RX-Z11 System Setup and Configuration

Setting up a full scale 11.2 theater was no easy task and I had to get creative on mounting the front and rear height channels as well as connecting up 4 subwoofers. I used a pair of Onix x-ls as stands on top of my RBH Sound T-30LSE main speakers to place my RBH Sound MC-6C speakers as height channels. I configured my RBH Sound SI-740 SE/R back channels as the rear presence channels and used my Axiom Algonquin speakers on stands for the surround back channels.

I decided to really torture the RX-Z11 by powering the integrated subs of my T-30LSE system off the main channels (speaker B) of the RX-Z11. These speakers dip down to 2 ohms so if the RX-Z11 can deliver enough oomph in my nearly 6,000ft^3 listening space while powering all 11 speakers and 2 of my 4 subs, then it will earn my respect as a “Flagship” product.

Baby Got Back

Back Panel View of the Yamaha RX-Z11

The RX-Z11 has a nice rear end for a receiver as far as I am concerned. 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 and Ethernet connector. Of course on this receiver HDMI is endowed with 5 inputs and 2 output capable of 1080p resolution with upscaling up to 1080p powered by Anchor Bay Technologies. Four component video inputs and two outputs ensure all of your video needs can be met for even the largest scale installations.

The Yamaha RX-Z11 sports the most speaker level connections I’ve ever seen in a receiver. At any given time, you can connect up to 13 speakers (2 pairs on main channels) to this receiver all powered internally! I was pleased to actually utilize every speaker connection for my installation. With 10 memory settings for this receiver and 4 memory settings for each of the 3 other zones, the sky is the limit with configurability not just for where you assign the speaker groups but how you customize and configure any parameter in the receiver.

Choosing the Speaker Impedance
I tested the RX-Z11 in the “8 ohm or more” and “6 ohm” settings and for the first time in my experience of reviewing Yamaha receivers, the setting made NO difference in output power. It’s almost as if the option is there to reassure customers that their receiver is safe with speaker impedances lower than 8 ohms. I was quite surprised as I usually advise folks to keep it in the “8 ohm or more” setting regardless of speaker impedance. Feel free to do what you like here as it doesn’t make a difference whatsoever.

Auto Setup Via YPAO

Just like in past Yamaha receivers, the RX-Z11 incorporates their YPAO auto setup system only this time around they implemented a multi point (up to 8 positions) calibration scheme. Note that it takes roughly 3 minutes to calibrate 1 mic position so if you wish to do all 8 points, plan on a good half hour of nail biting quietness and patience. Note that I had to redo my entire test suite as I had an interruption from my eldest daughter on the last of the 8 measurements and YPAO doesn’t allow you to redo or pause during the measurement process.

YPAO automatically checks and/or configures:

• Wiring
• Distance
• Size
• Equalization (manual, flat, front, natural, “through” which means bypass)
• Level
• Angle
  

In this latest iteration of YPAO, Yamaha has incorporated a new feature – called “standing wave” which uses a three legged boomerang looking object. The boomerang allows the placemnt of the mic on end point of each leg at the primary listening position in attempts to do angle calculations for standing wave compensation for the main, surround and presence channels for multi point calibrations. When not in use, I found the boomerang served quite well as a frisbee and is an item I am seriously considering to add to my beach bag.

YPAO also does some low frequency equalization down to 32 Hz for all channels with roughly 1/6^th octave resolution. It offers a manual adjustment mode with a variable Q of .5 to 10.08 and Gain: +6 to -20dB with up to up to 3 bands per channel.

YPAO Calibration Results
As I found with past generations of Yamaha’s YPAO, it didn’t setup my system optimally. While it identified all of my speakers were correctly wired and even chose similar crossover points for all of my speaker groups each time I ran it, it had some issues. This includes, incorrectly identifying my surrounds as large (likely due to their close proximity to back walls.) Oddly I had more issues with multi point calibration than I did with the single point calibration in that the former set my front speaker distances excessively high and produced a subwoofer level error message. That being said, when I used YPAO for a single point calibration, it did a pretty good job of setting speaker size (except for the surrounds), levels (within 1dB) and speaker distances (except the subwoofers). I stored the calibrations into the memory banks of the Z11 and after listening to the EQ modes for both calibrations. Upon directly comparing them, I found the EQ sound quality was better for single point calibration though neither calibration resulted in the fidelity improvements I’ve previously heard through the Audyssey room correction system found in other receivers. My advice with YPAO is to use either single point calibration or do multi point measurements with the mic positions in relatively close proximity to each other centered around the primary money seat.

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.

Manual Calibration

After YPAO was completed, I manually adjusted speaker size, subwoofer distance, PEQ, and crossover frequency for greater accuracy. I also went into the bass management menu and engaged “Bass Out” for the main channels + the subwoofers. I even used the manual EQ mode to help smooth out the bass response of my system for the sub and main channels. Even though YPAO doesn’t quite have enough resolution, it’s still good enough to fine tune low Q problem areas such as bumps or to a minor extent suckouts.

Editorial Note for PEQ Editing

• Select freq/gain to choose the center frequency
• Select band/gain to set the Q and gain as needed

                    How to Calculating Q:
                    To calculate Q, use fc / BW where fc = center frequency and BW - bandwidth

YPAO Measured Results

Mains + Sub Frequency Sweep (1/3^rd Octave Smoothed)
Yellow – No EQ, Red – Flat, Blue – Natural

YPAO definitely smoothed out the frequency response region from 50Hz to 150Hz with a level reduction of about 5dB. The “Flat” setting did almost nothing above the transition region of 300Hz which is a tribute to my speaker systems very linear output and well behaved room acoustics. The “Natural” setting rolled off about 5dB of output above 5kHz which may be an appropriate setting for bright program material or lively rooms.

Mains + Subs Tweaked Frequency Sweep (1/3^rd Octave Smoothed)
Red – NO EQ, Purple – manual EQ and phase correction

By tweaking the phase response of 2 of my subwoofers, and by utilizing the Yamaha manual PEQ, I was able to further smooth out bass response for the listening area. As you can see in the purple trace, the low end response below 40Hz was greatly improved with only a slight penalty in the 50-70Hz region which wasn’t as prevalent at the other theater seats.