Just bought Yamaha 5280...no 6th speaker? (1 Viewer)

[Thane]

I just purchased the Yamaha 5280 receiver and was excited to get the 6.1 sound going! However, it doesn't have a way to hook up the 6th center back speaker! Sorry to sound naive about this, but what good is a 6.1 decoder if there's no 6th speaker? I must be misunderstanding or missing something here??

 

[Jeremy Little]

It has Matrix 6.1, which mixes the Rear Center sounds into the rear left and right. This works really similar to when your front center is set to phantom.

I have this reciever and can tell you Matrix 6.1 is better than 5.1. It may not be as good as discrete 6.1, but a big improvement nonetheless.

 

[Duke H]

If you just got it, you might want to take it back and upgrade to the HTR-5560 (RX-V630). It is a better receiver, and costs about $450 new.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

If you just got it, you might want to take it back and upgrade to the HTR-5560 (RX-V630). It is a better receiver, and costs about $450 new.

Actually, the price on the 5560 might be a little better. When I was at Best Buy today, they had 10% off of home theater purchases which were greater than $299 and receivers were included. If this sale is still on, the the 5560 can be had for $405 at BB.

 

[John E F]

I saw the Yamaha 5560 yesterday at Best Buy. I was hard pressed to find anything it wouldn't do. Looks like a steal for $449, DD-EX, DTS-ES, 6 amps, component video, PL2, preouts for all channels, etc.

 

[RM Haney]

I believe the 5280 is the "big store" equivalent to the RX-V1000 that I have. This receiver has a pre-out for the rear center channel but does not have an amplifier section for it. I guess you would have to add an external amp to get the full 6.1 experience. I think the current model Yamahas have both the processing and amp in a single enclosure.

Mike

 

[Steve Raimand]

Actually the 5280 is the "big store" equivalent of the RX-V800 which has Matrix 6.1 only no discrete rear center. I do beilieve this unit is 1-2 years old now. Was it used or a demo?

 

[Thane]

Thanks for all of your input! I returned the receiver to Best Buy yesterday, and exchanged it for the HTR-5490 which has a discrete rear center speaker output. They had an opened-box left (the only one they had!) and the price on the opened box was $650 so seems like a pretty good deal. I have it set up, though it has taken me some time to "learn" it. The one I returned was on their shelves as part of their regular stock, so I don't know the age of the model. Thanks again!

 

[MatthewJ S]

rxv730 adds learning remote and on-screen display...due out in @ 2 weeks.....

 

[Chuck Frady]

Thane,

the reason the opened box 5490 was the only one they had left is due to the fact that it is not a current model receiver. Heed the advice you are getting here and return that POS (last year's model) 5490 for a (2002 model)5560.

Chuck

 

[Andrew_Ballew]

ALL 6.1 processing is Matrix except for DTS ES discete. Matrix and Phantom are two completely different things.

Matrix encoding derives a center channel from encoding its info in the left and right channels with a variance in phase. The matrix decoder extracts the info to re-create the center channel. To hear this information as it is was intended to be heard you need a center speaker(s).

Phantom centers simply place the center channel information equally between left and right, creating a "phantom" center image. This is arguably not the optimum setup for home theater, for either front center or rear center channels, although some will disagree that phantom sounds better in the "sweet spot."

On receivers than decode 6.1, and include no onboard amplification for the 6th channel, there should be at least a rear center pre-out for connection to an external amp, or IMO the receiver is a rip-off.

Andrew B.