YAMAHA RX-A850 AV RECEIVER

The AVENTAGE line of high-performance AV receivers are based on the audio design concept of providing a massive, full-bodied sound for movie sound effects and the accurate reproduction of music sources. By expertly harmonizing traditional and advanced technologies, every factor that affects sound quality, from materials and parts to construction, layout, vibration damping (unique foot) and “fine-tuning” the sound, is handled with no other thought than to achieve the best possible audio quality. As a result, every AVENTAGE model has the ability to reproduce the most subtle details of high-definition sound so that listeners can enjoy a truly high-class sound studio experience at home.

The Anti-Resonance Technology (A.R.T.) Wedge is a fifth foot in the center of the unit. It dampens vibrations from the power transformer, power transistors and heat sinks, as well as vibrations that might be caused by the sound from the speakers.

All of the AVENTAGE components feature the same sleek, clean design, with an elegant aluminum front panel and silky touch volume/selector knobs. The aluminum front panel is used to effectively shield sensitive circuitry from external noise and electronic radiation generated by dimmer switches, fluorescent lighting, video monitors and so on. This ensures optimum sonic performance in the widest range of installation environments.

The Total Purity Concept, which Yamaha has been cultivating for many years, encompasses high drive amp technology, high purity pre-amplification, anti-vibration technology and independent pure power supplies. All models have a fully discrete power amplifier that helps to minimize distortion. They also adopt independent pure power supplies, allowing dedicated power supplies for the analog and digital circuitry to prevent digital noise from affecting analog circuitry. The anti-vibration heatsinks are designed to suppress vibration from transistors and sound pressure. Independent power supplies for the DACs are designed to further eliminate noise on certain models. Down to every detail, these AV receivers are designed with full emphasis on the highest possible sound quality.

This AV receiver is compatible with many audio formats such as Dolby® True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio™. They are also compatible with FLAC/WAV 192 kHz playback. You will enjoy excellent sound quality from a Blu-ray Disc™ and other types of high resolution sources.

This AV receiver's HDMI® input/output supports Ultra HD (4K) video image pass-through. It also can perform Ultra HD (4K) upscaling to boost a lower resolution image to super high-def resolution. This ensures compatibility with the latest super high resolution video formats.

3D means the receiver can handle 3D signal data. The Audio Return Channel function enables data to be sent and received via the same HDMI cable, so you can hear the sound from the TV via a single HDMI cable with no need for an extra optical cable.

In ordinary deinterlacing, pixels in areas of movement are interpolated by upper and lower ranges. This causes jaggies in diagonal lines. Edge adaptive deinterlacing detects the direction of the line and interpolates the pixels optimally.

This AV receiver provides a variety of network functions that enable you to access more sources and also enhance operation. You can connect the receiver to a PC to enjoy Internet radio, Pandora® and Rhapsody®, and operate your system via WebBrowser Control. The AV Controller App (from iTunes® App Store or Google Play) lets you control various functions from your iPod®, iPhone®, iPad® or Android™ phones/tablets.

This AV receiver lets you use the Yamaha AV Controller App that is downloadable from the iTunes App Store or Google Play to control power on/off and volume, select input and DSP modes and operate other functions from an iPhone or Android devices. You can also use in as many as 23* different languages and customize the interface by hiding unused icons and renaming functions. A tablet version is also available. 

*As of Spring 2013.

This AV receiver supports AirPlay, which means they can accept wireless music streaming from an iPod, iPhone or iPad, as well as from iTunes on a Mac® or PC. This makes it easy to enjoy music from your mobile devices or computer on your home theater system. You can view metadata such as song title and artist name as well as album art* via the AV receiver's on-screen display. 

*Some models don't support album art display.

With the Spotify app on your smartphone, you've got instant access to millions of songs. And now you can stream those songs to your Yamaha system by using Spotify Connect. Just hit play to start streaming music. What's more, when you've been listening on your smartphone outside and come inside, the song immediately streams to your AVR—like magic, you enjoy uninterrupted music. You can also personalize playlists and receive phone calls while listening to music. 

The Spotify app and premium account are required. Visit Spotify.com for more details. Try Spotify Premium for free for 30 days, visit http://spotify.com/yamaha.

MHL provides easy, direct connection of compatible mobile phones and this AV receiver. Playback of up to 1080p video and multi-channel audio from the phones is supported. The receiver also charges the connected phone. Play, stop and other basic operations can be controlled from the remote control.

A USB port on the front panel allows convenient connection of an iPod/iPhone/iPad, which also charges when connected. Because the digital signal from the iPod/iPhone/iPad is transmitted directly to the AV receiver, there is no signal loss or interference, so you enjoy the best possible sound quality. In addition, you can use the receiver’s remote control unit to operate the iPod/iPhone/iPad music playback functions.

YPAO R.S.C. analyzes room acoustics and measures various speaker characteristics, then calibrates audio parameters to achieve optimum sound at any of eight listening positions. It employs Reflected Sound Control to correct early reflections for studio-quality sound. It also provides DSP Effect Normalization, which varies the CINEMA DSP parameters according to the reflected sounds.

Intelligent Amp Assign automatically assigns amplifier channels to certain speakers depending on what functions are selected. For example, when Zone 2 is off, all 7.1 channels will be used in the Main Zone. However, when Zone 2 is on, power to the two surround back channels will be directed to the two speakers in Zone 2 and the Main Zone will receive 5.1 channels of power. Similarly, when CINEMA DSP 3D is on, the two Front Presence speakers will be powered and not the two surround back speakers. When CINEMA DSP 3D is off, this situation is reversed. Thanks to Intelligent Amp Assign, there’s no need to switch the speaker cables on the rear of the receiver—one more way Yamaha makes your life a little easier.

