Is the Yamaha A3030 much better than Yamaha A3020?

[tjmim]

Anyone who has chanced to listen to both model. Please share your experience for how far has it improved. Since their price in the market are very different now. Thank you very much.

 

[parzival]

I did not have the chance to listnen to them both, but the models are very close. The main difference is the ESS chipset versus Burr-Brown.Now I am not a specialist in listning.. but I'm assuming it would be very hard to notice the difference in a full surround sound setup.. and the 3020 and 3030 did not do so well on music only..

Main reasons for me to take the 3030 is the fact that it is the newest model .. (and when I got it.. the only one in the UAE ).. main reasons for not taking the 5000 series.. was $$

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hello tjmim, I see that this is your first posting on this forum. Maybe you're not yet familiar with accessing reviews on the What Hi-Fi website. You might like to trace the evolution of the top Yamaha Aventage models by looking at the review of the model two years ago http://www.whathifi.com/review/yamaha-rx-a3010 . What Hi-Fi liked it very much. Then last year they reviewed one of the ones that you are considering http://www.whathifi.com/review/yamaha-rx-a3020 They liked it very much as well. And in this review http://www.whathifi.com/review/yamaha-rx-a3030 they also like very much the most recent model.
I doubt if there is a great improvement in sound quality of the 3030 over the 3020, because the 3020 was already so good. I expect the 3030 will have some more modern internet and other services, but unless you need those newer features I imagine (I've never heard any of these models, by the way) that you can save yourself a chunk of money by getting the 3020 now.
I'm hoping that one of the dealers, Rick at Musicraft or David at Frank Harvey, will be able to answer authoritatively.
As it happens, I have the step-down model, two years ago of the latest one that you are considering. I have the Yamaha RX-A2010 in my kitchen, and partly because I don't need the more modern internet features and upscaling to 4K and I don't play FLAC and other files (whatever they are) I have no need to change it, for the foreseeable future! I need it only as a surround-sound receiver, which it does to my complete satisfaction!

 

[bigboss]

The DAC on 3030 is supposed to be better, but I don't think it'll be significant enough to warrant the extra premium of the 3030.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Now I am not a specialist in listning.. but I'm assuming it would be very hard to notice the difference in a full surround sound setup..

Even if a Bluray soundtrack was 16/44 (CD quality), I'm sure the difference would make itself known with movies too (maybe some more than others)

 

[markjmbond]

Hi I am a newbie on here. I am just building my first home cinima and have gone for the Yamaha a3030. I am matching this with a 7.1 stsem based on KEF speakers- pair r 500 floor standing front speakers, 2 pair r100 speakers for surround and rear, r400 sub woofer and r200c. centre ... i have an epsom tw9100 projector Any advice greatfuly welcome... is the setup going to work> what cabling should i use for the speakers bi or single. I alos have a drop down screen 120 and the prohetcor will be 5m from screen.