Starved for new music? For talk (left, right, or center)? Sports? Comedy? Weather and traffic? Satellite radio delivers all these and more by the dozen. Yamaha is among the first A/V receiver makers to bring satellite radio home, via a new XM-ready line that includes the RX-V657 model here.
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What We Think
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| A solid performer that seamlessly blends XM Satellite radio with Yamaha's excellent surround performance and adaptability. |
The RX-V657 packs all the usual A/V receiver goods, including seven-channel power, plus one subtle but critical addition: a tiny port on its back accepts an antenna/tuner called XM Connect & Play. So far the only one available is the $50 Audiovox CMP1000, but others may join the party later, and XM-ready devices like boomboxes and clock radios can also employ them. Plug one of these pocket-size pods into the new Yamaha and you get 150-plus digital channels — all nicely integrated into the receiver’s display, tuning, and preset-memory functions. Such leading-edge stuff usually reaches me first in a big-buck flagship receiver. Refreshingly, the RX-V657 is a $550 list price model that’s comparatively compact and simple (for an A/V receiver!) — all pluses in my book.
SETUP Setting up the Connect & Play option couldn’t be much simpler. The antenna/tuner (see photo at right) is a clamshell arrangement about the size of a moderate quahog, or roughly 3 inches square. I set this atop the receiver and plugged its captive, 30-foot cord into the tiny XM jack, aiming the up-slanted antenna through a window more or less toward XM’s satellite in the southwest sky.
To my surprise, XM came right up even though signal strength on the Yamaha’s onscreen meter was only 32%. Fine-aiming raised this to 45% to 50% with no dropouts, so I’d bet most users will have little trouble acquiring an adequate XM signal. Of course, you’ll also have to activate your XM subscription by dialing a toll-free number or visiting XM’s Web site with your credit card and the registration number from your Connect & Play unit. The service costs $12.95 a month, less if you buy by the year or add multiple receivers.
Apart from adding XM, hookup involved the usual audio and video connections. There are only two component-video inputs, though, and no DVI or HDMI connectors.
The Yamaha also boasts an automatic setup routine, which uses a small microphone to determine speaker “size” and distance from the listening position, and to set the bass crossover frequency and speaker levels. It worked well enough: checked with my handheld meter, speaker levels were within ±1 dB of the ideal setting.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE Yamaha has been perfecting its music-surround technology longer than any other major brand, and the RX-V657 shows off this heritage. There are several proprietary modes and variants for music and movies, with hardly a dud among the lot. Of course, you also get Dolby Pro Logic II/IIx (often my choice for making surround sound from stereo material) as well as the full DTS palette. You’re likely to find something that will believably, or at least entertainingly, enhance any sort of music or movie soundtrack.
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The Short Form
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| YAMAHA.COM/YEC / 800-492-6242 / $550 / 17.125 x 6.75 x 16.5 IN / 27.75 LBS |
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Plus
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| •Well-integrated XM Radio option. •Fine performance with broad selection of surround modes. •Simple, easy-to-use remote control. |
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Minus
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| •Only two component-video inputs. •No DVI or HDMI connectors.  |
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Key Features
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| •95 watts x 7 channels •Automatic setup •Video upconversion (composite to S-video and S-video to component) •14 proprietary DSP surround modes, including virtual surround and headphone surround •9 selectable crossover frequencies, 40 to 200 Hz (common to all channels set to “small”) •Back surround speaker outputs reassignable to Yamaha-specific Presence (front surround) outputs •Zone 2 audio capability (can reassign Back Surround/Presence speaker outputs to Zone 2) •8-component preprogrammed system remote |
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Test Bench
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The Yamaha delivered plenty of power at its 8-ohm speaker setting, well exceeding its rating with two-channels driven. A modest and unusual error was detected in the performance of the digital-to-analog converter with uncompressed stereo signals from CDs, but this didn’t seem to produce any audible effects in music listening. |
Close listening to XM’s fairly deep roster of jazz channels and its depressingly thin classical choices demonstrated that XM can, in fact, sound very good indeed, given material that doesn’t obviously expose the vulnerabilities of its data-compression scheme (MP3 and its cousins suffer the same). A performance of Copland’s Rodeo on Channel 110 sounded big, clear, and sharply defined in both plain stereo and DPL IIx Music. Aside from a very occasional “swirly” texture on soft strings and a slightly “flat” tonality to cymbal crashes, I was hard pressed to tell XM from CD here, though with things like solo piano the difference was more obvious.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’s soundtrack is fast becoming a favorite. If you love full-range, room-zooming effects, hyper-active surround channels, and lots of big-bass moments, and don’t mind a little silliness (okay — a lot of silliness), check it out.
