Yamaha R-S202 Receiver Review

[Chrispy]

Have a look at their forum or this thread which resulted in a partial fix:

DSP Measurements and Rising Noise Floor

In several threads related to DSP platforms I've seen requests for measurements with filters engaged. I thought it unlikely that implementing filters in a DSP would have measurable effect on noise / distortion other than the obvious change in the fundamental, however @Sokel recently mentioned...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Summary?

 

[AdamG]

Perfect for the Garage or Basement with your basic 2 channel setup. For $200 you are getting quite a nice receiver.

Thanks for the review Amir. Even has a remote.

 

[DMill]

As many buyers may use this Yamaha simply as a radio, it is a pitty that the tuner section has not been tested.

In the 90s I think I spent $700 or so on a tuner for my Rotel separates. It heavily depended on a giant antenna on top of my house for radio signal. What would you want to see tested?

How much more for some bass management?

The R-NA 1000 has both high and low pass filters. It’s $1800 or so.

 

[Sokel]

Summary?

In a few words:It's hard and as I said,still not perfect (far from it,especially if you go for their analog ones)

 

[Chrispy]

In a few words:It's hard and as I said,still not perfect (far from it,especially if you go for their analog ones)

Was hoping for some specifics there. Can't say I've had any particular issues with my 2x4s....

 

[Chrispy]

Perfect for the Garage or Basement with your basic 2 channel setup. For $200 you are getting quite a nice receiver.

Thanks for the review Amir. Even has a remote.

I don't have radio reception and the Wiim Amp looks better to me....for a little bit more$

 

[ROOSKIE]

I don't have radio reception and the Wiim Amp looks better to me....for a little bit more$

I have one I use for extra 'testing'
Yes WiiM is better for most use cases but costs up to 3 times as much depending on the sales.

These go on sale new multiple times a year for only $99-149
BestBuy Open Box during sales is even cheaper.
Also, Accessories4less almost always has them refurb for $89-129, righ now @129.99 https://www.accessories4less.com/ma...00-watts-natural-sound-stereo-receiver/1.html

Needs a Sub out and base management.

Bass Management would be nice.
Maybe the new model will have it.
This is like 10 years old and still selling but I believe is being replaced soon.

For subs just use a sub that accepts high level inputs and use 'B' for that connection. If you sub doesn't accept those then buy a high to low converter.
In this senario you can add that sub but you can't high pass the mains to relieve them of bass duty. Still in a number of use cases this is not worse than not having a sub at all.
High passing is of course of great benefit for higher SPL listening or crossing with smaller mains that don't play well receiving a full range signal.

Folks ought to also find a way to incorporate some PEQ. Maybe using a WiiM mini.

 

[Golf]

What would you want to see tested?

The tuner section of this device.

It is part of this unit, it is part of what its owner has to pay for, and it may be bad or fine. Don’t you agree?

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Yamaha R-S202 Receiver (tuner plus stereo amplifier) with Bluetooth. Money was kindly donated by a member for me to purchase it new for $200 from Amazon.
View attachment 352757
The R-S202 harkens back to the old days of receivers being the most popular way to play your content with inclusion of AM/FM receiver and preamplifier to select among your inputs. Alas, the volume control is the new incarnation with poor/stiff feeling but otherwise, a lot is familiar including bass and treble controls (which used to be knobs but now up and down buttons). The back really brings back old memories:
View attachment 352759
I hated those spring speaker terminals then and now. They don't allow thick wires to be inserted and you never know how far you have pushed them looking from above. I know every cent needed to be saved here but are these really cheaper than standard binding posts??? Another factor is the attached cord which Japanese companies stick to in their budget audio products.

As you see a remote control is provided. No, you don't have motorized volume control. It is a digital rotary control which likely uses an analog programmable gain buffer.

Overall though, the impression is positive. The insides look roomy and while the heatsink is the spring metal type, it seems adequate for the job, making the unit pretty light to carry around. The amp space helps with cooling as in my testing, the top barely got warm above the heat sink.

Yamaha R-S202 Amplifier Measurements
For a long time I have standardized on setting the gain on integrated amplifiers to 29 dB. Lately I have been thinking that is a mistake as our DACs can output so much signal that can drive almost any amp to its full power at lower gain settings. So decided to dial that down to 25 dB (max was 33 dB and change). It should have a very slight impact on measurements, allowing direct comparison still be made. Here is our dashboard with that setting:
View attachment 352760
Performance is just good enough to land in our "green" zone:
View attachment 352761
View attachment 352762
As noted in the graph, power supply noise is quite visible and partially responsible for not so excellent showing. We see that in our dynamic range measurements:
View attachment 352763

This is a class AB amplifier so frequency response is wide and load independent:
View attachment 352764

The bass control does what you expect but tweeter response is kind of wild:
View attachment 352766

Crosstalk/channel separation is very good:
View attachment 352767

Multitone is good where it matters in mid frequencies:
View attachment 352768

But highs suffer and this is reflected in 19+20 kHz IMD test:
View attachment 352769

Response is noise dominated until distortion sets in when sweeping for power:
View attachment 352770
View attachment 352771

Allowing 1% THD, we get our standardized power levels for 4 ohm:
View attachment 352772
That is good amount of headroom for bursty content as music would be.

