4400?

The AVRX4400 has a lot going for it, but you'd not get the build quality you'd get with the RXA3070. The DACs are also superior and you'd get more power from the Yamaha. It also includes balanced XLR inputs, but not many will have anything that would benefit from connecting it to the receiver using them. Yamaha receivers also include proprietary DSP that isn't included on any other brand of receiver. This DSP tech can be very effective if used in conjunction with presence speakers and can even be applied to £D immersive formats if you've one of the Yamaha models from the A1070 upward.
 
You'll get a back-light remote control included if you upgrade to the Yamaha pre & power amp combo. :D
 
The AVRX4400 has a lot going for it, but you'd not get the build quality you'd get with the RXA3070. The DACs are also superior and you'd get more power from the Yamaha. It also includes balanced XLR inputs, but not many will have anything that would benefit from connecting it to the receiver using them. Yamaha receivers also include proprietary DSP that isn't included on any other brand of receiver. This DSP tech can be very effective if used in conjunction with presence speakers and can even be applied to £D immersive formats if you've one of the Yamaha models from the A1070 upward.

Would the sr7012 match this in terms of audio quality?
I'm about 70/30 movies/music
 

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