|
The Short Form
|
| $1,900 / YAMAHA.COM/USA / 800-492-6242 |
|
Snapshot
|
| Rich in features and performance, Yamaha’s latest is a top-shelf receiver with a below-top-shelf price |
|
Plus
|
| • Very solid audio power and performance • Accurate auto setup and calibration • Superb onscreen displays and menu layout • Impressive video processing for both analog and digital sources • HDMI-Through mode can pass signals with the receiver off |
|
Minus
|
| • No FLAC or AIFF compatibility with networked audio servers |
|
Key Features
|
|
• 7 x 140 watts • 4 HDMI inputs, 2 selectable outputs •Transcodes component, composite, and S-video to HDMI • Scales analog or digital (HDMI) video up to 1080p; can downscale signals to 720p • High-def graphical onscreen displays • YPAO auto setup and room EQ/parametric EQ • Decodes Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DSD (SACD) • Yamaha Cinema DSP, Neural-THX, Circle Surround II processing • AM/FM/HD Radio tuner with 40 presets • Sirius XM satellite-radio-ready • Net/PC/Mac audio via Ethernet or USB device; DLNA-compatible • Web server permits control from PC/Mac/handheld Web browser • Two 12v triggers, RS-232 serial port • 17 1/8 x 7 1⁄8 x 17 1⁄4 in, 38 1⁄2 lb |
Yamaha has been among those busily at work, as evidenced by the RX-V3900 receiver. It’s only third in line to the Yamaha throne (the $5,500 RX-Z11 plays the role of current monarch), yet the V3900 includes among its many features all the usual HDMI 1.3 perks (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Deep Color) plus a whole slew of others that are new from Yamaha. The company’s proprietary YPAO auto-setup routine incorporates room-correction equalization as well as speaker-size, -level, and -distance settings, and a host of user tweaks. And a media-client mode compatible with Windows Media/DLNA streamers (and with Yammie’s own Musicast music servers) can stream music from sources connected to your home network as well as hook you up with both the now-familiar vTuner free Internet-radio service and the not-so-free Rhapsody one.
SETUP
The V3900 boasts a new Yamaha high-def graphical onscreen display, which I loved. It’s the fastest and smoothest to navigate of any I’ve encountered, and its layout is clear and logical. Yamaha’s YPAO performed much as in previous versions I’ve tried. Channel levels and distances were pretty well spot-on, and the crossover frequencies it selected were entirely reasonable. YPAO’s multipoint room-correction EQ created curves resembling those of similar, good-performing systems. That said, while Yamaha’s version did tighten the upper-bass octaves appreciably, it didn’t deliver the subtle gains in clarity or transparency as effectively as I’ve heard from my favorite examples of this type of technology. Just the same, YPAO’s impact will depend a lot on your room, speakers, and setup.
MUSIC & MOVIE PERFORMANCE
On the audio side, the V3900’s amplifying abilities left me no cause for complaint. During 2-channel listening, I was impressed by the receiver’s dynamic prowess and clean, transparent sound. I stumbled onto an interesting 96/24 download (from HDTracks.com) of rockabilly scion Billy Burnette leading a basic rock quartet through the chestnut “Tear It Up” — penned by his father, Dorsey, a half century earlier. The session was captured audiophile-style, live to 2-track, by Chesky Records. It’s unusual to find rock music that sounds this transparent and live, and the Yamaha faithfully reflected the original sound. The slap echo of the church space where the session was recorded, the solid thud of the standup bass, and the glassy scrunch of Burnette’s tube guitar amp (I’m guessing Fender Deluxe Reverb) each conveyed impressive real-room believability.
I watched nearly two-thirds of Iron Man on Blu-ray Disc before I overdosed on explosive silliness and went to bed. (Does this officially make me a curmudgeon?) The V3900 revealed no weaknesses in reproducing the disc’s very impressive Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, displaying headroom to spare on high-impact scenes, even at movie-palace volumes.
 |
classical-CD listening.
On the video side, the V3900 implements rather complete video processing, courtesy of VRS silicon from Anchor Bay (DVDO). It can process video coming over both analog and HDMI inputs, deinterlacing and scaling as required up to 1080p resolution. The V3900’s processing performed very well on our battery of video test patterns, showing excellent resolution and deinterlacing for both film- and video-sourced material.
One feature I encountered here for the first time, HDMI-Through, can route HDMI signals to either output when the receiver is in Standby. You can also set it to route the last-used source, or to lock onto a particular one regardless of which source was last selected. This could be wonderfully useful for quick, “catch the news” TV viewing from a cable or satellite tuner, for example, or for a two-screen setup where you use a front-projector system for serious home theater viewing and a smaller LCD screen for the daytime.
ERGONOMICS
Yamaha’s new onscreen display system is the best A/V receiver interface I’ve seen yet. It pops up (and down) instantly, is clear and attractive, and strikes the right balance between hierarchical menu depth and simplicity. It’s also stacked with nifty, well-implemented features, including handy submenus, a one-touch Info page that shows input- and output-signal formats and bit rates for both audio and video, and bookmarking to take you straight back to the last screen visited.
