Yamaha’s
no-expense-spared 5000 Sequence
elements made a daring assertion in regards to the firm’s dedication to severe
Hello-Fi once they debuted again in 2019. Their absolutely differential balanced designs
go to nice lengths to make sure superior noise immunity and low distortion. Plus,
they’re beautiful. However most people aren’t ready to drop $20K on a preamp and
energy amp stack. Fortunately, Yamaha claims to have captured a portion of this
flagship goodness in its new R-N2000A “next-generation community Hello-Fi receiver,”
which sells for a extra approachable $4,000. It’s appropriate with lossless and
high-resolution streaming sources, and gives helpful room-correction options
because of built-in YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer). Visually,
the R-N2000A is almost as hanging because the extravagant 5000 Sequence. I’m a complete
sucker for the elegant stage meters, which Yamaha says are there to “evoke the
nostalgic period of Hello-Fi” as they convey the dynamics and pulse of the music, imbuing “a heat feeling
by means of their softly illuminated LEDs.” That is advertising and marketing communicate, certain, however it
additionally occurs to be 100% true. It’s not all retro although; on the backside of the
(black or silver) entrance panel,
there’s a high-res OLED show to point the content material being performed, including a
fashionable contact to an in any other case basic aesthetic. These refined touches
prolong past the entrance panel, too. Round again, the R-N2000A sports activities speaker
terminals reduce from pure brass, promising to ship a extremely safe connection
— and to look rattling good doing it. And inside, the chunky toroidal energy
transformer and high-quality ESS Sabre DACs are simply as interesting because the
exterior.
Yamaha R-N2000A Networking Stereo Receiver Overview
We
have an extended historical past and a loyal fan base for our Hello-Fi gear, and the 2000
Sequence ushers us into a brand new age. We designed an actual, high-performance receiver,
supercharged it with cutting-edge expertise, after which paired it with a brand new
era of audio system. We made an influence within the Hello-Fi neighborhood three years
in the past once we launched the award-winning 5000 sequence; at this time, the 2000 Sequence
makes this extraordinary listening expertise extra accessible.
—
Alex Sadeghian, director of Shopper Audio for Yamaha Company of America
Yamaha
says that the R-N2000A is made for “audiophiles with analog aspirations and
digital needs.” I’ve to tip my hat to the advertising and marketing author who got here up with
that. I interpret it to imply that the receiver bridges the hole between the
habits of next-gen audiophiles (i.e., high-res music streaming), and the
time-honored sound high quality,
construct high quality, and design aesthetic that Yamaha turned well-known for within the first
place. The amp “produces breathtakingly stunning sound whereas offering the
breadth of content material selections and ease of use that at this time’s music fans
crave,” in response to the corporate.
Amp
Design
In
order to provide that breathtakingly stunning sound, Yamaha says that the
R-N2000A borrows closely from the engineering of the flagship 5000 Sequence,
together with the superbly symmetrical proper/left circuitry and a floating,
balanced energy amplifier that reportedly gives superior channel separation and
signal-to-noise efficiency. In a configuration that Yamaha calls its “unique
amplifier expertise,” the facility amplifier circuitry, together with the facility
provide, is unbiased from the bottom, thus eliminating the affect of
minute voltage fluctuations and exterior floor noise. Yamaha’s circuit design
guarantees a wide range of advantages, together with the proper symmetry of pull-pull
operation within the output stage. Different claimed benefits are each goal and
subjective in nature, from a excessive signal-to-noise ratio to “an overwhelmingly
expressive energy that completely attracts out the sound of any musical instrument.”
The amp delivers 90 watts per channel into 8 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.07% THD,
with each channels pushed, and 145 watts per channel into 4 ohms, additionally with
each channels pushed. Gene has the very pattern he coated within the Youtube video under and will likely be doing exhaustive bench testing quickly.
The
R-N2000A encompasses a completely symmetrical, folding-book development format,
with a centrally-located energy provide flanked on both facet by the facility
amplifier blocks. Yamaha says that this format provides the unit perfect weight
steadiness and “suppresses adversarial results between channels” for extraordinary
channel separation. The result’s “remarkably pure replica of each half
of the sound,” in response to the corporate. The ability provide is alleged to make use of a toroidal
transformer the likes of which
are “normally reserved for flagship Hello-Fi elements,” bringing “technical
proficiency and absolute musicality” to the desk. The toroidal
transformer works in tandem
with an array of high-end elements
to make sure that “the musical emotion is conveyed to the listener.” A peak beneath
the hood would reveal a 3 mm brass base sandwiched between the underside of the
transformer and the internal chassis, designed to regulate vibrations within the
transformer.
It’s
one factor for an organization like Yamaha to say “an overwhelmingly spacious sound
crammed with realism,” and it’s one other to elucidate how its engineering crew has
gone about attempting to realize it. Yamaha mentions plenty of particular
approaches, together with its Low Impedance Idea, which entails the usage of
thick wires for the bottom connection with a view to “totally get rid of vitality
loss and degradation of the audio sign.” Yamaha considers this a essential
characteristic that helps set up the R-N2000A as being “really premium Hello-Fi.” The
floor is additional strengthened by a screw connection for the output from the
energy amplifier part, which Yamaha says is vital for an open, pure
sound stage. One other engineering strategy at work within the R-N2000A is Yamaha’s
Mechanical Floor Idea, which begins with the bolts of the toes being welded
on to the primary chassis. These are heavy-duty, chrome-plated brass toes,
which offer the kind of strong and inflexible basis mandatory to realize a “wealthy, foundational low-frequency
response,” in response to Yamaha. Subsequent, the massive warmth sink, energy transformer,
and block capacitors are immediately bolted to the chassis, simply as they’re in
the corporate’s Hello-Fi flagships. Yamaha claims that this mechanical coupling
prevents undesirable vibration, leading to “highly effective, extremely expressive
low-frequency response, permitting you to really feel the deep groove of the music.”
