My Yamaha RX-A2020 review

[Thompsonuxb]

Not sure if this helps - but some DVD's do alternate between codex - especially during the intro on a movie or special features and trailers.

I own the rx-a1020 which does the same thing but not during the main body of the movie

 

[vonchief]

Thanks for all the relpies.

Im all sorted now.

I altered the extended surround from auto to EX/ES and now the amp displays Dolby D EX with no toggling.

When watching through the set top box is shows Dolby PL2X Movie.

Well happy now.

Thanks agiain.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Nice to see your amp came.

Noticed from your pic you have the volume set to -33db.

once you get into the amp you can increase its power output by a considerble amount by 16db.(manual set up menu) It'll improve your stereo playback and you'll not need to push the volume pass -45db (it reduces background noise- when you compare it to Pure Direct you'll hear what I mean) if its anything like the rx-a1020 also try PCM (digital coax) from the CD player in. It won't affect its balance ether.

don't forget to set it back to auto when its movie time if thats your pref though.

Nice review -

if only I was a little more trusting and patient I could have one of them for the same price I bought this 1020 for, but my speaker package is modest for 5.1 surround sound but yes the improvements are clear - but the old amp sounds better in stereo, strange.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Noticed from your pic you have the volume set to -33db.

once you get into the amp you can increase its power output by a considerble amount by 16db.(manual set up menu) It'll improve your stereo playback and you'll not need to push the volume pass -45db (it reduces background noise- when you compare it to Pure Direct you'll hear what I mean)

Hi Thompsonuxb

Increase power output by 16dB?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Oldboy]

Nice to see your amp came.

Noticed from your pic you have the volume set to -33db.

once you get into the amp you can increase its power output by a considerble amount by 16db.(manual set up menu) It'll improve your stereo playback and you'll not need to push the volume pass -45db (it reduces background noise- when you compare it to Pure Direct you'll hear what I mean) if its anything like the rx-a1020 also try PCM (digital coax) from the CD player in. It won't affect its balance ether.

don't forget to set it back to auto when its movie time if thats your pref though.

Nice review -

if only I was a little more trusting and patient I could have one of them for the same price I bought this 1020 for, but my speaker package is modest for 5.1 surround sound but yes the improvements are clear - but the old amp sounds better in stereo, strange.

The photo just shows me running it a little higher than norm as I run it in but normal everyday tv volume is -37dB.

I beleive what you are refering to is the option to set the sound Max Volume yes? If so it's already set at +16.5dB which is the maximum setting so there is no need for me to change this.

I don't use the 2020 for stereo music playback as I have a dedicated stereo set up integrated into my system of a Marantz CD6003 and Marantz PM6004 amp with my Beresford TC-7220 MK2 allowing me to switch between amps and speakers, with one button press my system switches over to a dedicated stereo system using the Marantz seperates and my front Zensor 5's. It's a great way of getting the best of both worlds and is something I'm very happy I done as no receiver is really the equal of a dedicated stereo set up.

Are you not tempted to update your speakers to get the most out of the 1020 then? Good to hear you are happy with the 1020 though.

 

[Oldboy]

Thanks for all the relpies.

Im all sorted now.

I altered the extended surround from auto to EX/ES and now the amp displays Dolby D EX with no toggling.

When watching through the set top box is shows Dolby PL2X Movie.

Well happy now.

Thanks agiain.

Glad you got there in the end and that it's all sorted, happy listening

 

[GSB]

Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the max sound setting just for limiting the amount of available volume,ie;so the kidz can't blow your speakers by cranking up the volume :?

 

[Oldboy]

Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the max sound setting just for limiting the amount of available volume,ie;so the kidz can't blow your speakers by cranking up the volume :?

Hmmm.....you may be right looking at the manual which states the function is to "Set the maximum volume to prevent excessive loundness".

So exactly what Thompsonuxb was refering to when he said there is a feature to increase the amps power output I have no idea, after having a good read through the manual for my 2020 on the laptop I can't find any mention of such a feature and as Rick also questioned this I'm not sure such a feature exists on my amp??

Of course if Thompsonuxb was to return and provide a more in depth guide as to where this feature is found I would willingly eat humble pie but even going through all of the menus I can't find any such feature...strange :?