Sweeping frequencies we get increased distortion at lower frequencies (and generally high noise level):
View attachment 352777
But predictable response due again the amplifier being class AB. Design was quite stable, not shutting down even though the amplifier went into clipping at all frequencies.

The amplifier improved a bit as it warmed up:
View attachment 352778

There is significant spike in the output as you power the amplifier on and off even though it is going in and out of standby:
View attachment 352779
The more sensitive your speaker is, the more likely you will hear these noises.

Yamaha R-S202 Complex Load Testing
I was surprised to see Yamaha rate the amplifier down to 2 ohms in burst mode so powered up my reactive load test:
View attachment 352775
We see that it indeed is able to get down to 2 ohm. But change the phase angle and you barely make it out of 4 ohm and by 2 ohm, you better have basically resistive load:
View attachment 352776

Conclusions
It is hard to imagine a major audio company can product such a receiver and get it to my door for $200. Measured performance is just acceptable which makes that even a more pleasant surprise. The design seemed robust handling many instances of me pushing it into really dire circumstances with very low impedances going even below 2 ohm. You can get better noise and distortion from other products at even lower costs but not with this feature set. Or looks for far listening.

I am going to put the Yamaha R-S202 stereo receiver on my recommended list.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This is ridiculous value. I can remember when 100 W/ch, 8Ω, was very serious power, and 0.01 % distortion an impressive figure. Shame about the speaker terminals, but then you also save on not needing banana plugs.

 

[amirm]

The tuner section of this device.

It is part of this unit, it is part of what its owner has to pay for, and it may be bad or fine. Don’t you agree?

RF testing is entirely different animal than audio. You would need specialized gear which I am not sure they even make anymore. I am sure if you stick an antenna on it and you are close to stations, it will pick them up.

 

[CedarX]

Treble control: how do you “design” a non-symmetrical control?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Treble control: how do you “design” a non-symmetrical control?

Poor pot?

 

[Chrispy]

For subs just use a sub that accepts high level inputs and use 'B' for that connection. If you sub doesn't accept those then buy a high to low converter.

This still doesn't address a high pass for the speakers generally.

 

[Matias]

Not impressed. I would save +100 usd and get a WiiM Amp instead.

 

[Dmitri]

Thanks for the Review Amir!
Always had a thing for Yamahas ever since my father purchased a Yamaha CR1020 to replace his older KLH integrated and Sherwood tuner combo. Excepting the ubiquitous annoying spring speaker jacks, it exuded quality, sounded great, and will always be IMHO one of the most gorgeous looking receivers of all time. Along with my Dad’s ADS L710’s and PE turntable…I was doomed to becoming an audiophiliac. ; )

This current offering doesn’t really exude a similar impression, but for $200? Pretty sweet for those of us till unable to shed our sentimental addiction to class A/B. ; )

 

[JSmith]

Money was kindly donated by a member for me to purchase it new for $200 from Amazon.

Thanks to this member and for your testing Amir.

Not my preference noise and distortion wise, but certainly a competitive price.

Service manual is available online;

JSmith

 

[Prana Ferox]

Trying to think if Yamaha is the only Golden Age hi-fi vendor that hasn't repeatedly traded hands, gone defunct or just broken up for parts. Denon and Marantz merged and were bought out. Pioneer came apart, the home audio part merged with Onkyo, that's been passed around and is barely hanging on. What's left of Harman is under Samsung. Sony remains, but Sony Home Audio is barely a going concern. Kenwood merged with JVC but I don't think they've made home stereo gear for decades.

Maybe the secret is also selling pianos? Outboard motors?

 

[ROOSKIE]

This still doesn't address a high pass for the speakers generally.

No, it doesn't which is important in many use cases but I was trying to help folks who at least want to add a subwoofer.
I will make it clearer.

 

[Chrispy]

No, it doesn't which is important in many use cases but I was trying to help folks who at least want to add a subwoofer.
I will make it clearer.

Adding a subwoofer is fairly simple without such a feature, tho....either thru splitting pre-outs or using high level connections.

 

[mctron]

Fine for what it is! But gone are the days people want these giant boxes and a ton of inputs for stereo listening. You can also get refurbs for 130 (few years back I think it was sub 100)