Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater ? regarding Yam rxv2095

I bought this receiver (Yam rxv2095) new in '99 for $1,500.
It received great ratings in magazines and that lead to
its purchase. I've learned theres not many Yamaha fans in
this forum but I'm curious. Since it's outdated and a "Yam"
would a new Denon or Har/Kar in the $600-800. price range surpass it's abilities?
My speakers are Boston Acoustics VR970's, VR12 center, and KLH's(sorry) for the rears.
These will get replaced by Axiom M22ti's, VP150, QS4's, EP500(some day). Thanks

Hi Bryan and welcome,

If your Yammie has Dolby 5.1, maybe DTS and 50 watts/channel you should be all set. If on the other hand you just want a new receiver, then what you mentioned should be fine. Pull out your spec sheet for the Yammie and compare it to a Denon 2805 or an HK 330 to see if you are missing anything you'd like to have.

There used to be quite a few Yammie fans and owners floating around. The 1400 and 2400 were frequent topics and frequently suggested recievers. They seem to have moved along, unlike those of us who are too darn stubborn to go anywhere else.

Yamaha fan here...I'm a frequent reader...post occasionally. If you are looking at a new receiver anyways, then don't count out another Yamaha. I have an RX-V2200 and think that it is great...although I still don't have it paired with some great sounding Axioms...hopefully in the near future. At your price range, there are quite a few to choose from...a lot comes down to features that you want, and maybe a bias to one brand or another.

Joe

I have a Yamaha RX-V1400. It's fine, but if you're interested in SACD or DVD-A surround music I recommend investigating a matching Denon amp and player. Having a single digital connection (DLink) vs analog is a major improvement in ease of setup and calibration.

If you have much stereo material and want surround from that, some people like Harmon Kardon's Logic 7 better than Dolby PLII.

Joema,

another interesting point regarding Denon's link. Do you happen to know how much such a Denon player/receiver combo would cost at minimum? I am not happy with my 578a/htr-5640 performance on sacd/dvda? The yam 5640 has fixed cross over at 90hz, and the 578a does not mix center channel to the LR mains (I dont have a center), and has anemic bass output.

Vu~

rxv2095 has DD5.1, DTS, 100wpc. It also has 2 25w
front effect channels that I never tried setting up.
From browsing around I would eventually like to
step up to Outlaw's 950 & 755. Would it make a big
difference to run my Yammie through the 755?
My setup seems to be lacking in mid range. I keep
the bass extension button on, bass on +2 and treb.
on 0. The knobs range from -5 to +5. The towers are
powered w/ 120 watt internal amps, wired direct and
are the only speakers set to Large. Would this amp make
the speakers more "accurate" or is it just the speakers?
The room is set up 14' from front to back viewing/listening
but is opened to dinning room which totals about 35+ feet
in width 8' ceilings. So my area is about 14'x14'.
Thanks.

Oh, and the volume knob on the subs/towers are
set about 5/8ths to 3/4.

In reply to:

---

Do you happen to know how much such a Denon player/receiver combo would cost at minimum? I am not happy with my 578a/htr-5640 performance on sacd/dvda? The yam 5640 has fixed cross over at 90hz, and the 578a does not mix center channel to the LR mains (I dont have a center), and has anemic bass output.

---

Unfortunately I don't know. Also the digital DLink SACD-to-amp connection is pending final legal approval, which is expected shortly.

Problems with fixed crossover and anemic bass on SACD are unfortunately very typical.

Apparently there's an SACD bass standardization problem people don't talk much about.

Dolby specs mandate recording the bass channel at -10db, and the playback chain will boost +10db to compensate. That gives more headroom.

SACD isn't bound by Dolby specs, and apparently the promoters didn't adequately coordinate bass levels between the recording and playback phase. It looks like much SACD material was recorded with bass at -10db, but the playback hardware doesn't boost it +10db.

One solution is manually boost it via recever level controls, assuming your receiver has adjustable sub output separately for multichannel input vs CD and DVD input (else CD and DVD would have too much bass).

The other solution is boost bass output by +10db on the player, assuming it has separate bass level for SACD output vs CD and DVD output.

It is a big mess and I can't believe there's not more discussion of this.

The other problems are having to double-calibrate levels on both SACD player and receiver, plus manually switch receiver to "multichannel input" mode whenever SACD is played -- receivers can't sense an SACD flag like they can for Dolby material. Denon's Dlink should at least fix those problems.

If your RXV-2095 has all that you described, it sounds like a great receiver. I'd keep it. Get your new speakers, keep that receiver and see what you think.

Going from Boston VR970's to M22ti's is going to be a MAJOR change. The Axioms will give you clarity in the highs and midrange that your Bostons could never touch, but you obviously will be losing a tremendous amount in the lower end. After having those Bostons the M22ti's are going to sound thin at first. Give yourself some time to get used to the new sound. I've heard the Bostons and they're not bad, but they have a very muddy lower mid-range and low end (at least to my ears). The M22's midrange is superbly clean and clear, and it solves the bad low end problem by simply not trying to reproduce it. After having those Bostons as mains, you're going to need/want a sub with the M22's.

In fact if I were you, I would get the M22's and sub first and hold off on the rest...


My suggestion:

Keep the receiver you have...it sounds like a nice one.
Get the M22ti's
Get the EP500
Keep your center
Keep your surrounds

Start saving your pennies, and get the center and surrounds when you can.