Yamaha RX-V3800 Receiver Thread

[Tall Dog]

Yamaha RX-V3800


yamaha 3800 front.jpg


I have this receiver on order from 6th ave. For anyone that has this receiver, is there a connection for a regular, non-powered subwoofer(side by side speaker wires), or just a powered sub connection on the back? I was hoping to still use my old non-powered sub for a while, but after looking at a picture showing the connections, I think I'm out of luck.

Thanks

[Tall Dog]

Just received a reply from Yamaha. The RX-V3800 does not have the old style Subwoofer connection. Looks like I'm in the market for a new powered sub.

[dobyblue]

What's your budget?

[Tall Dog]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

What's your budget?

I would like to stay below 300 bucks. Do you have any opinion on the Yamaha YST-325? It lists for about 500.00, but I've seen it for around 220.00. By the time I get a cable, I'll be at about 300.00.

BTW, I would like to stay in the Yamaha family.

[Tall Dog]

Sorry, that should have been Yamaha YST-SW325.

[dobyblue]

Sorry I can't help you with any info on Yamaha subs.
I can only urge you to reconsider staying in the Yamaha family for that particular speaker. You don't need to match it up with any other speaker in a multi-channel system and there are plenty of companies that could come within $100 of your budget if you can squeeze out another $100 that I believe would offer you much more satisfaction.

The STF-1 from Hsu Research is $299 ((http://hsuresearch.com/products/stf-1.html) and the STF-2 is $349 (http://hsuresearch.com/products/stf-2.html)
Shipping and Handling is $20 on the 1 and $30 on the 2.

For a cable, if 25ft is enough, you can get an excellent subwoofer cable from Monoprice for $7.90

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

With the STF-1 that would be $299 + $20 + $7.90 = $326.90

With a sub that can hit over 100dB at 30Hz, you're not going to get near that performance from a similarly priced Yamaha sub, nevermind a similarly priced Velodyne.

[Tall Dog]

Doby, first off, thank you for the help. I took a look at the STF-1 and STF-2 and they look like really great subs for the money.

The rest of my speakers are 6 ohm. Does the sub have to be 6 ohm also or does it not matter for the sub?

My home theatre setup is placed on one end of a long rectangular room, (basically 1/2 of my finished basement). The cubic feet of our actual (listening area) is about 1820. For logistical reasons, I need to keep the sub at the same end as the TV.

My old non-powered sub was a front-firing design and seemed to work fairly well. I'm wondering if I should stick with a front-firing design because of my long room. Basically, the TV is on one end, and our seating area is at the other end, about 18-20 ft away. My thinking is that a front-firing sub will "project the sound" farther than a down firing sub like the HSU?

Open for suggestions. Thanks

[Tall Dog]

Doby, I found my new subwoofer. I decided on the Velodyne VX-10 and it's even on sale. Every review I've read seems to be positive. I recently upgraded my home theatre components with a Sony KDS-60A3000 and matching stand, Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver, Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-Ray player(not to mention a bunch of Blu-Ray movies) and now the new Sub. The home theatre budget is running low.

Here is the sub I chose

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it...iews/539813201

Again, thanks for the help!

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Tall Dog

The rest of my speakers are 6 ohm. Does the sub have to be 6 ohm also or does it not matter for the sub?

No it doesn't matter for powered subs.

Originally Posted by Tall Dog

Doby, I found my new subwoofer. I decided on the Velodyne VX-10 and it's even on sale. Every review I've read seems to be positive. I recently upgraded my home theatre components with a Sony KDS-60A3000 and matching stand, Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver, Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-Ray player(not to mention a bunch of Blu-Ray movies) and now the new Sub. The home theatre budget is running low.

Here is the sub I chose

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it...iews/539813201

Again, thanks for the help!

My pleasure - I hope you enjoy everything. You brought it in under your budget, which allows you to have a bit extra a few years down the road (or less) when upgraditis kicks in!

[zak88lx]

I found out today that Tuesday's PS3 update will enable DTS-HD master audio output via linear PCM.

My question is:

Would a player sending bitstream DTS-HD to my Yamaha sound any better than a player that decodes DTS-HD internally (PS3) and sends it via Linear PCM?

I have considered getting a standalone player that can bitstream DTS-HD and TrueHD to my Yamaha but maybe I don't need this if decoding produces the same result.

Thanks,
Zak

[DutchBoy]

Originally Posted by zak88lx

I found out today that Tuesday's PS3 update will enable DTS-HD master audio output via linear PCM.

My question is:

Would a player sending bitstream DTS-HD to my Yamaha sound any better than a player that decodes DTS-HD internally (PS3) and sends it via Linear PCM?

