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A question for all former Yamaha RX-V### owners: Sound wise what AVR did you sidegrade/upgrade to?

SaulOteng1467

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TLDR: I'm a budget audio buyer who owns a Yamaha RX-V475 AVR, I'm looking for another AVR brand that has a different sound to the 'Yamaha sound' (if that's even a thing?) so wondering if former Yamaha RX-V### owners have any suggestions?

I've always bought budget HIFI setups because that's what I can afford...previously I used to have amazing sound with a somewhat cheapo Sherwood AVR R-977, unfortunately, it busted. So I bought another, the Yamaha RX-V475 and at the time I thought I was 'upgrading' sound-wise on the Sherwood R-977.

However when the Yamaha RX-V475 arrived and I set it up with the same speakers that I used with the Sherwood the sound was noticeably worse than the Sherwood 977 AVR. I didn't understand it, the Yamaha was newer technology than the Sherwood and had more bells and whistles. I put up with it as I had other priorities and didn't have enough money to just upgrade again.

Now I would like to upgrade but I think the problem with my sound was that the Yamaha just doesn't have a signature that works or synergies with my speakers as the Sherwood R-977 did.

So as part of my upgrade strategy, I am looking for another budge range AVR but one that doesn't have the 'Yahama sound'. I know there are some that swear that amps don't really make a difference sound wise as other parts but in my experience it did. So that's why I wanted to aim a question at former Ymamha owners who went and sidegraded/upgraded to a different AVR. Appreciate if anyone could share their recommendations and thoughts on this. thankyou!
 

escape2

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I went from RX-V471 which suddenly died to Denon S740H. I find the Denon superior in both features as well as sound.
 

Juhazi

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I've had three RX-V s, now 685. One Onkyo and one Denon mid-model. I can't hear differences in sound with "pure/direct" ie. stereo without processing or with DD 5.1. Yamahas have been easiest and most logical to use. Ony the low- end RX-V suffered from too little power.
 

Sprint

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I am currently running my set up via AVR RX-V775. I am pretty happy with the sound. When I purchased it in 2014 for my passive Yamaha NS-777 speakers, I compared it with Denon 1912, Onkyo and found Yamaha to sound better.

Last year, I changed my speakers and went with Genelec active monitors. I am also looking to change the AVR for a better one as Yamaha YPAO does not do good subwoofer correction (I use GLM to correct my Genelecs) and I need only pre-outs without any amplifiers. The best recommendation I got in ASR is to switch to Denon x3700H as it has been measured well. I still need to try it as my earlier experience with Denon was bad in 2014 and I am used to Yamaha sound. Need to check if x3700 sounds good for both stereo and movies in pre-out mode. I assume so based on the measurements.

Right now, I have brought Minidsp 2x4HD to o subwoofer correction so that I can take my time to get the correct AVR. I also have an option to go for Canton smart connect 5.1 which has good reviews in certain German websites but has only one HDMI out (I need 2 as I have TV and Projector). Another option is to go for used Yamaha CX-5100 which has been measured quite well in Audioholics.
 

PierreV

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RX-V861, which I retired to gym duty because of standards and connectivity obsolescence. Replaced by a Marantz SR-7008 at the time, which was supposed to be one step up and had better specs. I remember being very disappointed the day I switched as I perceived zero improvements. Decided not to upgrade AVRs anymore although I confess I am tempted by multi-hypex or multi-purify combos.

On the plus side, both the Yamaha and the Marantz have been trouble-free so far. The Yamaha being quite stressed as the gym room can be close to freezing in the winter and at 45°C in the Summer.
 
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SaulOteng1467

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I went from RX-V471 which suddenly died to Denon S740H. I find the Denon superior in both features as well as sound.

Oh wow, that pretty similar to my situation, I am looking at the Denon S740H or 7/50H at my first choice. I would get the S740H as I would think its a little similar but I can't find any stock here in Canada.

Just curious, did you use the same speakers to tell the sound difference when you upgraded?
 
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SaulOteng1467

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I am currently running my set up via AVR RX-V775. I am pretty happy with the sound. When I purchased it in 2014 for my passive Yamaha NS-777 speakers, I compared it with Denon 1912, Onkyo and found Yamaha to sound better.

Last year, I changed my speakers and went with Genelec active monitors. I am also looking to change the AVR for a better one as Yamaha YPAO does not do good subwoofer correction (I use GLM to correct my Genelecs) and I need only pre-outs without any amplifiers. The best recommendation I got in ASR is to switch to Denon x3700H as it has been measured well. I still need to try it as my earlier experience with Denon was bad in 2014 and I am used to Yamaha sound. Need to check if x3700 sounds good for both stereo and movies in pre-out mode. I assume so based on the measurements.

Right now, I have brought Minidsp 2x4HD to o subwoofer correction so that I can take my time to get the correct AVR. I also have an option to go for Canton smart connect 5.1 which has good reviews in certain German websites but has only one HDMI out (I need 2 as I have TV and Projector). Another option is to go for used Yamaha CX-5100 which has been measured quite well in Audioholics.

I had a Denon AVR years go The 1908. It was a good receiver, I have heard a lot of praise for the Yamaha sound but for some reason it just doesn't work well enough with my speakers OR it maybe underpowered compared to my older Sherwoood. Regardless I just wanted to try another AV sound signature on my upgrade and it seems that Denon has an equally great reputation for sound, of course its come down to tase as well :)
 
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SaulOteng1467

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I've had three RX-V s, now 685. One Onkyo and one Denon mid-model. I can't hear differences in sound with "pure/direct" ie. stereo without processing or with DD 5.1. Yamahas have been easiest and most logical to use. Ony the low- end RX-V suffered from too little power.

