Yamaha RX-A3010BL 9.2-Channel Network AV Receiver

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1. John C. Schultz "brightland.com" says:

   February 23, 2013 at 1:30 am

   27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

   
   Full featured and sounds excellent!, September 10, 2011

   By 

   John C. Schultz “brightland.com” (Beverly Hills, CA) –
   
     

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Yamaha RX-A3010BL 9.2-Channel Network AV Receiver (Electronics)

   Previous receivers/amps were Sony ES, Adcom, and Denon. After quite a bit of research, I narrowed down the selection to the Denon 4311, Marantz SR7005, and the Yamaha 3010. There were no reviews of the 3010, but the 3000 reviews were excellent and the Yamaha music gear I used worked well, so I purchased the 3010. I tested all the features I need and everything meets or exceeds my expectations. Sound is excellent. Yamaha’s calibration system is fast and works great: a significant improvement in audio quality compared to testing before calibration. I think it is a move in the right direction to ship the manual on disk in PDF form vs. wasting paper for a printed manual. Searching a PDF is fast, and the Yamaha manual is very well put together. I didn’t need it until I wanted to check for firmware updates. Mine shipped with 1.03 and I updated via the network to 1.06. Was fast & easy, but required using the manual to find the correct button combination to bring up the advanced options. The TV display menu system is easy to use and does the job. The iPhone app is very cool- looks even better than the TV UI. It’s also possible to control the receiver via a web browser. In practice, I have only needed/used the big remote (you also get a smaller, simpler one). In summary- it works well and sounds excellent.

   [Begin Update 10/4/2011]
   3010 Temperature Measurements
   Ambient: 78F

   Top of Unit
   Laser thermometer: 105F
   Digital thermometer: 105F

   Compared to my Denon 2807
   Ambient: 76F
   Laser thermometer: 105F

   Both units have good ventilation (open front/rear at least 3″ space above).

   Sound quality continues to impress. Web-based remote control has been very useful in practice.
   [End Update 10/4/2011]

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2. Keeper says:

   February 23, 2013 at 2:10 am

   22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

   
   Finally great tech at affordable price, October 29, 2011

   By 

   Keeper (SFBay Area, CA) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Yamaha RX-A3010BL 9.2-Channel Network AV Receiver (Electronics)

   Update: December 4th – adding some web and iPhone screen shots (see above in pictures) to ensure that you have ample information before making decision from user interface front as well.

   Orig Review
   ———–
   Please don’t take me wrong when I say affordable price, I was just comparing the Yamaha Z11 at $5K price point to RX-A3010 at less than half the cost with added features and/or upgraded technology. Price or the affordability is a point of reference based on passion, need and things you sacrifice (your kids inheritance as example) in life to have that passion based on your priority.

   Having clarified that back to the main review

   Difference between 3000 and 3010: Two extra “POWERED” channels period (other than 10W per channel increase and possibly some internal upgrades that we may never know). Case you’re looking for zoning your system and/or want to make real 9.2 system (or 7.2+ 1 stereo zone without added amp) – 3010 should be on your list – my humble opinion

   Summary: Great system with too many configurable options which sounds great as well – just marry this with nice speakers.

   Background: I have been a hardcore Denon person so far but defected to Yasmaha purely because of value for money reasons, among few more things as features while keeping quality high “enough”.

   My Experience: 3+ weeks or so. I had 3000 before that I used for 2-3 weeks before upgraded to this one with my gratitude to the vendor for facilitating me to do so – as always – Thank You. Was worth $128 price difference especially when I keep the system for at least 5 years and usually move to other room for more years of mileage.