Yamaha’s latest graphical user interface has a high resolution display with clear, easy-to-use menus and also includes a selectable status bar that shows input source, volume level, DSP mode and audio format. The GUI provides a choice of eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese and can be displayed over both normal and 3D pictures.

Pressing a SCENE button powers on the AV receiver and selects the input source and DSP mode. You can reset the buttons for different sources by selecting a source and DSP mode, then pressing a SCENE button for more than three seconds.

In addition to the large number of HDMI inputs on the rear panel, there is also one on the front panel. This gives you a convenient way to quickly plug in a digital camera or camcorder for highest quality pictures.

Another benefit of HDMI is the availability of CEC functionality. When the unit is connected to a CEC compatible TV, it will turn on and off together with the TV and you can use the TV remote to control the volume. CEC also provides advanced functionality with other components. For example, you can use the receiver’s remote unit to control player functions like skip and stop. 

*All connected devices must be HDMI CEC compatible. Some CEC compatible TVs/players may not work.

When the AV receiver is in HDMI Standby Through mode, the input source (Blu-ray Disc player, game console, etc.) for viewing on the monitor can be changed via the remote control. There’s no need to turn on the AV receiver in order to switch sources.

This AV receiver provides a DC-out connection for the YWA-10 Wi-Fi Adapter (optional accessory). This lets you stream music wirelessly via a router from network components such as a PC or NAS.

This AV receiver provides a DC-out connection for the YBA-11 Bluetooth wireless adapter (optional accessory). You'll be able to stream music wirelessly from a Bluetooth wireless technology capable smartphone, tablet or PC, without a Wi-Fi environment.

CINEMA DSP 3D provides a wide, high and dense sound field. HD Audio format decoding lets you enjoy HD Audio sources. Virtual Presence Speakers deliver 3D sound without actual use of presence speakers.

The Subwoofer Trim Control enhances the low frequencies by avoiding overlap with the front speaker output. This will result in a cleaner, more focused sound stage while providing a seamless frequency response. When subwoofer frequency overlap occurs in conventional systems, the overall sound is “pushed” toward the subwoofer. Subwoofer Trim Control takes care of this by separating the low subwoofer frequencies cleanly, thus stabilizing the front stage while providing a well-balanced enhanced bass sound.

New Virtual CINEMA DSP provides virtual 7.1 channel surround sound from only front speakers (2.1 channel), with no need for rear speakers. Using new 24 kHz HRTF (Head-related Transfer Function) technology, it creates a rear sound field that is extremely spacious, natural and powerful.

Dialogue Lift raises the sound of dialogue from the center speaker to a position in the center of the screen. Newly developed Virtual Dialogue Lift achieves dialogue lift without the need for presence speakers. Dialogue Level Adjustment lets you control the volume of the vocal sound, so you hear movie dialogue and music vocals at the ideal level for clear, comfortable listening.

When music is encoded into a digitally compressed format like MP3, the frequency response suffers. Yamaha’s Compressed Music Enhancer employs sophisticated digital signal processing using exclusive algorithms to restore what was lost so the music always sounds the way it should.

Adaptive DRC automatically adjusts the dynamic range of the sound according to the volume level. This ensures that you hear clear dialog, vocals and all sound effects at comfortable levels. There is no need to adjust the volume level as you listen; everything from whispers to big explosions will be heard clearly and comfortably at the same volume setting. It also tones down loud TV commercials and is ideal for low-volume, late-night listening when you do not want to disturb others.

• HDMI Zone B for audio/video streaming to another room (same content as main room) 
• Zone 2 on/off and control on front panel 
• Zone max volume and initial volume setting 
• Party Mode 
• Remote input/output 
• Programmable +12 V trigger output 
• RS-232C interface 

Yamaha’s ECO mode reduces power consumption by about 20 percent. It can be set from the top of the GUI menu. 

*Compared to power consumption when ECO mode is off (Yamaha measurement).

Auto Power Down lets you save energy by selecting to turn off the power after two, four, eight or 12 hours.

Yamaha makes its receivers eco-friendly with a low standby power consumption of 0.1 W in IR Standby mode (3 W in HDMI Standby Through mode, 3 W in Network Standby mode).

• 7 channel powerful surround sound 
110 W per channel (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.9% THD, 2 ch driven) 
100 W per channel (8 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.09% THD, 2 ch driven) 
• Full discrete amp configuration 
• Selected high quality parts to achieve optimum audio performance 
• Pure Direct for HD Audio and video enjoyment 
• Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels 
• Low jitter PLL circuitry helps optimize sound imaging 
• Detachable power cable for easier installation (also allows cable upgrade) 
• Assignable amplifiers for bi-amp connection 
• Banana-plug compatible binding post speaker terminal for Zone2/Presence channels 

• Ultra HD (4K) / full HD 1080p video upscaling from analog and HDMI input 
• Supports Deep Color (30/36 bit), x.v.Color, 24 Hz refresh rate and auto lip-sync compensation 

• Charging of iPod, iPhone and iPad via USB when AV receiver is off 
• iPod/iPhone/iPad song titles displayed in English and Western European languages on the front panel 
• Audio input assign capability for HDMI and component video input 
• Audio delay for adjusting lip-sync (0-500 ms) 
• Preset remote unit 
• Background video feature (for tuner and network sources) 

• Virtual Presence Speaker function for CINEMA DSP 3D surround without Front Presence speakers
• SILENT CINEMA™ 
• Two subwoofer outputs (simultaneous outputs)