Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
04 V i r t u a l H o m e T h e a t e r R ev i ew M a g a z i n e
Daily Dose of
Audioholics Forums News & Reviews
Showcase Center
Shop Online
Founding Member
www.audioholics.com
review Review by Clint DeBoer of Audioholics.com
2 www.audioholics.com
Yamaha RX-V2500
Home Theater Receiver
Review Date 10.27.04 Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine review
Review Summary
Overall Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
MSRP: $1099
Pros
Three (3) HDTV-compatible
component video inputs
Accurate YPAO automatic speaker setup
Presence channels & Yamaha DSP
System memory with 6 storage options
(2 on remote)
Dialogue lift with presence channels
Independent volume trim for each input!
Cons
Auto Setup sets aggressive Bookshelves serve as diffusers, and 9’ flat approximately 7.5’ apart and the 61-LSE
crossover frequency ceilings with berber carpet produce a room surrounds are 7’ apart on the rear wall and
No IEEE 1394/Firewire interface that is lively, but not highly-reflective. faced directly forward to maximize their
The central listening position is on a sofa excellent imaging characteristics. An RBH
Remote button labels limit located in the center of the room, 11 feet
usefulness of backlighting Sound 1010-SEP subwoofer was situated
from the front wall, and 8 feet from the rear in a corner just outside of the left 1266-LSE
No parametric EQ bands below 62.5Hz wall. The RBH Sound 1266-LSEs are and was used for this review. Wharfedale
Diamond 7.1 speakers were mounted above
www.audioholics.com 3
review Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine
4
2 www.audioholics.com
Item
Name
Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine review
Evaluation Summary: Unlike other
room EQ systems I’ve recently tested, Editorial Note
the YPAO system using this mode
gave a pleasing result, as opposed to It’s important to note that the YPAO
a Phil Spectre wall of sound. The system does not perform any
sound stage was preserved, while my corrections to frequencies below
Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 presence 62.5Hz, meaning that it really
channel speakers were EQ’d to more cannot correct for the lowest octave
closely blend in with the system. One subwoofer peaks or room modes. In
of the positive results was that I was addition, Yamaha’s EQ system is 1/3
able to utilize the Dialogue Lift octave bandwidth with fixed frequencies
YPAO Parametric Room function of the RX-V2500 without a for each of the 7 EQ bands.
EQ Settings noticeable and distracting change in
timbre.
YPAO allows you to set equalizing to the
following parameters intended to aid in • Check: Front
correcting the system for both room If your main speakers are of
anomalies and differences in loudspeaker significantly better quality than the
Measurements were taken using the
frequency response. One thing I found odd rest of the system this setting will
supplied Yamaha YPAO microphone
was the wording of the EQ modes. Wording attempt to adjust the frequency
response of the other speakers to situated on a boom mount at the listening
in the manual almost suggests that position. This represents an off-axis
more closely blend in with the
Yamaha’s YPAO is focused on taming the frequency response measurement since the
front channels.
anomalies associated with mismatched and tested loudspeaker was the right front
Evaluation Summary: I alternated
non-flat speakers, rather than compensating between this mode and the Flat channel. Notably, the high frequencies
for room deficiencies. This is largely setting and felt that these settings indicate this off-axis response with a gradual
semantics as 50% of what reaches the would be most beneficial for those roll off starting at around 5k. The first thing
microphone is coming from the room. looking for a room EQ solution that you may note is that the flattest overall
However in our desire to educate was the least intrusive to the best frequency response occurs with the Manual
consumers, it’s always nice to maintain the possible sound of the system. setup. This represents a bypass of the
perspective that EQ is attempting to YPAO system. The “Front” mode is almost
compensate for the room, not loudspeaker Now let’s take a look at how the an exact match to the Manual settings,
deficiencies. The available modes are: YPAO system measures in Reference which is expected since that mode leaves
• Check: Natural System 3 from the listening position: the main channels alone.
This mode averages out the frequency
response of all speakers so that
higher frequencies are less
emphasized. This setting is only
recommended if the Flat setting (or
EQ off) seems too subjectively bright
for your tastes.