The V3900’s networking elves found my wired home network without prodding, and handily served up files in MP3, AAC, and WAV formats from the public-domain DLNA media server I run on my Mac. There’s also a very complete iPod implementation (with an optional Yamaha dock) that exploits the onscreen interface. Less happily, browsing content from networked sources is limited to scrolling through potentially very long lists of track, artist, or album. There’s no search function, although you can memorize eight favorite items (directories/play-lists, files, or net-radio streams) for one-key recall and also shuffle lists, which helps a little. There’s also no compatibility with public-domain format FLAC (bummer!) or pro-standard AIFF files.
Yamaha’s supplied remote control is another keeper. Its generous key lighting is almost too bright, and its layout, while dense, is sensible and includes HDMI output switching, one-key access to such important functions as channel-level tweaks, and direct access to the major surround modes. Plus, Yamaha supplies a second, simplified mini remote for day-to-day operation.
I did encounter one recurring glitch. When interrupting an HDMI data stream, such as when skipping chapters on a Blu-ray Disc or DVD or when changing cable-TV channels, the Yamaha frequently failed to immediately unmute the audio, with the delay ranging from a second or two to as long as 20 seconds. But hitting the volume key (or the Mute button twice) always brought the sound back directly.
BOTTOM LINE
Yamaha’s RX-V3900 is all about features — and I’ve hit far from all of them here. More importantly, almost all of them are well conceived and potentially useful while taking advantage of the design’s winning ergonomics. Best of all, the Yamaha’s fundamental audio and video performance is more than solid, and while not exactly cheap, the RX-V3900 costs thousands less than the most expensive receivers — including Yamaha’s own. Short version: I liked it a lot.
TEST BENCH
DOLBY DIGITAL PERFORMANCE
All data were obtained from various test DVDs using 16-bit dithered-test signals, which set limits on measured distortion and noise performance. Reference input level is –20 dBFS, and reference output is 1 watt into 8 ohms. Volume setting for reference level was -6.5. All level trims at zero, except for subwoofer-related tests, and all speakers were set to “large,” with subwoofer on. All are worst-case figures where applicable.
Output at clipping (1 kHz into 8/4 ohms)
1 channel driven: 189/270 W (22.8/24.3 dBW)
5 channels driven (8 ohms): 100 W (20 dBW)
7 channels driven (8 ohms): 88 W (19.4 dBW)
Distortion at 1 watt (THD+N, 1 kHz)
8/4 ohms: 0.02/0.03%
Noise level (A-wtd): –75.7 dB
Excess noise (with sine tone)
16-bit (EN16): 0.4 dB
Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0, –0.1 dB
MULTICHANNEL PERFORMANCE, ANALOG INPUT
Reference input and output level is 200 >mV; volume setting for reference output level was -5.
Distortion (THD+N, 1 kHz, 8 ohms): 0.01%
Noise level (A-wtd): –89.1
Frequency response: <10 Hz to 200 kHz +0, –2.3 dB
STEREO PERFORMANCE, DIGITAL INPUT
Reference level is –20 dBFS; all level trims at zero. Volume setting for reference level was -4.
Output at clipping (1 kHz, 8/4 ohms, both channels driven): 150/245 W (21.8/23.9 dBW)
Distortion at reference level: 0.02%
Linearity error (at –90 dBFS): 0.1 dB
Noise level (A-wtd): –75.5 dB
with 96-kHz/24-bit signals: –79.1 dB
Excess noise (with/without sine tone)
16-bit (EN16): 0.4/0.3 dB
quasi-20-bit (EN20): 9.0/8.5 dB
Noise modulation: 1.3 dB
Frequency response: <10 Hz to 20 kHz +0.3, –0 dB
with 96-kHz/24-bit signals: <10 Hz to 23 kHz +0, -0.3 dB (-6 dB at 26 kHz)
BASS-MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE
Measured results obtained with Dolby Digital test signals.
Subwoofer-output frequency response (crossover set to 80 Hz): 24 dB/octave (approx.) above –6-dB rolloff point of 81 Hz
High-pass-filter frequency response (crossover set to 80 Hz): 12 dB/octave below –3-dB rolloff point of 80 Hz
Maximum unclipped subwoofer output (trim at 0): 5.2v
Subwoofer distortion (from 6-channel, 30-Hz, 0-dBFS signal; subwoofer trim set to 0): 0.2%
Crossover consistency: bass crossover frequency and slope were consistent for all sources and formats
Signal-format consistency: consistent for all applicable formats
Speaker size selection: all channels can be set to “small”
Speaker-distance compensation: available for all main channels.
Yamaha’s RX-V3900 proved exemplary on the test bench. Amplifier power was impressive, beating the 140-watt spec in stereo, showing roughly 2-dBW gains into 4-ohm loads without complaint, and maintaining 100 watts all around with 5 channels driven (and nearly as much with 7 channels stressed). Noise and distortion, and D-to-A linearity, were all virtually perfect. Only two anomalies showed up: Dithered noise with 96/24 PCM signals was a bit disappointing at -79.1 dBW, and analog domain noise at the multichannel inputs, though 10 dB better, was similarly a bit short of the best we’ve seen. (A bit of analog-domain contribution from the receiver’s output circuitry was the likely culprit.) Our results still indicate a real-world dynamic range perhaps 10 dB better than typical loudspeaker systems can exploit, even in very quiet listening conditions, however. Curiously, the RX-V3900 cut off output of 96/24 PCM signals quite sharply above around 22 kHz in both Stereo and Pure Direct modes.