I have considered getting a standalone player that can bitstream DTS-HD and TrueHD to my Yamaha but maybe I don't need this if decoding produces the same result.

Thanks,
Zak

While some may say that the receiver decoding the audio is better (because that's what they're for), the sound should be identical between the two.

The result should be the same.

[JTHV]

Does anyone know if I can connect my Dell XPS M170 laptop directly to my Yamaha RX-V3800 and play the music I have on my XPS's hard drive without having to turn on my TV?

Thanks, James.

[jingoboy_78]

Originally Posted by JTHV

Does anyone know if I can connect my Dell XPS M170 laptop directly to my Yamaha RX-V3800 and play the music I have on my XPS's hard drive without having to turn on my TV?

Thanks, James.

I guess you can use a single RCA jack (one end splits into two red and white) and can make use one of the AUX inputs in your receiver or you can do a TOSLINK if you have one from you laptop..Not sure..Someone correct me if I am wrong...

[JTHV]

I was able to use a Miniplug to RCA connection.

I plugged the Miniplug into the headphone jack and the RED and WHITE RCA jacks into CD In on my receiver.

I was listening to music but I'm wondering if there's a better way.?

[jingoboy_78]

I guess you can do a TOSLINK if you have one out of your Laptop..I guess Macbook pro has one ..I haven't tried it yet though I own a Mac..

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-T...702225&sr=1-13

Hope it helps..

[JamesN]

Originally Posted by zak88lx

I found out today that Tuesday's PS3 update will enable DTS-HD master audio output via linear PCM.

My question is:

Would a player sending bitstream DTS-HD to my Yamaha sound any better than a player that decodes DTS-HD internally (PS3) and sends it via Linear PCM?

I have considered getting a standalone player that can bitstream DTS-HD and TrueHD to my Yamaha but maybe I don't need this if decoding produces the same result.

Thanks,
Zak

You should also be aware the 3800 (and the 1800) have 2 known bugs regarding DTS-HDMA decoding. The first bug has to do with a loud "bang" being heard when decoding certain discs (The Fly being one).

The second has to do with the receiver misinterpreting 5.1 signals as 7.1 and unnecessarily disabling functionality as a result.

There is a firmware fix for the first bug, but it's only been "officially" released in Europe. Some US and Canadian users have obtained and applied the patch but this is not sanctioned or warrantied by Yamaha.

There is no fix yet for the second bug.

You may want to think about using your PS3 to decode DTS-HDMA material until (or if) Yamaha ever sorts things out.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by JamesN

You should also be aware the 3800 (and the 1800) have 2 known bugs regarding DTS-HDMA decoding. The first bug has to do with a loud "bang" being heard when decoding certain discs (The Fly being one).

Since he is using the PS3 to decode DTS-MA he will not have this problem...

EDIT - missed your last sentance, which basically says this!

[snowghost]

Originally Posted by JamesN

You should also be aware the 3800 (and the 1800) have 2 known bugs regarding DTS-HDMA decoding. The first bug has to do with a loud "bang" being heard when decoding certain discs (The Fly being one).

The second has to do with the receiver misinterpreting 5.1 signals as 7.1 and unnecessarily disabling functionality as a result.

There is a firmware fix for the first bug, but it's only been "officially" released in Europe. Some US and Canadian users have obtained and applied the patch but this is not sanctioned or warrantied by Yamaha.

There is no fix yet for the second bug.

You may want to think about using your PS3 to decode DTS-HDMA material until (or if) Yamaha ever sorts things out.

I sucessfully applied the European fix and my unit no longer has the "bang" on the affected discs.

The 7.1 misread is an anomaly in the fact the unit's OSD clearly identifies 5.1, yet the front panel display will show 7.1. Users have reported that the latter will cause presence speakers to be disabled. You could disable the SB speakers with a 5.1 signal and save that setting in memory after saving your default as a work around. All you'd need do is toggle between the two.

[IMind]

Originally Posted by JTHV

Does anyone know if I can connect my Dell XPS M170 laptop directly to my Yamaha RX-V3800 and play the music I have on my XPS's hard drive without having to turn on my TV?

Thanks, James.

If I were you I'd get a USB based sound card with toslink/optical out. I can't really recommend one, but... I wouldn't spend more than $30-40 shipped.

[monster_man]

Originally Posted by JTHV

Does anyone know if I can connect my Dell XPS M170 laptop directly to my Yamaha RX-V3800 and play the music I have on my XPS's hard drive without having to turn on my TV?

Thanks, James.

How about through a switch? I have my RX-V3800 connected to my network and it plays any songs that I have shared on my pcs. I haven't figured on how to get it to work from my NAS, but I worked around this by attaching my iPod that has 16gb loaded and that takes care of most of my music.