10 August 2007 – Yamaha is getting ready to drop in the laps of audiophiles just in time for Christmas a hard core A/V receiver with THX Ultra2 Plus certification. The Yamaha RX-Z11 will cost you though, at around $5,500.
The Yamaha RX-Z11 is designed for the HD era, says Yamaha, and it definitely shows with the huge bounty of features on this 11.2-channel monster. It uses something called Cinema DSP HD3 processing to create what Yamaha feels is “3-D surround sound height realism.” There’s also support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, 30/36bit Deep Color, xvYCC, 120 and 24Hz refresh rates and Auto Lip-sync.
Did we mention there’s also five HDMI ports, network capabilities, PlaysForSure support, USB inputs and integration of HD Radio? The list goes on and on – excuse us while we wipe the drool off our lips and begin the paperwork to take out a home loan to finance this beast.
Features
Unprecedented Audio Performance
* Trilateral Sound Development for the HD Audio era
* Discrete 11-channel amplifier configuration delivering a total of 1,180W (140W x 7 + 50W x 4)
* Digital ToP-ART and High Current Amplification with high quality and custom-built audio-grade parts and devices used throughout
* Super Stable Chassis design
High Sound Quality
* Preamplifier Stage
* New Pure Direct for lossless audio formats also
* Pure Ground DAC Concept
* High quality preamplifier block design
* Low-Jitter PLL and Digital Clock Circuits
* High quality headphone amplifier circuit
* Power Amplifier Stage
* All-Channel Current Feedback Circuit
* Hybrid Low Noise Power Supply
* Symmetrical Layout and New Power Circuit Layout
* Low-impedance, minimum loop print pattern
* Thick aluminum panels and large, heavy feet
High Picture Quality
* Latest HDMI 1.3a specification supports Deep Color (30/36 bit) transmission, xvYCC color space, 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates and Auto Lip-Sync compensation
* Analog and HDMI digital video signal upscaling to Full HD 1080p and downscaling to 480p format
* Analog video to HDMI digital video upconversion capability
* 4 Component Video in and 2 monitor outs
Surround Realism
* New CINEMA DSP HD3 creates lush, dense, accurate sound field
* THX Ultra2 Plus surround modes
* Improved Compressed Music Enhancer
* Adaptive DRC (Dynamic Range Control) and DSP effect level controlling capability
* SILENT CINEMA and Virtual CINEMA DSP
Advanced Features
* Network Receiver Capabilities
* Network port to connect a PC and Yamaha MCX-2000 or access the Internet Radio via LAN
* Compatible with Windows Vista & Windows Media Player 11 as well as Windows Media Connect
* PlaysForSure network device support
* 2 USB ports (1 on front, 1 on rear) to connect USB memory devices or portable audio players
* Supports MTP devices and Mass Storage Class devices
* Supports 500mA power from USB port
* Supports USB HDD (FAT32 format, up to 2TB)
* iPod compatibility via optional Yamaha Universal Dock YDS-10
* Advanced YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) for automatic speaker setup
* Multiple point measurement feature for multiple listening positions
* Specialized parametric equalizer for standing wave reduction
* Speaker angle measurement feature for optimized CINEMA DSP
* YPAO Easy Starter
* HD Radio™ digital broadcast reception capability
* XM ready with XM HD Surround powered by Neural-THX Surround Decoder
* Multiple Subwoofer connection capability
* 6 or 8-channel additional input jacks for discrete multi-channel inputs
* 10 System Memories for Main Zone and 4 System Memories for other each Zone
* GUI on-screen display of six languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese
Versatile Zone Control
* Intelligent assignable amplifiers: bi-amping and multi-zone control (Zone 2/Zone 3/Zone 4)
* Preamplifier Mode
* Zone 2 video output (component and composite) with OSD capability Zone 2 digital audio output (coaxial)
* Party Mode
* Display of song data and radio information on zone OSDs
* Sleep timer and mute level for all zones
* Zone Mono
* Flexible and assignable dual +12V trigger outs
