Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A8A 11.2 Channel AV Receiver

A8A - Home Cinema, Perfected

The A8A is Yamaha's most innovative model yet. This AV receiver incorporates cutting-edge components and technology for home cinema unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Lose yourself in room-filling sound and crystal clear picture.

Key Features:

- Flagship AV Receiver of the AVENTAGE A Series
- 11.2 Channel powerful surround sound with Zone2/3/4
- 150W power output per channel
- High slew rate amplifier for responsive, explosive sound
- SURROUND:AI automatically optimises the surround effect in real-time
- AURO-3D delivers a purely transformative, breath-taking immersive audio experience
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplay 2, streaming services and MusicCast multi-room audio built-in
- Dolby Atmos and DTS:X with CINEMA DSP HD3
- HDMI 7 in/3 out, 8K/60Hz, 4K/120Hz, HDR10+ via firmware update
- 11ch Pre Out for connecting to external power amplifiers
- Dedicated gaming function (ALLM, VRR, QMS, QFT) via firmware update
- Dual ESS SABRE ES9026PRO Ultra DAC for the ultimate high performance conversion
- Qualcomm® QCS407 chip is designed to provide truly superior audio performance
- Voice control with Alexa and Google Assistant devices
- MusicCast Surround capable - add MusicCast 20 or MusicCast 50 speakers to create wireless surround sound
- YPAO™-R.S.C. with multi-point measurement, precision EQ and low-frequency mode
- Phono input for turntables
- Anti Resonance Technology (A.R.T.) Wedge dampens vibrations

User Manual (PDF, 16.3MB)

2022 Sound+Image Awards Winner

"The RX-A8A delivered superb movie sound and excellent music performance — especially in surround ­— along with extravagant versatility. It’s a worthy anniversary Aventage flagship."
See the full lineup of award-winning products in the 2022 Sound+Image Awards.

 "The Verdict"

"As with all the models in the 2021 Aventage range (RX-A2A, RX-A4A and RX-A6A), the RX-A8A has been rebuilt from the ground up. It is the culmination of three years of research and development, and Yamaha says that the RX-A8A is the best AV receiver it has ever created. With plenty of power on tap, it turns in a profoundly dynamic performance. In fact, it's one of the most powerful AV receivers I've had through my listening room at this price point. Coupled with its ability to create a massive sound field with pinpoint placement of effects, it's hugely dynamic and an immensely gratifying and engaging listening experience."
Read the full review by Tony O'Brien on StereoNET

  Yamaha Aventage RX-A8A review

"The top one-box receiver in Yamaha’s 10th anniversary Aventage range gets both movie soundtracks and Atmos music mixes flowing. The RX-A8A delivered superb movie sound, excellent music – especially in surround ­– along with extravagant versatility. It’s a worthy anniversary Aventage flagship."
Read the full review on What Hi-Fi

Flagship-Quality Parts

The A8A incorporates the CX/MX-A5200's concept, architecture, and materials for elevated performance. Double bottom plate ensures stability for unnecessary vibrations, while the thick copper foil for the circuit board achieves lower impedance. This AV receiver also comes equipped with a customized capacitor and 11ch capability.

The Benchmark for AV Receivers

AVENTAGE AV receivers are the reference standard to which all others are compared. Passionate engineering and meticulous attention to detail produces the Yamaha hallmark of True Sound. You can feel the quality in the design and fabrication – from every electrical path, component and piece of material. Each element was scrutinized with intense detail to produce the finest, first-class performance. The AVENTAGE AV receiver is a work of visual and acoustic art.

AURO-3D

The magic of the AURO-3D® technologies lies in its ability to transform any space and any content. AURO-3D will deliver a purely transformative, breath-taking Immersive audio experience, every time. The unique vertical stereo field of AURO allows sound to move around us as we experience in our everyday lives, ensuring a powerful soundscape that transports us into the world of our chosen content. Escape into the story, get lost in the music; experience every moment and emotion the way nature intended.

Hear More, Feel More with AURO-3D.

Cinema DSP HD3 for Movie, Music and Games

Yamaha’s flagship 3D sound field playback technology was created by combining actually measured sound field data with cutting edge digital signal processing technology. The revamped CINEMA DSP HD3 features new signal processing algorithms and maximises theatre sound effects, accurately reproducing a new dimension of realism for a sound field with a rich sense of presence and no feeling of boundaries. By using front, centre and surround speakers to create a rear virtual speaker, CINEMA DSP HD3 playback up to 11.1 channels is possible* even with a 7.1-channel speaker configuration.

*Requires connection to a front presence speaker.

