Yamaha AV receivers and Amps are considered to be among the best in the world for their wonderful sound and impressive build quality. They certainly come highly recommended here at Richer Sounds, so we’ve taken a look at the latest revamp from their Aventage range, the RXA850…
Having managed to hone their impressive collections in the Hi-Fi market, Yamaha have struck a chord in AV with their RXV range and their high-spec RXA range. RXAs are often on the tip of our tongue when people ask about a great surround sound system for both music and home cinema, and this year’s entry level amp in the range has certainly been no different.
The first exciting thing about the RXA850 is Dolby Atmos, which is a huge improvement on traditional surround sound. We were delighted to hear that this is the first AV receiver from Yamaha to facilitate this groundbreaking new sound – all you will need is some Atmos or ceiling speakers.
The RXA850 is the first in the range to feature Dolby Atmos.
To top this off there’s a huge amount of power in this receiver, 100w at 8 ohms to be precise, which is capable of driving even the larger floorstanders to the peak of their capabilities. So you could have a room shattering 7 speakers in surround sound mode all being driven at their highest potential, that’s going to sound seriously impressive no matter what you listen to!
With all this power the audio is kept nice and clean thanks to the build quality of this unit. As previously mentioned, Yamaha pride themselves in incredible builds on all their units but the Aventage range takes this legendary attention to detail a step further by incorporating their Anti-Resonance Technology (ART). This comprises of 3 key features; a full metal casing that has been given a fifth foot to dampen any vibration, and anti-vibration heat sinks to ensure that there is as little electrical distortion as possible. Combined these elements ensure clear, crisp sound even at high volumes and with high resolution music.
As you might expect from a high end receiver, there’s plenty of connectivity options including; HDMI interfaces with 8 inputs and 2 outputs all of which are 4K (HDCP 2.2) compatible, wireless connection via Apple Airplay and Bluetooth are for legacy devices to stream as well as Wi-Fi for streaming internet radio and music stored on network devices around the house. As an added bonus you can also use a free to download app to control other functions of the amplifier straight from your smartphone!
For me the biggest improvement with this amp over its rivals is its inclusion of a built-in phono stage. This means that if you are looking for a one box solution to listen to CDs, stream music, home cinema and a turntable then this is most definitely the amp for you.
Having taken what’s great about its predecessors and added a host of amazing sound upgrades it’s really hard to think of any cons when considering this amplifier. For awesome powerful sound, great connectivity and of course Dolby Atmos, it gets top marks from me.
Author – Andrew, Weybridge store
