YAMAHA RXA1050BL 7.2-Channel AV Receiver with Dolby Atmos

My Onkyo TX-NR818 was defective after only 2 years of use. They had a known issue with the HDMI circuit and customer service was poor to say the least. I decided to go with Yamaha after much experience with their products within the live music industry, and reading about the tech and engineering that was put into the AVENTAGE units. I also had Parasound 2100 and Emotiva XDA-2 preamps in my audio rack for 2ch listening. After installing the RX-A1050 connected to Emotiva XPA-2 and XPA-5 power amps I no longer need the Parasound 2100 and Emotiva XDA-2 preamps. I'm basically using this unit as a Pre-Pro. The sound of this unit is superior. The "Natural Sound" is legitimate and not just a gimmick. I've tried it with digital sources like CDs, movies and streaming music, as well as analog sources such as phono and tape. It all sounds really smooth and balanced. My Polk Audio LSI15s have never sounded better. This unit was easy to setup and use, and the AV Controller app is a very cool perk. Please note that I have acoustically treated my home theater room. It is very hard to judge any piece of audio equipment if the room pollutes the sound.

I bought the RX-A1050 initially from Amazon and after installation, found out that the center and both front chanels did not have any signal, so I returned the product and requested for reimbursement instead of replacement because I found it in Bestbuy (Magnolia) for $100 less.I thank Amazon for making the return of the product a hassle free experience.After installing the 2nd unit, it worked great. Very good sound with a bunch of options.

Rich and rounded sound, and a myriad of configuration options, however, there's a showstopping UI issue that has me undecided on whether to keep it or return it.When playing audio files from streaming media or an external device, for example, the USB interface, you can't rewind or fast forward through any particular track, you're limited to going back to the previous, or forward to the next track.I discussed this with Yamaha customer support, and, they don't care about this engineering oversight. Pioneer, Denon, Marantz, Sony, and virtually every other manufacturer of A/V receivers build the ability to fast forward and rewind within a particular track with their UI's, but Yamaha does not, and is unapologetic about it, and does not plan to address this issue via a firmware upgrade, either.So...I'm still debating. There might be a Roku workaround, but, at this price point, why should I have to?

BEWARE! I have had two of these Yamaha receivers and both have had the same problem. The first one worked for about a month and Amazon replaced it when it quit. The second one worked for about six months. Specifically the Pandora and other streaming radio functions quit working after a short time. Considering the $1,200 cost for these units, the flaw is unacceptable and anyone who buys one will eventually have the same problem. This is junk and Yamaha should recall them all and replace them with units that work. But of course they will not do that and in fact do not even answer their customer service phone. So you have been warned. Buyer beware!!!!

I tell you.. The unit is packed with features. Setup is pretty straight forward. I does what it says it will do but here's where I have some issues:1) Atmos enablement requires you to not use Zone 2 speakers which one of the reasons I bought the unit2) Virtual ATMOS isn't allowed when using 5.1 configuration.3) So when using Zone 2 there is no ATMOS which Sucks and almost kills the unit for me. I could purchase another AMP to power zone 2 but that defeats the purpose again. I'm really disappointed on this. Maybe when they provide reasonably priced Stereo MusiCast floor speakers this becomes a moot point, but right now I'm not going to recommend this unit. In fact the more I write about this the more I want to give it a 1 (one) star because of the price point. I can understand for a system that cost $500.00 to $800.0 but this is over a thousand dollars.4) For this price point there should be some flexibility regarding Zone 2 and ATMOS configurability. You shouldn't have to choose between the two otherwise stop claiming you have ATMOS and Zone 2. You have one OR the other. Unless I'm missing something here.5) HDMI with Playstation 3 does not decode Dolby when Dolby content is being played. (yes I made sure PS3 is setup correctly)

a little difficult to get their odd UI sorted out but I should have known owning a Yamaha BD player that it was designed with your mind in mind, and the 170-page manual is almost useless, it doesn't communicate that there is tied relationship between functions. but after getting it set up it is the best sounding A/V receiver, the automatic HDMI sense and ARC feature are great. the NET radio works great, the manual speaker setup is easy and accurate. for example all the "ENHANCER" settings have to be on to get 4K UHD video through the HDMI and the firmware update is needed and available for 10 bit 4K UHD to work with HDMI 2. the automatic speaker EQ setup didn't work in my large room with center seating, but didn't need it, same problem with my old Pioneer Elite which over compensated for the room. the best feature is that it sounds like an accurate high end piece of HiFi gear, a little more power would have been nice, maybe 200 Watts per channel. if Yamaha made this unit as a unit less the amplifiers I could then buy more powerful power amplifiers.