YAMAHA Aventage RX-A3080 AV Receiver Review

For most people, a receiver is more than enough to give them an immersive sound experience- but not every receiver will do the job for enthusiasts who are looking for something with just that little bit of extra flavor and detail in their audio. I have what you’re talking about today: Yamaha RX-A3080 AV Receiver.

With its four 165 watt channels (five if you count both surround back speakers), this receiving packs some serious punch, power up to 130 decibels without distortion when running at full volume thanks to our variable loudness control which means your listening pleasure lasts longer as well because it gets any potential ear fatigue out of the way by adjusting how hard or easy things get on your ears.

With today’s technology, sound quality and surround sound effects are two of the most important aspects for a home theater user. For those who want to increase their sense of realism when watching movies or games on TV, they should consider enhancing these qualities by increasing both the number of channels as well as adding more subwoofers which will allow them to hear clearer and deeper bass sounds that make people feel like they’re inside whatever scene is going on in front of them.

The quality of a home theater receiver’s amplifier and the number of channels it can drive will affect how much you’ll pay for one. For example, many receivers these days offer 4k or 8K capability with Dolby Atmos but driving 3-4 speakers might only cost $500 while powering 7+ is more like an investment at over $2000!

There are two factors that contribute to what goes into determining the price of a home theater receiver: The quality of the amp in the system (i.e., amps with better power handling capabilities) as well as its ability to support multiple speakers/channels.

One of the most important considerations in your home theater is choosing a receiver. A good one will simplify power and control, while an entry-level model simplifies what can be complicated to appeal more to enthusiasts who want as much customization as possible. The Yamaha we’re looking at today falls into this category; it’s tailor-made for those that crave simplicity but still sound great doing so!

We’re going to take a closer look at this YAMAHA Aventage RX-A3080 AV Receiver. I know that when Yamaha’s feature sets are considered, it can be hard not to become overwhelmed by all of the options available. By the end of my review, you will hopefully have an understanding of what kind of sound and tendencies these receivers produce as well as some things to watch out for in your own setup process!

The Design

Yamaha receivers are built to a standard that you’ll find on more high-end components. This made installing the Yamaha rather daunting because it’s weight was larger than other speakers I have installed in my cabinet, meaning this receiver needed its own space and would not be able to use any of the recesses or spaces for cables like most others do.

I was excited to see that there were a variety of input options on the back panel. I was glad to find composite and component video inputs, as many modern receivers don’t have these legacy cables anymore in order save space and money.

Versatile Inputs

When it comes to inputs and outputs, the YAMAHA Aventage RX-A3080 AV Receiver has done everything possible. The receiver features an analog phono input as well two balanced analog audio inputs for a total of three different sources. There is also six HDMI in/out connections that are capable of carrying 4K 60fps at 444Hz resolution with legacy video signals upscaled from 480i or 720p via the same connection type.

There is an ARC, as well as eARC. However, you may have to run a firmware update to get eARC out of the box. That is also HDR compatible with HDR 10, HLG as well as Dolby Vision. So while the Yamaha may not be on the bleeding edge of video technology with 8k, it has more than enough to keep you happy with 4k for the foreseeable future.

RX-A3080 has nine independent channel output modules. You can build up to 5.2.4 or 7.2 2 3D surround sound system with this receiver, and it also supports 11 channels of preprocessing capability for different types of speaker configurations; as long as you add the stereo power amplifier!

The new YAMAHA RX-A3080 AV Receiver is the perfect home theater for a 4K/UHD video. It supports HDMI 2.0b, which can transmit at 18 Gbps, providing excellent sound and picture quality to all your devices! Its 7-in and 3-out HDMI interface also has an ARC function so you never have a problem with any playback device that’s connected to the network set-top box

Sound equipment manufacturers are always on the cutting edge of sound and visual technology. The RX-A3080 is a high-end audio system designed to provide fantastic entertainment for viewers with its latest features like wireless network connection, dual-band Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth 4.2 that can stream music from any device – even your PC at home!

