Upgrading to Yamaha MX-A5200

[rahuln]

Hi,

I have 7.1.2 setup with Polk RTiA9 as fronts, Polk CSiA6 centre, Polk RTiA3 side and rear surrounds and matching Polk ceiling speakers for .2. A single down firing 10 inch SVS active sub. All this is driven by Marantz SR7010. This in a dedicated HT room. Now, I want to move to separates and as a first step, I want to upgrade to a power-amp Yamaha MX-A5200. Now, I want to know how much improvement it will bring to my setup? I know the rating are not all same on these so I really cannot compare the wattage of the two systems.

How do I go about finding it out? I'm located in Hyderabad, if its helps.

Thanks

-Rahul.

 

[liverpool_for_life]

Now, I want to know how much improvement it will bring to my setup?

What do you feel is lacking in your current setup?

 

[rahuln]

For now, I feel there isn't enough grunt in my fronts especially the lows are not pronounced, especially during listening to music. I read on the web that Polk RTiA9 are very power hungry speakers and will sound better with more power. I was considering getting amps only for the front but then I thought I might be better to wit separates. In addition to it, I also want to bi-amp my fronts.

 

[elangoas]

I want to upgrade to a power-amp Yamaha MX-A5200

Hope you have considered Marantz MM 8077, a 7 channel power amplifier, may be for less..

Hope, you have checked this review of Yamaha MX A5000 from audioholics - https://www.audioholics.com/av-prea...ge-cx-a5000-mx/processor-and-amp-measurements

Now, I want to know how much improvement it will bring to my setup?

If you have planned for processor, then power amp is the way to go..

There are instances in a movie, when all the 7 channels in my AVR are in use at the same time, but those scenarios are brief.. (Having observed in my set-up after adding power amp)..

With your existing AVR, may be you can use the power amp for only the bed channels (L-C-R-SL-SR).. An outboard amplification would give some more power to speakers & some more headroom in demanding movie scenes..

I had very recently added Sonodyne 8 channel power amp with my AVR Denon x 3300, though yet to re-calibrate with power amplifier, i have observed it to be good addition for movie watching..

Here is an article on power amps - https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/connecting-an-external-amp-to-a-receiver

 

[efernand1]

For now, I feel there isn't enough grunt in my fronts especially the lows are not pronounced, especially during listening to music. I read on the web that Polk RTiA9 are very power hungry speakers and will sound better with more power. I was considering getting amps only for the front but then I thought I might be better to wit separates. In addition to it, I also want to bi-amp my fronts.

The SR7010 is a very capable AVR and when you use all channels together, you will not get 100% power to each channel as the Transformer (Power Supply) used is not High Current which would ideally meet demands of speakers playing at loud volumes.....

I am sure you did run Audyssey setup which sets speakers at conservative levels etc. Have you tried to manually adjust the levels of the front speakers?

If the Fronts are set as Large what is the Crossover Freq set? Is Bass Management set to LFE + Main?

Check all this before investing in a power amp.

Also, Source levels are usually at 0.....advisable to crank it to +6 (it can gu upto till 12).

These are all manual tweaks available ...hidden potentials in AVRs...( An analog stereo integrated amp does not have such tweaks as the loudest levels in source and speaker levels are already pre set).

Try...All the best

 

[rahuln]

@elangoas Eventually, I want to move to separates but that's couple of years out. In mean time, I was planning to use all 11 channels of Yamaha, including bi-amping the fronts for 2-channel music listening. I have read and seen the videos from audioholics for MX-A5000 and MX-A5200. Thanks a lot for additional article and suggestion on using the power from AVR for rest of the channels. But If I'm going with that setup, should I consider mono blocks for LCR channels? I can get Outlaw M2200 from US as they support 230v.

@efernand1 The fronts are set to large, I didn't change anything in the recommended Audyssey setup. I'll try the bass management, I don't remember what it is set to now. BTW, loadness or bass is not my problem. I'm not getting the low growl in the vocals. For example, the way say Mufasa sounds in cinema hall is not as deep on my system. I also miss the same during listening acoustic music. Do you think the above will help in this area?

