Yamaha RX-A3000 Aventage Menu System & Setup

One of the things we really like about the RX-A3000 is its new and improved GUI with snappy, animated menus that can also superimpose itself over video. Earlier menu systems were gussied up text-based interfaces - this is more like an app. Screenshots are great, video is even better, so check out our Yamaha RX-A3000 Video Preview for a sneak peak at the menus in action. Starting at the top, even the background of the menu system, the splash screen, can be configured:

    

Within the system menu we found that the RX-A3000 unlocks an almost limitless amount of options for the amplifiers, inputs, HDMI and DSP. We're talking a massive amount of configurability, and the visual representation of what you are doing makes it easy to understand the settings. The Setup menu system, which slides up and down, and left to right depending upon the submenu you are in, generally allows you to edit settings on the fly while watching video in the background and is broken up into 8 main sections:

Speaker Set-Up

This is where you engage the Auto setup using the included multi-point microphone, and also where you configure the speakers with the manual setup function. We have beat YPAO to death in the past, so we're not going to waste valuable real estate rehashing that system here. What we are going to talk about is the new design of the manual Speaker Setup menu, which operates under a new "Select Your Speaker Configuration" methodology. In the past, Yamaha had you select how the amplifiers were going to be used, and select the way the Surround Back and Presence channels were to be allocated, often without any provision for utilizing both a second or third Zone and the Presence Channels. In short, Yamaha was severely limited in the past. With the RX-A3000, the on-screen GUI interface literally shows you what your options are, and you can pick and choose how you want to run your speakers and how you are planning to amplify them in the various situations. The amplifier assignments are automatically selected when you scroll through the configuration options - and you have only to observe the notation and graphical representation to understand what is possible. In this way, the complexity of selecting amplifier routing is removed and all possible permutations are granted simultaneously. This is the first time we've seen this in an AV receiver.

Take this scenario, for example, which is my favorite: I am operating a 7.1 system + a second Zone. In this configuration I am not bi-amping the mains, but I am using an external 2-channel amplifier to power my Zone 2 speakers. This is designated as EXTRA SP1: Zone 2. It also gives me the flexibility to select how I am using my last 2 channels of amplification - as Surround Back speakers, or in Zone 2. The beauty is, with 11 pars of binding posts, I don't have to do any fancy rewiring; everything is all set. Here is how it looks:

Now, suppose I wanted, instead to opt for pulling both the Surround as well as the Surround Back amplifiers in order to power two additional zones? No problem, Yamaha's RX-A3000 can allocate amplifiers as needed to do that as well. Here's how that particular configuration looks:

But I want to use my Presence channel speakers, you say. You know what, that's a great idea. Yamaha  allows you to configure those for use with an external amplifier (they have dedicated preamp outputs) and now you can opt to allocate the internal amplifier between Surround Back channels and the optional Zone 2 you configured. This is how that scenario would look on the setup menu:

We complained (OK, whined) about that for years, and finally Yamaha seems to have taken the hint and allocated enough processing power and preamp outputs to handle even the most difficult configurations. It seems that if you can add external amplifiers, you can truly harness the power of this 11.2-channel receiver.  Not since their flagship RX-Z11 selling for more than 2 ½ the price, was this possible.

OK, so that's just the speaker allocation and power amp assignments. You still have the ability to configure the speaker levels (0.5dB steps), distances (0.2 ft/.05m increments), and Extra Bass (where the receiver can send fullrange information to the front speakers and bass from the front speakers to the subwoofer). You can also, and this is a BIG deal for a receiver at this price point, connect two subwoofers with independent level and trim control and set the subwoofers for either mono, stereo (left + right), or front/rear. We typically recommend Mono, but some audiophiles may want to experiment with the stereo setting.  We don’t recommend the front/back setting since it only sends LFE info to the rear sub.  

For more information, read:  Home Theater Multiple Subwoofer Set-Up Guide

Bass Management

As was the case with the RX-Z7, the RX-A3000 provides for variable crossover settings per speaker group (ie. Mains, Center, Surrounds but doesn't give you a choice for the subwoofer crossover which I found through my testing to be dependent on the main channel crossover setting.  Thus I highly recommend you keep each speaker group's crossover setting within 20Hz to ensure a more optimal integration with the subwoofer during all playback modes (ie. discrete 5.1 sources and 2 CH music in PLIIx Music Mode). 

Yamaha still allows you to set the center and surround channels to "large" even if you select "small" for the main channels.  I would have preferred Yamaha to automatically set all speakers to "small" if the mains were set "small".  Pay extra attention when manually configuring speaker size groups or use one of their presets that sets all speakers to "small" if you aren't running fullrange speakers on the main channels or want all of your speakers bass managed. 

The crossovers worked as expected for a THX Ultra2 certified receiver (except the RX-A3000 is not THX certified) as indicated by the 12dB/oct High Pass Filter (HPF) slopes on speakers set small and 24dB/oct Low Pass Filter (LPF) slopes on the subwoofer output which we measured with our Audio Precision APx585. The only oddity was that the subwoofer channel was down about 1.5dB at 10Hz which to us indicated a rather conservative HPF employment on this channel since this slight attention didn't show up on any of the seven main channels.