Review and Measurements of Yamaha WXA-50 Streaming Amp

[niesfisch]

so, i got the XTZ EDGE A2-300 and paired it with the Yamaha WXC-50. i've returned the WXA-50. setup was easy. there is def. more power available and so i have the feeling there is enough headroom. now i need to turn the volume up to 80-90 where it was 100-120 before ... so a little better but not a world. still quite happy. soundwise i did not hear a difference so far, just more headroom

 

[readerr0r]

I noticed a lot of people mention the lack of specific volume control as a bug bear for this amp. Are you guys aware that the amp has a more pro website interface? You just put the location/name you gave the amp when setting it up, with -'s instead of space, followed by .local into your web browser. So for instance my amp is called living room in the app so its living-room.local and boom, more detailed volume and all the controls from the app interface too ready to use from any device that has a web browser.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I noticed a lot of people mention the lack of specific volume control as a bug bear for this amp. Are you guys aware that the amp has a more pro website interface? You just put the location/name you gave the amp when setting it up, with -'s instead of space, followed by .local into your web browser. So for instance my amp is called living room in the app so its living-room.local and boom, more detailed volume and all the controls from the app interface too ready to use from any device that has a web browser.

View attachment 54224

That's a nice solution. Kudos to Yamaha for making their control interface platform-agnostic (HTML vs. mobile app). Does this view re-style for vertical devices like phones or do you manually have to zoom around?

 

[readerr0r]

That's a nice solution. Kudos to Yamaha for making their control interface platform-agnostic (HTML vs. mobile app). Does this view re-style for vertical devices like phones or do you manually have to zoom around?

Sadly not, I think its targeting iPads of the era, so its locked to 4:3

 

[infinitesymphony]

Sadly not, I think its targeting iPads of the era, so its locked to 4:3

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Looks like it shouldn't be too bad swiping between left and right halves. Thanks for the demo.

 

[civi]

Any idea if some of those "speaker size" settings involve high pass filter ? I'm really interested in this amp and I'd plan to use it with small kefs and svs sealed sub but I'm afraid about subwoofer integration without proper low cut for speakers.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Any idea if some of those "speaker size" settings involve high pass filter ? I'm really interested in this amp and I'd plan to use it with small kefs and svs sealed sub but I'm afraid about subwoofer integration without proper low cut for speakers.

Couldn't find a reference to "speaker size" in the manual or in this thread. All the manual says is this, from page 12:

"You can adjust the volume or high frequency cut off control when the subwoofer is equipped with those functions."

So, no built-in adjustments for the subwoofer output.

 

[civi]

Couldn't find a reference to "speaker size" in the manual or in this thread.

I'm referring to this (from that manual) - Page 30 / Sound:

Going by the manual from budget stereo amps and streamer/amp combos only Marantz offer proper sub crossover, but other components performance is dubious.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I'm referring to this (from that manual) - Page 30 / Sound:

View attachment 55490

Oh, nice. That's what I get for not reading the rest of the manual!

It looks like those are combinations of virtual bass extension with other preset EQ curves.

On the plus side it looks like there is a level adjustment for the subwoofer output even if there is no crossover setting. Your SVS doesn't have its own LPF?

 

[civi]

Your SVS doesn't have its own LPF?

It sure does. My question was about high-pass / low-cut filter (like -12db/octave down from 80hz) for fronts to put some weight from them and for more seamless sub integration.

 

[infinitesymphony]

It's a shame that the documentation doesn't include what actually happens with each of the speaker type options in SETTINGS2. This thread seems to indicate that the default option, bookshelf, is basically a HPF:

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/to...o-excite-x14a/?do=findComment&comment=3917178

(Note that the discussion is about the WXC-50, which appears to have similar settings.)

 

[infinitesymphony]

@readerr0r Is there a way to look at the EQ curves after selecting a speaker type in SETTINGS2?

 

[civi]

So it appears speaker size is indirectly exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for great find @infinitesymphony

 

[waynel]

So it appears speaker size is indirectly exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for great find @infinitesymphony

It's a shame that the documentation doesn't include what actually happens with each of the speaker type options in SETTINGS2. This thread seems to indicate that the default option, bookshelf, is basically a HPF:

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/to...o-excite-x14a/?do=findComment&comment=3917178

(Note that the discussion is about the WXC-50, which appears to have similar settings.)

From reading the wxa manual I got the exact opposite impression. Maybe I read it wrong but it sounded like selecting bookshelf speakers in the menu would apply a bass boost rather than a HPF. I emailed Yamaha but have not heard back. Would be great to measure.

 

[infinitesymphony]

From reading the wxa manual I got the exact opposite impression. Maybe I read it wrong but it sounded like selecting bookshelf speakers in the menu would apply a bass boost rather than a HPF. I emailed Yamaha but have not heard back. Would be great to measure.

That was my initial thought as well. Please let us know when you hear back. My guess is that this will be one of the first threads with actual info about what the settings do.

 

[waynel]

I don’t expect to hear back. I emailed them 2 years ago...

 

[spacebar]

You can view/edit even more settings in your browser: ip-to-your-amp/setup
Example: 192.168.2.88/setup

 

[infinitesymphony]

You can view/edit even more settings in your browser: ip-to-your-amp/setup
Example: 192.168.2.88/setup

Any chance you could take a screenshot of the additional settings?

Still curious to know what the various speaker type options actually do to the frequency response.

 

[spacebar]

Any chance you could take a screenshot of the additional settings?

Still curious to know what the various speaker type options actually do to the frequency response.

I don’t have the unit anymore so I can’t take any screenshots. However if I recall correctly none of those settings actually show what it does with frequency etc. I was curious too but couldn’t find anything. When changing between the different speaker types I remember it was mainly bass and clarity that changed. But I guess you already know this. So maybe a crossover setting plus minus some small adjustments.

 

[niesfisch]

Any chance you could take a screenshot of the additional settings?

Still curious to know what the various speaker type options actually do to the frequency response.

To me it looks like it offers the same settings the app/normal web-ui has just with a tree based browser UI. here some screenshots to give you an idea. nothing about frequency response ....