 

[BenLaw]

Don't hold your breath. He's been called out on these spurious claims before. He's previously claimed the yamaha will output an additional 16db and that this has an impact on SQ. It doesn't, it just means that for the same volume you'd have to set the master volume 16db lower. I assume the main reason is simply to adjust relative volumes between each speaker, eg you could raise the volume of the centre speaker compared to the fronts.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Increas power by 16db??? Sounds like rubbish but Iwould stand corrected

 

[Oldboy]

Don't hold your breath. He's been called out on these spurious claims before. He's previously claimed the yamaha will output an additional 16db and that this has an impact on SQ. It doesn't, it just means that for the same volume you'd have to set the master volume 16db lower. I assume the main reason is simply to adjust relative volumes between each speaker, eg you could raise the volume of the centre speaker compared to the fronts.

So he has form then.....in that case I will ignore that completely and just continue what I'm doing with getting used to the amp and setting it up how I want it.

I definately can't find any mention of this extra 16dB feature anywhere in the manual or in the menus so I would assume it's a load of rubbish, thanks Ben.

 

[Oldboy]

Thought this was worth sharing with you all....

Today I finally got round to setting my speaker levels with my SPL Meter and after checking the advice I had received previously regarding using the SPL meter I done two settings, one at 75dB and another at the THX 85dB.

What I can say is that the calibration with the SPL Meter has made a massive difference to the quality of sound I'm now enjoying and I've settled at the 75dB setting but I'm still undecided if I prefer the surrounds at 72 or 75dB so some more movie viewing is in order tonight to see which sounds the most natural before I add the front height speakers which arrived today.

The surround field after calibration with the SPL meter is a completely different ball game and all levels have needed quite alot of adjustment, effects now whiz around the room and just sound right. Gunfire like you get with the excellent Saving Private Ryan blu ray just physically travels across the room and over head like i've never experienced outside of the cinema before, it's seriously impressive stuff and it's the 2020 that is responsible for this transformation.

My old Onkyo 609 was no slouch, or so I thought, but the 2020 is just vastly superior at conveying a cohesive surround sound that pulls you into any movie you watch...Star Trek for example (a favourite test disc for me) on blu ray is a very different experience with so many sounds i've never heard before. It just makes you want to dig out all your discs to see what you've been missing out on all this time!

Will report back with what difference adding the front height Dali Zensor 1's makes at the weekend.....to be continued.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

By SPL meter do you mean auto calibration/setup using the Yammy mic' or a separate meter?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I'm getting more excited by the minute, but I've had to postpone the setting up process because of heavy traffic delays returning home, and the need for a dedicated av rack for this monster of an amp.

Hopefully I can find time for rack buying tomorrow, then set up the amp either tomorrow night, or Sunday.

 

[GSB]

It's a seperate hand held sound meter.I did similar (ipad download)when configuring levels when using my oppo to process sound

 

[RobinKidderminster]

I questioned the need for lots of tweaking by oldboy, wondering if it followed auto setup and/or the use of a meter. I havw too used both

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Lol...I swear ...some of you guys, the way you carry on you'd think I'd stolen money fron you or something

No, Oldboy you've sorted out the levels already by the looks of things - sorry if my post was confusing it was rushed. The default is set to 0db on my amp set the amp to +16db is all I meant to say.

ref my speaker package sadly room size & family dictates I have to make do with a sat/sub config - saying that the amp controls it better especially the active sub

( strange because I found when paired with my passive stereo speakers in bi-amp mode running 2channel stereo the bass sounded 'soft') - I was never into HT that much I'll admit and bought the amp over a dedicated stereo amp for stereo playback, as in my experience my Yamaha dsp AX-620 sounds better than any stereo amp I have owned, it sounds better than the 1020 in stereo too.

The 1020 dumps on it from a great height in 5.1 config though and the passthrough as improved motion noticebly as your review highlighted seriously looking at getting a new TV now though......

 

[Oldboy]

I questioned the need for lots of tweaking by oldboy, wondering if it followed auto setup and/or the use of a meter. I havw too used both

I love tweaking, it's part of the fun of owning AV equipment IMO and I always want to get the best out of my equipment as I spend enough on it and it seems stupid to just leave it on the out of the box or auto settings...perhaps it's just me?

Yes SPL meter used after the YPAO auto set up done by the amp using a tripod, it's made a huge difference to the sound.

 

[Oldboy]

I'm getting more excited by the minute, but I've had to postpone the setting up process because of heavy traffic delays returning home, and the need for a dedicated av rack for this monster of an amp.

