damonrpayne Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Flipping through the december issue of ht magazine today and I see a Yamaha receiver, claiming 9.1 sound, built in faroudja video scaling, and a ton of other features. A $4500 receiver from Yamaha. What the hell is 9.1 anyway? It does not show the extra speakers in any of its diagrams. Is this a marketing move or a glimpse of things to come, or a glimpse of marketing moves to come? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 The Yamaha Z9 receiver's 9 speakers come from the addition of front effects speakers. It is proprietary to Yamaha; there is no codec for encoding 9 channels. Only 6 discrete full frequency channels are possible today from DTS. The big deal on the Yammie is an automatic acoustic room correction feature similar to Pioneer, but is parametric equalization. Pioneer's nine bands of equalization are fixed. The Yamaha can vary its nine bands of equaliztion to put them where they can do the most to improve the sound. Pioneer's system works, but the Yamaha system is an unknown. If it works, it will be very serious competition to Pioneer's new VSX-59TXi. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basse Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Yes, this is a fully 7.1 receiver and the 8.1 and 9.1 are just effect channels that are meant to mount over the front channels. This really works!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 the yammy rx-z9 is absolutely one of THE MOST bad a$$ receivers that has EVER been built. if taken strictly from an audio perspective,it has awesome surround processing power-much of it proprietary to yamaha,the 'front effects' channels make for a wider soundstage,and this puppy cranks out a TRUE 170 watts per channel!! now,from a video standpoint,it is just as impressive! the video board is in the bottom of the unit-separated from the other 'guts' by a copper shield,and it digitally up-converts all non-hd video to 480p output(component)w/faroujda excellent DCDi chip. also-it CAN be had for less than retail avman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basse Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Have anyone tested this against the new Denon? I have always thought of Yamaha as the king in cinema, but the Denon might be better in stereo. Anyone tested one of these, or both? I have read some a couple of tests on the Yamaha, it is the best receiver there is, but they havent tested Denon yet, but hey Denon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the plummer Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Avman: No disrespect ment by this, but I'm willing to wager that Your description of the Yammi being the King of the HT may be seriously underestimated. I make this strong statement as I have managed to obtain a Sunfire Theater Grand II and Signature Cinema Grand Amp (425 watts continuous). Based on the sevin axis capability of this primitive setup, I am sure that the updated version (Theater Grand IV + Signature Cinema Grand 9) would inniahalate (spelling) the yammi. Food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 OK here we go another d*&k measuring contest, next lets debate Heritage vs Reference, Biwire vs not, perhaps a tube vs SS ...give me a break I just got out of that fracus in the Genreal forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the plummer Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Whow, whow, whow: I did not mean to ruffle any feathers here. I'm new here and did not mean for any anamosity by my last post. I mearly wanted to add that there are many quality products out there and wish that all would have an open mind about all products. Seems like all I read about is Yamaha and Dennon. I am not trying to push one brand over another, but I must confess that I have had several occaisions to call Sunfire and have been met with customer service that I am totally unfamiliar with. These people have sent me new light bulbs for hte amp, without question, or without demanding that I send in the unit for repair, answered many questions, and (as of yesterday) they are sending me a new computer chip, no charge, to upgrade my current theater grand. Sorry I did not elaborate up front, but I have owned Yamaha products w/o any, I mean ANY customar service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 ---------------- On 5/14/2004 10:07:21 AM avman wrote: the yammy rx-z9 is absolutely one of THE MOST bad a$$ receivers that has EVER been built. if taken strictly from an audio perspective,it has awesome surround processing power-much of it proprietary to yamaha,the 'front effects' channels make for a wider soundstage,and this puppy cranks out a TRUE 170 watts per channel!! now,from a video standpoint,it is just as impressive! the video board is in the bottom of the unit-separated from the other 'guts' by a copper shield,and it digitally up-converts all non-hd video to 480p output(component)w/faroujda excellent DCDi chip. also-it CAN be had for less than retail avman. ---------------- If you were to buy a separate scaler that's as good as the one in the RXZ9 you'd probably be looking at something aroudn the cost of the receiver itself, maybe even more. Besides the gutsy amps and awesome processors, there's also the added flexibility of setting up and storing presets through a computer that can't be accessed through the normal OSD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Plummer: NO feathers ruffled I am just a bit sarcastic after the never-ending thread in General Forum. Please accept my apology. By all means ask away that is how you learn. But watch at some point the rulers will come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 ---------------- On 11/2/2003 9:05:03 PM damonrpayne wrote: Flipping through the december issue of ht magazine today and I see a Yamaha receiver, claiming 9.1 sound, built in faroudja video scaling, and a ton of other features. A $4500 receiver from Yamaha. What the hell is 9.1 anyway? It does not show the extra speakers in any of its diagrams. Is this a marketing move or a glimpse of things to come, or a glimpse of marketing moves to come? ---------------- Review on the Sound and Vision website of the RX-Z9. Looks to be a pretty impressive piece. Of course, when you start talking that kind of money, you should also seriously be considering some seperates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basse Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 When I am talking about the KING of AV amps, I am talking in that price range and the chieper ones. I think we can't compare Yammi with Sunfire at a higher price etc.... The Yammi got all, video processing, room calibration etc. I am also thinking of the Rotel 1068 pre and the 1075/1095 amp. But as a couple here in norway said the Yammi was better in surround than Rotel 1098!