Deividas
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What do you need hdr10+ for? Its pretty much useless, maybe 5% of movies are in hdr10+
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New Sony ES 8K AV Receiver Line STR-AZ7000ES STR-AZ5000ES STR-AZ3000ES STR-AZ1000ES
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Audyssey? Ever heard of Dirac Live?If you are going to get one, please test the new room calibration, while its gonna be a subjective opinion, I think I am not the only one who thinks that calibration is very important feature in AVRs, personally so far only Audyssey has tangible improvement over other solutions, very interested in Sony's new solution.
Thank you for your work Amir
Many of the newer movies I watch are encoded in HDR 10+.
1) Sony has a loudness compensation, but I don't know if it boosts the rear channels the way Audyssey does or if it's just a loudness contour
This was in the previous generation model (the "ZA" models as opposed to the "AZ" models)
Sound Optimizer: High and Low (dynamic volume)
which is different from DRC
2) No, just 13 channels.
3) I don't think so. This is the Sony vs. Samsung rivalry coming into play. No Sony TV supports HDR10+ (they are Dolby Vision).
techsamurai
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The reviews of the spatial implementation seem very positive.
I think the Sony HT-A9 was a shocker for many people quite familiar with surround sound.
I think the Sony HT-A9 was a shocker for many people quite familiar with surround sound.
For the discs I own where Dolby Vision is not an included option over standard HDR10 but HDR10+ is.
Thanks. Based on the reviews I've been watching, I am definitely leaning towards the AZ7000ES as my next receiver (and my first with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X). If the Sound Optimizer does a decent job (Audyssey Dynamic EQ/Volume could sometimes be a tad aggressive however I set it, but I'd rather have it than not) and the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping works as well as advertised, this may be the receiver for me, lack of HDR10+ passthrough notwithstanding.
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You should consider the Yamaha RX-A8A as well. YPAO Volume does a nice job and their DSP modes with YPAO RSC works well. The Yamaha's *do* support HDR10+ (and Auro). The weakness is that the HDMI-CEC may not be as reliable as Sony (although the latest firmware is supposed to fix that). @thin bLue was going to measure the A8A, but he hasn't updated yet. I don't think anyone has sent Amir the A8A yet. THe A6A has been measured by audioholics and shown to have a "defective, but potentially inaudible" center channel issue.
IF you do go for the STR-ZA7000ES or A8A, consider reaching out to amirm to drop ship him the unit. He can make sure he tests and you have a chance to listen within your home trial return period. Key is working around his schedule so that he can test quickly and forward it to you.
techsamurai
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I was just checking the A6A reviews mostly because of the issues that Gene had identified where they couldn't push past 52 watts in 7 channels. Oddly enough, Audiovision found the A6A to be more powerful than the A8A which is strange and didn't seem to have the issues that Gene ran into.
Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K AV Receiver Bench Test Results!
We bench tested the Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K 150watt/ch Atmos/DTS:X Receiver to gauge power output and uncover performance issues we discovered. We discuss the proper settings for best power delivery.
Yamaha RX-A6A (Test)
audiovision.de
Yamaha RX-A8A (Test)
audiovision.de
If the A8A has a "nanny" issue then the AVR is not worth its flagship or premium status. All these AVRs should be pushing 100-120 watts+ with 7 channels driven to earn that status.
Deividas
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Would not reccomend Yamaha, I wanted to replace my 3700h with A6A, bought it, tried for few hours and returned it back.
For a much higher price, YPAO is useless, it does nothing with the bass, has the same LFE signal sent to 2 subs, so you cannot adjust them individually, while the sound was a bit more open and a bit more detailed to my ears, the mid bass and deep bass was lacking, had pretty much no bass from the subs even though they were set quite high and I have plenty of bass with Denon with my subs set -7db and -6db because Audyssry actually helps out to even the bass in my room a lot. And I am not a bass heavy listener tbh, but Yamaha is just bad with its calibration. Interested to see if Sony is any bettter.
The STR-ZA5000ES only lists 500W on the power usage label, but does pretty respectably on S&V real-world testing:
Sony STR-ZA5000 ES A/V Receiver Review Test Bench
Test Bench Two channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 139.3 watts 1% distortion at 175.3 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 103.6 watts 1% distortion at 135.1 watts Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1%...
www.soundandvision.com
Someone just needs to pre-order and send to Amir for the truth.
At the rate I am able to save up the remaining cash I need for the AZ7000ES (I am $1500 short), it'll be 7.5 months before I can make the purchase. So I wouldn't wait up for me.
techsamurai
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The STR-ZA5000ES only lists 500W on the power usage label, but does pretty respectably on S&V real-world testing:
Sony STR-ZA5000 ES A/V Receiver Review Test Bench
Test Bench Two channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 139.3 watts 1% distortion at 175.3 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 103.6 watts 1% distortion at 135.1 watts Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1%...
