Yamaha RX-596 Receiver Review

[Putter]

A ten dollar amplifier? If it were mine I'd say go ahead and run the test. I suspect it will pass whatever you throw at it. But it's not mine, so I understand.

Please note that the era of $10 receivers/amps/speakers has passed at least in my area (Albany, NY). It's not impossible, but it takes a LOT of work and more than a little luck. There are some bargains on tuners/cassette decks/open reels/cd and dvd players because they are 'technologically obsolete'. However, I must admit that my last real bargain was Yamaha RX-396 receiver for $15 that was cosmetically challenged.

P.S. Mr. Hardy is also a regular on Audiokarma as am I.

 

[LLL]

Thanks Amir! Another great example why people should keep their working equipment, and this one is certainly a keeper.

Less e-waste on the planet...

 

[Biblob]

@amirm the title is spelled wrong "Yamaha RX-596 Receiver Reivew"

 

[amirm]

Thanks. Corrected.

 

[Midwest Blade]

For some strange reason, I eagerly await the tests of these vintage pieces. They are a real eye opener when we realize something sitting in a rack for 20 years or so is equal to or better than some of the product on sale today. I hope the extra work is not so overwhelming, there are probably a lot of classic pieces out there that we need to see! Many thanks.

 

[pma]

For some strange reason, I eagerly await the tests of these vintage pieces. They are a real eye opener when we realize something sitting in a rack for 20 years or so is equal to or better than some of the product on sale today. I hope the extra work is not so overwhelming, there are probably a lot of classic pieces out there that we need to see! Many thanks.

It seems that I could make a measurement/review of Yamaha AX-396 power amplifier in a week. It was my old amplifier and now it sits in my son's office. I would add square waves and complex load and also find the limit of the CD direct input clipping. This amp had quite aggressive current limiting and when it didn't like some test condition, it just switched off the output.

 

[adc]

Please note that the era of $10 receivers/amps/speakers has passed at least in my area (Albany, NY). It's not impossible, but it takes a LOT of work and more than a little luck.

It's still worth it sometimes. I have found amazing stuff at pawn shops, and because they frequently either don't know what the stuff is or can't move it, they will haggle.

 

[musicalengineer]

Hi there, this is my first post, I just joined. (I don't even have a decent avatar yet

I bought this new about 15-20 years ago. I still listen to it on small speakers. Thanks for posting this!

I recently joined the forum because there's so much "audiophile" marketing nonsense out there, it makes my head spin. I'm not an electrical engineer, I'm a software engineer, but I really appreciate seeing real world measurements.

Thanks!

Rick B
Musician, Software Developer, Amateur Astronomer

 

[LLL]

I can do some continuous and burst testing on some Yamaha RX and AX series I have lying around here and post them in another thread when I get the chance.

I am not that knowledgeable with these vintage gear; but in your opinion, what other gear series would most likely have similar performance as the RX and AX?

 

[pkane]

Hi there, this is my first post, I just joined. (I don't even have a decent avatar yet

I bought this new about 15-20 years ago. I still listen to it on small speakers. Thanks for posting this!

I recently joined the forum because there's so much "audiophile" marketing nonsense out there, it makes my head spin. I'm not an electrical engineer, I'm a software engineer, but I really appreciate seeing real world measurements.

Thanks!

Rick B
Musician, Software Developer, Amateur Astronomer

Welcome Rick! Nice to see another amateur astronomer here !

 

[mhardy6647]

Welcome Rick! Nice to see another amateur astronomer here !

I'll echo that, although referring to myself as an amateur astronomer would be overly charitable

On the other hand, we are fortunate enough to live in a (barely) remote-enough location as to occasionally be graced by dark skies and fair viewing conditions of the night sky.

DSC_6464 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
(just a long-ish exposure on a tripod, no compensation for the earth's rotation, obviously -- and not critically focused, either )

I do have a 6" Newtonian reflector in the basement -- and, once in a while, I do drag it out.
Also a much smaller Schmidt-Cassegrain that comes in handy now and again

DSC_9459 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

(the 2017 eclipse -- note the sophisticated aperture attenuation device I crafted )

 

[pkane]

I'll echo that, although referring to myself as an amateur astronomer would be overly charitable

On the other hand, we are fortunate enough to live in a (barely) remote-enough location as to occasionally be graced by dark skies and fair viewing conditions of the night sky.

DSC_6464 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
(just a long-ish exposure on a tripod, no compensation for the earth's rotation, obviously -- and not critically focused, either )

I do have a 6" Newtonian reflector in the basement -- and, once in a while, I do drag it out.
Also a much smaller Schmidt-Cassegrain that comes in handy now and again

DSC_9459 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

(the 2017 eclipse -- note the sophisticated aperture attenuation device I crafted )

Ah, you need to get into a fully tracking Goto mount to take the long, deep-sky exposures. I think one exposure I had ran for over 24 hours over multiple weeks of collecting data. I think that was with a narrow-band Hydrogen-Alpha filter. Try to do that with a non-tracking mount! Of course, that's where things get really complicated, so unless you have plenty of clear nights and tons of patience, probably not worth it

 

[musicalengineer]

What a warm welcome. Thanks.

