Yamaha RX-V2700 7.

1 channel network home theater

receiver.

Manufacturer: Yamaha Electronics Corp., 6660 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620; (714)
522-9105
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/
Price: $1699
Source: Manufacturer Loan
Reviewer: David A. Rich
Manufacturer's Specifications:
Continuous Output Power for two channels driven (20Hz-20kHz): 140 Watts per channel
Surround formats:
Dolby Digital EX/Dolby Pro Logic IIx
DTS-ES Discrete 6.1
DTS 96/24 / DTS Neo:6
23 proprietary surround programs
Virtual CINEMA DSP, SILENT CINEMA proprietary headphone surround sound
Neural Surround: a proprietary audio format for decoding six channel outputs from a two channel
input.
iPod compatible
Compressed music enhancer: Yamaha's exclusive algorithms enable playback that claims to improve
the performance of compressed music formats, including MP3 and WMA.
XM Satellite Radio ready
XM HD Surround: provides content with six discrete channels of digital on a limited number of XM
channels. Uses Neural Surround (see above)
HDMI (In/Out) (3 / 1) V1.2a
Simplay HD[TM] verified bearing the Simplay HD logo. Simplay HD verified products undergo
stringent quality control related to (a) the high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), (b) high-

bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) specifications, and (c) compatibility with a suite of
other Simplay HD verified devices.
Component Video (In/Out) (3 / 1)
A/V Inputs (S-Video and Composite Video) 6
Digital Inputs/Outputs [O: Optical, C: Coaxial] O: 5, C: 3 / O: 2)
Front A/V with digital input.
Front USB Input for playing back MP3/WMA files on flash memory drives
LAN terminal RJ-45 network connections
Night listening mode
Time base corrector
HDMI up conversion (Scale to 480p/ 720p/ 1080i) using Anchor Bay Technologies' ABT1010 scaler
engine that can independently scale images horizontally and vertically
Component video up conversion
S-Video up conversion
De-interlacing (480i to 480p)
Seven band user adjustable parametric EQ
Automatic EQ Optimizer with Microphone
On-screen display with graphic user interface.
Screens are for internal receiver setup and the GUI is compatible with iPod, internet radio, XM radio
and USB displays.
Assignable power amplifier
Zone 2 Output Audio and Video RS-232C interface for a touch-panel controller.
Zone 3 Output Audio and On-Screen information
Zone remote control
Speaker A, B or A + B
Selectable subwoofer crossover
Eight-channel discrete inputs for analog passthrough.

Two channels of Analog to Digital conversion

Pre-Out All Channels
Product dimensions (W x H x D) 17-1/8" x 6-3/ 4" x 17-1/4"
Product weight (lbs.) 37. 9 net
Comments on Manufacturer's Specifications
This long list is excerpted from Yamaha's web site. As usual, I caution that units of this complexity
should be purchased with a money-back guarantee to ensure the intriguing features of the box are
compatible with your peripheral components. A positive aspect of the receiver is its increased
likelihood to interact properly with other components. For example, the unit is Simplay HD[TM]
verified. Simplay HD independently tests HD equipment to determine whether they can talk to each
other even when advanced encryption options are used over the HDMI link.
There are three features of the Yamaha RX-V2700 that should especially appeal to the audiophile:
1) A seven-band adjustable parametric equalizer for all seven channels. Two of the filters can be set
as low as 30 Hz instead of the more typical limit of 60 Hz. The remaining five channels are limited to
200 Hz. The unit has two bank equalizers for the subwoofer, also with a 30 Hz low-frequency limit.
The equalizers' frequencies are quantized to about one-third octave. The Q can be set in twelve steps
from 0.5 to 10 and the gain is adjustable in 0.5dB steps from -20dB to +6dB.

2) The receiver processes SACD one-bit DSD (direct stream digital) that can be presented to the RXV2700s HDMI 1.2a input. Most AV receivers only accept HDMI 1.1 signals from a DVD player and
will not process DSD signals. Lacking a SACD player with the HDMI 1.2a transmitter, I could not
test the feature. In fact, I am not certain if any such SACD player exists at the moment. The HDMI
1.2a SACD player (a player with the backwards compatible HDMI 1.3 will obviously work also) and
the receiver will obviate analog connections between the SACD and the receiver. Woohoo! By the
next issue, I hope to have an SACD player that will talk to the RX-V2700, thereby allowing me to
further explore these features.
The RX-V2700 operates on the DSD in two ways. For the purist, the signal bypasses all DSP
processing and is sent in virgin form directly to the DACs. The Yamaha uses a Texas Instruments
DSD1791 DAC which has a DSD passthrough mode for converting the DSD signal to a bipolar
voltage.. This bipolar voltage is then filtered in the analog domain Of greater interest, however, is
the second mode where one of the DSP processors converts the DSD stream to a PCM stream. The
PCM stream is processed like any other PCM bit stream connected to the unit such as those from a
CD, DVD or DVD-A. Once converted, all the processing power of the receiver can be applied,

including the room equalizer, bass management, and delay-for-distance compensation.

