RX-Z11 Listening Tests

We covered a great deal of the feature set on the new Yamaha RX-Z11, but its all worthless if the audio portion of this receiver doesn’t live up to the hype. Thus I decided to do exhaustive listening tests of the RX-Z11 via two channel bi-amp mode and a full scale 11.2 surround spectacle for music and movies. The bi-amp mode really tests the amplifier section of this receiver since I am using full range tower speakers that dip down to two ohms and are not an easy load to drive.

Reference Equipment
I installed the Yamaha RX-Z11 into the premier theater room of the Audioholics Showcase Home consisting of RBH Sound SE/R Signature and Axiom Audio Algonquin speakers, dual Velodyne DD-15 subwoofers, Denon DVD-5910CI and Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD players and Yamaha’s own LPX-510 LCD projector. All of the cables were Sonicwave furnished by Impact Acoustics.

Two Channel Music Listening (Bi-amp Mode)

I selected highly dynamic and bass intensive musical content to ensure I was giving the amp section of the Z11 a good workout. I started out with Dianne Reeves Never too Far and ended with The Best of Fourplay CD.

CD: Dianne Reeves Never Too Far

The bass track in Track #2 “Never Too Far” will sound muddy on an improperly set up or mediocre system. With the RX-Z11 in bi-amp mode powering my T-30LSE system, I was pleasantly surprised by how snappy and articulate the upper bass response was. Overall, I found it well controlled and retained excellent the decay properties I heard with my reference amp. The tonal balance was warm and inviting and regardless of how loudly I listened, I never heard the RX-Z11 amps run out of gas. Stereo separation was about as good as I’ve ever heard, portraying Dianne’s powerful vocals dead center as they should be with plenty of width and depth to the soundstage. The drums had a the requisite pop to them while the saxophones exhibited a nice bite giving you that “live” feeling.

Next up was Fourplay’s “Chant” track which is slams with a dynamic kick drum sending wimpy woofers to oblivion and lesser designed amps into hard clipping. As I listened, I found myself cranking the volume up, intoxicated watching the dual 10” aluminum woofers flex in and out as the Yamaha pumped pure unadulterated power into them. Yamaha was convincing me of the flagship status of this receiver as it was able to power my large full range tower speakers without any complaints.

11.2 Multi Channel Music and Movies

I wanted to see just how well the RX-Z11 could handle a full gamut of speakers so I got out of bi-amp mode, connected my T-30LSEs to the main channels and the rest of the speakers for a full 11.2 surround experience using the stereo L/R subwoofer outputs for my dual Velodyne DD-15 subwoofers. Folks, we are talking 11 speakers and 4 subs. This is about as exciting as home theater can get.

CD: Genesis - Live Over Europe 2007

Nothing put a bigger smile on my face when the legendary progressive rock band Genesis got back together for one last tour to remind the world of their musical genius. In two channel stereo, the sound of this double disc concert CD is a bit flat and sterile, but the experience is far more enjoyable once you engage Prologic IIx Music Mode. I started out with track #3 “Land of Confusion” and switched through the gamut of Yamaha’s music DSP modes until I settled on what I thought sounded best “Music Video”. Doing a direct A/B comparison between this mode and PLIIx, I found the former to be more open and thus enhancing the surround envelopment. The front soundstage in track #4 “In the Cage” seemed much larger in “Music Video” mode. I also tried out the “11 Channel Stereo” mode. After I tweaked it so the surrounds and center channel were reduced output with respect to the main channels, I found it to offer a more direct in your face sound to the music. If you want to really feel the music, use this mode, but if you want a more natural envelopment that is also more expansive, I’d highly recommend Yamaha’s excellent “Music Video Mode”.

CD: Dave Matthews Band – Crash

It’s been awhile since I played any Dave Matthews and I recalled these recordings did exceedingly well with Yamaha DSP processing in my previous reviews. Yamaha DSP Jazz modes (namely Village Gate) really shined on this CD. Track #1 “So Much To Say” exhibited a very natural openness with good reverb in the guitars and Dave Matthews voice. I felt as if I was experiencing a live performance in an old brick constructed NY jazz club. For Track #3 “Crash Into Me” I toggled between the various Jazz DSP modes, “11 Channel Stereo” and “Music Video”. I discovered a strong enveloping feeling of the guitars to the left and right sides of me with very powerful and tight bass response when listening in “11 Channel Stereo” mode. I had to actually trim down the surround and height channels to 70% and 30%, respectively, as it seemed a bit overpowering. I didn’t like the way this CD sounded in “Music Video” mode and ultimately settled on “Jazz Cellar” for this portion of my listening tests. Its important to note that many of the DSP modes do NOT utilize the back channels and “Music Video” mode is one of the few DSP’s that send signal to all 11 speakers.

