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Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A3050 9.2-channel AV Amplifier

R18,000.00

On paper you might not notice any significant differences compared to last year’s model, the RX-A3040, but Yamaha has implemented some improvements in important areas, such as support for Immersive Sound (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X), HDCP 2.2, DSD and MusicCast, just to mention a few.

Design & Connectivity

Opening the packaging box was quite straightforward and the same goes for the content of it. Besides the receiver you’ll get a remote control (batteries included), YPAO microphone and a small stand, FM and AM antennas, power cable, an Easy Setup Guide and Safety brochure, and the 193 page Owner’s Manual on a CD-ROM. The full-size plastic remote control gets the job done, but it would have been nice with a brushed aluminum remote to compliment the looks of the amp and reflect the fact that this is a top-of-the-line $2000 AV receiver.

With a dimension of 17-1/8” x 7-1/2” x 18-5/8” (435 x 192 x 474 mm), you can tell that the RX-A3050 is a high-end AV receiver just by looking at it. The rather hefty size is of course accompanied by an equally hefty weight of 39.9 lbs (18.1 kg), which made it somewhat difficult to place on the shelf of our test room AV rack – but once in place, it will stay in place.

​The front panel is split in an upper and lower half, where the lower half is made of brushed aluminum and the upper half is covered by plastic, covering the display area. The lower half has a big flap in the center, with two large control knobs on either side – input selector on the left and volume control on the right – and the 3050 have a very clean and austere look with the flap closed.

Hiding behind the very smoothly functioning flap​ you’ll find a total of 29 small buttons with various functions, accompanied by a USB-A, YPAO mic input, 6.35 mm headphones output, RCA composite video and audio inputs and a HDMI input.

Yamaha RX-A3050 control buttons

Apart from the dot-matrix display on the upper half you’ll also find a Standby button on the left, and a small Pure Direct button on the right.

The RX-A3050 is built in the same manner as Yamaha’s more affordable AV receivers, using a single piece of metal for the top and sides, and it is not until you take a look on the inside that you will appreciate the extra effort Yamaha has put in to the AVENTAGE series.

Poppin’ The Hood

When we look inside we realize why the 3050 is big and weighs a lot; it is filled with an impressive amount of electronics while still leaving enough space for cooling. The middle of the front section houses a massive shielded transformer with large heat sinks and output transistors on both the left and right side of it. The rear section houses three levels of printed curcuit boards, as well as two 18.000 µF electrolytic capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, and Sanken STD05P and STD05N output transistors, also found on the RX-A3040. A shielded Yamaha N-01 Wi-Fi module is placed separately in the upper parts of the back. The interior of the receiver is also reinforced with a H-shaped cross member frame, making it extra rigid and stable and also reduces vibration in the chassis.

​The underside of the receiver has four solid feet placed at each corner, and in the middle is an Anti-Resonance Technology (ART) Wedge, functioning as a fifth foot in the center of the receiver, dampening vibrations from the transformer, transistors and heat sinks, as well as vibrations caused by the speakers.

​Digital-to-analog conversion is done by ESS Technology’s 192 kHz/32 bit Sabre ES9016 DAC for the main channels, and ES9006 for the presence channels. A Texas Instrument Cinema DSP handles the multi-channel processing and an Analog Devices ADV7181C handles the decoding and conversion of video signals.

Yamaha RX-A3050 AV Receiver

While the front may look clean and sober, the exact opposite is happening at the back. There’s an abundance of in and outputs:

Yamaha RX-A3050 YPAO microphone
  • 7 HDMI Inputs and 2 Outputs (HDCP2.2 & ARC)
  • 3 Optical Digital Audio Inputs
  • 3 Coaxial Digital Audio Inputs
  • 9 Analog Audio Inputs
  • Phono Input
  • 3 Component Video Inputs and 1 Output
  • 4 Composite Video Inputs and 1 Output
  • 11.2-channel Pre-Out (for external amplifiers or active speakers)

Additionally, there’s an input for a Wi-Fi antenna and an Ethernet port, along with inputs for FM and AM antennas, Trigger Out 1/2, Remote 1/2 and a RS-232C. On the right is a connector for the detachable power cord, and on the bottom you’ll find a total of 22 high quality speaker terminals; seven pairs for the main channels and four pairs for the Zone2/3, presence and bi-amping the front speakers.

