Yamaha RX-A2A AVENTAGE 7.2-Channel AV Receiver – 8K and 4K/120 HDMI, eARC, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MusicCast

My previous Yamaha receiver was 10 ys old, and was an entry level 5.1 model (RX-V373). I accidentally fried it by putting my phone's USB connector in. I have been wanting to upgrade for a while the last few yrs but waited it out until receivers have 8k pass through (so whenever 8k becomes more of a thing I can keep this new one a bit longer). The 3773 had 4k pass through when I got it 10 yrs ago, well before 4k became as available as it is now for example, which was one reason I held out on replacing as long as I did. This time around I decided to step up into the premium Aventage line of Yamaha. It was between this & the A4A, not a huge price difference, but I would have needed to replace my entertainment center since the A4A is too deep to fit. Didn't seem worth it & now I'm really happy with my choice. My living room set up (in a condo) has 2 surrounds, to add 2 more would require building mounts on the wall (couch is against the wall with 2 surrounds on side tables) which I don't want. This has 7 channels to allow for 2 Atmos front firing speakers which I got & love how immersive it sounds. Bi-amping the front towers is an option, but that uses 2 extra channels so the Atmos front speakers can't be connected at the same time as bi-amping. I experimented with biamping & biwiring & couldn't hear any difference so I have the fronts biwired, allowing for the 2 Atmos front connections. New features/improvements from my old receiver include more power/watts, lower THD & better sound, streaming music directly from the receiver with Music Cast, and it processes Atmos & DTS audio. One key feature all the Aventage models have that the RX ones don't is the 5th foot in the middle, which was designed & tested to improve the sound with more stabilization. Aventage also has a 3 yr warranty (vs 2 for RX). The top of the line RX model looks identical in specs which I also considered but it just sounds like this 1st Aventage model is slightly better with it its parts & sound quality, and not that much more. Especially since I got the A2A on sale for 999.95 (vs the 1200 price). I actually bought this for 1150 which was a teeny mark down, and then saw Amazon put it on sale for 999.95 shortly after (about 2 weeks). Amazon customer service was great when I called about that, and they credited the difference. Back to the receiver...2 subwoofers can be connected, and an amplifier for the 2 front speakers can be connected as well through pre outs. Probably more improvements but those are the main ones. Along with this receiver upgrade, I also upgraded my subwoofer & added a Nvidia Shield Pro streamer (due to it handling Atmos & 4k upscaling of lower hd content, which my Roku Ultra cannot do). My system now includes Polk TSI 400 front towers Polk CS20 center, Polk T15 surrounds (all of these Polk speakers are from 10 yrs ago as well & still work great for me, they sound better too with this receiver). I added Klipsch R-41SA Atmos front firing speakers, and upgraded from a Polk PSW505 subwoofer to an SVS SB3000 (night & day difference with that upgrade!). Have a Roku Ultra from a few yrs ago, and the Nvidia as well now. The TV also will be upgraded at some point, but I'm perfectly content with it now (is a 7 yrs old 55 inch 4K Sony Bravia). This receiver also processes Dolby Vision which I'd need a new TV for, as well as eArc which this receiver also has. Over time I will continue adding to my set up. A decent record player is next, and a current blu ray player (the one I have is rather old & only has 1080p). Then a new TV & A 2nd sub (will get another SVS SB3000). The last & most expensive upgrade will be the rest of the speakers. From Polk to B&W most likely, but when I get to this I will compare both at the same price point as I am still very impressed with the quality of my Polks for their price point. I also plan to add an amp (Emotiva most likely) to power the fronts. Another reason I was ok with the A2A watts per channel for now (100 with 2 channels driven for music, unsure what it is at 5.1.2 but it's plenty especially with the thunder the SVS sub provides even at low volumes, and the ability to boost dialogue in addition to the center channel. I'd rather get a dedicated amp for more music power than a higher priced receiver just due to more watts. Very pricey to do all of this at once (in particular the speakers & amp), but for now I am thrilled with how much better everything sounds with these phase 1 upgrades. Highly recommend it, if you are coming from an entry level budget receiver this can pump more life into your current speakers.

Our projector in our home theater died and I updated to a 4K projector. I was using a 10 year old Onkyo receiver. It was still working fine, but being that old it did not have the latest audio codecs or 4K HDMI, so I decided to go ahead and upgrade my AVR.I had bought a relatively inexpensive Yamaha for our living room TV a few years ago and have been pleased with its performance. I looked at the RX-A2A and RX-A4A. After reading numerous reviews and tests, I decided to go with the A2A, since it was on sale and much less expensive. The difference in features were not important to me. I only need one HDMI output and only have three inputs. While the A4A has a more powerful amp and better power supply, I thought the A2A would be sufficient since our home theater is "cozy" about the same size as a living room. My speakers in my 7.1 setup are very efficient and we play music and videos at a reasonable loudness.Still, I was concerned that the A2A would match the performance of the Onkyo with its beefier power supply and more power. My fears were soon put to rest.After swapping out the units, I set up the A2A. It only took 10 minutes, including running YPAO to calibrate the system. I designed the room carefully and it has acoustic treatments, including bass traps. Therefore, the adjustments made by YPAO were minimal. We watched "No Time to Die", which has a well-regarded soundtrack full of dialog, music and special effects, including some beefy LFE. The A2A handled it all with aplomb, even at a higher-than-normal volume setting. I felt there was a noticeable improvement in audio quality. My adult son, who didn't know I upgraded to the Yamaha, remarked how the audio sounded more balanced and refined, which he attributed my sound treatments (he'd already heard the Onkyo after I had installed them).Video quality is also excellent, seamlessly passing the HDR 4K signal to the projector. Although I'm frugal and didn't want to upgrade my AVR, I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I went with the A2A.

Update: I got a new Sony X90L TV and this receiver just doesn't like that TV or something. I've had at least 4 instances where the TV said there was no signal. The receiver was on and the proper input was selected. If I hit the menu button on the receiver, I could see that. No inputs on the receiver would work. Unplugging the power from the receiver and plugging it back in fixes the problem in every case. Based on my googling, many others have similar problems.Yamaha receivers are generally over priced I've noticed. And they seem to skimp on features, e.g. a receiver with an MSRP of $1000 doesn't have a single analog video input. I got this on sale for $650 and for that I'm quite happy. I had a Denon that I got pretty inexpensively, but I hated the Denon. Things didn't work, it was confusing, didn't sound all that good and didn't do HDMI input switching well. The Yamaha is a far better reliever in every way. It does cost quite a bit more but it's just so much nicer.

Has issues with nVidia Shield and Dolby Vision.On screen menus are a bit slow and nothing fancy.Good sound, easy setup, looks good in the cabinet

Great receiver and well made functions and sounds awesome. Love having HDMI 2.1 on all seven ports