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Building the perfect beast
Yamaha's flagship unveiled
By Max Christoffersen
September 2002
This one has been coming for a while. The Yamaha DSP-AZ1 is the new flagship of Yamaha.
And to anyone who has been around home theatre for any length of time, such a prospect is akin to the release of a vault load of long lost Beatles songs. It’s a big deal.
And it is a big deal because Yamaha can lay claim to starting the home theatre ball rolling in the mid to late 80s. And for much of the time since, Yamaha lead the field.
To be sure, there is much that is genuinely exciting about the ‘Z’ - new amps, new processing chips, new surround formats and a brand new look. But the bottom line is that Yamaha is back with a new flagship rig - and important things are changing.
It’s not personal - it’s
business
The first obvious thing, other than the weight, is cosmetically the Z
is a straight-faced monolith. It’s as if Yamaha have said: “Flag
the fancy stuff boys, we want a design that simply says ‘we mean
business’.”
And business it is. A quick peak through the heat vents on the top confirms that something is up. A big and rather serious looking fan is located above the amplifier stage, suggesting there is some extra beef in there. Thankfully it is reserved for seriously high output and was never heard in normal operation.
But it does hint at what Yamaha are doing: the Z’s priorities lie in improving basic component parts on the audio side of the equation: in short, they’re building the perfect beast with an eye on the overall sonic balance. The stats confirm it: The power is up to 130 watts all round (55 for front ambient) - and with Yamaha’s typically conservative ratings, it’s enough to keep most home theatre users happy well past normal tolerance levels.
Add in surround processing done by brand new Yamaha YSS-938 32-bit LSI and new Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs all round and you get the picture.
Can you spell r.e.l.i.e.f.?
On start-up the profound sense of audio relief was almost overwhelming.
The seductively smooth hash-free sound was warm and inviting. While there
is a sense of top-end glare on my A-1, this is completely absent on the
Z, replaced with what can only be described as a separates-style sound
which is full bodied and extremely detailed. Both music and film seemed
to have greater snap and intelligibility without irritating leading edge
hash found in other products at lower price points.
This is performance normally found only in the big power house separate amps. And it was all achieved with the Z merely idling along. Ask it to step it up - and it could do without adding grain or harshness as volume went past reference levels.
So how do I drive this thing?
But while the sonics are a genuine feature, what is disappointing is the
user interface. While it has served Yamaha well for many generations and
remains among the simplest to use, it is now showing its age.
Where other units are offering default start up volumes and default sources, Yamaha is still offering the same basic configuration as the 10 year old DSP-A1000. Another sore point for many will be the high fixed crossover frequency of the subwoofer pre-out. Throw in the entry level remote and things look a little less than you might expect for a 21st Century flagship receiver from Yamaha.
To buy or not to buy
But the reason why you would buy the DSP-AZ1 is not because of the multiple
inputs or 6.1 discrete facilities, nor the addition of new and different
variations on simulated multi-channel surround from stereo sources (DPL2
and Neo 6) or the 42 surround fields with 62 variations.
You’d buy it because its sounds so damn good. The basic sound quality of the DSP-AZ1 is a further step towards a more balanced and warm tonal balance than the Yamaha models of the 1990s. It follows the same direction as the outstanding RXV-1 and in so doing makes a statement for the current state of the art of integrated home theatre amplifier performance.
It sings without sibilance or digital nasties and with such a fully rounded balance that it music or soundtracks from the ‘Z’ is an experience to be savoured - as good as you can expect knowing the inherent compromises that are part and parcel of any integrated component.
The Z isn’t the perfect beast - but it is damn near. The sonics alone may make users feel that is an open and shut case. The rest is audio gravy.
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