   Digging (slightly) Deeeeper
   Built – nicely balanced, heavy, tonnes of connectivity options with most configurable ports

   Heat – generates less heat than some other models in previous years

   Display – Front display is good but still you can not see if your audio source is actually producing DTSHD. You have to press few buttons to get that info on TV. This can be a good thing for people like me who love to hide box controlled by some RF remote

   Soft Upgrades – Can connect directly to INTERNET to download and upgrade firmware, takes less than 10-15 minutes overall. Also have option to use USB. Few extra steps to thru front panel buttons via admin console

   Configuration: This is good and really bad as well. Little too many options to choose to make you really confused at times but great thing is there are several checks built-in and box does protect itself. Worst you need to do is reset everything and lose all the settings as factory default. So you need time to play with this device for advanced operation but basic level is piece of cake and can be up and running in less than 30 minutes including basic fine tuning

   Sound Calibration: Comes with a Yapo setup (mic and position piece of plastic), helps you calibrate/check phases/determine angles of speakers for single or multi seat position – much better than earlier models and seems it does work quite good. You can also save and recall special settings on demand based on calibration(s) you did and saved

   On Screen: Most of the (except admin console) settings and information can be accessed on screen right on your TV and changes can be made accordingly on the fly – helpful and convenient

   Picture: has settings to enhance your picture even from 1080P source and saves the settings in Video Select memory for you to quickly choose

   Sound (finally): I am not an Audiophile person by far but love music of all kinds, listen to podcasts (vocal) and watch Drama to Action movies. Having said that so far I did like this product – at times it impresses me too much that overwhelms the experience but at times its just OK. This could be because of 11 years old speakers that I bought from craigslist till I figure out which ones should I really buy. So please don’t take my word for it for now (my “honest” disclaimer) – bottom line sounds great as overall

   Logitech Remote friendly – has database field in harmony so no worries
   Good to have banana plugs as the case little too tight space for so many connectors
   HDMI pass thru control for devices that use BDWise (samsung) so no worries no that front as well

   Support: Was getting some kind of “snow” on TV while watching cable, called Yamaha, very friendly supportive front line support, walked me thru several steps that did not resolve but swapping the HDMI (both amazon – same model) did the trick – I am still confused possibly a lose connect as my conclusion

   Case I missed anything or need to ask a question – please drop me a line in feedback/comment – will happy to help as always.

   Wish you my best for great hunting for your search though

   Update: November 14th 2011…

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3. Land Shark says:

   February 23, 2013 at 2:34 am

   15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

   
   Exceptional Piece of Gear, October 16, 2011

   By 

   Land Shark (Atlanta, GA) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Yamaha RX-A3010BL 9.2-Channel Network AV Receiver (Electronics)

   My philosophy in buying a receiver 15 years ago was the same as it was today, go for the best you can find with the most power and flexibility so it can keep pace with technology and time. Certainly for 15 years my old receiver did just that so it was a real heart-felt moment when it died and needed replacement recently.

   I went to a variety of stores and did my homework and decided to go with this model from Yamaha for the aforementioned reasons as well as the reputation of Yamaha for very accurate and clean sound quality and durability. My unit arrived two days ago and I admit I was a bit intimidated by all the features, but it did not take too long to get reasonably familiar with this model. What absolutely blew me away was not only the low THD that the 9 separate amplifiers put out, but it operates at relatively low heat output. The setup steps out of the box are fairly simple. Two of the key steps are updating the firmware which turned out to be easy to do and the speaker acoustic setup. The receiver comes with a microphone that tests volume at ear level where you sit… amazing. It knows the characteristics of the speakers, how far apart they are from each other and in relation to you, and the sound is precisely tuned. Sound is utterly exceptional.

   I am still playing around with it learning all it does but the sound quality while driving my Bose speaker array is delightful. Clear and precise, it creates sound in such a way that you need to check the volume to see how loud it is because you almost can’t tell, it is that smooth. I have been so pleased with it, I think I will get the IPOD adapter to try it out.

   Other things to note about this product: it’s a beast. It weighs in at around 40 pounds so the box it arrives in is big and this thing is pretty heavy. The packing was really good so there was no damage to the unit. Another factor to consider is to get out the measuring tape and see how much depth your media cabinet has… this one is pretty big so ensure you remember to measure to avoid unnecessary disappointment or hassle. This model can drive a ton of speakers, in up to 4 zones so a house an separate events will be easy to control once the controls are learned I imagine. Additionally, with the tons of clean power it deliver per channel, it will not starve your speakers for energy trying to deliver performance… something to be sure to keep in mind.

   I wish you all the best of luck with your model, I am loving mine and will add updates as time goes by should I discover anything else good or bad worth mentioning.

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