Yamaha RX-A3050 price

The Power and The Glory

One of the most impressive things about the RX-A3050 during the time we reviewed it was the unwavering sense of power. Having tested a few lower priced AV receivers recently, we realized that this is what you pay extra for. Not even going all-out with a full 9.2 speaker setup at nausea-inducing volume levels caused the 3050 to falter. It just confidently kept feeding the speakers with stable and unshakeable power, and we cannot imagine any reasonably built and priced speaker that would cause this Yamaha to yield.

No matter what type of speakers we hooked up to the 3050, it revealed a sound that was natural and clean across all frequencies. It handled surround effects with aplomb and certainty, and never failed to convey what happened on the screen with accuracy and precision, and the finer details in the soundscape was rendered faithfully. There is no doubt that the RX-A3050 does an excellent job at converting and processing the signals as the overall sound is cohesive, natural and refined from top to bottom. Also, the support for Immersive Sound formats, like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, makes sure that the RX-A3050 is future-proof and would be the ideal choice for anyone looking for an awesomely powerful and modern home theater.

Yamaha RX-A3050 AV Controller App

​Moving on to two-channel music and we reveled in a very musical and detailed reproduction with exemplary authority and control, and we’ve heard many stereo amplifiers do a worse job than the 3050 for the same money. Paired with good speakers, the soundstage is both wide and deep, with full-bodied and powerful bass, rich and colorful midrange and smooth and detailed treble. We ultimately find it very hard to find any serious flaws as we get more and more enchanted by the musical spells that the RX-A3050 cast.

It’s not just great sound that makes the 3050 such a compelling choice for home theater enthusiasts, but also the aforementioned support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X (will be available via future firmware update), 192/24 and DS128 playback via a network. Add to this Bluetooth, AirPlay and MusicCast for multiroom setup with other compatible Yamaha devices, and the ability to control the receiver using Yamaha’s AV Controller App with extended functionality and adaptability to cater for just about any need you may have.

Conclusion

Whether you love movies or music – or why not both – we are certain that the Yamaha RX-A3050 will grant most, if not all, of your needs and wishes. It’s easy to set up and use thanks to the excellent YPAO system, but also allows the inclined to adjust and tinker with the many setup options to squeeze the most out of it.

There are of course cheaper options available, but ​there’s a reason why the RX-A3050 is Yamaha’s flagship AV receiver, and its flexibility, performance and power makes it one of the best on the market.

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Description

AVENTAGE AV Receiver ready for Dolby Atmos® and CINEMA DSP HD3 for the ultimate 3D AV experience. With many outstanding features including 11.2ch expandability, the latest super-high quality ESS DACs, High-Resolution audio playback support and Advanced HDMI Zone Switching.

