Yamaha R-S202 Receiver Review

[Sure Not]

I'd like to hook up two pairs of Polk Audio XT15s (8 ohm speakers) - one to the "a" set and one the "b" set, to be used at the same time. My understanding is this parallel setup will drop the impedence from 8 to 4 ohms. The owner's manual states the receiver needs 8 ohms, but in the specs and in this review, it is clearly capable of 4 ohms. Is the only disadvantage that there is more distortion at high volume levels? Would wiring the speakers in series to increase the load to 16 ohms be of any value? Thanks.

According to the impedance graph on Erin's audio corner, these speakers drop down to 4 ohms. I would not run A and B together in parallel. You can hook them up in series, which will get you an 8 ohm load, but you'll only be getting 2 channels worth of power to the 4 speakers. So each speaker will be essentially running at half power. Most AVRs don't have the current to run 4 channels at full power anyway.

 

[Bob101]

I'd like to hook up two pairs of Polk Audio XT15s (8 ohm speakers) - one to the "a" set and one the "b" set, to be used at the same time. My understanding is this parallel setup will drop the impedence from 8 to 4 ohms. The owner's manual states the receiver needs 8 ohms, but in the specs and in this review, it is clearly capable of 4 ohms. Is the only disadvantage that there is more distortion at high volume levels? Would wiring the speakers in series to increase the load to 16 ohms be of any value? Thanks.

Simple answer: connecting identical speakers in series will double the total impedance instead of halving it when connected in parallel (what your amp does). You will have less distortion, but (to keep it simple) half the power, divided over four (rated 86dB/W not really sensitive) speakers. Plus you lose the capability to switch pairs on and off on the amp itself.
Do keep in mind that speakers rated 8 Ohm are rarely 'real' 8 Ohm speakers these days. These Polks drop to 4 Ohm at several frequencies, notably between 200 and 400 Hz. So in parallel two pairs of these would drop the load for your amp to 2 Ohm, in a frequency region where generally most of the power is needed. For low volumes: not really a problem. At high volume your amp should go in protection mode (in practice: shut down) before anything breaks, but long after very audible distortion kicks in.

 

[ronniebear]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but is the amp part here related to the 201 integrated amp?

To avoid confusion for American readers, the A-S201 integrated amp isn't sold here.
The immediate predecessor of the R-S202 receiver is the R-S201 receiver, which lacks the Bluetooth capability of the R-S202.

 

[trevor_bartram]

To avoid confusion for American readers, the A-S201 integrated amp isn't sold here.
The immediate predecessor of the R-S202 receiver is the R-S201 receiver, which lacks the Bluetooth capability of the R-S202.

I looked at these a couple of years ago, when refurbed R-S202's were $120, I opted to go with a used pristine Onkyo TX-8255 instead (Ebay $55). The R-S202 Bluetooth path uses an incredibly old/cheap opamp. If you can find a used R-S201 in good condition, it maybe a better option. Cheers!

 

[teched58]

The Yamaha R-S202 receiver is the best $207 I ever spent. It replaced a whole bunch of boxes in my bedroom, where I now use it as my second system (living room 5.2 is the main).

The Yamaha is driving two classic bookshelf speakers. For the "A," a set of Boston Acoustics A40 Series II purchased in the mid-1980s (I refoamed the woofers a few years ago). For the "B," a set of early 1990s Klipsch KG-1 bookshelf speakers (which I believe were the last Klipsch wood bookshelves produced in the USA; they have those little hand-signed inspection cards inside. I bought them off of ebay about 10 years ago. I had to replace one of the tweeters, which I had a heck of a time getting into/out of the enclosure.

In terms of reviewing the R-S202, it's got very clean power. It's great to be able to run everything by remote control from the bed, now that I'm an old guy. In particular, I like not having to get up to toggle among the A, B, or both sets of speakers. As well, being able to boost the bass by +10 db means I can get away without using a subwoofer. (The Boston Acoustics have their characteristic, airy treble, not much bass. But the KG-1s add a nice bottom end, so I usually run both speakers and use the +10 db bass boost.)

I don't listen to the radio much anymore, but the FM section in the Yamaha is excellent. Better sensitivity than the classic Sherwood which was my previous bedroom receiver. The only shortcoming of the Yamaha is that its AM section sucks, but who really cares these days?

All in all, a great example of how the price of electronics devices have come down, while delivering more functionality than ever before. And I should add that I'm a vintage guy and usually hate modern stuff. But the R-S202 saves me a lot of dial twiddling.

Almost forgot. The only other box I have alongside the Yamaha is a vintage Denon DCD-570 CD player. It's from the early 1990s. Also purchased off of ebay many years ago. To get it working, I only had to replace the rubber band that opens/closes the CD drawer.

