Hopefully not prejudiced

[admin_exported]

I have read about so many good reviews in the past about Yamaha products on your magazine. However a trend about Yamaha products seems to be digging deep here. I acknowledge Onkyo products last year were the best available then in terms of features and price. Even Denon and Marantz failed in half-hearted attempts to match Onkyo last year. Yamaha was simply not there. But today, in the beginning of the 8th month of 2008 and inspite of the new RX-V63s series being lauched way back in April08, I find What Hi-Fi strangely silent on these products. You were so quick to review Onkyo 606 and Denon 1909 even before they were available in the market, but what terrible technology blunder has Yamaha committed that we hear nothing.....not even 2-star/3-star ratings about them. Is it the end of Yamaha technology? My request is not to allow commercial (apologies if my guess was a wild one) matters come in way of educating us about the best options available in the market.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh dear, run for it and don't foget to zigzag !!

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's certainly not commercial matters from our end, datta70.

As i've said on these Forums many a time, Yamaha declined to supply products to us for around a year - their decision, not ours (and one they've since apologised for).

This did not stop us reporting news about the company - so we certainly weren't 'silent' during this time.

There's now been a significant change of management/structure at Yamaha's end and we're starting to see 2008 products flow into our test rooms.

These range from the flagship DSP-Z11 multichannel amplifier (review here) to the £400 DSP-AX563 reviewed in our current issue (test will be online shortly). Much more to come as we lead up to our Awards judging....

 

[Anonymous]

Had your phaser set to stun there, not kill.

Must have been a favourable lunch ?

 

[Clare Newsome]

The phaser is still recharging from death-ray deployment in an internal meeting earlier today

But to go back on topic, i've just checked our product list, and we've the following Yamaha reviews in the pipeline:

Yamaha DVX-1000 (all-in-one system)
Yamaha CD-S1000 (CD player)
Yamaha A-S1000 (stereo amplifier)
Yamaha YSP-40D (soundbar)
Yamaha YSP-600 (soundbar)
Yamaha DSP-211 (AV amp)
Yamaha DSP-AX763 (AV amp)
Yamaha DSP-AX863 (AV amp)

 

[John Duncan]

I had a favourable lunch. Phaser is now set to 'sleep'.

 

[timwileman]

too much coffee phaser unable to aim....!

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the reply. It is encouraging to see the list. Infact I am planning to buy a new AVR for the MA RS6 AV package. Somehow I am more inclined towards Denon and Yamaha products for their ability to reproduce sound as it is (both music and movies) and rich features. Any ideas on the RX-V1900 to be launched in Oct08? And I hope you would review one of Denon's 2309/2809 soon.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Yep, we're on track to keep getting the new Yamaha and Denon kit as it comes along.

 

[Thaiman]

I am surprise to learn that Yamaha declined to supply products to WHF! Afterall they have won more WHF Awards that Cyrus! (and that mean lots!)

 

[Clare Newsome]

It didn't make any sense to us, either.

Still, that's all the past. We've got a trip to Yamaha in Japan coming up later this year, and it'll be interesting to report on the R&D they're doing for 2009 and beyond.

 

[Anonymous]

I am confused about what Yamaha is trying to achieve by marketing models like 563 without the basic features and still costing 400 GBP. The battle is lost even before it has started. It seems the change in their management didn't really work.

From the earlier list of Yamaha products to be tested, I think there's a typo error about 763 model. Is that actually 663 ? Because the last of the AVR 700 series was 757 (759 and 761 AVRs were skipped). I think reviewing 663 and 863 would make more sense because of the 400 US$ difference accounting for 1 additional HDMI input/HDMI upconversion to 1080p/SRS circle surround sound, etc. It would be interesting to know how the sound reproduction fares given the price difference.

 

[Clare Newsome]

It takes ages to get a product designed and into manufacturing, datta70 - the management changes only happened recently!

 

[Anonymous]

Does that mean an established company like Yamaha has to start from the very beginning because its management has changed? They already have the know-how. What I meant was critical marketing decisions......what features to include, at what price, etc. Even if that means eating into your profits.........just like Onkyo did last year. With more features, better components, etc. per unit profit might suffer, but if the market can be captured with bargain models, one can earn lots more from bulk sales.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Not at all, but the current products will have been in development for at least a year, just as Onkyo worked for years to produce the --5 range to make last year's onslaught on a market sector where it had been less than successful for a very long time.