Digital
Options
The
built-in DACs in lots of stereo merchandise — even some costly ones — are sometimes
simply there for comfort. Should you’re severe about sound high quality, you’ll get a
separate DAC. However Yamaha says that’s not the case with the R-N2000A, which has
a DAC part constructed across the state-of-the-art ES9026PRO digital-to-analog
converter from ESS Applied sciences. This high-performance chip reportedly achieves
extremely correct sign conversion and refined present supply because of its
four-channel operation and balanced analog audio output. The result’s a
digital part that reproduces “even the refined atmosphere of live performance halls and
delicate expressive nuances,” whereas serving up “clear, clear sound area
replica (with) wealthy and absolutely detailed audio.” Customers can make the most of
this DAC in plenty of methods. There are, after all, optical and coaxial inputs
for connecting a CD transport, Bluesound Node, or Roon endpoint just like the WiiM
Mini streamer. There’s additionally a USB enter
permitting the R-N2000A to connect with a PC or Mac, or to a USB-based audio system
akin to iFi Audio’s inexpensive Zen Stream ($399) or the high-end music servers
out there from corporations like Innuos, Aurender, and Auralic. The USB enter
helps PCM playback as much as 384kHz, and DSD 11.2MHz native playback as properly.
This enter additionally advantages from an ultra-precision devoted crystal clock
designed to enhance sign accuracy, permitting you to take full benefit of
high-res audio sources. Lastly, there’s an HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel)
enter, permitting the R-N2000A to attach on to a appropriate TV to ship a strong 2-channel or
2.1-channel dwelling theater expertise. Along with accommodating these digital
sources, the built-in DAC can be utilized to take pleasure in a set of Yamaha MusicCast
streaming companies – together with Amazon Music HD, Apple Music (through AirPlay 2),
Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, and lots of others — through Wi-Fi or ethernet.
For
many audiophiles, room-correction has grow to be essential characteristic in a fully-loaded
built-in amp just like the R-N2000A. Whereas many manufacturers, together with NAD, JBL, and
Arcam, have turned to Dirac Dwell, others, akin to Anthem and Lyngdorf, desire
to roll their very own room correction software program. Yamaha has gone the latter route
for the R-N2000A, which is supplied with Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic
Optimizer, or YPAO. This proprietary automated calibration expertise corrects
for variations in room acoustics to create “the proper listening
surroundings,” in response to the corporate. Refined over a few years in Yamaha’s
dwelling theater receivers, YPAO has been optimized for the R-N2000A and guarantees
to yield professional-quality outcomes with out requiring laborious guide
changes. The system is alleged to carry out exceptionally high-precision equalization
with 64-bit /192 kHz audio decision. The R-N2000A additionally options YPAO R.S.C. (Mirrored Sound
Management), which “precisely management(s) the vital early reflection sounds,
mechanically adjusting and optimizing how the sound is heard in your room, relying
on the supplies of the partitions and the speaker placement.”
NS-2000A
Flooring-Standing Audio system
The
R-N2000A receiver is on the market now, and is being launched alongside a brand new
floor-standing speaker known as the NS-2000A ($8K/pair), which will likely be out there
in late spring. As of now, we all know that this 3-way, 4-driver tower guarantees to
carry patented applied sciences from the corporate’s flagship 5000 Sequence audio system
into a brand new, extra inexpensive product with a unique form-factor. The brand new
audio system will use the identical newly-developed Zylon fiber mix for all drivers,
with the aim of sustaining constant tone shade over the whole frequency
spectrum. Yamaha says the fabric has “glorious sound velocity and minimal
inner dissipation.” The cupboards, comprised of the identical wooden used within the
soundboards of Yamaha’s grand pianos,
was designed for optimum dynamics utilizing laser vibrometers and complicated FEM
(Finite Aspect Methodology) evaluation. Patented Yamaha applied sciences, together with the
Acoustic Absorber and Resonance Suppression Chambers, are at work to make sure
that “music is vividly reproduced with out the detrimental results of extra
sound-absorbing materials,” in response to the corporate.
Conclusion
It
stays to be seen whether or not the R-N2000A will “rework your life with
breathtakingly stunning sound,” as Yamaha claims, however it does seem to supply
the proper mix of old-school cool-factor and new-school options. Gene and Don Dunn appeared extraordinarily impressed with their listening demos as may be seen in our Youtube Overview video.
These
illuminated stage meters and high-quality front-panel
controls are laborious to withstand. You should definitely try how a lot of Yamaha’s applied sciences from their $20K
5000 Sequence trickled down into the R-N2000A in our video. Product Supervisor of Yamaha Hello-Fi merchandise, Susumu Kumazawa, paid
Gene a go to final month on the Audioholics Sensible Residence to reply questions and provides Audioholics followers a glimpse
of what’s to come back from Yamaha!
Except in any other case indicated, this can be a preview article for the featured product. A proper evaluate could or could not comply with sooner or later.
