Please share your opinions on Yamaha R S700 to Replace my RX-V757

[Shinto]

Hi Friends,

I got a good deal for a used R S700.
The specs are very similar to A S700.A S 700 is more expensive in the used market.
Is A S700 better sounding??
Also I was happy with how my RX-V757 sounds in stereo mode.Used it mainly for music.
Am I supposed to hear any difference by replacing it with R S700.
Please share your thoughts.
Thanks in Advance.

 

[tuff]

One is a stereo receiver the other is a surround receiver. For stereo S700 should perform much better that the surround receiver IMO. Do try and audition though.
What speakers will you be pairing it with?

 

[Shinto]

Thanks for your reply tuff.

I got the R S700 already.

Compared it with my surround reciever RX-V757.

The DAC used in both cases : Peachtree DACiTx.

Source in both cases : Youtube from smart TV to optical input of DAC,USB input from laptop/foobar playing CD quality music files.

Main Speakers in both cases: Wharfedale Valdus 400 towers.

Result: There is no much difference in sound.R S700 has a little more soft /smooth brightness,more refined sound,but less bass.
Vocals are slightly more forward/solid with R S700.
With no bass management capabilities, the full spectrum of sound is now routed to the speakers resulting in muddled sound at higher volumes.Could this be the speakers not capable???

Different Source: One thing to note is the difference in sound when I change the sources.
With youtube/optical from smart TV ,the sound is comparable between the two.
But with USB input from laptop/foobar,the R S700 out performs the surround receiver.I don't understand why this is so??

Different Speaker: When I changed the speakers to my B&W DM601 S1, things were very different.The B&W's were very bright with the surround reciever, now they are very smooth/musical with R S700.

But I think RX V757 is still a winner with my main speakers.
Reasons: Comparable in sound with the stereo receiver.In built DAC,Bass Management capabilities, which I miss in the stereo receiver.
Can be used also for movies.

I am not sure what am I missing here.I expected the R S700 to outperform the surround receiver by a big margin.
Either the stereo section of RX V757 is very good,R S 700 is not good enough or I am missing something.
Could it be the main speakers(Wharfedale Valdus 400) themselves not capable of showing the potential of R S700 ??

I am not sure of which amp to keep and which one to sell??

Please share your thoughts.

 

[tuff]

Congratulations on the purchase. I am surprised at the conclusions.
I see a sub woofer out in the pic for the R S700. Seems it does have bass management. (marked in red)
The AVR seems to use different DSP than the S700 so that could be something to look at. Try comparing both bypassing DSP or using source direct to see any difference you might hear.
As you indicated that Foobar sounds better than TV, means having better source will reveal the limitations of each.
Sometimes tighter bass also can be interpreted as 'less bass' which could be the case here. I would spend some time before getting rid of either amps, at the least a month or two, and live with it, and see if it grows on you.
Were you using the Peachtree DAC with the AVR or the built in DAC of the V757?

 

[Shinto]

Congratulations on the purchase. I am surprised at the conclusions.
I see a sub woofer out in the pic for the R S700. Seems it does have bass management. (marked in red)
The AVR seems to use different DSP than the S700 so that could be something to look at. Try comparing both bypassing DSP or using source direct to see any difference you might hear.
As you indicated that Foobar sounds better than TV, means having better source will reveal the limitations of each.
Sometimes tighter bass also can be interpreted as 'less bass' which could be the case here. I would spend some time before getting rid of either amps, at the least a month or two, and live with it, and see if it grows on you.
Were you using the Peachtree DAC with the AVR or the built in DAC of the V757?View attachment 27540

Hi Tuff,

There is a subwoofer out,but no bass management.
Peachtree DAC was used with the AVR.
Having said that , the inbuilt DAC was quite good with TV optical which was used before I got the Peachtree.
I have compared both in Pure Direct.The AVR competed well in pure direct except it does not feed the Subwoofer in pure direct where as the R S700 does.
One thing I am not sure though is when the AVR is in pure direct,does the cross over setting in bass management does get bypassed or not.
Anyway I will keep both the amps for a little long.
Thanks for your inputs..

 

[elangoas]

Different Source: One thing to note is the difference in sound when I change the sources.
With youtube/optical from smart TV ,the sound is comparable between the two.
But with USB input from laptop/foobar,the R S700 out performs the surround receiver.I don't understand why this is so??

May be something to do with audio settings.. When you use Foobar, i hope the output device is configured as "WASAPI: Peach Tree DAC".. But this is not the case, when you play youtube app/webpage on smart TV..

Try using Kodi application on smart TV/Android TV Box, under "expert" audio settings select "WASAPI: Peach Tree DAC" and then compare it and then take digital out..

One thing I am not sure though is when the AVR is in pure direct,does the cross over setting in bass management does get bypassed or not.

Yes.. When the AVR is in pure direct mode, it will override the bass management settings.. Your speakers are treated as "large"..

 

[Shinto]

The smart TV is not capable of taking kodi directly.
I use youtube app in the TV and I dont have much output choices in the TV.All I have is PCM vs AUTO.
May be I am missing something.Please advice.
What are your thoughts on the speakers itself.
The main speakers, Wharfedales Valdus 400 perform well with the AVR and youtube source,not good with foobar though.B&W 601 was terrible with the AVR whatever the source was.
But B&W's perform well with the new stereo R S700 with youtube and foobar whereas Wharfedales are not performing with R S700 as they used to with AVR.
The sound is some what bright with the Wharfedales now,The midrange is a little thin but forward than with AVR.
B&W have a bright signature anyway but very musical with the stereo R S700.
I dont know if it is a speaker matching issue.

Thanks,

 

[elangoas]

The smart TV is not capable of taking kodi directly.
I use youtube app in the TV and I dont have much output choices in the TV.All I have is PCM vs AUTO.

Ok.. What would you usually set it to?..

May be I am missing something.Please advice.

IMO, the only differences is in the way audio is being bit-streamed.. With a Foobar to your DAC, it is near bit-perfect playback.. With your TV smart system, there could be some processing added to the audio stream before it goes out on optical..

I dont know if it is a speaker matching issue.

With DAC being the same, the differences between Valdus 400 and the B & W could be the character of the speaker..

 

[Shinto]

It is set to PCM now.
It was set to Auto when I first introduced the Peachtree DAC to the loop.This fried one of my tweeters when a dolby signal came through.Lesson learned and It is set to PCM since then.

I am sure I liked the sound from R S700 when I first connected it to the Valdus 400's.Then I swapped it with B&W's.Swapped back to Valdus and since then I am not liking the sound,it sounds bright.I think it is all Psychological.

Cheers