3) The receiver connects to a local area network. This enables, among other things, the ability to
listen to internet radio sans computer. When plugged into your LAN, you get what Yamaha calls a
Network Receiver. As explained on Yamaha's web site:
"Using a local area network (LAN) connection and Windows Media Connect technology ver.2 or
better, Yamaha Network enabled receivers allow you to play MP3, WMA and WAV music from up to
four (4) PC's.
The receiver can even be used as a client for Yamaha's MusicCAST home music server integrating
with the Yamaha digital audio server within your LAN. The Network Receiver enables thousands of
stations available on Internet radio when connected to a broadband Internet connection. By using
the MP3 vTuner data service that is included, searching for content on the Internet couldn't be
easier, from your favorite Rock, Pop, or RB to Podcasts that cater to your music interests.
With a USB terminal on the front panel you now play music from USB flash drives and portable USB
music players".
Navigating the RX-V2700
The graphical user interface is the best I have come across on an AV receiver and the only one on
which I can set up functions without referencing the instructions. The simplicity of use is rooted in
both the clarity of the screen graphics and the hierarchy of the menus. The top layer of the systemsetup menu, for example, offers options to set surround modes, make input assignments, start the
auto-setup function, initiate manual setup, and commit the settings to memory for future use (see
figure 1). Figure 2 illustrates what you would see were the manual setup highlighted and the sound
option selected. The parametric EQ menu (figure 3) offers the choices for which speaker you want
make an adjustment. The next submenu (figure 4) has four buttons for manipulating the parametric
EQ itself. For some reason, only two of the four can be adjusted concurrently from the four available
options (equalizer channel, frequency, Q, and gain). The final menu (figure 5) adjusts gain and
bandwidth of channel 1. The lower left monitors frequency response as the parametric equalizer
parameters are varied. Curiously, the instruction book (from which I took the graphics) only shows
the flat response. As the equalizer is adjusted, the line morphs into the response curve being applied
by the unit. When automatic room equalization is used, the monitor display the curve generated by
the receiver. This panel also allows you to vary the parameters are set by the automatic EQ.
[FIGURES 1-5 OMITTED]
Some panels have as many as eleven options, and each option might go four to five levels deep. You
do the math--the number of permutations is staggering. Fortunately, some adjustments are made
automatically when using the auto setup calibration system with the supplied microphone placed at
the preferred listening position. The RX-V2700 does not allow for more than one measurement.
Thirty pages of the user's manual covers the GUI, but only a subset of the GUI screens is shown in
the manual. The buttons on the remote control are well placed for GUI operation. All the buttons are
the same color however. The buttons to select the 14 different inputs are all the same small round
shape in a 4 by 4 array. I did not test the universal function of the remote control. I like to use
multiple remotes.
Beware that some parameters are buried deep in the hierarchy. For example, to set the surround

