Yamaha RX-A3040 Receiver Preview
My first real AV receiver was a Yamaha RX-V3000 (not a bad start!) The new Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver (and really anyAventage receiver) is very different from that analogue machine of years past—before room correction, HDMI, and easily-assignable amplifiers. The RX-A3040 is an 11.2 channel receiver that includes such new features as Wi-Fi (built right in), nine (9) amplifier channels (150W per channel), HDMI 2.0, and 4K Ultra HD video upconversion. It also has AirPlay and supports independent Zone 2 HDMI sources. The new Cinema DSP HD3 it cool in that it has four CINEMA DSP engines which is uses along with two optional front presence channels to bring a new vertical dimension to the 9.2-channel movie experience.
The Yamaha RX-A3040 uses the company’s Total Purity Concept, including the use of a high drive, fully-discrete power amp technology, high quality preamplifiers, anti-vibration technology and even independent pure power supplies for DACs. The RX-A3040 even uses dedicated power supplies for the analogue and digital circuitry to avoid cross contamination of the signals or noise.
The front of the Yamaha RX-A3040 Aventage receiver is nothing special—in fact it looks very similar to the existing Yamaha RX-A3030 receiver. There’s the same aluminum front panel and the dual volume and input selection knobs that we like. The inside of the receiver is reinforced with an H-shaped cross member that adds rigidity to the frame (while this may help it take a beating down a flight of stairs, Yamaha claims it’s for vibration reduction). The RX-A3040 AV receiver is designed in a way that isolates the left and right channels both physically and electrically in order to achieve greater channel separation and increased signal to noise ratio.
Yamaha RX-A3040 Receiver Network Features
The Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver has everything you need to stream music—or at least everything we’ve ever thought to use. There’s Internet radio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Spotify, SiriusXM and you have the AV Controller App to stream anything you want from your iOS or Android device (via the network or through the Wireless Direct mode, since this receiver comes with included WiFi built right-in). If that weren’t enough, you also have AirPlay, HTC connect and MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) via the HDMI input located underneath the front flip-down cover.
With the Spotify app you can download and stream songs to the RX-A3040 using Spotify Connect. Get within range while using Spotify, and the system will automatically switch over and begin streaming to the AV receiver. It’s pretty cool. Spotify has made a premium account free for 30 days with a Yamaha Aventage receiver. Visit Spotify.com for more details.
A front panel USB port lets you charge or digitally connect any iOS device and use the receiver’s remote control unit to operate the iPod/iPhone/iPad music playback functions. The Yamaha RX-A3040 supports Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, FLAC, WAV, and Apple Lossless (ALAC)—plus gapless playback.
RX-A3040 Video Features
With HDMI 2.0 support comes support for 4K Ultra HD video upconversion to HDMI. The Yamaha RX-A3040 also handles RGB, YCbCr 4:4:4, YCbCr 4:2:2 and YCbCr 4:2:0 video signals (a few of these formats will be available/supported via firmware update).
Edge adaptive deinterlacing is included in the RX-A3040 to smooth out jaggy noise, and motion adaptive deinterlacing will detect either moving or still images for precise pixel-by-pixel processing. Multi-cadence detection includes excellent handling of the expected 3-2 pull-down. The Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver can also send an independent A/V source to Zone 2 where the on-screen graphical user interface (GUI) will let you browse and select your sources or content.
RX-A3040 Audio Features
Low frequency playback can be sweetened and controlled via the Subwoofer Trim Control—a sort of “loudness control” for your sub. The Yamaha RX-A3040 features the ESS Technology ES9016 SABRE32 Ultra DAC, a 192 kHz/32-bit DAC with up to 124 dB of dynamic range. An ESS Technology ES9006 SABRE Premier Audio DAC also powers the presence channels. For lossless 44.1/48 kHz content from CDs or FLAC files, a high-bit high-sampling extension up to 96 kHz/24-bit can be applied.
Yamaha’s RX-A3040 AV receiver can automatically assign amplifiers based on your particular setup. If Zone 2 is off, for example, all 9 amplifier channels would be configured for use in the Main Zone. Activate Zone 2, however, and the surround back channel amplifiers will be reassigned—so the Main Zone will retain a full 7.1 surround configuration. Of course, the really cool thing is that since the Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver has 11 pairs of speaker terminals for its 9 amplifiers, you don’t have to reroute speaker wires to activate a second Zone.
Yamaha RX-A3040 Receiver Features
- 150 W x 9-channels
- 4K Ultra HD video upconversion
- Support for HDMI 2.0 (4K Ultra HD 50/60p compatible)
- Wi-Fi network connectivity
- AirPlay, HTC Connect, Pandora, Spotify, SiriusXM Internet Radio, Rhapsody
- FLAC, WAV 192 kHz / 24-bit, Apple Lossless 96 kHz / 24-bit and gapless playback
- CINEMA DSP HD3
- Dual ESS Technology DACs
- YPAO – R.S.C. with 3D, multipoint and angle measurement
- Advanced HDMI zone switching
- Yamaha AV Controller App
The Yamaha RX-A3040 AV receiver will be available this month and will retail for $2199.95.