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 I've been some what of a Sunfire and Yamaha fan over the years, and was thinking of getting the Theater Grand 4. I just read too many reviews about the Theater Grands being too noisey, that their noise level is no better then a mid priced receiver. I went to two Sunfire dealers to give one a listen to and they stopped carring them because of all the complaints that they were receiving about them. Again, I never heard the Theater grand. I've just been scared away from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the plummer Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 Qman I can't really speak about what you consider "noisy". I must say that with the RCA jacks from the preamp to the amp, I did detect some noise, but no where near the amount of noise my old ADCOM gear exibited. The amazing thing is when I used cheap Radio Shack XLR cables, the noise vanished. This amp brought my Chorus I's and Heresy II's to life. Though I do notice that the Academy is now not able to keep up. I doubt that the Sunfire amp is as quiet as an Aarogon or Mark Levinson amp, but thats apples and oranges. I am mainly so impressed with this unit as I stole this one, it listed for over $7500, got it for $3500. Anytime deals like that pop up I can't say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 The Z-9 sure looks impressive and with all the trouble I had when I tried to go seperates, the Yamaha is back on my upgrade list. Especially since I've been reading where the high end Yamaha's are not as bright as the low to mid level models. The only problem being even though it's very feature laden, man it's expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basse Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 Thnaks skonopa for the review. Please give me more reviews of the Yamaha and the Denon:) The review you sent me just got me on track for the Yammi In the test bench it was pretty obviousing!! Its expensive though, but the box contains so much good stuff and it has alot of power, so is it that expensive? The Fourudja Video Prosessor is awsome, how much do you think it would cost if it was external? Well, for me this has it all. Power, room correction, video processor and of course Yamaha sound and processing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 ---------------- On 5/14/2004 6:56:45 PM the plummer wrote: Avman: No disrespect ment by this, but I'm willing to wager that Your description of the Yammi being the King of the HT may be seriously underestimated. I make this strong statement as I have managed to obtain a Sunfire Theater Grand II and Signature Cinema Grand Amp (425 watts continuous). Based on the sevin axis capability of this primitive setup, I am sure that the updated version (Theater Grand IV + Signature Cinema Grand 9) would inniahalate (spelling) the yammi. Food for thought. ---------------- no disrespect taken,but if you read what i posted,i never referred to it as "the king of the HT"-however... since you chose to compare it to a power AMP, the yamaha has some over-the-top video processing-howsabout that Carver product you are mentioning? what kind of video processing does it have? also,from an AUDIO perspective,there are probably a number of amps that will outperform the amplifier section of this RECEIVER, but not many(any?)receivers whose amplifier section is better. avman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 ---------------- On 5/15/2004 6:45:21 PM basse wrote: Thnaks skonopa for the review. Please give me more reviews of the Yamaha and the Denon:) The review you sent me just got me on track for the Yammi In the test bench it was pretty obviousing!! ---------------- That is the only review that I've seen or can find for the Yamaha RX-Z9 (as of this writing). I guess you could try Google with "Denon Review" or "Yamaha receiver Review" and see what comes up, which I have not tried yet. As to the price of the Yamaha. Yeah, it is expensive, and yes, it does seem to have some very nice features, including top-notch video processing. But still, when you are talking $4000+ for a piece of equipment such as this, you are getting up there into where good quality seperates can also be had. Going with a reciever like this does have its advantages, especially in the convience department. Everything is together in one nice package, thus no need to deal with seperate amplifications, along with all the cabling that would be needed to go with it. However, seperates also have its own advantages. The amps being seperated out would have its own power supply and is less likely to pick up any interference from other components. However, it seems the RX-Z9 is designed to try to keep the amp section seperated from the pre-amp section with internal shielding and the like. Also, upgrades are a little easier with seperates. I.e., you like the amps, but want a better pre/pro? However, it is not as bad going the other way (upgrade the amps, but keep the pre/pro - which is what I did with my Denon - using it as a pre/pro, but got some nicer amps). It certainly helps to shop around. You certainly cannot beat the convienice of a good reciever as this. I guess it gets down to just what you are looking for in a package. As to the RX-Z9 being not as bright as other models of Yamaha, I believe that is due to the RX-Z9 (as well as it's predecessor, the RX-Z1) using Burr-Brown DACS instead of Yamaha's own DACS. Still, if somebody is in the market for an upgrade and is willing to pay the price, I think this would be an excellent option, at least from what I read about it, especially if they like the convience of having a good quality receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Get the Yamaha and another pair of speakers for the front effect channels and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 if you're in the market for a top end receiver, check out the following thread.... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=395995 (caution: it is eight pages long with a big discussion of hi-rez thrown in for good measure!) pioneer, denon, sony, sunfire, as well as yamaha have some very serious contenders..... you probably couldn't go wrong with any of them.... just pick the one with the features that appeal to you the most.... personally, i feel you can get more bang for your buck if you get a receiver one or two steps down, use it as a pre/pro, and get a separate power amp to power your speakers.... (works for me!) YMMV good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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