 

[elangoas]

@elangoas Eventually, I want to move to separates but that's couple of years out. In mean time, I was planning to use all 11 channels of Yamaha, including bi-amping the fronts for 2-channel music listening. I have read and seen the videos from audioholics for MX-A5000 and MX-A5200. Thanks a lot for additional article and suggestion on using the power from AVR for rest of the channels. But If I'm going with that setup, should I consider mono blocks for LCR channels? I can get Outlaw M2200 from US as they support 230v.

Assuming you are using SR7010 in a 7.2.4 layout, and if you can get the Outlaw for L-C-R channels, then i don't think you would need a 11 channel power amplifier from Yamaha.. But, as you have planned for a processor in near future, you will need power amp, so yes get that too..

For now, I feel there isn't enough grunt in my fronts especially the lows are not pronounced, especially during listening to music. I read on the web that Polk RTiA9 are very power hungry speakers and will sound better with more power.

Hope you are using sub when playing music.. May be it is an acoustic issue in the room (or) at your listening position.. You need to narrow down the issue & approach a solution.. Start with AVR calibration settings, crossover to narrow down the issue..

 

[efernand1]

[
@efernand1 The fronts are set to large, I didn't change anything in the recommended Audyssey setup. I'll try the bass management, I don't remember what it is set to now. BTW, loadness or bass is not my problem. I'm not getting the low growl in the vocals. For example, the way say Mufasa sounds in cinema hall is not as deep on my system. I also miss the same during listening acoustic music. Do you think the above will help in this area?

The Center speaker and Subwoofer are the main speakers which are active at all times for movies and sometimes for music concerts. Adjust the center speaker levels and based on the specs of the center speaker, i think you can change the crossover frequency. Get it a bit lower. It should sound punchy and crispy enough!

I use a SR6009 and always keep tweaking with my settings every 3 weeks or so to see which sounds better.

In Audyssey Settings & Audio Settings & Speaker settings:

• Dynamic Volume is set from Medium to Light
• Audyssey is set from Reference to FLAT
• Speaker levels are adjusted if sounding too low.
• Depending on the capability of the speakers, set the crossover settings as low as possible. (Example speaker can handle 60hz to 22khz....set it at 80hz or 70hz).
• Subwoofer crossover should be kept 10hz to 20hz higher than the freq set for all speakers, this helps in a bit of overlap and also ensures that no freq is missed out.

Try your fav movie scene or music track where you are familiar with lows and highs as reference so that you know there is a change or not. Keep the settings for a couple of days and change if required.


Try these settings and

 

[liverpool_for_life]

For now, I feel there isn't enough grunt in my fronts especially the lows are not pronounced, especially during listening to music.

Based on that and Audyssey setting your mains to large, I'd suggest that you first try setting your mains to small and engage bass management. Depending on your room dimensions (and your listening levels), this may be enough.

 

[rahuln]

@efernand1 I'll try to play with these settings. I didn't make any changes to Audyssey.

@liverpool_for_life the room size is 15x13

 

[sandeepmohan]

All this is driven by Marantz SR7010.

While the Rti A9's are not a difficult speaker load, your Marantz cannot get the best out of them with all channels driven.

I can't comment on the Yamaha as I have no experience with their power amplifiers.

I recommend the Emotiva XPA 5 Gen 3. I've heard the previous gen with the A9 and it was superb. The set up I heard em with was also initially paired with a top of line Marantz receiver in 5.1 configuration. This was before the Atmos era.

There are several other top quality power amplifiers out there but difficult to get a home audition.

 

[rahuln]

@sandeepmohan Do you know if Emotiva has 240v amps? I couldn't find any information on their site. Other option as I said above is to get 3 Outlaw mono blocks as they support 240v supply. The only concerns is that I eventually want to upgrade my pre-pro as well. So wouldn't it be better to invest in full amp?

 

[reachkalyan.kr]

Do you know if Emotiva has 240v amps

AFAIK it supports 240v it detects automatically.
Pls check the online documents.

 

[ktks1]

Do you know if Emotiva has 240v amps?

As the FM mentioned, it should be able to detect automatically just like the Crown amps. These amps should be able to bring out the dynamics of the A9. I have the RTi70 (older version of RTi A5) and it goes to ~35 Hz comfortably. I've observed that playing with the AVR audio settings play a big role in how the fronts sound. So, try them out first and then decide.

 

[sandeepmohan]

Do you know if Emotiva has 240v amps?