Hopefully I can find time for rack buying tomorrow, then set up the amp either tomorrow night, or Sunday.

Life has a habit of getting in the way BBB...hopefully you get the chance to source a rack and get it up and running over the bank holiday ray:

 

[GSB]

I questioned the need for lots of tweaking by oldboy, wondering if it followed auto setup and/or the use of a meter. I havw too used both

I love tweaking, it's part of the fun of owning AV equipment IMO and I always want to get the best out of my equipment as I spend enough on it and it seems stupid to just leave it on the out of the box or auto settings...perhaps it's just me?

Yes SPL meter used after the YPAO auto set up done by the amp using a tripod, it's made a huge difference to the sound.

So how much did you have to increase the speaker levals oldboy?

I pressume the peq setting is still flat?

 

[RobinKidderminster]

So u use ypao but then dump all the settings, use manual eq using an spl meter? Guess thats what I eluded to earlier which suggests the ypao is poor. Surprising?.Cant disagree tho!

 

[GSB]

I don't know,i think i prefere my avr doing the procesing becouse of ypao,as opposed to my oppo(better dacs)maybe the overall sound is more cohesive...it's realy hard to judge to be fair...but i'm sure the ypao or in particular the peq is more room friendly....perhaps someone with alot more knoledge than me could kindly explain and outline the benefits?

 

[strapped for cash]

So u use ypao but then dump all the settings, use manual eq using an spl meter? Guess thats what I eluded to earlier which suggests the ypao is poor. Surprising?.Cant disagree tho!

I couldn't get on with YPAO autocal either. In the end I did a factory reset and went the manual route. This was a lower specification Aventage receiver (810), so my experiences can't be directly compared with 2020 owners'.

 

[Oldboy]

I questioned the need for lots of tweaking by oldboy, wondering if it followed auto setup and/or the use of a meter. I havw too used both

I love tweaking, it's part of the fun of owning AV equipment IMO and I always want to get the best out of my equipment as I spend enough on it and it seems stupid to just leave it on the out of the box or auto settings...perhaps it's just me?

Yes SPL meter used after the YPAO auto set up done by the amp using a tripod, it's made a huge difference to the sound.

So how much did you have to increase the speaker levals oldboy?

I pressume the peq setting is still flat?

It was a case of decreasing the levels all round GSB, for example the YPAO mic setting for my surrounds was +1.0dB and after using the SPL meter they are now set at -4.5dB. All the speakers needed considerable amounts of dialling back to get them set at 75dB but the sub was the big one that was a mile off, the auto set up even when doing the advanced 8 position set up only sends a signal to the sub only once at the beginning of the process and it got the levels completely wrong.

YPAO set the sub at -3.5db yet when I adjusted it with the SPL meter it had to go down to the absolute minimum of -10.0dB and then I had to use the volume dial on the rear of the sub to get it anywhere near the (roughly) 75dB, I've always found it bit of a guessing game with the LFE frequency when using my digital meter as the level jumps all over the place so I look for an average.

If I've done anything wrong with setting the sub then please tell me...for example should I have left the sub level in the amp menu at -3.5db then adjusted the volume level on the sub itself?? I'm going to do an auto set up again later today once I've got the front height speakers up (still researching just how high up the wall they should go) just to see if a second run through provides a more accurate result but I'm not holding my breath and have noted down all the levels just in case.

 

[Oldboy]

So u use ypao but then dump all the settings, use manual eq using an spl meter? Guess thats what I eluded to earlier which suggests the ypao is poor. Surprising?.Cant disagree tho!

Yeah I used it because with my old Onkyo 609 the auto mic set up was quite accurate and needed just a little tweaking afterwards to get it spot on, I was expecting a similar experience with the Yamaha but it was way off all round. I don't know what else the YPAO does but in terms of distance and levels it wasn't as accurate as the Audysseymic on my old Onkyo.

I was expecting the Yamaha to be even more accurate as the receiver is three times the price of my old 609 but I wasn't prepared for it to be so far off the mark, I can see how anyone less informed may be a little disappointed with the sound when you just rely on the auto set up procedure. It's not a disaster from the YPAO mic but the 2020 is capable of so much more when set correctly.

Any comments you may have about my sub set up would be appreciated if you could have a quick look at my last response to GSB as I'm a little confused how I should go about setting it, thanks Robin.