Should I upgrade my Yamaha RX-V675 amp to Denon's AVC-X3700H?

[BrightonIan]

Hi guys
So I'm viewing 4K's through my Sony UBP-X700, listening through Q Acoustics 3050i's + 3010i's, 3090 centre and QB12 sub. My TV is a JVC Fire and I'll probably upgrade it soon (to the £500 ish Samsung), but I really want to hear your opinions on whether the Denon amp will give me more (especially in the vocal/speech delivery) than my current Yamaha. We sometimes struggle to get decent dialogue balance......be glad to hear your opinions on where my money should go next and if I'll notice a difference....

 

[Tinman1952]

Hi guys
So I'm viewing 4K's through my Sony UBP-X700, listening through Q Acoustics 3050i's + 3010i's, 3090 centre and QB12 sub. My TV is a JVC Fire and I'll probably upgrade it soon (to the £500 ish Samsung), but I really want to hear your opinions on whether the Denon amp will give me more (especially in the vocal/speech delivery) than my current Yamaha. We sometimes struggle to get decent dialogue balance......be glad to hear your opinions on where my money should go next and if I'll notice a difference....

Personally I think it would be a sideways move and you will not hear much difference. Yamaha are renowned for their digital processing and amplifier quality. If you struggle with hearing dialogue, are you sure you have run the set up correctly? If so you could always increase the level of the centre channel or increase the treble tone control....🙂

 

[BrightonIan]

Ok. Yeah I've already dialled up the centre volume via the app.....thanks for replying

 

[Tinman1952]

Ok. Yeah I've already dialled up the centre volume via the app.....thanks for replying

Did you know the RX-V675 has a dialogue lift feature? Just a thought...

 

[BrightonIan]

Yep, got that. 👍

 

[Arron]

Hi guys
So I'm viewing 4K's through my Sony UBP-X700, listening through Q Acoustics 3050i's + 3010i's, 3090 centre and QB12 sub. My TV is a JVC Fire and I'll probably upgrade it soon (to the £500 ish Samsung), but I really want to hear your opinions on whether the Denon amp will give me more (especially in the vocal/speech delivery) than my current Yamaha. We sometimes struggle to get decent dialogue balance......be glad to hear your opinions on where my money should go next and if I'll notice a difference....

The Yam is a nice amp. Used to have a 6 series and traded it in for a Denon 3600. That was a terrible mistake. Lots of people love the 3600 but there was something wrong with the treble to my ears. It might well have been an important lesson in inflation. The 3600 was slightly more in £ than the Yam but inflation after ten years meant I needed to spend double to get better audio quality. Try before you buy!

Before you splash out, get your phantom centre sorted. This vid helps:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02Y7vaVDNo

Switch to stereo (i.e. make sure the amp will not use your centre speaker)
Right click on the vid and select Loop
Sit in your usual position and listen
Angle your speakers in/out until you'd swear you left the real centre speaker switched on

 

[BrightonIan]

Ok so since the last post in here, I've bought a Yamaha A4A and a Q Acoustics QB12 sub!
Now I just need to fine tune it all to get the best out of it.
If you've any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear......on first fiddle, I've found a little difficulty getting much from the sub, despite what I expected following What Hi-fi's good review.....I must be doing something wrong!

 

[Tinman1952]

Ok so since the last post in here, I've bought a Yamaha A4A and a Q Acoustics QB12 sub!
Now I just need to fine tune it all to get the best out of it.
If you've any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear......on first fiddle, I've found a little difficulty getting much from the sub, despite what I expected following What Hi-fi's good review.....I must be doing something wrong!

Not necessarily. The auto calibration often reduces the level of the sub with Yamaha AV receivers. Just increase the level of the sub in the AVR settings to taste. It also depends of course on what media you are playing and the crossover setting used. Set your front speakers to 'small' to pass the bass to the sub.

 

[BrightonIan]

Not necessarily. The auto calibration often reduces the level of the sub with Yamaha AV receivers. Just increase the level of the sub in the AVR settings to taste. It also depends of course on what media you are playing and the crossover setting used. Set your front speakers to 'small' to pass the bass to the sub.

Even though they're tower speakers?

 

[BrightonIan]

Even though they're tower speakers?

3050i's......Don't want to miss out on how good they are!
And I'm wondering if there's a setting that sends the LFE to the front AND sub, or whether I have to choose one or the other?

 

[Tinman1952]

Even though they're tower speakers?

Yes..otherwise you are not using the bass management in the AVR. That's a common misconception....

 

[Tinman1952]

3050i's......Don't want to miss out on how good they are!
And I'm wondering if there's a setting that sends the LFE to the front AND sub, or whether I have to choose one or the other?

No its sub only.

 

[Tinman1952]

3050i's......Don't want to miss out on how good they are!

By sending 80 Hz and below to your sub your 3050i's will actually sound better!👍

 

[BrightonIan]

Ok that's really interesting. Thanks man!

 

[Tinman1952]

Ok that's really interesting. Thanks man!

You are welcome! Enjoy...!😁

 

[axman2]

BrightonIan, I had the same problem with dialogue via my RX-A870. I felt like I needed to increase the center volume more and more all the time.

So this year I'm thinking of upgrading my whole home cinema when I see good deals in the market for stuff that I want.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a good deal on a huge TV so I could do away with my projector screen. When I removed it I realized immediately that the room had a really bad echo. It was there before but not that bad and I didn't think much of it. But with the screen gone the dialogue got much worse and the overall sound unbearably harsh. So I figured that the screen must have been acting like an acoustic diffuser that made the echo bearable. So I installed some acoustic absobers and diffusors for a couple of hundred Euros, and the dialogue became very clear and everything sounds great, and I could watch movies at a lower volume. So I've abandoned the idea of upgrading from my Yamaha.

 

[BrightonIan]

BrightonIan, I had the same problem with dialogue via my RX-A870. I felt like I needed to increase the center volume more and more all the time.

So this year I'm thinking of upgrading my whole home cinema when I see good deals in the market for stuff that I want.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a good deal on a huge TV so I could do away with my projector screen. When I removed it I realized immediately that the room had a really bad echo. It was there before but not that bad and I didn't think much of it. But with the screen gone the dialogue got much worse and the overall sound unbearably harsh. So I figured that the screen must have been acting like an acoustic diffuser that made the echo bearable. So I installed some acoustic absobers and diffusors for a couple of hundred Euros, and the dialogue became very clear and everything sounds great, and I could watch movies at a lower volume. So I've abandoned the idea of upgrading from my Yamaha.

Thanks for that 👍👍
I'm the end I opted to upgrade it. I bought a Yamaha A4A.
After a few tweaks I've gotta be honest I'm really happy.
👍