Someone just needs to pre-order and send to Amir for the truth.
Yeah I'd noticed that too.
However, even the AZ3000 weighs over 40 lbs which exceeds pretty much anything Denon and Marantz have put out with the exception of the Denon 8500HA.
I've never seen a 40 pound AVR that didn't have power to match the weight. I suspect the power is very conservative.
Gene had done a calculation showing that a class A/B AVR like the SR8015 with 110 watts in 7 channels is not 780 watts but a lot more because Class A/B is inefficient and the efficiency curve varies as you demand more power. In the tests, he showed that the 8015 may be hitting 1.5 kilowatts or more.
Check out the power transformer of the series in its own box and reinforced base in the cage and the heatsink on the HDMI.
There's no way Sony put a weak power supply when the Yamaha Aventage A8A has a max power consumption of 1.6 kilowatts but we'll soon find out.
Your brought up a very interesting point on weight, power consumption and transformers etc., that are not very well understood and often misinterpreted as evidence on man forum posts.
Generally, or often true about what you said above, but I have seen many that weighed more but output less power than Denon and Marantz's. I owned an older Sony that weighed over 40 lbs, only a 7.1 channel one, and didn't output as much (in fact far less) output power as even my Denon AVR-3805 at the time. Weight is no doubt a factor but just not always reliable one, just as a cautionary note.
Keep in mind there is no clear definition for different manufacturers to standardize on the power consumption specs. You mentioned Yamaha, check out their manual and you will see that they typically give multiple numbers, at least two anyway, one they call consumption, the other maximum consumption, but in any case they never say anything about under what load conditions, i..e amperage, voltage, and duration.
They would say something about power consumption for the flagship RX-A3080 (Amir measured one):
Power consumption..................................490 W
Max. power consumption...................... 1210 W
In some cases, they would add that the maximum consumption is when distortion is at 10%.
How do you compare that to Marantz flagship 780 W, I don't know, as I said they don't follow the same standard for the power consumption specifications so they are literally all over the place.
Having said that, it is still a somewhat useful spec for comparing different AVRs made by the same manufacturer such that if the Denon AVR-X4800H and the Marantz Cinema 40 have the same power consumption then very likely they will have the same measured output under the same load conditions. Other than that, the spec, like the weight, aren't all that useful by themselves.
The whole weight, power consumption, transformer specs thing probably deserve a thread on its own so people can share their knowledge, experience and debate to the nth degree.
techsamurai
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The whole weight, power consumption, transformer specs thing probably deserve a thread on its own so people can share their knowledge, experience and debate to the nth degree.
I agree and you and I have been talking watts quite a bit as you've researched that in more depth that I have. As a consumer, it's practically impossible to know the power an AVR will deliver. The craziest part is that the few tests that are done show some strange results and 2 channel measurements are more a measure of the AVR's quality as opposed to its ability to power 5 to 7 or nowadays many more channels.
The lack of a standard makes it impossible to compare one AVR to another and the tests are really the only glimpse we have into a series. We may get a test of the 5000 and then we'll have to use to extrapolate the performance of the 3000 and 7000 models or vice versa.
The funniest part is that models are changing less often nowadays (we used to have yearly updates) but there are even fewer tests available today than there were in the past. It's definitely an issue. At least in the past, you could sort of shield yourself by buying a toroidal AVR that was the flagship or close to that.
This is made more complicated by the fact that a lot of the new models like the Cinema 50 and Cinema 40 are midrange AVRs disguised as premium and flagship AVRs.
Very glad to see Sony making some higher tier ES receivers again! I had a 7100ES back in the day that was an absolute beast, I loved that thing. Paired with a DVPNS9100ES DVD player, what a unit. Excited to see some of the new stuff get reviewed here.
DrStranger
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it should be a crime and a fine (50% of total global revenew) when a vendor does not write proper, structured and deep details of their spec..
...ping button...
...ping button...
wseroyer
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The AZ7000ES uses Sony's own digital cinema calibration IX and 360 spatial sound mapping, you input the measurements of your room, the distance your sitting from the screen, and height from the floor to your ears in your seated position then it takes three-dimensional measurements of your room using a 3D mic that you position at different height levels in your room. According to the reviews I watched this works incredibly well, and it's one of the best auto calibrations that's available currently.
The AZ7000ES will not support 15 channels
It doesn't support HDR10+ but almost no movies use that HDR format.
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Deividas
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I've heard some really good impressions, but the question is, does it do anything with the bass, not just surround mapping
wseroyer
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I'm sure it does, when I use Audyssey I always have to mess with the bass settings, it always sets it super low, I hope Sony's is better than that.
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