Power and Processing:
  • 9-channel amplifier
  • 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.06% THD, with 2 channels driven
  • Dolby® and DTS® surround sound decoding, including Dolby Atmos
  • next-generation DTS:X surround sound available via firmware update
  • expandable to 11 channels with a separate stereo power amplifier
  • video upconversion (up to 1080p and 4K) for analog and HDMI sources
  • Yamaha’s advanced video processing with edge and motion adaptive de-interlacing for sharp images and smooth motion
  • YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) automatic speaker calibration with Reflected Sound Control and Volume to deliver more accurate surround sound across different listening levels (microphone included)
  • Cinema DSP HD3 creates increased realism for movie soundtracks with “front presence” speakers in a 9.2-channel home theater
  • Adaptive Dynamic Range Control limits the volume level on sound effects and commercials for more discreet late-night listening
  • Dialogue Lift and Level Adjustment for clearer, louder dialogue while watching movies and shows
Digital and Streaming Music Options:
  • built-in Wi-Fi for listening to music from a networked PC, free Internet radio, and music services
    • Wireless Direct lets you stream music and control playback from a smartphone or tablet without a wireless home network
    • includes support for Pandora, Rhapsody, vTuner, and SiriusXM Internet radio (subscription required for some services)
    • Spotify Connect lets you play Spotify’s streaming music library through the receiver, controlled by your smartphone or tablet (requires Spotify app and a premium subscription)
  • built-in Bluetooth for wireless music streaming
  • Apple AirPlay for streaming music from an iPhone, iPad®, iPod touch® or computer running iTunes
  • MusicCast wirelessly connects compatible Yamaha components for whole home audio
  • front-panel USB input for connecting an iPod®, iPhone, iPad, or thumb drive
    • direct digital connection for iPod or iPhone bypasses the device’s digital-to-analog converter for better sound
  • plays high-resolution digital music files via USB storage device or a networked computer (PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution; DSD up to 5.6 MHz .dsf files)
  • DLNA 1.5 certified for streaming music wirelessly from compatible computers and network-attached storage (NAS) drives
  • gapless playback of WAV, FLAC and ALAC files from USB thumb drives and networked computers
Multi-room Audio/Video:
  • four-room/four-source output
    • powered stereo audio outputs for 2nd and 3rd rooms (allows 5.2-channel sound in main room while in use)
    • Zone 2 HDMI output allows you to watch different video content simultaneously on two TVs
    • line-level 2nd- and 3rd-room outputs for use with separate amplifiers or powered speakers
    • Intelligent Amp Assign automatically redirects surround back channels in Main zone to Zone 2 speakers when Zone 2 is powered on
    • 2nd HDMI output assignable to Zone 4 (HDMI sources only)
    • Zone 4 only receives audio/video signals via HDMI; separate receiver required to power stereo or surround sound speakers
    • HDMI and optical/coaxial digital audio sources cannot be output to Zone 3
Audio Performance Features:
  • audiophile-grade 32-bit/192kHz ESS Sabre32 Ultra digital-to-analog converters for 7 main channels
  • 24-bit/192kHz ESS Sabre Premier digital-to-analog converters for “front presence” channels
  • symmetrical power amp layout electrically isolates left and right channel circuitry for high signal-to-noise ratio and wider soundstage
  • Ultra Low Jitter PLL circuitry reduces timing jitter from digital sources, for improved sound quality
  • surround back speaker channels re-assignable for bi-amping compatible front left and right speakers
  • Pure Direct mode switches off front-panel display, tone controls, and DSP circuitry for cleaner sound with analog audio sources
  • Compressed Music Enhancer improves sound quality of Bluetooth streams, MP3s, and other digital music files
  • reinforced double-bottom chassis minimizes distortion even during high-volume output
  • detachable power cable
Connections:
  • HDMI 2.0a audio/video switching: 8 in, 2 out (including 1 front-panel input)
    • HDCP 2.2 technology ensures compatibility with 4K Ultra HD sources and TVs (HDMI inputs 1-7 and monitor outputs only)
    • HDR-compatible for extended picture contrast and brightness with compatible 4K TVs and HDR-encoded content (firmware update required)
  • component video switching: 3 in, 1 out
  • composite video switching: 5 in, 1 out (including 1 front-panel input)
  • digital audio inputs: 3 optical and 3 coaxial
  • 9 analog stereo audio inputs (including 1 front-panel input)
  • phono input for use with a turntable
  • 7.2-channel preamp outputs for connection to an external power amp and powered subwoofers
  • Ethernet port for network connection
  • front-panel USB port for audio playback from USB flash drives and portable music players
  • outputs for 11 speakers (Front L/R, Center, Surround L/R, Surround Back L/R, Rear Presence L/R, Front Presence L/R)
  • receiver can power a maximum of 9 channels at once
  • RS-232C, remote (IR), and 12 volt-trigger connections for use with external controllers
General Features:
  • 4K/60p and 3D video pass-through
  • free Yamaha AV Controller app lets you use your Apple or Android device as a Wi-Fi remote
  • 12 SCENE presets for one-touch power-up, source selection and DSP recall
  • Audio Return Channel function receives digital audio signals from a compatible HDTV’s tuner via HDMI
  • full-color on-screen display
  • HDMI standby pass-through allows source switching without powering up receiver
  • web browser control via PC or tablet
  • AM/FM tuner
  • remote control
  • 17-1/8″W x 7-9/16″H x 19-5/16″D (10-1/8″H with Wi-Fi antenna raised)
  • weight: 39.9 lbs.
  • warranty: 3 years

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