Perceptually, I feel like I clearly get the best sound from the Yamaha with the CD player. The R-S202's Bluetooth is very convenient but sounds noticeably meh. Connecting my iPhone directly to the receiver via a dongle plus patch cord sounds better than Bluetooth but not as good as a CD. However, I believe this is due to different mastering/EQ on CDs versus what's on Apple Music. (Since I use Apple Music, I have to go the dongle/patch cord route if I want full freight, not degraded Bluetooth,) **Notice I caveated this discussing by saying "perceptually"; I don't know how things would shake out if I could measure/do a spectral comparison yada yada.

 

[yofi]

Been bothered recently by headphone output hiss and noise on my 13 year old R-S201 (like the 202 minus bluetooth).

I had been procrastinating plugging a headphone amp into the tape-out because I didn't want to be disappointed to find the same high noise floor coming through the headphone amp. Bit the bullet today, and all of the noise making it's way through the headphone output must be on the amplifier side. I'm running ye olde Headroom Micro Amp off of the tape-outs, and it's dead silent. Perfectly black. This is with my Drop + Grell OAE1's. I'll have to try it later with my K701 and DT 1770 to see if the same holds true, but if it does, then I'm a happy camper again.

The cluster of a signal chain here is Spotify lossless via AirPlay to Wiim Pro. Optical out to Audioengine D1. Analog out to Yamaha R-S201. Tape out to Headroom Micro Amp. Drop+Grell OAE1.

 

[Bob101]

Been bothered recently by headphone output hiss and noise on my 13 year old R-S201 (like the 202 minus bluetooth).

I had been procrastinating plugging a headphone amp into the tape-out because I didn't want to be disappointed to find the same high noise floor coming through the headphone amp. Bit the bullet today, and all of the noise making it's way through the headphone output must be on the amplifier side. I'm running ye olde Headroom Micro Amp off of the tape-outs, and it's dead silent. Perfectly black. This is with my Drop + Grell OAE1's. I'll have to try it later with my K701 and DT 1770 to see if the same holds true, but if it does, then I'm a happy camper again.

The cluster of a signal chain here is Spotify lossless via AirPlay to Wiim Pro. Optical out to Audioengine D1. Analog out to Yamaha R-S201. Tape out to Headroom Micro Amp. Drop+Grell OAE1.

If there is no hiss on the tape out, it must be originating from the power-stage in the receiver, and you should hear the same hiss in your speakers. The headphone out on these receivers is the same as the speaker out, just padded with a pair of resistors (typically 300 Ohm) in series on the left and right output. Is the hiss constant, or does it increase with volume?

 

[trevor_bartram]

Been bothered recently by headphone output hiss and noise on my 13 year old R-S201 (like the 202 minus bluetooth).

I had been procrastinating plugging a headphone amp into the tape-out because I didn't want to be disappointed to find the same high noise floor coming through the headphone amp. Bit the bullet today, and all of the noise making it's way through the headphone output must be on the amplifier side. I'm running ye olde Headroom Micro Amp off of the tape-outs, and it's dead silent. Perfectly black. This is with my Drop + Grell OAE1's. I'll have to try it later with my K701 and DT 1770 to see if the same holds true, but if it does, then I'm a happy camper again.

The cluster of a signal chain here is Spotify lossless via AirPlay to Wiim Pro. Optical out to Audioengine D1. Analog out to Yamaha R-S201. Tape out to Headroom Micro Amp. Drop+Grell OAE1.

Is the hiss in one channel only or both channels?

 

[yofi]

If there is no hiss on the tape out, it must be originating from the power-stage in the receiver, and you should hear the same hiss in your speakers. The headphone out on these receivers is the same as the speaker out, just padded with a pair of resistors (typically 300 Ohm) in series on the left and right output. Is the hiss constant, or does it increase with volume?

Is the hiss in one channel only or both channels?

No hiss on the tape out.

The hiss is on both channels.

 

[yofi]

If there is no hiss on the tape out, it must be originating from the power-stage in the receiver, and you should hear the same hiss in your speakers. The headphone out on these receivers is the same as the speaker out, just padded with a pair of resistors (typically 300 Ohm) in series on the left and right output. Is the hiss constant, or does it increase with volume?

The above got me thinking.

My 600Ω headphones are pretty quiet off of this output. I just forgot because I haven't been listening to them for a while.

 

[trevor_bartram]

The above got me thinking.

My 600Ω headphones are pretty quiet off of this output. I just forgot because I haven't been listening to them for a while.

Strange that the hiss is on both outputs. Your 600 Ohm headphones probably require more voltage drive & than 30 Ohm ones, that's why the hiss is less.

 

[Count Dacula]

I sent an RS 201 to a female friend almost new in box for $70. Newish 202 are down to $165 or so. With all the mini amps and pres available, it's still a solid choice. Some people want a full sized receiver as well.