RX-V2700 System Setup and Configuration

Back Panel View of the Yamaha RX-V2700

There are a plethora of connections on the back of this receiver, some of which are unfamiliar to most home theater folk, including the iPod connector, and Ethernet connector. Of course on this receiver HDMI is endowed with 3 inputs and 1 output capable of 1080p resolution with upscaling up to 1080i powered by Anchor Bay. Three component video inputs and one output are also included for those who haven’t jumped on the HDMI bandwagon yet.

Oddly, Yamaha moved the speaker connectors around a bit placing the “SP1/Presence” speakers at the top of the stack instead of the front channels. It took me awhile to figure out why I wasn’t hearing music from my mains. There is a reason for this madness, and it’s called power amp assignability (more on this later). All of the speaker connectors except SP2 sport binding posts. SP2 still uses fairly good quality locking connectors that can accommodate 12AWG wire with little fuss.

Choosing the Speaker Impedance (IMPORTANT PLEASE READ)
Yamaha still ships their receivers with the dreaded impedance selector switch. It’s a bit more involving to switch the default setting “8 ohms or more” and I wont tell you how since this is the optimal setting regardless of speaker impedance.

Power Test Results

* 1CH tested, full bandwidth at 0.1% THD + N

Editorial Note about the Impedance Selector Switch
I recommend the "8 ohms or more" setting even for 4-ohm speakers of moderate efficiency (>87dB SPL). Yamaha includes a" 6-ohm" setting to satisfy UL heat dissipation requirements when driving 4-ohm loads, as well as easing consumer concerns about driving low impedance loads. These switches step down voltage feed to the power sections which can limit dynamics and overall fidelity. My advice is to keep the switch set to "8 ohms or more" regardless of the impedance of your speakers and ensure proper ventilation of the Receiver. As you can see in the test results, using the “6 ohm or more” setting reduced the power as much as 45% and caused clipping at lower power levels, which if driven too hard for a sustained period of time can damage your speakers.

Auto Setup Via YPAO
Just like in past Yamaha receivers, the RX-V2700 incorporates their YPAO auto setup system.

YPAO automatically checks and/or configures:

• Wiring

• Distance

• Size

• Equalization

• Level

In this latest iteration of YPAO, Yamaha has incorporated a new feature – subwoofer correction. This is a Yamaha first, and although it’s limited to only 32Hz, at least they are attempting to address the speaker in a theater system that could directly benefit the most from active room correction.

I let Yamaha do its magic with auto setup which seems to run much quicker than past generation receivers like the RX-Z9. As with prior receivers with this feature, YPAO got my channel trims and speaker distances (except the sub) pretty much spot on. It was almost a crap shoot how YPAO determined subwoofer distance, crossover point and speaker sizes. It incorrectly set my mains and center to large (which is understandable since they are placed close to the back wall causing excessive boundary gain).

Editorial Note About Subwoofer Distance
It’s understandable that auto setup systems such as YPAO often struggle with the correct subwoofer distance as it is usually a combination of group delay inherent in subwoofers sporting digital amps and DSP processing such as my Axiom Audio EP500 and the complex structure of small room acoustics below 300Hz. I always recommend using common sense and verify audibly and empirically (if possible) if the distance the auto setup system selected is correct.

After YPAO was completed, I manually adjusted speaker size, subwoofer distance, PEQ, and crossover frequency for greater accuracy.

Manual Calibration
Tweaking the levels for a more balanced response across the listening area was a breeze thanks to the “on the fly” channel trims Yamaha incorporated into the RX-V2700. I was pleased to see they started adding this much needed feature on their newer receivers back in my RX-V659 review. Oddly however they didn’t offer independent channel trim settings for the Multi-channel External inputs like they did in the less costly RX-V659. Yamaha did inform me that independent level trims for the EXT inputs can be configured via the Receiver Editor feature and NOT the GUI which I didn’t confirm. This shouldn’t be much of an issue if you utilize HDMI or the trim settings of your SACD/DVD-A player.