decoder to DTS Neo 6, you start with the Surround/ Stereo selection at the top menu, move next to
the surround decoder menu, then to the Decoder Type, then finally to Neo 6. On the other hand, the
Neo 6 width parameter or the three parameters associated with Dolby Pro Logic II music are on the
second menu layer, certainly far easier to access than on many other receivers. It is possible to
select the surround decoders more quickly if you use a dedicated small button on the remote control
Howard Ferstler has been impressed by the sound field processing programs of earlier Yamaha
products he has tested. In the RX-V2700, twenty-three preprogrammed options are available,
ranging from "classical hall in Vienna" to "adventure movie". Unlike most receivers, Yamaha offers a
large set of sound-field parameters to customize the surround-sound synthesis. Included are initial
delay to the surround channels, the time between each reflected sound (which is said to change the
apparent sound of the room), and the rate at which the early reflected sound decays. Two additional
parameters adjust delay and decay time of the synthesized reverb. In some modes, surround back
channels with separate initial delay and decay times are used can be added. The GUI supplies all the
options, but many users may find the task too daunting and stick with the default settings. Yamaha is
unique in offering sound-field synthesis for what they call "presence speakers": speakers placed in
the front of the room above and behind the main channel speakers. The Yamaha has seven power
amplifiers, so only the presence speaker or surround-back will be operable at one time. The unit has
a relay to switch between either set of ambiance speakers. I did not test the presence speakers.
With the wide variety of choices for two-channel to multi-channel conversion on this unit, you can
spend a lot of time toggling the options to find the best sounding mode for a given CD. It can thus
take some time to get the best result. Audiophiles may be willing to take this time but music lovers
may want to settle on or two options. The Dolby Pro Logic IIx Music and DTS Neo 6 do not attempt
to add synthetic early reflections and reverb. While some audiophiles may be reluctant to add
signals generated in the receiver, they can perhaps rest a little easier because such signals are often
added by recording engineers when the recording is being mixed However it must be noted that the
reverb systems the pros use are much more expensive and use more digital process than what is
available in the RX-V2700
The number of speakers active at any given time is dependent on the processing program mode
selected. Classical and LIVE/CLUB modes produce signals for the optional presence channels but
produce no center channel when the input is two channels. All other modes such as those for sports,
music video, movies and "recital / opera" do produce a center. The sound field processing programs
put reverb in the front channels and sufficient changes occur as one changes from "Hall in Vienna"
to "Church in Freiburg". Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo 6 do not change the front channel tonality
in the same way. These functions do however result in much more leakage of the direct sound to the
rear channels. This makes sense since these systems can only work with the ambience in the 2
channel mix.
With respect to Internet compatibility, I only tested the Network Receiver Internet radio
functionality. The Internet radio function is fascinating since a computer is not required because the
networking electronics in the RX-V2700 can locate a server site that streams the Internet data. This
site and its associated firmware are provided by vTuner (www.vtuner.com), which currently offers
1700 different sites. Using the GUI, you can search by station location or genres. Stations are
international allowing one, for example, to hear Bartok radio in Hungary (although for those of you
not fluent in Hungarian, it may be disconcerting when you cannot understand the announcer's play
list and commentary), vTuner signals appear more stable than those streaming on the computer
from a station's website although the cause was not clear to me. Needless to say, the process of
listening to a station has greater immediacy on the RX-V2700 GUI than with a computer. Book
marking a station's web stream on a computer can save time, but as web radio fans are aware,

stations frequently change web address, the type of data streamed (MP3, Realplayer, etc.), and
stream rates. In contrast, vTuner dynamically updates its database to ensure that the desired station
is correctly interfaced to the Networked Receiver.
The RX-V2700 has a proprietary compressed music enhancer mode to remove artifacts from highlycompressed lousy formats such as MP3 at low bit rates. Yamaha says the feature regenerates
missing harmonics and enhances bass. The quality of the internet radio signals varies significantly
depending on the data rata of the stream. I found the sound quality improved when the music
enhancer was engaged; which was especially important for stations that stream data slowly.
The RX-V2700 has the ability to interface with an XM radio front end. GUI panels are available for
this function. The GUI helps you navigate through the more than 100 channels of talk and music
programming transmitted by XM. With the GUI you can restrict the channels that can be tuned to a
specific category (classical, kids etc). The GUI displays what is playing so you do not have to wait for
the piece to be back announced. Unfortunately the GUI does not have enough room in the classical
display to show the performing artists or the orchestra. Another GUI panel can show signal strength
of the satellite (or ground repeater) to help you orient the antenna. Yamaha supplied me with an XM
receiver so I could test the complete operability of the XM radio interface they supply. Since the
sound quality of the XM radio is not dependent on the receiver I will address XM sound quality in
another article. The RX-V2700 does support the new XM HD Surround using Neural Surround
technology; however the number of stations using it was limited at the time of this writing and none
was a musically-demanding classical station.
The automatic setup program offers four options for setting the bandwidth, gain, and Q of the
parametric equalizer blocks in each channel:
* Flat which, as its name implies, tries to make the speaker as flat as possible with the available
parameter.
* Natural is recommended when flat sounds a "little harsh." Natural is a proprietary target curve
and I could not get Yamaha to release the shape. I am certain it does not attempt to flatten the high
end like the Flat option. Natural is much less aggressive in trying to smooth midrange variations,
instead concentrating its efforts on small broad equalization between treble and midrange and more
significant equalization in the bass.
* In Front mode, the front speakers are not equalized and others are adjusted to match their
frequency response. I did not spend much time with Front mode because the flattening of the bass
response in the front channels is not applied in this mode.
* Skip leaves the equalizer flat. The auto setup only checks speaker phasing, adjusts speaker levels,
and compensates for different speaker distances when this mode is engaged. There is no EQ bypass
button on the front panel, forcing you to run the auto setup in skip mode and place the results in one
of the system memories. Only two memories can be recalled on the remote control (more are
accessible in the GUI panels). If you want one memory to represent flat then only one easily
recallable memory remains.
I found Natural produced better results than Flat and, for that reason, I will only present Natural
results. Figure 6 shows the in-room response of an Energy RC70 before and after the automatic
correction of the RX-V2700 in the Natural mode for the right channel and figure 7 shows the
correction for the left channel. The correction is applied to attenuate a room mode at 40Hz. The
attenuation is relatively accurate for a large room mode at 150Hz, but little correction is applied to