Evaluation Summary: This mode
seemed to roll off a bit of the high end
as indicated and for me did so in a
way that was unnecessary, resulting in
my above recommendation to only use
this if you are trying to tame a bright
room or if you prefer an artificially
warmer sound.
• Check: Flat
If your home theater system is
comprised of similar quality speakers,
then this setting will average the
frequency response of all speakers.
While it sounds like the system is
bringing all the speakers into Note: Reference System 3 shows a 7dB dip at 280Hz, however the room’s remaining
alignment, the gist here is that YPAO frequency response is +/- 3dB across the rest of the listening range. The 280Hz dip was
is attempting to resolve to a flat from my presence in the room 4 feet behind the measurement microphone position. This
frequency response each speaker in demonstrates how well the YPAO is actually working, though no mention regarding leaving
the room. the room during the measurement procedure was found in the instruction manual.
www.audioholics.com 5
review Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine
6
2 www.audioholics.com
Item
Name
Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine review
information. The only sound going to the
subwoofer was the dedicated LFE track. I
engaged the Presence Channels and turned
off the EQ for these tests as well.
In addition to playing my all-time favorite
film, The Fifth Element, I popped in the
newly-released Star Wars Episode IV: A
New Hope to see how it sounded coming
through the Yamaha. I wasn’t disappointed.
When explosions and laser fire weren’t
DVD-Audio Two-Channel arcing through the speakers, John Williams’
I listened to several multi-channel discs I listened to a host of my favorite score was
including the new DVD-Audio disc from 2-channel selections, including James certain to be
KAJE. Tracks 1, 6 and 10 feature some Taylor’s Greatest Hits and some relative bellowing
outstanding vocals along with some unknowns such as Laura Story’s through on all
incredibly diverse and creative Indescribable, which has become one of my sides. These
instrumentation. The RX-V2500 was able to recent favorites. Add to these selections movies do a
clearly articulate the top end while not tracks from Steely Dan, Seal and Toto and great job at
missing a beat on the smooth bass lines, you have a well-rounded suite of listening surrounding
exercising the 12” low frequency drivers of material. the listener
the RBH Sound 1266-LSEs with ease. On Using Yamaha’s Pure Direct mode I was and really
other tracks the performance of the Yamaha able to really experience what the RX- pulling you
receiver was equally impressive with rich V2500’s amplifiers were capable of putting into the action. With Yamaha’s presence
dynamics and an unrestrictive soundstage. out. Pure Direct puts the unit in 2-channel channels activated, the experience was,
The solid bass lines of Track 12 really bypass mode with no sub output. With my quite literally, lifted onto the big screen as
exercised the system in general and I main speakers set to Large the Yamaha’s we watched the films on a 100” diagonal
couldn’t help but crank up the music until amp was working hard, driving full range Stewart Filmscreen Studiotek 130 powered
the Yamaha was pushing over 95dB at the frequencies to both of my 4-ohm RBH by Yamaha’s LPX-510 LCD projector. Turn
listening position. After a while I stopped and 1266-LSE mains. This receiver can play on one of the 70mm Cinema DSP modes
noticed the automatic fan mode had loud and was able to accurately reproduce and you may never again watch a movie in
engaged. I felt the top of the unit and noted bass transients in a way that was remarkable your home without Yamaha DSP!
that it was warm, but not hot, to the touch. for a receiver priced just over $1000. The For some additional explosive action,
While not surprising at all, just be sure to overall sound was capable of being precise I continued my listening sessions with
have some ventilation around the top and and detailed while still retaining the ability to Farscape: The Complete Third Season.
rear of the unit as you would with any high power through demanding material. Farscape is, in my opinion, one of the
performance amplifier. Keep in mind also greatest series ever to arrive on television.
that larger rooms demand higher continuous The quality of the
power output levels to achieve the same Listening Tests - Movies show is equaled by
listening levels of a smaller room, so if you I wanted to give the Yamaha RX-V2500 the soundtrack and
plan on cranking this receiver to insane amplifiers a thorough workout by driving all score which came
levels for long periods of time in a large of its channels at fairly high SPLs. Placing a through with flying
room, you may want to consider few select DVDs into the DVD player, I sat colors, at times
supplementing your system with a robust back to watch some high-impact movie audibly transforming
dedicated amplifier. scenes. Remember that for these tests, the my listening room
I next turned up Track 7 “I Can’t Tell You Yamaha had configured all of my speakers into the living ship
Why” of the Eagles: Hell Freezes Over DTS to “Large”, including the surrounds, so the that is one of the
DVD. Vocals sounded natural and amplifier was sending full range signal to all primary Farscape
uncompressed and the drums had a very the speakers, including the low frequency sets.
