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Yamaha Revamps Aventage Range with AirPlay Support, RX-A3020 is the New Flagship

By Joy Hou & Ng Chong Seng - on 2 Sep 2012, 10:45pm

Yamaha Revamps Aventage Range with AirPlay Support, RX-A3020 is the New Flagship

Yamaha Aventage RX-A3020. (Image source: Yamaha.)

At one fell swoop in IFA 2012, Yamaha has refreshed the whole Aventage range of AV receivers. The current RX-A3010, RX-A2010, RX-A1010, and RX-A810 are all succeeded by new models, namely the RX-A3020, RX-A2020, RX-A1020, and RX-A820. The small bump in their model numbers is an indication that the changes aren’t night and day.

One of the key additions this time round is Apple AirPlay support, which now comes as standard across the board . Networking features are built in too, and there’s also DLNA streaming. The front of the receivers also sport USB ports for your iOS devices. 4K video passthrough and up-scaling are also standard on all models. There's also an Eco mode that reduces power consumption by as much as 20%. Yamaha's entry-level AV receivers have also received some of these updated features since April this year and it's good to see the higher-end AV receivers follow suit.

In addition, a Virtual Presence Speaker technology seeks to solve the issue of people not having enough space to place front speakers by creating the illusion of their presence. Of course, all four new models carry the CinemaDSP badge, though the flagship RX-A3020 is the only one that gets Yamaha’s latest CinemaDSP HD3.

To enhance ease of use, you can store your favorite speaker, CinemaDSP, volume, or input settings, and later recall them either with a press of a button, or via the AV Controller app. With the exception of the RX-A820, speaker layouts can also be stored.

An upgraded YPAO-RSC (Reflected Sound Control) technology awaits RX-A2020 and RX-A3020 users. Simply put, YPAO-RSC allows the receiver to calculate which settings will give the best possible sound. While YPAO-RSC is present on all models, on the RX-A2020 and RX-A3020, multi-point measurement (up to eight locations) and DSP Normalization are added for a more accurate calibration. These two higher-end models also get a new LED-backlit remote control (finally!), and tout an HQV 'VHD1900' VIDA chipset. In essence, for advanced users, these two models should be what you're looking at.

Yamaha Aventage RX-A820. (Image source: Yamaha.)

The RX-A3020, RX-A2020, RX-A1020, and RX-A820 will be available in Europe from October 2012, and are priced at £2,000, £1,500, £1,000, and £850 respectively. Stay tuned for future updates for the availability and pricing in the local market.

The magnificent rear view of the Yamaha RX-A3020 AV receiver.

Now here's something you don't get to see everyday - the internals of the Yamaha RX-A3020.

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