Yamaha RX-V6A 7.2 channel 4K / 8K Dolby AV Receiver Review

[infinitesymphony]

I was told by a Pioneer rep that ALL AVRs worldwide under $2000 are made at one factory in China. Only flagships are built in Japan, or wherever.

Wow, sort of like the Cort and Samick factories for guitars and basses. Budget lines for Fender, Ibanez, G&L, PRS and probably a whole lot more are made there. But in contrast to these AVRs, a lot of it is pretty good. So good that in some cases I prefer the Indonesia/China/Korea stuff over other countries because the manufacturing is consistent for the price.

Wonder if they say, "Hey, make sure these don't get above 80 dB SINAD. We've gotta sell some of our actual amps."

If you have a tiny room, ultra efficient speakers and listen to music styles that don't have much dynamic range, you can make that work yes

I do, my only use case for passive speakers right now is in secondary systems as ambient music, so no need for high wattage.

 

[martin900]

Poor performance and will most probably suffer a catastrophic failure within 5 to 10 years with zero chance of repair.
Expected better from Yamaha.

 

[Taddpole]

I was told by a Pioneer rep that ALL AVRs worldwide under $2000 are made at one factory in China. Only flagships are built in Japan, or wherever.

As with much of what reps say I'd take that with a pinch of salt.

Denon and Marantz are made in vietnam for starters, it says so on the back of them. Even the bottom of the range ones.

Onkyo seem to be made in Malaysia

Arcam in Vietnam

 

[txbonds]

I was told by a Pioneer rep that ALL AVRs worldwide under $2000 are made at one factory in China. Only flagships are built in Japan, or wherever.

He would be wrong. Here are three separate receiver price/lineage levels, from top to bottom, and none were made in China. I just looked on the actual units themselves.

Yamaha RX-A3080 = made in Malaysia
Denon AVR-X3600H = made in Vietnam
Onkyo TX-NR636 = made in Malaysia

 

[Beershaun]

Wow. First the NS-6490 now this. You really can't go by Yamaha branding on the low end as an indication of quality or performance.

 

[JohnBooty]

If you have a tiny room, ultra efficient speakers and listen to music styles that don't have much dynamic range, you can make that work yes

To quantify this a bit more,

50W into a pair of inefficient 85 dB SPL (1W/M) speakers gets you around 100dB from a listening position 8ft / 2.5M away. Assuming you listen at an average of around 75dB or less, that gives you 25dB of dynamic headroom.

(This is assuming we are using an amp with an honest 50W power rating; not a "50W" chip amp that starts distorting like crazy at 22W....)

I find this more than enough for the vast majority of music. Only the most demanding modern recordings of classical pieces ever really ask for more. I do have some classical recordings that audibly benefited from swapping in a beefier amp.

Of course, as with all things in this hobby, many will surely feel differently.

 

[DuncanTodd]

Wow. First the NS-6490 now this. You really can't go by Yamaha branding on the low end as an indication of quality or performance.

I doubt someone who buys an AVR for $400-600 and speakers for $130 is looking for or expects audiophile grade products.

 

[Beershaun]

I doubt someone who buys an AVR for $400-600 and speakers for $130 is looking for or expects audiophile grade products.

People have expectations about the quality and performance of a brand no matter the price. That's part of what companies want when marketing a brand. I see two poorly engineered products branded Yamaha at a low price point. Why do you doubt someone who is shopping for their first nice AVR where $400-$600 is a lot of money to them, would see the name Yamaha and think this is a well engineered quality piece of audio equipment?

 

[DuncanTodd]

People have expectations about the quality and performance of a brand no matter the price. That's part of what companies want when marketing a brand. I see two poorly engineered products branded Yamaha at a low price point. Why do you doubt someone who is shopping for their first nice AVR where $400-$600 is a lot of money to them, would see the name Yamaha and think this is a well engineered quality piece of audio equipment?

All I'm saying is that someone who buys the cheaper products may have low expectations to begin with. It's still several steps up from TV speakers, Soundbars and miniature surround satellite speaker sets. I do agree it's not true for every person who buys them. Some would aim much higher if they had the dough. At least in the case of the AVR, I'm quite certain that in real life usage with decent speakers, it may not shine brightly but it would be very adequate. I've seen people who bought similar older RV-x/TSR models to this ones who are not total noobs and appear quite happy. As long as your speakers are not garbage, you'll get decent sound.

 

[Silly Valley]

Can you say ugly? Looks like the toaster oven and the dishwasher had a baby.

 

[Digital Mastering System]

As with much of what reps say I'd take that with a pinch of salt.

Denon and Marantz are made in vietnam for starters, it says so on the back of them. Even the bottom of the range ones.

Onkyo seem to be made in Malaysia

Arcam in Vietnam

Capitalism: Race to the bottom.

 

[vkvedam]

A bit disappointed, I had decent bet on Yamaha AVRs after what we learned so far

 

[Vasr]

I was told by a Pioneer rep that ALL AVRs worldwide under $2000 are made at one factory in China. Only flagships are built in Japan, or wherever.

There is a difference between getting things manufactured in a factory off-shore and outsourcing the model to a ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). I was referring to the latter. The former approach can result in as much quality as the brand wants for the money they are willing to pay. Apple products are a good example of high QC requirements. So, I wouldn't necessarily dismiss this type of off-shoring.

