Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalManCPA /t/1517894/after-some-b-tching-moan...20-is-f-cking-awesome-my-set-up#post_24360084
After playing audio Olympics by jumping over a few hurdles and sweating with frustration undoing countless messily hooked up wires and tripping over things, and taking 3 nights to break down the old system and set up the new one, OMFG what a difference. I loved my RX-V2090/DDP-2 Combo, but the 3020 pretty much torpedoed it. I finished hooking it up tonight. I ran YPAO, and have since tweaked to my liking. I tested the following: DVD, BluRay, SiriusXM, Server (my music). The cleanliness of the sound is what amazes me, so much more than my old setup.
Here's my system (some new, some old, some REAL old):
Yamaha RX-A3020
PS3
TV: 40XBR800 (330 lbs of CRT madness)
Sony M555ES 400CD changer
Yamaha P-220 LP
Yamaha KX-400U Cassette
Mitsubishi HS-U520 VCRF
Speakers:
Front: ADS L1290
Center: Klipsch KV3
Sub: Klipsch KSW100
Front Surround: Boston Acoustics HD5
Rear Surround: Klipsch Synergy SS-5 (I think that's what they are - not taking off the wall to check)
I have more playing to do, but jumping into the 21st century with up-to-date technology of the 3020 is a dream. Love how she networks. Love the sound - movies and music equally incredible.
Yeah......I'm happy.
I can definitely, undoubtedly relate to your story, as I have a very similar one myself. I too, wanted to be up-to-date with technology. I have used separate components for as long as I can remember, so I was looking for a Pre Pro, and the CX-A5000 was going to be my next purchase. However, I simply could not find a reasonable discount on it, so I started pondering the idea of a receiver. After three Pre Pro's, I was fighting with myself, as you could imagine. I just couldn't see myself with a receiver. My son in law found a great price on the RX-A2030 for himself, and I went with the RX-A3030. I ended up paying less than one half the price of the CX-A5000 to get the RX-A3030. I scrapped out a ton of cables, and with a smile on my face, connected a couple of HDMI cables, and never looked back. I'm thinking this is a happy ending to a long journey, then I powered it up and fell in love with the sound instantly. The beast is loaded with features, has a large display screen on the front panel that I can actually see from across the room...LOL, has a pro feel to the buttons and knobs (no plastic feeling), the volume knob has resistance when turning (you wouldn't be able to accidently spin the knob to a sudden unwanted volume...I really like that), the remote is large and also has a solid pro feel to it, (and is back lit...I need that), the GUI is awesome, the net features are a bonus, the firmware update worked the first time (sweet), the unit is dead quiet including when switching inputs (when powering on and booting up, you can hear the processor making a few clicks inside the receiver itself...nothing through the speakers), the "enhancer" and all the DSP modes have a very convincing presentation...doesn't appear gimmicky. I'm only doing 3.1 until I finish with the surround speaker selection, so believe it or not, I have yet to use the YPAO...have done some manual tweaking though...(maybe YPAO tomorrow). The pure direct and DTS HD Master Audio is heaven...(my Arcam Pre-Pro is not HDMI current, so the higher resolution is new and "ear candy" to me for sure). The owners manual on a CD is 175 pages, and in English too... LOL, TV viewing: the center channel dialog is crisp and clean. The lower resolution music...Pandora, Rhapsody, Spotify, vtuner, Serious XM, etc. can be "enhanced" for very pleasing and convincable listening/ increased warmth and dynamic range, even at very low volume levels. The ARC (I do use this a lot) works fine...never an issue with that. Basically the RX-A3030 is so loaded with features, it keeps giving and giving and giving. The wife even likes it...the first day she said "it smells good"...you know, the new wire smell that we all like so much...LOL. The only negative issue I have with the 3030 is (and most likely, it is just me) simply learning and configuring the many functions. I'm a slow learner sometimes. Again, I first thought this purchase was going to have a happy ending, but in fact there is no end to this monster, feature packed component, just daily suprises that keep popping up...like the free iphone remote app./ air play Spotify/ control Spotify with your iphone...including iphone receiver volume control. The remote app is cool using it on my 7" tablet also. I've been downloading a few high rez tunes from HD Tracks, and will hopefully USB them through the receiver for some more fun. BTW, I'm glad you like your new stuff. Enjoy.