CD: Scofield – A Go Go

John Scofield has got some good skill on jazz guitar and this CD is a great recording when you’re in the mode for something funky. I started with “Music Video” DSP mode for Track #1 “A Go Go” and found the sound to be too concentrated towards the center channel. Once I switched over to the Jazz DSP modes, the width or spaciousness greatly increased and I again felt like I was in a genuine Jazz club sipping a Martini and enjoying a fine Cuban. “Village Gate” sounded most open, while “Warehouse” was too lively. “Village Gate” and “Jazz Cellar” were my favorites with a slight preference towards the latter. Granted you could go in and tweak any of the DSP modes to your liking but I mostly evaluate the default settings as I figured if I grew to like the processing features on this receiver too much, it would be too difficult to part with when I have to send it back. Needless to say, I had a great time listening to this CD with the variety of DSP music enhance modes and integrated front and back height channels.

DVD-Audio: Beatles Love

Track #1 “Because” has become one of my favorite Beatles tunes as it really exemplifies the uncanny melodic nature of the Beatles that few if any bands today can match. I was immersed in their wonderful voices when I engaged “Music Video” DSP mode. The experience was almost surreal and I was literally transported center stage with the Fab4 all around me. Lennon’s voice sounded more “real” in track #5 “I am the Walrus” when engaged in this DSP mode. I found Prologic IIx Music Mode offered a bit more focus to the music but it wasn’t as expansive or bold as I heard it in “Music Video” mode which was clearly evident to me in track #10 “The Benefit of Mr. Kite”. After experimenting with “Music Video” mode with a variety of music I found it to really excel with discrete multi channel music and to be hit or miss with two channel program material.

Concert DVD’s

This is where I really enjoy Yamaha receiver products the most. The ability to transform a concert event into a lifelike experience is something only Yamaha DSP processing can convey to its fullest realism. I got a kick out of listening to Pat Metheny’s - The Way Up HD DVD and Eric Claptons Crossroads DVD in “Music Video” and “Village Gate” DSP modes. “Village Gate” really opened up the soundstage for the Pat Metheny concert and added a sense of dimensional space that was missing in ordinary PLIIX Music Mode. I was so caught up listening to the Jeff Beck portion of the Eric Clapton concert in “Music Video” mode that I almost didn’t notice the super sexy bass player he had in his band.

I caution NOT to use 11 CH Stereo mode for any discrete multi channel program material as it down mixes the content into two channel before sending it to all of the speakers. I tried this mode for these discs and it sounded terribly compressed and unsatisfying to say the least.

Movie Watching

The Yamaha RX-Z11 is as equally armed for music as it is for movie watching. Not only are there specific DSP modes for movie viewing as Yamaha has always offered in the past, but the RX-Z11 sports some of the newest technologies from THX, hence the Ultra2 Plus certification. For those listening below reference level, the RX-Z11 incorporates THX’s Loudness Plus which is said to maintain the integrity of soundtracks when listening below Reference Level. THX Loudness Plus compensates for the tonal and spatial shifts that occur when the volume level is reduced. I toggled this mode on at low listening levels and indeed get a fuller sound with an improved surround envelopment. The benefits seemed less obvious as the volume level increased and thus it appeared this feature was working as claimed.

HD DVD: The Transformers

Yes I did get the memo about the death of HD DVD, but I haven’t yet had the opportunity to pick up a Blu-ray player and make the transition to the “winning” High Def format. Although I am not overly impressed with the sound quality of this HD DVD as I found the soundtrack to be quite compressed, it does have some great rumble effects and is pure eye candy making it a good demo disc to keep on hand to impress your friends and family. I started this demo in PLIIX Movie Mode which of course sounded excellent as usual. I switched over to “Music Video” mode which collapsed the soundstage and really ruined the experience. Thus I moved on to “Adventure” mode which I found to be excellent overall. It really opened up the soundstage vertically while keeping the center channel dialogue anchored. “Sci Fi” mode was a tad more expansive but I also heard a bit too much reverb in the vocals. I suppose this could have been turned down via the edit parameters of the mode but I was so enamored with “Adventure” mode that I continued watching the movie in that DSP program. The helicopter fly by effect was most impressive and I felt such a sense of spaciousness that I pretty much forgot I was listening to speakers and just drowned in the experience. My only complaint was the occasional compressive artifacts I was hearing during loud explosions which was a function of the source material and NOT the RX-Z11. Too bad they used so much compression in this disc.

Suggestions for Improvement

Although the RX-Z11 is jam packed with features and has it where it counts sonically, there are some operational things (mostly with YPAO) I’d like to see improvement upon to make the next generation receiver even better:

• Single button toggle ability via remote to engage/disengage PEQ globally for all channels
• More accurate and consistent auto speaker size, crossover configuration and equalization, especially for multi point calibrations
• Full range calibration down to 20Hz with at least 1/12^th octave resolution
• YPAO status indicator light (perhaps a different color) if some parameters are changed but the PEQ is still engaged
• Offer the option of pausing and redoing a YPAO test in progress during multi point calibrations
• Fix the Front/Back subwoofer assignment so both subs get LFE content and bass from all speakers set small