Enjoy those Dark Skies, Mark! I'm jealous... Light pollution is such a drag.

I guess I'll post a link to my astrophotography page:
https://www.astrobin.com/users/musicalengineer/

I recently renewed my interest in audio, after spending a lot of time in the amateur astronomy community. Like many people, I cycle my interests over time, which for me, include: playing/recording music, trying to make my "Hi Fi" sound better, and various activities in astronomy.

I just bought a new SACD (universal player) of all things, and now I'm looking for a DAC. The performance of the new SACD player surprised me. It could be the placebo effect, but when I saw the SACD DSD indicator on my AV Receiver light up and the sub woofer kick in at a reasonable level, I was tickled pink! My wife was also impressed and we soon agreed that further "reasonable" upgrades to our "Hi Fi" system is a good idea. This player also allowed me to play back some DSD files I recently downloaded - sounds terrific.

I also just discovered Roon, then Qobuz and Primephonic... I'm excited to see where this goes. I will list my audio gear, which is kind of a hodge podge right now, but gets the job done.

Best,
Rick

 

[LightninBoy]

Cool. I bought the RX-350 new as a poor college kid. Looks like the exact same design as this, but lower power. Still have it, still works, though I only get it out occasionally. One of the coolest features of this series was the *variable* loudness adjustment. To use this, you would start with the loudness on 0, then turn the volume up to where the music had the slam and impact that you desired, then turn the loudness which would ironically decrease the overall volume but focused mostly at the mid range, so much of the perceived slam and dynamics would remain. It was inaccurate as hell, but a great feature for enjoying music at parent and/or apartment approved volume levels.

 

[bigx5murf]

Looking at the specs of this unit, what really stands out is the 110 db SNR, which is very high for the era. Doesn't look like this thing can be used as a pre. But if the spec is correct (measured performance looks slightly better actually), the CD to tape out SINAD may be really really good.

 

[mhardy6647]

Don't think that I, in the context of this thread, ever mentioned that I have a distant cousin of the titular RX-596 here at my house, and it is used (nearly) every day.

DSC_7484_ by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

As found on the "Yankee swap pile" at our much-beloved erstwhile town's (Harvard, MA) dump 'transfer station'.
Harvard was (and is) a wonderful little town -- and I do very much miss the dump there. We don't have one where we live now (although our daughter & son-in-law, a half hour away, have a fairly nice one with a warm-weather swap pile).

... but I digress.

 

[xr100]

First post here. Must say that I am very grateful for the all the very useful measurements on this site.

Regarding 'UK Tuned', I never understood exactly what Yamaha did to tune their amps to our sensitive British ears, it has a whiff of snake oil to me.

Parts variations by destination are listed in service manuals.

For instance, with the A-S301/501, the most obvious change is that the NJM2068 op-amp (IC 407, after the IC used for input switching) is swapped for an NJM5532 in the UK/German/Japanese market versions.

Otherwise, there are changes to a handful of components.

My knowledge of analogue electronics is somewhat rudimentary; however, the likes of Bob Cordell have suggested the use of higher voltage rated electrolytic capacitors in critical positions to keep electrolytic capacitor distortion at bay. On this basis, I have to wonder why C110/113 (on the "MAIN" power amplifier PCB) are changed from 50V rated parts to 16V for UK/German/Japanese markets?

It would surely be interesting to measure whether the changes yield improved linearity, or in fact "worse" performance with some subtle added colouration.

I am unable to find the service manual for the DSP-AX775SE that you mention; however, for an old AV amplifier that I still have, namely the Yamaha DSP-AX630SE, IIRC there are absolutely no changes of note.

Products such as Marantz "Special Edition" and "K. I. Signature" versions have used "improved" components in exchange for a substantial increase in list price. I suspect this "tuned" branding is also a hangover from the days when Japanese products were considered "harsh" sounding, hence "audiophile" products such as the old Pioneer A400, which tended to get fawning reviews in the hi-fi press.

Incidentally, my recollection is that the subjectivist hi-fi press did not always put the so-called "Japanese sound" down to, for instance, the "low measured THD but sounds bad" notion, but also because of the "hard" sound of traditional Japanese musical instruments!

 

[amadeuswus]

Don't think that I, in the context of this thread, ever mentioned that I have a distant cousin of the titular RX-596 here at my house, and it is used (nearly) every day.

DSC_7484_ by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

As found on the "Yankee swap pile" at our much-beloved erstwhile town's (Harvard, MA) dump 'transfer station'.
Harvard was (and is) a wonderful little town -- and I do very much miss the dump there. We don't have one where we live now (although our daughter & son-in-law, a half hour away, have a fairly nice one with a warm-weather swap pile).

... but I digress.

Hi Mark
That's a pretty nice find for a town transfer station! (I used to live in the same town but was never quite so lucky...)

 

[thefsb]

Wow, that is some rack! Beautiful.

Fnar! Fnar!

 

[Willem]

Can we take it that the good performance (and probably even better if in pristine condition) of this classic Yamaha design is indicative of the performance of the modern AS 501/701 etc?