Yes I agree with you I cant guarantee that there will be a difference with my upgrade choibe but I do know there was a difference in sound between the Sherwood that I replaced with the Yamaha that I currently have.

It may also come down to Power issues too but I'm not sure...The Sherwood was rated at 120W whilst the RX-V475 is rated at 80W (both 2 channel), so maybe the difference in power meant that the speakers were being driven with enough power with the Sherwood to make the sound different (and better)...I've asked about this in the past, some say it does make a difference and some say power differences of that range are too small to make an audible difference.
 
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SaulOteng1467

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RX-V861, which I retired to gym duty because of standards and connectivity obsolescence. Replaced by a Marantz SR-7008 at the time, which was supposed to be one step up and had better specs. I remember being very disappointed the day I switched as I perceived zero improvements. Decided not to upgrade AVRs anymore although I confess I am tempted by multi-hypex or multi-purify combos.

On the plus side, both the Yamaha and the Marantz have been trouble-free so far. The Yamaha being quite stressed as the gym room can be close to freezing in the winter and at 45°C in the Summer.


You make good point that I seen reflected by others...Admittedly my issue might not be an amp thing but rather an amp power matching issue. My Sherwood could deliver 120W and the Yamaha is rated at 80W. Its possible that the Sherwood just is able to drive the speakers better for that reason.
It may or may not be a power issue, but at the same time I just wanted to cancel out the 'Yamaha sound' from the equation from my upgrade choice just to be sure.
 

escape2

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Oh wow, that pretty similar to my situation, I am looking at the Denon S740H or 7/50H at my first choice. I would get the S740H as I would think its a little similar but I can't find any stock here in Canada.
Yeah, when I got my S740H a year and a half ago, it was already a discountinued model. I got a refurb from A4L for $230, and thought it was money well spent.

Just curious, did you use the same speakers to tell the sound difference when you upgraded?
Yes. I just thought that the most basic Audyssey MultEQ did a better job than the most basic YPAO in my old V471. It sounded more lively and fuller, however, this may be just down to personal preference. I'm sure some of it could also be attributable to Dynamic EQ which my V471 didn't have.

I don't recall comparing them in pure direct mode. It was also not a "back-to-back" type comparison because my V471 was already dead by the time I received the S740H.

I was also very surprised by how the V471 failed on me. At one point I connected two JBL Arena 130 bookshelf speakers (8 Ohm nominal impedance), set to "LARGE," and played some bass heavy track in stereo (2-channel) mode with volume at -10 dB. I didn't hear any distortion, but the receiver shut down within 30 seconds and could not be revived with any kind of reset procedure. Maybe it was too much to ask.
 
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escape2

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You make good point that I seen reflected by others...Admittedly my issue might not be an amp thing but rather an amp power matching issue. My Sherwood could deliver 120W and the Yamaha is rated at 80W. Its possible that the Sherwood just is able to drive the speakers better for that reason.
This would only matter if you listen at very high volumes and have very inefficient/hard to drive speakers. What speakers do you have and how loud do you play? Do you run them in full range or do you have a subwoofer?

EDIT: I just saw the speakers mentioned in your signature. If that's what you're using, then looking at their specs they shouldn't be hard to drive, but specs aren't always truthful, so who knows.
 
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SaulOteng1467

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Yeah, when I got my S740H a year and a half ago, it was already a discountinued model. I got a refurb from A4L for $230, and thought it was money well spent.


Yes. I just thought that the most basic Audyssey MultEQ did a better job than the most basic YPAO in my old V471. It sounded more lively and fuller, however, this may be just down to personal preference. I'm sure some of it could also be attributable to Dynamic EQ which my V471 didn't have.

I don't recall comparing them in pure direct mode. It was also not a "back-to-back" type comparison because my V471 was already dead by the time I received the S740H.


I wish I could get the Denon at that price that is definitely a score! Here its around $600 - 700 CAN

As for the sound, the Sherwood sounded so easy to listen to...hard to describe but it had more clarity and detail and overall the detail "jumped out" to myself and my partner's ears...Whereas with the Yamaha its sounds dark, muffled and generally lacks detail that the Sherwood presented, and listening fatigue sets in really quickly with the Yamaha.

In fact, even the radio on Sherwood had the same level of detail and regardless of whether it was on pure/direct mode or not the Sherwood was a pleasure to listen to. I have tweaked all the Yamaha settings as much as possible to no avail so I am looking forward to finally upgrading to the Denon.

I did investigate the possibility that the speakers had blown at the same time as the Sherwood but it seems a blown speaker is pretty obvious most of the time and my speakers seem fine whether music is played quietly or loudly.
 

bigx5murf

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Did you buy your Yamaha AVR used? I ask because used ones are often setup for a subwoofer, so when you just immediately hook them up in stereo, you're missing all frequencies under whatever the crossover was set to. Also are any of the DSP settings enabled?
 

whazzup

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I am currently running my set up via AVR RX-V775. I am pretty happy with the sound. When I purchased it in 2014 for my passive Yamaha NS-777 speakers, I compared it with Denon 1912, Onkyo and found Yamaha to sound better.

Last year, I changed my speakers and went with Genelec active monitors. I am also looking to change the AVR for a better one as Yamaha YPAO does not do good subwoofer correction (I use GLM to correct my Genelecs) and I need only pre-outs without any amplifiers.

Curious to hear why YPAO is not doing good sub correction. Could you elaborate? For a while was interested in Yamaha AVRs.
 
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