Yamaha RX-A3070 Review

This is our Yamaha RX-A3070 Review.

You can expect only the best from Yamaha at the high end of the market, and the Yamaha RX-A3070 is no different. This flagship AV receiver for 2017 from the company has a lot going for it.

However, it stumbles in a few key areas, where it is simply outdone by more capable rivals in this price range. Most surprisingly in sound, with the audio lacking subtlety and vocal clarity, the type that you get from other receivers that are available on store shelves right now.

Product highlights

The Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A3070 is designed to be a flexible solution both for home theater and multiroom entertainment options.

A range of wireless listening options is provided, which combined with technologies like MusicCast and support for different high-resolution audio formats, seal the deal.

Here are the key specifications of the Yamaha RX-A3070:

• 9-channel amplifier
• 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms
• Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound decoding
• Support for 5.1.2, 5.1.4 and 7.1.2 Atmos setups
• 1080p and 4K support for analog and HDMI sources
• 4K/60p and 3D video passthrough
• Video upconversion
• Support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision
• 8 HDMI in, 2 out, 2 component inputs, 4 composite inputs
• 8 analog stereo audio inputs, XLR inputs, and phono
• WiFi for listening from PCs, internet radio and music services
• Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming
• Support for Spotify Connect, TIDAL and Deezer
• Apple AirPlay and DLNA certified
• AM/FM tuner
• Full color onscreen display
• Remote control
• 9 lbs. weight
• 3 years warranty

Build

The Yamaha RX-A3070 is built like a tank. It’s a big and burly box, designed to last years. Which is exactly what you would want from such an expensive AV receiver.

That said, there is nothing revolutionary about the design of this receiver. In fact, it is almost identical to the last year’s model, the RX-A3060, and comes in either black of titanium finishes with a neatly designed aluminum panel.

What could use improvements, however, is the control. The buttons and dial come with a decent enough layout, though a backlight would be useful here. On the flipside, no complaints on the front panel display that is colorful and crisp, and the onscreen menus are a joy to navigate around.

Features

The RX-A3070 comes with an assortment of ports and connections at the back, all clearly labeled and marked. You have multiple digital and analog inputs — everything from the latest HDMI ones to phono and XLR are here.

Eight HDMI inputs and two outputs all adhere to the latest HDCP 2.2 standard that is required for playing Ultra HD 4K and HDR content.

The box also packs in support for Dolby Vision HDR and Hybrid Log Gamma formats, which means HDR10 is included as well. On the audio side of things, we have support for three dimensional Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks, with nine channels of amplification. Eleven, if you pair it with an external dual channel amp.

It is well stocked on both the movies and music fronts, with native support for streaming services, as well as standards like Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay. WiFi comes standard as well, opening up possibilities of using the free Yamaha AV Controller app as a remote, along with online and network streaming.

Not to mention connectivity with smart home devices like Amazon Echo, and the likes.

And those of you who are all in on Yamaha, can also enable multiroom streaming across products through the company’s proprietary MusicCast technology.

In short, the feature set is about as good as it gets for a flagship AV receiver like the Yamaha RX-A3070.

Performance

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the audio performance here. It does powerful alright, just as well as any other Yamaha.

The surround sound completely envelops you with its volume and placement, and the receiver does a fantastic job of positioning surround sounds accurately across the speakers. Detail remained excellent, with thunderous special effects.

However, the receiver is less sure of itself when it comes to dynamics, where it falls a touch flat.

Other models in this price range deliver a more articulated sound that is both impactful when needed, and layered when necessary. Voice narration also lacked a little gravitas. And although the A3070 tries to faithfully reproduce the highs and lows, it would have nailed it were the midranges were better fleshed out.

Verdict

Ultimately, the Yamaha RX-A3070 ticks a lot of the boxes, but falls just a tad short when it comes to justification for its flagship stature and price.

It delivers thrilling performance on the whole, and the feature set is second to none, but better audio would have just been an icing on the cake.

It’s priced at $1999.