Final Sanity Check on my new receiver

[Botch]

This was kinda hard to take, but I have to admit that my TV/receiver issues (both 13 years old) were NOT caused by my TV, but rather my receiver's HTML output stage going kaput; it can't be repaired.
I'd replaced my 47" LG "local-dimming" LCD with a 55" Sony OLED this Spring, and the picture improvement was glorious, so I guess after 13 years that's "okay", but I still regret tossing a functional, decent TV. Water under the bridge.

I've always been a Yamaha guy. My first stereo receiver was purchased in '79, and except for two power meter bulbs going out, is STILL fully functional and sounds great. My first 5.1 receiver was purchased in 2010, and except for the HTML stage going out, was perfectly happy with it too. I did a deep-dive looking into the NAD receivers, but in my price range they were missing a few key components, notably an on-board phono preamp, so I nixed them.

Right now Crutchfield has two Yammy's that I'm looking at, the RX-A2A "Aventage" (their "premium" line) at $1,000, and the RS-V6A at $600. Crutchfield has some really neat online comparison features, and I selected both receivers, called up their specs side-by-side, checked a box that said, "Show only Differences", and really found the results intriguing:
https://www.crutchfield.com/g_10420/Home-Theater-Receivers.html?fa=1#&nvpair=FFBrand|Yamaha

In a nutshell:
- the "Aventage" was 66% more expensive
- the Aventage has a fifth, center-mounted foot under the chassis, which for a 22-lb receiver is complete marketing bullshit.
- the Aventage has a detachable power cord, the RSV does not. This is a huge advantage in music keyboards where you're setting up on stage Friday night, tearing down early Saturday, doing the same Saturday night, setting up at home to learn new songs, tearing down/setting up at the rehearsal space on Wednesday night, doing it again at home to tweak things, wash/rinse/repeat. On an A/V receiver, meh.
- the Aventage can "upscale" to 8K, but neither my Oppo's nor my Bravia TV can display them
- the Aventage weighs less than a pound more than the RSV, which tells me there's no increase in the power supply capacity (and they have identical watt outputs). And I've never been a LOUD music/movie fan, most demos at our GTGs were borderline painful to me, and I'm even older now.
- the Aventage has 3 yrs parts/labor warrantee, the RSV has 2 years; meh
- the Aventage remote has a lot more buttons, and is much more confusing (again, I'm older now)

So, I'm about to pull the trigger on the RSV, but figured I'd blow it past you guys if you see anything I've missed (I think I'm the only Yamaha guy here, not sure). TIA.

 

[mcad64]

This was kinda hard to take, but I have to admit that my TV/receiver issues (both 13 years old) were NOT caused by my TV, but rather my receiver's HTML output stage going kaput; it can't be repaired.
I'd replaced my 47" LG "local-dimming" LCD with a 55" Sony OLED this Spring, and the picture improvement was glorious, so I guess after 13 years that's "okay", but I still regret tossing a functional, decent TV. Water under the bridge.

I've always been a Yamaha guy. My first stereo receiver was purchased in '79, and except for two power meter bulbs going out, is STILL fully functional and sounds great. My first 5.1 receiver was purchased in 2010, and except for the HTML stage going out, was perfectly happy with it too. I did a deep-dive looking into the NAD receivers, but in my price range they were missing a few key components, notably an on-board phono preamp, so I nixed them.

Right now Crutchfield has two Yammy's that I'm looking at, the RX-A2A "Aventage" (their "premium" line) at $1,000, and the RS-V6A at $600. Crutchfield has some really neat online comparison features, and I selected both receivers, called up their specs side-by-side, checked a box that said, "Show only Differences", and really found the results intriguing:
https://www.crutchfield.com/g_10420/Home-Theater-Receivers.html?fa=1#&nvpair=FFBrand|Yamaha

In a nutshell:
- the "Aventage" was 66% more expensive
- the Aventage has a fifth, center-mounted foot under the chassis, which for a 22-lb receiver is complete marketing bullshit.
- the Aventage has a detachable power cord, the RSV does not. This is a huge advantage in music keyboards where you're setting up on stage Friday night, tearing down early Saturday, doing the same Saturday night, setting up at home to learn new songs, tearing down/setting up at the rehearsal space on Wednesday night, doing it again at home to tweak things, wash/rinse/repeat. On an A/V receiver, meh.
- the Aventage can "upscale" to 8K, but neither my Oppo's nor my Bravia TV can display them
- the Aventage weighs less than a pound more than the RSV, which tells me there's no increase in the power supply capacity (and they have identical watt outputs). And I've never been a LOUD music/movie fan, most demos at our GTGs were borderline painful to me, and I'm even older now.
- the Aventage has 3 yrs parts/labor warrantee, the RSV has 2 years; meh
- the Aventage remote has a lot more buttons, and is much more confusing (again, I'm older now)

So, I'm about to pull the trigger on the RSV, but figured I'd blow it past you guys if you see anything I've missed (I think I'm the only Yamaha guy here, not sure). TIA.

I have come to the conclusion in my old age that sometimes less really is more!!
I say go RSV.
Oh, and unless your receiver is writing code I think you mean HDMI rather than HTML !!??

 

[Botch]

I am a bit acronym-challenged...

 

[jomari]

whats RSV?

go for a soundbar.

tongue in cheek, but i am also super happy with my sony soundbar.

