Yamaha R-N2000A Review
Room Service – The music corporation Yamaha sends the R-N2000A, a top-class stereo receiver, into the race for customer favor. In addition to high sound quality, the network-capable beauty has unique features on board that justify the price of $.
by Tom Frantzen
The manufacturer Yamaha, who is both a major player worldwide in the production of musical instruments and consumer electronics—we’ll leave motorcycles and outboard motors as “non-musical” business areas aside here—can look back on a long tradition in stereo receivers.
With the 5000/3000/2000 series, the Japanese impressively managed to pick up the thread in high-end matters after an era in which they seemed to focus more on the home theater market, and virtually take off here.
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The receiver R-N2000A is part of this strategy. Naturally, there are constructive borrowings from the siblings of the A/V faction as well as the purely two-channel, very demanding “Natural Sound” components like the integrated amplifiers up to the A-S3200.
In fact, the lion’s share of the technology comes from the stereo integrated amplifier A-S1200 and some details like the more elaborate housing feet from the A-S2200. Yamaha also relied on the sophisticated symmetrical stereo amplifier’s “Floating & Balanced” MOS-FET topology of the siblings to benefit from their tube-like sound characteristics. Additionally, the receiver was endowed with optimization using a heavy, “mechanically grounding” brass base plate.
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Superb Calibration System
Since Yamaha has always kept the stereo receiver in focus—some may remember earlier top models like the CR-1020 or even the CR-3040—they did everything in this segment to make an attractive offer to the demanding clientele. More affordable models are to follow.
This allowed Yamaha, solely due to the company’s size and its own portfolio, to implement something here that otherwise exists elsewhere in the two-channel world only for significantly more money: an automatic calibration system. We’re talking about YPAO-R.S.C., the proprietary room calibration system that comes from the in-house “Aventage” A/V receivers and was adapted for the stereo faction. The microphone-based calibration system for our streaming test candidate is based on a high-precision 192 kHz/64-bit processor that analyzes and optimizes both runtime and frequency response, including reflections. The procedure is quite simple and quick, and with little preparation, you’re done in under a minute.
To do this, the supplied measuring microphone is mounted at ear height at the listening position, and the rest is done through a truly foolproof menu navigation. The result can be heard and will—we dare this prediction—always bring an improvement, precisely because perfection is achieved on both the time and frequency levels. Our small 7Review listening room is close to ideal with appropriate absorbers and diffusers, as in the large listening room, perhaps deliberately kept a little more lively. Calibration measurements usually have difficulty with both rooms, as the untreated result is already very good. Nevertheless, the YPAO system showed us, for example, that the right speaker was somewhat closer to the wall, and one speaker was also five centimeters further away from the listening position—an easy fix for the clever system to compensate.
It sounded noticeably better, which can be easily tested since in the associated app you can directly switch between uncorrected and corrected states. But not only that, you can even have the runtime or frequency response optimized individually, such as with the level-dependent, ear-appropriate loudness, switch and compare. This way, the sound is also corrected more than sensibly if you’re forced into a suboptimal speaker placement or an unfavorable seating position. For example, if you repeat the calibration on another, laterally offset seat instead of the “sweet spot,” you can listen optimally there and possibly save both results for two pairs of speakers (A and B respectively). An impressive—and powerful—feature free of any purism. The whole thing even works with a subwoofer, allowing complete bass management, such as independently setting the crossover frequencies for the bass box and the satellites, whether small or large.
Worth mentioning, in addition to high-quality components and the focus on short, low-loss signal paths, is the high output power for which Yamaha has been known in all price ranges since time immemorial. Yamaha specifies 2 x 120 watts at 8 ohms and 2 x 150 watts at 4 ohms, resulting from a generous power supply including a toroidal transformer. The new receiver thus weighs in at 22 kilograms and boasts specified 2-ohm stability (!)
Open to Everything
Of course, there’s also an HDMI/ARC connection to integrate the TV or projector in the modern living room. The in-house multi-room/streaming platform MusicCast is also on board and was implemented in no time, so we could feed the Yamaha from our servers or Amazon HD, Qobuz, or Spotify within minutes.
Particularly enjoyable was the slim OLED display in the lower part of the front panel, which stood out with extreme speed and excellent image sharpness.
