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Yamaha R-N803 one of the best values in high-end audio?

I’ve now lived with the Yamaha R-N803 STEREO receiver (it is not an audio/video receiver) for over 6 months. I believe it’s one of the best values in high-end audio. For $750, you get a preamp, amp, phono preamp, DAC, and Wi-Fi streamer (Tidal, Spotify, Pandora, etc) all controlled by Yamaha’s excellent Android/IPad MusicCast app. The amp is a discrete 100 wpc into 8 ohms with two pairs of binding posts for each channel. The DAC supports up to DSD 5.6 MHz and the internet connection can be wired or wireless. It has the YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) which is an automatic speaker calibration system. Its well engineered and made. I’ve read reviews of other All-In-One (AIO) units with various problems such as supposedly having Wi-Fi streaming but it never materializes or doesn’t work, or having insufficient power, or hum problems. The Yamaha has non of those problems.

The sound quality is excellent right-out-of-the-box but (as with a lot of gear) an upgraded power cord, footers and fuse (please don’t go off on "the fuse debate") substantially improved its sound quality. The soundstage width, depth and height is excellent. The midrange clarity is very, very good as well as the control of the bass. The treble improved the most with the upgrades but is now excellent.

I don’t know of any AIOs, or even systems, anywhere near $750 that does all of this so well. Have others tried this unit? What do you think? Are there better ones out there in this price range with the same or more functions?

128x128sbayne

Showing 2 responses by mike_in_nc

mike_in_nc
1,121 posts
 
It seems like a great deal for the price, as you said. And I do like the Yamaha styling in general. It's hard to believe that a better unit with all those features would be available any cheaper.

I'm curious. Have you have used YPAO? If so, what do you think of it? Have you compared it to other similar software (like Dirac or ARC)?
mike_in_nc
1,121 posts
 
@sbayne - My experience is, all those programs (e.g., YPAO, ARC) have a learning curve if you want to get the best from them. Careful measurement, careful listening, careful tweaking. That said, none of that matters if you're doing it all by ear (the final judge).
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