the left or right speaker above 200 Hz. Figure 8 shows the inverse correction curve that the RXV2700 applied to the left channel, is Minimal correction is applied in the midrange even though the
Energy RC 70 is not flat in this region and original voicing of the speaker is retained. Small, highend attenuation is observed. Interestingly, only six of the seven equalizer sections were used to
generate this curve. The automatic parametric equalization program often left one or two filter
banks out of the signal path. Flat tended to use all seven of the equalizer sections.
[FIGURES 6-8 OMITTED]
While the Natural equalizer mode gave good results like those shown in figure 6 and 7, most of the
time it was less effective if the room had more large modes or if the modes interacted. The more
expensive Audyssey Sound Equalizer has no such problems and was able to flatten the low end even
in difficult rooms with sub optimally placed speakers. To be fair the Audyssey equalizer alone costs
almost a $1000 more than the RX-V2700. Please note the external Audyssey Sound Equalizer has
much more signal processing than the Audyssey technology found in an AV receiver. I have not
tested an AV receiver with Audyssey in the RX-2700s price range and cannot comment as to how
well such a receiver would perform relative to the unit under test here. The RX-V2700 allows only a
single point measurement.
A look inside the RX-V2700
There are three DSP chips. Up front is the TI TMS320DA70 that Aureus designed for highperformance audio processing. The service manual does not identify the version of the Aureus in the
RX-V2700. The Aureus is followed by two Yamaha custom DSP units with a part number of YSS930.
The DAC is the TI DSD 1791. The worst-case signal-to-noise ratio of this unit is equivalent to 18 bits.
The full-scale worst-case distortion is equivalent to 15.5 bits. Given the TI DSD 1791's high level of
performance, the analog circuits that follow the DAC contribute more noise and distortion than does
the DAC. As mentioned above, the DSD 1791 will pass DSD stream signals decoded from an SACD
directly. Low distortion TI OP275 opamps are used for the balanced to single ended converter for
the DAC for all but the surround back or the presence channels. The balanced to single ended
converter for the surround back or the presence channels is a lower performing NJM2068. The
NJM2068 is used for all channels in the active stage that follows balanced to single ended
converters.
Between the DAC output and preamp-out, the signal passes through four operational amplifiers, five
electrolytic capacitors, and one MOS electronic switch. The first analog block is the balanced to
single ended converter for the DAC. This is followed by an electronic switch that selects the DAC or
the external multi-channel analog input. Next is an operational amplifier that provides a small
amount of gain and buffers the switch. The electronic volume control follows. It is a custom device
from Yamaha (YAC526) that includes an internal operational amplifier. The electronic volume control
runs on +/-6V rails, but all other circuits in the analog path are on a +/-12V rail, including the New
Japan Radio NJU7313 analog switch. The last analog stage buffers the electronic volume control
from the preamp outputs and the power amp inputs. The opamps used for this stage are the
uPC4570.
The power amplifier is typical for a receiver of this price point. The Sanken complementary pair
(2SA2151 and 2SC6011) output devices have high unity current gain of 20 MHz. The pair is rated to
produce 15 amps at VCE up to 10V. The breakdown voltage is 200 volts. For an isolated 10 msec
pulse, the transistors produce thirty amps at VCE up to 30V. The front end of the power amplifier
has not been cost cut, consisting of a complete differential pair and an active differential to singleended converter. The voltage gain stage is isolated from the differential stage by an emitter-follower.