The ODM relationship is completely different. The technology may have no relation or resemblance to the brand's own in-house competence and quality. It will be just a rebranded box designed and manufactured by someone else. The brand just becomes a marketing layer. Outlaw and Emotiva does this for example. Big brands also may do this for low-end products since the cost of in-house R&D for such products may be too expensive for the price point.

 

[restorer-john]

I was told by a Pioneer rep that ALL AVRs worldwide under $2000 are made at one factory in China.

Reps talk rubbish most of the time. Don't believe a word they say.

Yamaha have their own factory in Malaysia and have done since around 1990 where this receiver harks from. Denon, Marantz etc are built in Vietnam in a new Anam factory that also produces for many other brands including some Yamaha.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sr7015-8k-avr-review.16462/page-2#post-533481

There are multiple Chinese factories also.

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks for the review Amir. I agree this looks nice, and I guess I'll stop telling people I've never heard of a Yamaha that didn't have above average sound.

 

[Vasr]

People have expectations about the quality and performance of a brand no matter the price. That's part of what companies want when marketing a brand.

That is a bit too broad as to "expectations". People who buy these brand names in Costocs and Walmart have an expectation that it won't crap out in a year or two or the knobs fall off, that the remote won't quit working or eat up batteries or sound so bad that they cannot listen to it. As opposed to buying a no-name or a store-brand that they have no experience with. Especially at this price point. If that expectation is not met, then that brand gets a bad reputation and loses sales.

The reputation of the brand at the high-end leads to sales for the low-end which is understood most to be not as good and vice versa. This happens in almost all brands and products.

That is not to be confused with expectations of "audiophile" quality where the "elites" in this forum equate to SINAD or dynamic range numbers or whatever nerdy metrics they measurebate themselves with.

 

[PeteL]

To quantify this a bit more,

50W into a pair of inefficient 85 dB SPL (1W/M) speakers gets you around 100dB from a listening position 8ft / 2.5M away. Assuming you listen at an average of around 75dB or less, that gives you 25dB of dynamic headroom.

(This is assuming we are using an amp with an honest 50W power rating; not a "50W" chip amp that starts distorting like crazy at 22W....)

I find this more than enough for the vast majority of music. Only the most demanding modern recordings of classical pieces ever really ask for more. I do have some classical recordings that audibly benefited from swapping in a beefier amp.

Of course, as with all things in this hobby, many will surely feel differently.

Yes, I listen to more than 75 dB SPL tough. also don’t forget that 85 db efficiency rating, is for a 1k tone, not a full bandwith signal, you have to look at the impedance curve for real world efficiency

 

[restorer-john]

People have expectations about the quality and performance of a brand no matter the price. That's part of what companies want when marketing a brand. I see two poorly engineered products branded Yamaha at a low price point. Why do you doubt someone who is shopping for their first nice AVR where $400-$600 is a lot of money to them, would see the name Yamaha and think this is a well engineered quality piece of audio equipment?

Yamaha sold themselves out in the early very 2000s. Prior to that, they were a specialist only brand, with no exposure in the big box discounters and their home theatre range was also reserved for dedicated retailers who would display, demonstrate and do justice to the brand.

For us in Australia, there was a minor revolt of the specialists when Yamaha brought to market the HTR-xxxx range of cheap-ass, poorly performing, plastic panelled/knob (HTR- home theatre receiver) products, and sold them into big box retailers. Basically, that was the beginning of the end for the brand's exclusivity, perception and support from longstanding (and long suffering) specialists. From that point on, the brand may have sold more, but were never taken seriously by anyone I knew in the business again. They treated 30-40 year partnerships like they meant nothing.

They abandoned quality 2 channel and sold nasty AVRs into the big box stores. Even decades later when they came crawling back into 2 channel with their so-called "quality" amplification, it is just re-purposed AVR silicon and pretty ordinary performance wrapped up in a nicely finished, retro looking box.

The yawning performance chasm between what they could do and what they do produce, is what annoys me.

 

[Dmitri]

Tear down?

 

[PeteL]

Yamaha sold themselves out in the early very 2000s. Prior to that, they were a specialist only brand, with no exposure in the big box discounters and their home theatre range was also reserved for dedicated retailers who would display, demonstrate and do justice to the brand.

For us in Australia, there was a minor revolt of the specialists when Yamaha brought to market the HTR-xxxx range of cheap-ass, poorly performing, plastic panelled/knob (HTR- home theatre receiver) products, and sold them into big box retailers. Basically, that was the beginning of the end for the brand's exclusivity, perception and support from longstanding (and long suffering) specialists. From that point on, the brand may have sold more, but were never taken seriously by anyone I knew in the business again. They treated 30-40 year partnerships like they meant nothing.

They abandoned quality 2 channel and sold nasty AVRs into the big box stores. Even decades later when they came crawling back into 2 channel with their so-called "quality" amplification, it is just re-purposed AVR silicon and pretty ordinary performance wrapped up in a nicely finished, retro looking box.

The yawning performance chasm between what they could do and what they do produce, is what annoys me.

Even the 5000 serie?