Yamaha Aventage RX-A720, RX-A820, RX-A1020 Receiver Preview

It is receiver season and we can't help but check out every single offering that is new on the market. With the big manufacturers releasing entirely updated lines, we can barely keep up. That that's not going to stop us from trying. The latest releases come from Yamaha. They've updated their entire Aventage line with five new receivers. This preview will take a closer look at the first three in the line.

To start with, there are a few universals. All the new receivers have networking on board with brand new Yamaha control apps for your iOS devices, Android, and Kindle Fire. They are all sporting access to Apple's AirPlay, 4k video pass-through and upscaling, and advanced multi-zone control. Each also has access to an energy-saving ECO mode which reduces power consumption by 20 percent, with particularly low power use when the receivers are in standby mode. In addition, an Auto Power Down feature can be set for 2, 4, 8 or 12 hours to conserve energy. All have access to full HD Audio decoding along with Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP 3D audio processing.

All of the receivers have HDMI 1.4a connections that support 3D and ARC (Audio Return Channel). They have access to Yamaha's Compressed Music Enhancer for your overly compressed MP3 files, and a newly designed remote. The RX-A1020 has SCENE PLUS which provides a total of 12 preset system operation choices with the A720 and A820 having the normal SCENE modes which offers four. All have access to Internet Radio plus can stream music files from DLNA compatible devices (WAV, MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC 96/24). The front USB port is "Made for iPod, iPhone and iPad" compatible providing a direct digital connection to your iDevice. Other portable devices and USB sources are also supported. For video game lovers that hate the delay that comes with video processing, all the Aventage receivers have a new Video Direct Mode with bypasses the processing chips to speed up video by two frames per second.

The first new offering is the RX-A720 - a seven channel, 90 watts per channel, 23.6lbs offering. The RX-A720 has six HDMI inputs (one on the front panel) and one output. The RX-A720 is a two zone receiver and sports an Advanced Multi-language GUI which will display over HDMI.

The Yamaha Aventage RX-A720 has nine pairs of speaker terminals for easy configurations switching. Zone 2 can be powered via the internal amps or by an external amp (pre-outs are supplied). In addition, there are dual mono subwoofer outputs - a nice convenience feature. There are two optical and two coaxial digital audio inputs, two component video inputs (one output), and a handful of composite video inputs with a single output. Like all the Aventage receivers, the RX-A720 will upscale all your analogue or HDMI inputs to 1080p or 4k. Lastly, the RX-A720 sports Yamaha's proprietary YPAO room correction with R.S.C. (Reflected Sound Control). For $700, the Yamaha RX-A720 is a very full featured offering.

The next receiver in the line is the RX-A820. It is, again, a seven channel offering but this time with 100 watts per channel. It adds $200 to the price tag (up to $899.95) and 0.2lbs (up to 23.8 lbs.). It also adds two additional HDMI inputs (eight) and a second HDMI output.

It doesn't take long to see where the extra $200 for the Yamaha RX-A820 went. Aside from the additional power and HDMI connections, Yamaha has added to the mix is 7.2 channel outputs (along with the Zone 2 outputs). They've also included an update to the YPAO RSC room correction to include multi-point measurements (up to eight). The second HDMI output is simultanous with the first so you can watch the same content in two rooms. The RX-A820 is the first in the line to add a Party Mode with lets users automatically power on all zones and play content from a single source to all those zones without delay with a simple button press.

The last Aventage receiver we will look at with this preview article is the RX-A1020. The RX-A1020 is $300 more than the RX-A820 ($1199.95) and 9.5lbs (up to 33.3lbs). The number of HDMI inputs stays the same (8 in, 2 out) though the power is bumped up another 10 watts per channel to 110 watts (7.2 channels).

Once again, the RX-A1020 has nine pairs of speaker terminals for easy configuration switching. It also has a host of connections including four optical and three coaxial digital audio inputs, four component video inputs, four s-video inputs, and five composite video inputs and one output of each type. There are 7.1 channel analogue audio inputs for integrating legacy gear and Zone 2 can receive video from component, s-video, or composite video outputs (the second HDMI output is simultaneous). Obviously, if you have a lot of legacy gear, the Yamaha RX-A1020 is going to be the receiver for you. This is also the first receiver in the line to offer HD radio support.

Conclusion

We like this new trend in receivers. Rather than doling out features as the price going up, we are seeing features hitting lower price points and the number and types of connections increasing with price. The Aventage line from Yamaha has been popular since it was introduced and we see no reason to think that this new line will be any different. With 4k upscaling, Apple AirPlay, advanced YPAO room correction, and extra speaker terminals for easy configuration switching, there is little to complain about with the new RX-A720, RX-A820, and RX-A1020 receivers. The only question is which will best fit your needs and your wallet.

For more information, please visit www.yamaha.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.