A well-worn adage says that all things come to he who waits. Yamaha’s RX-Z9 receiver is so chock-full of features, it must have been waiting a long time. Yamaha goes as far as to claim, “If this receiver doesn’t have it, you don’t need it!” You be the judge of that, but here are some highlights: it has all the expected 5.1-, 6.1-, and 7.1-channel movie decoding modes plus dozens of Yamaha ambience modes, many of them utilizing an auxiliary pair of left/right front Presence speakers, 175 watts x 7 plus 50 watts x 2 to power a nine-speaker array, automatic level balancing and equalization for all those speaker channels, bass management and speaker-distance compensation for all formats and media, and upconversion of all video inputs.
The RX-Z9 even has THX Ultra2 certification. It’s the first Yamaha receiver to apply for this THX stamp of approval, which guarantees that the receiver meets stringent requirements for accurate playback of movie soundtracks even in large rooms. But Yamaha’s new flagship includes significant features and benefits far beyond those promised by THX certification.
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FAST FACTS
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RATED POWER 170 watts x 7 into 8 ohms with maximum 0.015% THD (channels driven individually or in pairs) plus 50 watts x 2 into 8 ohms with maximum 0.5% THD (auxiliary Presence speaker outputs) |
For example, the RX-Z9 is the first receiver we’ve seen to offer Faroudja DCDi processing — something we’re more used to seeing in DVD players. DCDi is a very capable technology for converting interlaced video from DVDs (or TV) to progressive-scan format, and it’s specially designed to reduce the visibility of jagged diagonal edges in images that originated as interlaced video rather than film, like many concert recordings. DCDi is merely the tip of a progressive iceberg — the RX-Z9 can convert all incoming interlaced video signals to progressive-scan. It can also rescale incoming standard-definition 480i (interlaced) video up to the 720p (progressive-scan) or 1080i HDTV formats, although copy-protected signals, such as those from commercial DVDs, are only converted to enhanced-definition 480p.
The receiver’s most useful video feature is its ability to convert incoming component-, composite-, and S-video signals from any format to any format. There are a couple of ways this capability could come in handy: First, if your TV won’t accept all three flavors of video, you’ll be able to convert all your video inputs to those it will accept. Second, while many of the newest TVs do accept all three signal formats, having such conversion take place in the receiver greatly simplifies system hookup — all signals, both audio and video, are sent through the receiver. A unified hookup also lets you use the receiver’s video processing features to clean up material for feeding to a recording device.
It’s also unusual for a receiver to have i.Link (a.k.a. FireWire) ports, which are usually found on computers and DV camcorders. While the RX-Z9’s two i.Link inputs respond only to digital audio, they’re among its most significant features. If you have one of the few i.Link-equipped DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD players, you’ll be able to feed high-resolution multichannel audio directly to the receiver in digital format. These inputs also allow the RX-Z9 to apply its massive powers of digital signal processing (DSP) to all multichannel audio formats — Dolby Digital and DTS as well as DVD-A and SACD — without any potentially signal-degrading cycles of analog-to-digital conversion. Among those processing powers are a bass-management system that operates on all formats and input signals — including those coming in through the multichannel analog jacks and the digital i.Link connectors. We’ve been waiting years for manufacturers to get this right! If this receiver is properly set up, you won’t hear a change in bass balance as you switch from, say, a CD to a DVD movie to an SACD to an HDTV broadcast.
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KEY FEATURES
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| • Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES 6.1-channel decoding • Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6 for 5.1/7.1-channel playback from two-channel or matrixed four-channel sources • 55 Soundfield DSP and 24 Cinema DSP ambience-enhancement surround modes, most utilizing optional Presence speakers • Automatic setup and speaker equalization with supplied microphone • Bass management for all inputs and signal formats with stereo subwoofer processing; options include 9 crossover frequencies • Input signal conversion either way between component-, composite-, and S-video • Faroudja DCDi progressive-scan conversion and 2:3 pulldown detection; rescaling up to 1080i • 6 HDTV-compatible component-video inputs, 2 outputs • 8 A/V inputs, 2 outputs, all with S-video; 4 analog stereo audio inputs, 2 outputs • 8-channel analog audio input • 2 i.Link (FireWire) multichannel digital audio inputs • 8 optical, 4 coaxial digital audio inputs (1 each on front panel); 3 optical outputs • 2 stereo audio-only inputs; 1 record output • 10-channel preamp output (including Presence channels) • 13-component preprogrammed/learning system remote control with 15 (10-step) macros • Smaller, 8-button remote control that utilizes onscreen menus for all functions • Zone 2 A/V output with coaxial digital audio and stereo speaker-level outputs |
Equally important, and even more extraordinary, is a speaker-distance compensation system that also operates on all signals and formats. For the first time in our listening room, I was able to hear the same kind of solid, in-focus imaging from SACDs that DVD-Audio and even Dolby Digital and DTS programs have benefited from for years. While distance compensation may not be as “sexy” as some of the other features, if you want the best possible reproduction of SACDs, the RX-Z9 is one of only a handful of receivers to offer this refinement.