1. i have a sony tv, so it works well
2. i cant really watch full blast anymore ever since i handed my balls over to my mother in law living here rent free and under her roof.
3. kids kids kids. cant see redrum stuff anymore and the insidious world without my kid popping his head out at 11pm.

guess the only thing i have to look forward to is the green jello and not the red one.

 

[Botch]

whats RSV?

go for a soundbar.

RSV is the first few alpha-numerics of the receiver I'm considering, in the link above.
I don't even need a soundbar for watching TV news, which is about the only thing I watch on the TV beyond DVD/Bluray concerts, and for them I have my built-in 5.1 Monitor Audio speaker system, no sound bar required!

 

[Botch]

B-U-M-P!

Well, no one can accuse me of being an impulse shopper. The Yamaha RS-V6A is on sale again for Xmas, and I still don't have a good full connection between my disk player and my new Sony TV (thought the HDMI output on my receiver had gone bad). I started "refresh-reading" the manuals for my gear awhile back (weeks, not 18 months) and suddenly realized my Oppo disk player had TWO HDMI outs! My receiver could play the audio from any disk just fine, I just wasn't getting video sent to the TV. So, I could just hook up my receiver to one Oppo HDMI Out, and my TV to the other HDMI Out! Color me stupid for not checking for this August of last year.

I pulled the rack out away from the wall (how I still envy Bat's easy access) and then noticed a blue box, mounted between my receiver's HDMI OUT and the HDMI cable to the TV (installed behind the wall). It was this thing: Darbee "Darblet" ...which is a supposed "video enhancer". I honestly don't remember installing this thing, 15 years ago (color me stupid, again)! Its wall-wart power supply had a red light on it, blinking... Hmm, did that thing break? I bypassed it, and suddenly the menu of a bluray in my Oppo showed up on my TV, Yay! I don't need a new receiver!

I hit "play", and it was good to hear the 5.1 come back to life. Unfortunately after a couple minutes, the music started stuttering, I watched the time counter on the Oppo and it was the disk player stuttering. Eff me. Did a quick check at Crutchfield, and Sony has a bluray disk player that does 4K, reg Bluray, SACD, and DVD-A, for $220. Tomorrow will check if the "spare" Oppo I had purchased from Chuck here is operational, and also check to see if my 15-year-old receiver passes 4K (since my new TV can display it). I did pay EweTube TV an extra $5/mo for 4K broadcasts, they were few and far between and the last Superbowl was supposed to be 4K, but it didn't look any different to my old eyes, and so I dropped the $5 service.

In summary:
1. I don't need a new receiver. Merry Christmas to me!
2. I may or may not need a new disk player; a new Sony is inexpensive but my 15-yr-old LogiTech Harmony One won't turn it on.
3. I've been wanting to stream for awhile now; since I don't need a new receiver, I spent part of that money on this, this afternoon, from Crutchfield:



(I won't be able to control it from my Harmony One either, 21st-century problems...) I also have a 15-year layer of dust behind my rack that needs some sprucing up; that can wait until after Xmas.

Hope you guys have a good Holiday season.

 

[mcad64]

B-U-M-P!

Well, no one can accuse me of being an impulse shopper. The Yamaha RS-V6A is on sale again for Xmas, and I still don't have a good full connection between my disk player and my new Sony TV (thought the HDMI output on my receiver had gone bad). I started "refresh-reading" the manuals for my gear awhile back (weeks, not 18 months) and suddenly realized my Oppo disk player had TWO HDMI outs! My receiver could play the audio from any disk just fine, I just wasn't getting video sent to the TV. So, I could just hook up my receiver to one Oppo HDMI Out, and my TV to the other HDMI Out! Color me stupid for not checking for this August of last year.

I pulled the rack out away from the wall (how I still envy Bat's easy access) and then noticed a blue box, mounted between my receiver's HDMI OUT and the HDMI cable to the TV (installed behind the wall). It was this thing: Darbee "Darblet" ...which is a supposed "video enhancer". I honestly don't remember installing this thing, 15 years ago (color me stupid, again)! Its wall-wart power supply had a red light on it, blinking... Hmm, did that thing break? I bypassed it, and suddenly the menu of a bluray in my Oppo showed up on my TV, Yay! I don't need a new receiver!

I hit "play", and it was good to hear the 5.1 come back to life. Unfortunately after a couple minutes, the music started stuttering, I watched the time counter on the Oppo and it was the disk player stuttering. Eff me. Did a quick check at Crutchfield, and Sony has a bluray disk player that does 4K, reg Bluray, SACD, and DVD-A, for $220. Tomorrow will check if the "spare" Oppo I had purchased from Chuck here is operational, and also check to see if my 15-year-old receiver passes 4K (since my new TV can display it). I did pay EweTube TV an extra $5/mo for 4K broadcasts, they were few and far between and the last Superbowl was supposed to be 4K, but it didn't look any different to my old eyes, and so I dropped the $5 service.

In summary:
1. I don't need a new receiver. Merry Christmas to me!
2. I may or may not need a new disk player; a new Sony is inexpensive but my 15-yr-old LogiTech Harmony One won't turn it on.
3. I've been wanting to stream for awhile now; since I don't need a new receiver, I spent part of that money on this, this afternoon, from Crutchfield:

View attachment 12643

(I won't be able to control it from my Harmony One either, 21st-century problems...) I also have a 15-year layer of dust behind my rack that needs some sprucing up; that can wait until after Xmas.

Hope you guys have a good Holiday season.