The RX-A3080 supports a wide variety of audio formats like DSD, Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF, and FLAC. It is also compatible with high-quality lossless music files in the higher 352kHz/32bit specifications while supporting up to 11.2MHz for all your needs when it comes to digital sound reproduction from these sources natively without any conversion required on our end because this unit does so internally before feeding them into its circuitry.

When looking for a receiver in this price range, you need to think about upgradeability. The Yamaha Aventage RX-A3080 AV Receiver has 11 preamp outputs with both subwoofers accounted for. It also includes 2 balanced preamps that can be used solely as speakers or driven by an amp if desired; effectively turning the Yamaha into your own personal amplifier machine!

Yamaha states the power output of this receiver is 165 watts per channel. I don’t know what the all channels driven power output of this receiver is, but suffice to say it’s more than just 165 watts! The amplifier inside Yamaha exhibits great control over virtually any loudspeaker connected to it, be it for home theater or two-channel use.

The High-End Circuit

To achieve the ultimate noise control of sound, the YAMAHA RX-A3080 AV Receiver adopts the method of power separation, using a large copper isolation transformer as the exclusive power supply for the audio circuit, and is equipped with two 18000μF/71V filters ordered by Yamaha to Nippon Chemi-Con capacitance. Other digital circuits, analog circuits, and panel display circuits are powered by switching power boards.

As the RX-A3080 has upgraded wireless transmission and HDMI functions, Yamaha redesigned the digital circuit motherboard for it, deliberately shifting the network card position to the left. It is hoped that the wireless network card is farther away from the DAC chip to minimize the impact of interference on the sound signal head end.

The multi-channel processing circuit is equipped with three DSP chips specially made by TI for Yamaha. The digital-to-analog conversion circuit is located on the far right side of the digital motherboard and uses Yamaha’s DAC On Pure Ground (DOPG) grounding technology to reduce noise.

In the digital-to-analog conversion circuit, the main channel adopts the ESS high-order 32bit 8-channel DAC chip ESS9026PRO. This chip’s signal-to-noise ratio is as high as 124dB, and the total harmonic distortion is -110dB.

Yamaha’s first model to use a 64-bit processing chip is the flagship surround decoder CX-A5100, which was equipped with two 8-channel 32-bit DACs ESS9016S. The DSP chip is High Precision 64 bit EQ. Later, 64-bit processing chips began to be used in other models, such as RX-A3060, RX-A3070, AVENTAGE surround amplifiers, and even Hi-Fi amplifier R-N803.

They all have Precision 64 bit EQ. What is the difference between the High Precision 64 bit EQ claimed by RX-A3080 and Precision 64 bit EQ? Both technologies use 64-bit processing chips for calculation.

The difference is that High Precision 64 bit EQ technology sends out a “32 bit” digital audio signal to DAC, Precision 64 bit EQ sends a “24 bit” audio signal to DAC. Technically speaking, the YAMAHA RX-A3080 AV Receiver became Yamaha’s first AV amplifier with High Precision 64 bit EQ technology. In the state of using EQ correction, theoretically, its detail and dynamic performance can surpass all previous product models.

SURROUND: AI Technology

Yamaha took the lead in launching AV products with the learning function “SURROUND: AI” technology, using advanced artificial intelligence technology to capture the sound effects in the movie and perform sound enhancement processing within 0.2 seconds.

Make the sound show better imagery, high-density envelopment, ideal sound field connection, higher dynamics, sound field perspective, and all operations completed in the AV processor. For home theater users, it can be described as a brand new experience.

Do all Yamaha AV products support SURROUND: AI? The first to introduce this technology is Yamaha’s AVENTAGE series. Starting from the A3060, the AVENTAGE series has specially added a 64-bit processing chip, which is more powerful than the previous 32-bit models in processing performance. Therefore, it can also process more complex sound signals and achieve more powerful functions. The A3080 is a combined AV amplifier that supports this latest feature.