smooth sound that arrived at the listening
position unimpeded, as I expected. There Editorial Note
were no surprises as I moved on to Track 13
“Life in the Fast Lane” and listened to Don The Yamaha RX-V2500 allows you to select either Presence channels or Back
Henley’s lead vocals rough their way Surround channels, not both. Even if you have an external amp, there is no facility for
through the song while Joe Walsh creatively providing preamp outputs to both Presence and Back Surrounds at the same time. It
nursed his guitar to speak. Overall, multi- would be great to see Yamaha to allow for both (even if one set is not amplified) in
channel music sounded natural and future iterations of this model.
convincing, even at high SPLs.
www.audioholics.com 7
review Virtual Home Theater Review Magazine
Back when I had my RX-V3000, I would Conclusions and appears to be their goal. As we concern
use some of the attack scenes in Pearl ourselves more and more with room
Harbor to demonstrate what the Presence
Overall Perceptions acoustics and technology that makes it easy
Certainly the Yamaha RX-V2500 is not
Channels and Yamaha’s Cinema DSP could to setup and manage our home theater
the year’s greatest achievement – I mean,
do. I felt it appropriate to review the same systems, products that incorporate
it’s not like they launched a commercial
scenes with the RX-V2500 to see how they technologies like Yamaha’s GUI and YPAO
spaceship into orbit, right? It is, however,
fared and if my experience was as dramatic systems are imperative. And what’s more,
quite possibly the most amazing receiver you
as it had been with the older receiver. I was they are going to be expected. We’re happy
will find for just over $1000. With a fairly
not disappointed. In fact, I was again blown that there are a few leading companies out
accurate YPAO system and room corrective
away by the stark contrast between there bringing these technologies home and
EQ that doesn’t sound half bad, this is a
standard 5.1 content and a 5.1+2 mix with daring the market as a whole to keep up.
receiver to be reckoned with – and you can
Cinema DSP. For those utilizing a front
bet other manufacturers are watching.
projection system, Cinema DSP simply By Clint DeBoer
Yamaha has consistently provided
makes the movie going experience more Email - clint@audioholics.com
improvements to its lineups over the years,
epic with a wider soundstage and a great
but since 2003 they have been on a mission
illusion of being part of the action. In
– and technological progress and excellence
addition, for those of you with an elevated
screen, you can utilize the RX-V2500’s
Dialogue Lift to place some of the center
channel content into the presence channels. Yamaha RX-V2500 Receiver
The result is dialogue and action that is more
aligned with the projector screen (rather Score Card
than below it). When utilizing Dialogue Lift I
actually preferred to engage the YPAO EQ The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for.
into “Front” mode so that the Presence The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving
a rating equal to: Performance x Price Factor/Value = Rating
channels were EQ’ed to more closely match Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and
the timbre of my main speakers. objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value
ratio. If you notice better performing speakers in future reviews that have lower numbers in
For movies I consistently found the certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics
General Cinema DSP mode to enhance the reviewers may rate speakers solely based on performance, and each reviewer has their own
presentation without becoming distracting or system for ratings.
artificially corrupting the surround track. Audioholics Ratings Scale:
Outstanding (reserved for features or areas that exceed market norms)
Above Average
Average
Below average
Yamaha RX-V2500 Receiver
Very poor
MSRP $1099
METRIC RATING
Yamaha Electronics
6660 Orangethorpe Avenue Build Quality 1
/2
Buena Park, CA 90620 Ergonomics 1
/2
(714) 522-9105 User Interface
www.yamaha.com/yec Remote
Features
DSP Modes
5.1 Channel Pro Logic II / DTS Neo Performance
7.1 / 5.1 Channel DD / DTS Performance
Macro Dynamics /2
1
Micro Dynamics /2
1
8
2 www.audioholics.com