Bass Management
In the great tradition of excellent bass management, Yamaha offers a variable crossover point from 40Hz to 200 Hz and +- phase adjustment for the subwoofer so you can determine the best setting without having to go behind your subwoofer to change it. Yamaha also provisions for subwoofer output in 2CH mode if the speakers are set to “Large” via the LFE/Bass Out set to “Both”. Be warned however if you set the main speakers to “Small” but have Bass Out set to “Both” the main channels will still get full range signal. Oddly if you select “2CH Stereo” mode, the main speakers will get a full range signal regardless of speaker size setting and the subwoofer will be active if you have one present. This was not the case however in “7CH Stereo” mode as bass management was applied to the main speakers if set to “Small”. I suggest using “straight” mode for 2CH listening if you want your main speakers bass managed. Also note “Pure Direct” mode bypasses the bass management altogether and will NOT send signal to the subwoofer for 2CH sources regardless of speaker settings.

Despite the RX-V2700 lacked THX certification, the bass management stayed true to THX gospel with 12dB/oct High Pass Filter (HPF) slopes and 24dB/oct Low Pass Filter (LPF) slopes as I measured with my Audio Precision SYS 2722 Audio Analyzer.

YPAO incorrectly set my crossover to 110Hz so I adjusted it to 80Hz for more optimal integration of my subwoofer with my speakers.

The PEQ built into YPAO is rather crude in terms of resolution. But I still found it to be a useful tool for final calibration tweaking.

Q : .5 to 10
Gain: -6dB to + 20dB
Freq: 32Hz to 16kHz 1/3 octave increment

To edit PEQ settings of each channel, I suggest the following procedure:

• Select freq/gain to choose the center frequency

• Select band/gain to set the Q and gain as needed

Editorial Note on Calculating Q:
To calculate Q, use fc / BW where fc = center frequency and BW - bandwidth

It’s nearly impossible to make a direct comparison of PEQ vs no PEQ since it's such a hassle to defeat and re-engage it. In order to defeat the PEQ, it’s a four step process (manual > sound / PEQ > channel) then manually selecting reset for each channel. If you wish to re-engage PEQ, you must go into Auto setup and reload the data. The only workaround I could see is assigning two receiver settings (Yamaha provides up to 4 accessible in the GUI) via the memory feature (one with PEQ and one without), then toggling between memory settings to do a comparison with the Memory 1 and 2 hot keys on the remote.

I pulled a few measurements at the primary listening position where I also placed the Yamaha mic for YPAO auto setup and calibration.

Figure 1. Subwoofer Frequency Response (1/12th oct) with and without YPAO PEQ

As can be seen in the graph, YPAO actually caused a 5dB suckout from 60to 80Hz and did nothing to address the bump below 30Hz.

I defeated YPAO and engaged into manual EQ edit mode where I attempted to tweak in the 30 to 40Hz range by choosing the lowest possible center frequency Yamaha would allow for (fc = 31Hz) and adjusting Q to 3.13 with a slight gain of +2dB.

Figure 2. Subwoofer Frequency Response (1/12th oct) with and without Manual PEQ

Editorial Note on Adding Gain
In almost no circumstance do you want to add gain to fix a problem area as the frequency dip is usually result of a room node and will only eat amplifier power while reducing system dynamic range. If you find bumping the gain up a dB or two actually helped even out the problematic area, then it’s ok to use gain sparingly. If it didn’t make a measurable difference, don’t add gain to fix the problem.

Figure 3. Full Range Frequency Response (1/6th oct) with and without YPAO

YPAO didn’t drastically alter the frequency response of my reference speakers which isn’t surprising considering how linear they are. I did my best to a/b the before and after results and subjectively felt my system sounded better with the PEQ disengaged, especially in the lower frequency range.