Yes; they are dual voltage.

Outlaw Audio is superb. 3 mono blocks is probably over kill, don't you think?. Don't try to aim for an amplifier that can deliver a full 300 watts to your Polks. You don't need to. Even if the power is a clean 150 watts, it will wake them up nice and good.

I don't follow what you mean by pre pro upgrade bit. Are you saying you want to buy a processor? Your Marantz is a pretty stellar processor by itself. To get better than that would require you to head in Anthem territory and even then, I am not so sure how big of a difference it would make.

 

[raghupb]

@elangoas Eventually, I want to move to separates but that's couple of years out. In mean time, I was planning to use all 11 channels of Yamaha, including bi-amping the fronts for 2-channel music listening. I have read and seen the videos from audioholics for MX-A5000 and MX-A5200. Thanks a lot for additional article and suggestion on using the power from AVR for rest of the channels. But If I'm going with that setup, should I consider mono blocks for LCR channels? I can get Outlaw M2200 from US as they support 230v.

@efernand1 The fronts are set to large, I didn't change anything in the recommended Audyssey setup. I'll try the bass management, I don't remember what it is set to now. BTW, loadness or bass is not my problem. I'm not getting the low growl in the vocals. For example, the way say Mufasa sounds in cinema hall is not as deep on my system. I also miss the same during listening acoustic music. Do you think the above will help in this area?

Outlaw M2200s are fantastic for HT application. If you get these, you can be rest assured L/R/C amplification is set for a long time.
I would not get all excited about them for just 2-channel music setup.
While they are good enough for most cases, if you are looking for finesse/nuance, they will be found wanting.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[rahuln]

Hi,

Thanks a lot everyone for excellent feedback. I looked at the speaker settings. All my speakers were setup large and the sub was not getting used for the stereo playback. I played with speaker settings on the similar lines mentioned by @efernand1. There is significant improvement in the music with these settings. I didn't get time to try out the movies yet but I'll do it on the weekend. At least for the music I'm good for now and may not consider any upgrade. I'm not sure how much better it will get and what it even mean that it will be improved. Anyways, my source is Spotify Premium. If the improvement in movies is similar to what I got for the music, then that's all I need.

Again thanks a lot everyone for helping me with this. I just hope the upgrade bug stay dormant for some time .

 

[efernand1]

Hi,

Thanks a lot everyone for excellent feedback. I looked at the speaker settings. All my speakers were setup large and the sub was not getting used for the stereo playback. I played with speaker settings on the similar lines mentioned by @efernand1. There is significant improvement in the music with these settings. I didn't get time to try out the movies yet but I'll do it on the weekend. At least for the music I'm good for now and may not consider any upgrade. I'm not sure how much better it will get and what it even mean that it will be improved. Anyways, my source is Spotify Premium. If the improvement in movies is similar to what I got for the music, then that's all I need.

Again thanks a lot everyone for helping me with this. I just hope the upgrade bug stay dormant for some time .

Glad it worked for you. Audyssey works well to an extent..it is not human to consider the things in the room and hence results in conservative levels....

I played with my settings and it works well. Keep Audyssey from Reference to FLAT and see the difference.....I am sure the output be it for movies or music will be a tad better!

 

[ktks1]

Hi,

Thanks a lot everyone for excellent feedback. I looked at the speaker settings. All my speakers were setup large and the sub was not getting used for the stereo playback. I played with speaker settings on the similar lines mentioned by @efernand1. There is significant improvement in the music with these settings. I didn't get time to try out the movies yet but I'll do it on the weekend. At least for the music I'm good for now and may not consider any upgrade. I'm not sure how much better it will get and what it even mean that it will be improved. Anyways, my source is Spotify Premium. If the improvement in movies is similar to what I got for the music, then that's all I need.

Again thanks a lot everyone for helping me with this. I just hope the upgrade bug stay dormant for some time .

Glad it worked out without opening your wallet

 

[rahuln]

@efernand1 Yes, I'm playing a lot with the settings now to see what sounds good to "me". In the process I also discovered a web interface for my AVR so now its much easier to tweak something instead of firing up the projector to the on-screen settings.

BTW, for music for quite a few songs with the lot of bass, I prefer the pure-direct option as it produces less boomy bass. Please note, the sub is still active in pure-direct for two channel audio.