Understand How “SURROUND: AI” Works

First of all, we have to mention Yamaha’s AV amplifier products’ traditional function, which is to integrate various movie DSP modes to enhance the sense of space and envelopment. However, when watching movies, home theater users have to face the trouble of “which movie sound field mode to choose” because different options correspond to other films or music. There will be different sound effects. However, there has been no definitive statement about which sound field mode to choose.

And “SURROUND: AI” specifically addresses this problem. It has designed a set of artificial intelligence programs. With the sound signal of the movie, the machine will automatically “create the sound field.” The situation and scene of the film will change continuously with the plot. “SURROUND: AI” will intelligently detect the surround sound situation in the movie sound effect.

The built-in “sound mode database” can be obtained when the movie sound signal is decoded. Analyze the characteristics of the audio signal, compare it with the built-in sound database, and finally, determine which sound field format should be used to reproduce the movie’s sound.

The most powerful part of “SURROUND: AI” is that it will automatically capture the input audio signal for analysis when you activate this function. A solution can be obtained within 0.2 seconds. And it immediately changes the sound field when the AV amplifier plays the sound so that the audience can get a remarkable movie effect when watching different movie scenes.

Not for the Beginners

The Yamaha is a great receiver for the home theater expert looking to upgrade their system. If you’re just getting started, this product isn’t for beginners and maybe too overwhelming with its features that are overkill if they don’t know what they want yet.

Remote Control and App

When I’m looking for a remote, sometimes too many buttons can overwhelm me. But the Yamaha Aventage RX-A3080’s controller has just enough control that it doesn’t feel like you’re losing your mind when programming all of its features and capabilities; though more than once I’ve been tempted to go back into setup mode after accidentally pressing various buttons on my way out!

The YAMAHA AVENTAGE Remote is very well built with so many little details in design. It’s not an easy device to use until you get used to all those button names but once configured correctly, there are no problems at all.

The remote app was a lifesaver, so I started to rely on it. It’s nice that you can use the control app for music streaming since not all sound systems come with remotes anymore. The downside is that sometimes there are two different devices and they both have their pros and cons which makes it hard if one doesn’t work right away.

Sound Performance

The Yamaha’s sound signature is controlled almost absolute control. The overall tone of the receiver isn’t so much a trademark as it is an inclination for power and stability – not one I would doubt or deem lively in any way either. Nor does it have that warm lushness to make you think otherwise; instead, its neutrality falls somewhere between Denon and Marantz receivers with their rounder tones which are neither forward nor controlling but sort-of lusciously neutral where they don’t really draw attention to themselves unless called upon by your favorite tunes on Spotify.

As a result, Yamaha’s sound experience will be far more impacted by your choice of connected loudspeakers. Whether or not you choose to use their room correction software, which I’m going out on a limb and saying is fantastic. The process can take up to an hour but it makes the difference between good volume clarity in certain parts of my house as opposed to decent audio quality everywhere.

It would have been great if they included some kind of manual guide for measuring other rooms so that we could all enjoy this service from start to work finish with our own homes!

For those diehard home theater enthusiasts, this is the ultimate companion. This powerful receiver has a manual parametric EQ for all of its channels and can be scaled from 5.1 to Dolby Atmos with relative ease as long as you have some speakers that will work!

You’ll feel every bump in every bassline and hear each lyric clearly without any hint of glare high frequencies thanks to deep tight mids which make up an incredible soundscape perfect for movie marathons on rainy days when there’s nothing else better going on outside your window.

Conclusion

If you’re in the market for a high-end AV receiver, then this may be just what you need. The YAMAHA Aventage RX-A3080 Receiver gives your home theater sound quality that will amaze and impress everyone who hears it. It’s easy to connect too – all of the popular music streaming services are already accounted for!