Both the differential pair and voltage gain stage are biased by active current sources and not
resistors.
The sixth and seventh amplifiers can be assigned to one of the two extra zones or they can provide
the power for the surround back speaker in a 7.1 installation in zone 1. An option is also made for
the sixth and seventh amplifiers to supply the front channel signals for bi-amping.
The power supply to the power amplifier is +/ -64V and the primary filter capacitors are a pair rated
at 18,000 microfarads. Yamaha rates the power amps at 140 watts out from 20 Hz; 20 Hz with 0.04%
distortion into eight ohms and this is consistent with the design. No continuous operation specs are
given for impedances below eight ohms; however, specified dynamic (short burst at 1% THD) power
specifications of 205 watts into four ohms and 345 watts into two ohms would be consistent with the
performance capabilities of the Sanken output transistors, the size of the heat sinks, primary filter
capacitor and transformer. As explained in previous reviews, the power supply in AV receivers in
this price class cannot maintain all seven channels at the rated continuous output power across the
frequency band as presented in the spec sheet when only two channels are driven. The spec sheet
gives no power output with all 7 channels driven. A GUI panel has an option for reducing the power
supply rail when a speaker below 6 ohms is used. This reduces the maximum power draw from the
line reducing dissipated heat dissipated by the receiver but also reduces power output.
The back of the unit indicates that the Yamaha draws 5.25 amps root-mean-squared from the power
cord, which would limit the power output with all seven channels driven to well below 100watts at I
kHz into an eight ohm load. The 5.25 amplifier rating is surprising because the power amplifier
design points to a larger safe current draw at full power. The receiver appears to have the capability
to draw closer to seven or eight amps of incoming current draw which would be expected given the
build quality of the power amps. Unless some special current limiter is present, I would expect the
RX-V2700 to draw the additional current with all channels driven with a resultant power output in a
range of 100 watts and all channels driven at I kHz into an eight ohm load. Remember, a separate
power amp of robust design is needed to achieve full power levels of 140 watts with all channels
driven across the entire frequency range at distortion levels below 0.1%. If you choose to use a
separate power amp and this receiver as only a preamp-processor, the RX-V2700 remains
competitively priced owing to its wealth of features and the high-quality DAC's.
The analog switch matrix is very complex because the receiver supports three separate zones and
each zone plays from a different source. All home theater system reviews the analog inputs and
outputs in the switch matrix are routed by MOSFET switches on +/- 6V supply rails. The inputs and
outputs are not buffered with operational amplifiers, which is something occasionally available on
top-of-the-line AV receivers priced $2,000+. With the many analog inputs and outputs on the RXV2700, it would be cost prohibitive to install all those buffers. The eight-channel external analog-in
is buffered The output of the zone I switch matrix can by connected directly to the analog electronic
volume controls, bypassing all the digital signal processing including the room equalization system
in the direct mode. Typically, the analog-out signal of zone I is converted to digital by an ADC to
allow for the use of all the DSP features. The ADC is a high quality TI PCM1804. It samples at
192kHz. The worst case full scale distortion and noise is slightly less than 16 bits and is typically
16.5 bits. Signal to noise ratio is an equivalent of 17 bit worst case and has a typical value of 18bits.
This is better performance than provided by most ADCs in this price range.
Zones 2 and 3 are analog signal paths with special D/A converter dedicated to zones for listening to
the XM digital satellite radio or the digital audio signal from networked receiver functions. The
satellite radio digital signal and network digital signals are routed to the main DSP channel for zone
I and converted to analog by the DACs connected to the power amplifier. Zones 2 and 3 have

independent electronic volume control ICs and a set of digitally-controlled analog tone control ICs in
the signal path. Zone 2 also switches video and has its own, supplied, remote control
The Phono stage uses the standard single-amplifier topology with an NJM2068 op amp. This is
adequate for casual playback of LPs, but if you have an expensive phono front-end, it is better to use
an external phono preamp with the two-stage RIAA equalizer and higher performance op amps. This
configuration will lower noise and allow for a more accurate RIAA transfer curve. Such external
preamps are in the $150-$200 range and include models from Parasound and Rotel that will be
reviewed soon.
The Network processor board is stuffed with electronics; the Ethernet transceiver, a system on a
chip processor, 128Mbits of SRAM and 32Mbits of FLASH memory. This board adds to the cost of
the receiver but as explained above provides many important features.
Summary
The unique features of the RX-V2700 will keep the most dedicated audiophile satisfied, occupied,
and intrigued. The Internet radio opens a world of music programming and the parametric EQ goes
low enough in frequency to equalize the bass region. The automatic setup function in natural mode
does a good job of adjusting the parametric equalizer in many cases and the GUI makes operations
the most user-friendly that I have encountered despite the wealth of features. Finally, the RX-V2700
can process SACD data streams in the digital domain and makes available all signal processing
features of the receiver for what increasingly looks like the only viable high-resolution music format
for the audiophile.--DAR
COPYRIGHT 2007 Sensible Sound
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Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights reserved.