Why I chose the DSP-A1 over the puffed plastic.. (1 Viewer)

[Tommy Haupfear]

Well my Pioneer VSX-36TX was a decent receiver but it's what some people on my digital videdo forum (www.dv.com) would call "puffed plastic". That means all the features you want on paper, but falls short on performance and quality.
I think we all know that slapping a THX sticker on the front does not make a great receiver. I sold the 36TX for $650 and wanted to spend around $800 total for an older flagship from Yamaha.
Well yesterday my searching paid off as I found a BRAND NEW Factory Sealed Yamaha DSP-A1 (gold with wood panels) for $800 locally. Granted it doesn't have 6.1 but I don't have anywhere for a rear center and I'm more concerned with power and build quality. I see this new 6.1/7.1 wave to not be as crucial as the Pro-Logic to Dolby Digital/AC-3 receiver upgrade. Now I just have to find gold components to compliment this beauty.
Anyone know of any gold DVD players besides JVC that support progressive scan?
Would any of you with the same money have made a different decision?

 

[Rob Rodier]

That is one of the best looking receivers I have ever seen.
Panasonic DVD-RP91 is available in champagne gold finish, offers progressive scan and dvd-a.
I have no idea what kind of performance it offers. Seems to be going in the $450 range
-rob

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Congrats on your decision, Tommy, and welcome to Yamaha. I think you’ll be very happy with the A1; it’s an excellent piece. I’ve used your purchasing strategy many times, getting “last year” products that loose little to the current offerings, at substantial savings. As I recall, the A1 listed in the neighborhood of $2500 when it came out. I think you’ll be blow away by all the features, like digital EQ for the center and surround speakers, low frequency test tones, level -matching adjustments for all inputs, more available inputs than you’ll probably ever use, etc. etc.

About the only complaint I’ve consistently heard about the A1 is its remote. The door on the front is a nuisance, by most accounts – in the way and rather fragile.

Since you’re new to Yamaha flagships, you’re in for a treat when you fire up some of the digital soundfield modes. Most of them sound really great, unlike the cheezy surround modes most products these days have. Most of Yamaha’s DSP modes are “modeled” after real acoustic space and do a very good job of mimicking the selected venue. Yamaha went out to venues around the world and took real-time measurements of the room’s acoustical properties, like early and late reflections, reverb and decay times, etc. Yamaha’s proprietary LSIC’s generate the soundfield information, which is reproduced by the rear speakers and two extra front effect speakers.

That’s one of the nice things about Yamaha’s DSP modes: They are generated by extra speakers, leaving the original signal unprocessed in the main L/R speakers. You have the option of rolling the front effects signal into the main L/R pair, or using only the rear speakers for effects, but I’ve found the best and most realistic sound is obtained by using the front effects speakers. Highly recommended if you can make room for them.

The other nice thing about the A1-s soundfield modes is they can be endlessly “tweaked” to suit your taste.

Would any of you with the same money have made a different decision?

Yes. I would have bought mine in basic black!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Charles Averty]

I have bought myself the DSP A1 years ago, just after the A2 came to our shores (Singapore).

I got it at that time for S$1700 or around US$900.
I have been happy with it but in real life i use none of the "fancy" features, for I have no time or resource to really measure all the speakers, set up all the filters and so on.

Today what pushes me towards an upgrade is the availability of better matrix decoders (CS or DPL2).

Besides that, what i am really looking for is better music performance, without the price hike...

Other "new" features are not so important I think.

So have a good time with you A1, it's a good buy. If you ever doubt your decision, I have collected Internet material on the A1, pm me if you would like to reed them (as the A1 is not so new, they tend to disappear).