The Yamaha acquitted itself with honors on this stiff test, never exposing any shortage of power in 6.1-channel playback even with my moderately watt-hungry speakers. It preserved excellent dynamic impact, clarity, and depth in even the busiest scenes, such as the attack of the flappy things in Chapter 6. The RX-V657 also supplies several surround alternatives for movie sound. Its Movie Theater-Adventure setting, suitably adjusted, produced a more spacious, widely spread ambience than straight Dolby Digital during a scene in an echoey giant hanger, though at the cost of a slight twanginess that was occasionally audible.
OPERATION Yamaha supplies a basic but well-thought-out full-system remote control. It requires some switching back and forth between modes (for instance, AMP and DVD) in everyday use, but its logical groupings of keys in different colors and shapes is intuitive and pleasant to use. I also liked the straightforward onscreen menus — too bad they’re supplied in only standard-def (480i) video. When watching high-def sources or progressive-scan DVD (480p format), you have to wait for your TV to resync every time you call up or close an onscreen menu.
BOTTOM LINE Take away XM, and what you have here is a very capable, nicely balanced, midprice A/V receiver with plenty of power and a superb selection of excellent-sounding surround options. But why take it away? Sure, you could buy an XM portable for little more than the cost of the XM Connect & Play add-on, but you’ll sacrifice the integrated display and control that makes Yamaha’s solution so elegant. The RX-V657’s XM capability doesn’t appear to add much to the price, so consider it the icing on an already very tasty cake.
TEST BENCH
By Daniel Kumin
DOLBY DIGITAL PERFORMANCE
All data were obtained from test DVDs using 16-bit test signals containing dither, which sets 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 –7.5. All level trims at 0 except for subwoofer-related tests, all speakers set to “large,” subwoofer on. All are worst-case figures where applicable.
Output at clipping (1 kHz into 8/4 ohms)
1 channel driven: 181/278 W (22.6/24.4 dBW)
5 channels driven (8 ohms): 67 W (18.3 dBW)
Distortion at 1 watt (THD+N, 1 kHz)
8/4 ohms: 0.02/0.03%
Noise level (A-wtd): –76.2 dB
Excess noise (with sine tone)
16-bit (EN16): +2.75 dB
Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0, –0.4 dB
MULTICHANNEL PERFORMANCE, ANALOG INPUT
Reference input and output level is 200 mV; volume setting for reference output level was –3.
Distortion (THD+N, 1 kHz, 8 ohms): 0.01/0.01%
Noise level (A-wtd): –92.7 dB
Frequency response: <10 Hz to 104 kHz +0, –3 dB
STEREO PERFORMANCE, DIGITAL INPUT
All signals were PCM and 16-bit except where noted otherwise. Reference level is –20 dBFS; all level trims at 0. Volume setting for reference level was –3.5.
Output at clipping (1 kHz, 8/4 ohms)
both channels driven: 129/188 W (21.1/22.7 dBW)
Distortion at reference level: 0.02%
Linearity error (at –90 dBFS): 5.6 dB
Noise level (A-wtd): –78.8 dB
(with 96-kHz/24-bit signals: –81.7 dB)
Excess noise (with/without sine tone)
16-bit (EN16): 0.8/3.0 dB
quasi-20-bit (EN20): 11.3/13.1 dB
Noise modulation: 4.2 dB
Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0, –0.1 dB
(96-kHz/24-bit signals: 5 Hz to 42 kHz +0, –1.9 dB)
BASS-MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE
Measured results obtained with Dolby Digital test signals.
Subwoofer-output frequency response (crossover set to 80 Hz): 24 dB/octave above –6-dB rolloff point of 85 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): 7.5 volts
Subwoofer distortion (from 6-channel, 30-Hz, 0-dBFS signal; subwoofer trim set to 0): 12.0%
Crossover consistency: bass crossover frequency and slope same for all signal formats that receive bass management
Signal-format consistency: consistent for all applicable formats (two-channel stereo must be set to Straight); bass management not available for multichannel analog signals
Speaker size selection: all channels can be set to “small”
Speaker-distance compensation: available for all main channels
The Yamaha RX-V657 produced good numbers, but a couple of notes are required. A switch sets the receiver for minimum speaker impedances of 8 or 4 ohms. The 4-ohm position current-limits its outputs to approximately one-half of their potential power. All numbers here were taken with the receiver set to the 8-ohm position, which was contrary to Yamaha’s recommendation, because some of my speakers present real-world loads well below 8 ohms. But there were no ill effects as a result either on the test bench or in my listening tests.
Second note: The RX-V657 appeared to exhibit a least-significant-bit (LSB) error of a few decibels in digital-input performance, yielding errors in minimum-signal levels. The result: noise-level measurements that were better than theoretical perfection for CD signals, substantial linearity errors below –80 dB or so, and a large noise-modulation figure. I didn’t find these errors more than barely audible using our specialized noise-modulation test tracks and listening on headphones at very high volumes. I never heard any evidence of them with music or movie sound.