On the other hand, the Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer, or YPAO, definitely qualifies as sexy. This system completely relieves the user of the burden of setting up the receiver for multichannel operation. You’ll never have to balance the speaker levels, measure the distance of each speaker from the prime listening position, nor (the toughest part) adjust the subwoofer controls to produce the flattest possible response in the crossover region between the subwoofer and the main speakers. With YPAO, all you do is set up the small supplied microphone at your listening position, select a few basic preferences from onscreen menus, and then select Start. After a couple of minutes of hissing, thumping, whooping, and roaring test signals, your system will be completely set up. And I mean completely.
The receiver will have determined which speakers you have hooked up, which are installed out of phase (if any), and which are “large” or “small.” The speaker distances will also have been measured and compensated for, and the speaker balances will have been optimized — even for the subwoofer. Compared with the usual manual procedure, YPAO is a breeze.
Besides automatically optimizing the usual setup parameters, YPAO adjusts frequency response through each of the attached speakers. The process involves ten bands of parametric equalization for each channel. This type of EQ is rarely used, even by professionals, because it’s so tough to do right manually. But it’s a cakewalk for the RX-Z9’s digital processing.
To me, however, YPAO’s equalization proved to be both just what the doctor ordered and too much of a good thing. It was successful in our listening room in taming a prominent midbass resonance and in smoothing the crossover-frequency region. Before/after measurements of that region showed a reduction of the response swing from around ±9 dB to only ±4 dB, a substantial improvement. Overall, the EQ very noticeably reduced midbass muddiness and enhanced the subwoofer’s sonic blend with the main speakers.
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PLUS MINUS
Automatic EQ system might degrade tonal quality. Slight loss of resolution when video processing is activated. Very heavy and expensive. |
Menu selections let you allocate the parametric EQ resources to produce the flattest response over the entire range or to focus on flattening just the highs, midrange, or bass. The problem is that regardless of the type of equalization you select, there’s always some effect on the entire region above the midbass. Because of this, the higher frequencies ended up being overemphasized on vocals and strings, at least in our room with our speakers.
While you can set YPAO to skip the EQ adjustments, I wish Yamaha had supplied a YPAO mode that placed all the parametric EQ resources at the service of smoothing the room-resonance and crossover-frequency range (that is, the lower frequencies) while letting the higher frequencies fall where the speakers dictate. That way the speakers’ basic tonal qualities will be unchanged while their interaction with the room is improved.
Perhaps a firmware update, applied via computer through the receiver’s RS-232C port (normally used for computer-controlled setup and operation by installers), could supply such a mode. I’d also like to see an easier way to reset YPAO equalization to completely neutral status — a simple menu selection would work. As is, it’s a cumbersome procedure not covered in the manual.
The renowned sonic quality of Yamaha’s Soundfield and Cinema DSP ambience processing, as well as those systems’ seemingly infinite adjustability, were as much in evidence here as in previous Yamaha receivers I’ve tested. With 55 ambience-generation modes and 24 variations of Cinema DSP on call, if you want to spatially enhance your music and soundtracks, there’s undoubtedly a mode (or a customized setting of a mode) to suit the program material. Yamaha recommends using two smaller Presence speakers placed outside and behind the front left and right speakers for the front ambience effects. This removes ambience from the main front speakers and prevents it from coloring the front image, allowing you to get the best combination of ambience and imaging.
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| The Yamaha RS-Z9 did a clean job of decoding the 6.1-channel soundtrack of Dirty Dancing. |
Certainly DVD movies played using the standard decoding functions sounded excellent, such as the 6.1-channel Dolby Digital EX soundtrack of Dirty Dancing. And every SACD and DVD-Audio disc I played through the i.Link inputs also sounded superb. Having those THX power reserves and low noise levels on hand was especially beneficial in the effortless reproduction of wide-dynamic-range classical material, such as the stunning Mahler series issued on SACD by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The last few moments of the Sixth Symphony, featuring a sudden fortissimo chord, are all the more shocking when the preceding pianissimo phrase is cleanly reproduced with no added noise.
The unusually versatile and capable RX-Z9 — definitely not your run-of-the-mill flagship receiver! — has dozens of other features we simply don’t have space to discuss. If infinite tweaking of sound quality is your thing, it has enough going on to keep you busy for months. (Experimenting with multichannel speaker placement is much easier with YPAO on call.) If not, then the smooth, attractive onscreen menu system controlled by the elegant eight-button auxiliary remote control will actually simplify operation compared with the standard remote. Has the audio side of your audio/ video interest been hit by a case of the blahs lately? Yamaha’s RX-Z9 may be the perfect prescription.