But that’s by no means all. Yamaha packed its powerful in-house streaming package MusicCast second generation into the receiver, enabling it to access both the home network with existing music servers and internet radio, as well as access to all common streaming portals like Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify, or Tidal. The at least audiophile to high-end claim is evidenced by the ESS Sabre ES9026PRO DAC with master clock responsible for all digital functions, which virtually guarantees high sound quality.
Possible via asynchronous USB are up to 24-bit/384 kHz or DSD 1-bit/11.2 MHz. Further connectivity is provided by a turntable connection (Phono MM), AirPlay, and of course Bluetooth, which brings your favorite music from your smartphone into the system particularly quickly. The equipment is therefore already quite extraordinary, which sustainably justifies the price. Nevertheless, the focus, as with all members of this family, was on high two-channel playback quality.
Top Sound
The sound image is typically Yamaha, characterized by great playfulness, liveliness, and natural musicality. My colleague Julian Kienzle and I liked what the Japanese unleashed with Supertramp on the brand-new Canton GLE100 floor-standing speakers. It appeared lively and, in terms of timbres, radiantly powerful, with pronounced focus and exceptionally good bass control. Spatial width and depth, plasticity, but also the level of detail benefited from the room calibration, which works with any speaker. The Yamaha could drive everything wonderfully and almost effortlessly; we also tried the Martin Logan Motion, the DALI Epicon 6, and the PMC wall speakers. Impressive how clearly and three-dimensionally Bill Ramsey with “Isn’t She Lovely” appears between the speakers and demonstrates his sometimes underestimated but unlimited ability as a jazz musician.
The Yamaha’s macro-dynamic talents are revealed by an outstanding reference CD from competitor Technics (Edition VIII). “Sacred Spirit”—also available on streaming starts off so spirited and confident with “Legends” on the Martin Logans, with high, effortless resolution, that one might doubt that we’re dealing with “only” $ here, because it sounds like significantly more. The room pulsates, which it should with this track, and the bass almost lifts us out of our seats. After all, this receiver with three radios and top HD streamer is de facto a system that can also be externally expanded.
So, the Yamaha product family is enriched by another extraordinary candidate that convinces us without any ifs and buts. Equipment and design score dramatically, and the sound is absolutely captivating. It’s been a long time since a two-channel receiver—admittedly back then without network capabilities—impressed me so much; it must have been a costly American Magnum Dynalab.
The musical powerhouse is back! Welcome back to stereo receivers, Yamaha!
Yamaha R-N2000A Specs
- Price: Approximately €3,700 (available in silver or black)
- Dimensions: 44 x 16 x 47 cm (W x H x D)
- Warranty: 5 years
- Contact: Yamaha
- Website: yamaha.com
- Description: “Attractive and powerful stereo receiver with top features including room measurement for timing/frequency response, ESS Sabre-DAC, Phono-MM, and a capable MusicCast streamer, providing vibrant, audiophile sound quality.”
- Continuous Power (8 Ohm / 4 Ohm): 111 W / 178 W
- Impulse Power at 1 kHz: 201 W
- Harmonic Distortion at 50mW/5W/1dB Pmax: 0.23%/0.008%/0.007%
- Intermodulation Distortion at 50mW/5W/1dB Pmax: 0.05%/0.0051%/0.07%
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio at 50mW/5W: 74 dB/93 dB
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio for Phono MM (5 mV for 5 Watt): 96 dB(A)
- Damping Factor at 4 Ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 46/49/34
- Upper Limit Frequency (-3dB/4Ohm): >80 kHz
- Channel Crosstalk Line 1 > Line 2: 71 dB
- Channel Balance Error at -60dB: 0.01 dB
- Power Consumption Standby/Idle: 34 W
- Weight: 22.1 kg
Lab Comment
“High performance of 100/150 watts per channel at 8/4 Ohms, very low distortions, good damping values, wide bandwidth, all values well within the green range.”
Features
- Includes remote control, app with bass management, Phono-MM, PCM/DSD-DAC, USB, VU meter, OLED display, room measurement, microphone for sound adjustment, FM/DAB+/Internet radio, HiRes streaming, HDMI, headphone jack, connections for two pairs of speakers, and subwoofer.
Test
- Sound Level: 95% (9.5/10)
- Price/Performance: Excellent (Exzellent)
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The Yamaha R-N 2000a Six Month Review. My FAVE Yamaha ALL IN ONE Receiver!
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