SURROUND:AI

AI technology built into the DSP analyses the scene of the entertainment content and then creates the optimal surround effect to reproduce it with the ultimate impact. This AI instantaneously analyses scenes by focusing on distinct sound elements such as dialogue, background music, ambient sounds and sound effects, and automatically optimizes the surround effect in real-time. Imagine having a Yamaha sound engineer right there whilst your listening, tuning the best sound live and specifically for you. AI technology creates a compelling sense of realism with expressive power beyond conventional sound field effects, giving you the most profound entertainment experience possible. Qualcomm® QCS407 with 64-bit high precision processing delivers precise surround sound.

Dolby Atmos with Height Virtualizer

The AVENTAGE RX-A8A delivers home theatre audio in stunning Dolby Atmos surround formats. The possibilities are endless with the impressive number of channels and power available from this flagship receiver.

For those without in-ceiling or upward-firing speakers in their system, Dolby Atmos with Height Virtualization Technology simulates the Atmos experience with forward facing-drivers. Configure up to five speakers to replicate the effect of two in-ceiling speakers, or utilize all channels to simulate the powerful effect of four overhead speakers.

Feel every dimension in Dolby Atmos. Enjoy a 5.1 surround speaker system and two additional overhead speakers or two Dolby Atmos elevation speakers, delivering dramatic overhead effects for truly enveloping audio – including Dolby Surround upmixer for legacy content.

DTS:X

DTS:X immersive audio formatting places sound where it would naturally occur in space, creating life-like, multi-dimensional audio. The included spatial remapping engine of DTS Neural:X offers improved immersion and heightened realism in all your favourite movies.

8K/60Hz, 4k/120Hz

Supports end-to-end 8K/4K resolutions and higher refresh rate solutions with a single upgraded cable for seamless integration within the HDMI eco-system. 8K delivers a super-immersive viewing experience with 2x the horizontal and vertical resolution of 4K, and 4 times as many pixels; and combined with 60Hz refresh rate enables smooth and sharp viewing of content with high-speed action. 4K/120Hz enables ultra-fast motion UHD images to be crisp and razor-sharp; allowing sports, action movies, high-performance gaming and VR to benefit significantly.

This function is available via firmware update.

HDR10+

HDR10+ signals not only dynamic range (the ratio of light to dark) of video content on a scene-by-scene (or even frame-by-frame) basis, it also provides, in a small amount of metadata, the scene characteristics between bright and dark so that important detail can remain. This enables displays to reproduce images more realistically, adhering to the creator’s intent.

Gaming-dedicated Function (ALLM, VRR, QMS, QFT)

Enhanced gaming and media features ensure an added level of smooth and seamless motion and transitions for gaming, movies and video. They include: Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) allows enables the ideal latency setting to automatically be set allowing for smooth, lag-free and uninterrupted viewing and interactivity. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) reduces or eliminates lag, stutter and frame tearing for more fluid and detailed gameplay. Quick Media Switching (QMS) for movies and video eliminates the delay that can result in blank frames before the picture is displayed. Quick Frame Transport (QFT) reduces latency for smoother no-lag gaming and real-time interactive virtual reality.

eARC

Unlock the full potential of your 4K content. Enhanced Audio Return Channel (also known as eARC) is the next generation of ARC – available in the industry-leading AV receivers from Yamaha. eARC delivers full-resolution, multi-channel audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD through your existing HDMI connection, giving you the most realistic surround sound experience for immersing yourself in your favourite movies and moments.

Compressed Music Enhancer

When music is encoded into a digitally compressed format like MP3, the frequency response suffers. Yamaha’s Compressed Music Enhancer employs sophisticated digital signal processing using exclusive algorithms to restore what was lost, so the music always sounds the way it should.

Phono

This AV receiver provides dedicated phono input terminals, letting you connect a turntable and enjoy music from your vinyl collection.

Advantage of High Slew Rate Amplifier

New circuitry achieves more than doubled slew rate and it would contribute a precise signal transmission, effective for high-resolution audio signal. Generally, high slew rate amplifiers cause unstable signal transmission, Yamaha’s newly designed circuit achieves a high slew rate with stable signal transmission.

High-Quality Digital Components

Qualcomm® QCS407 is designed to provide truly superior audio performance, with support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive home audio, as well as a dedicated high-performance audio DSP.

Ther RX-A8A features ESS’s state of the art 32-bit SABRE PRO Premier DAC ES9026PRO. ESS’s patented 32-bit Hyper Stream, Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) compensation function works to minimize noise levels. In combination with the Yamaha original D.O.P.G. (DAC On Pure Ground) concept, which eliminates the potential difference between audio circuit stages to reduce ground noise, it dramatically enhances silence and resolution over the entire audio range for rich and expressive reproduction of even the most delicate sounds.

Compatible with Wireless Rear Speakers

Combine this AV receiver with the MusicCast 20 or MusicCast 50 wireless streaming speaker and enjoy the amazing convenience of creating a home theatre with wireless surround sound. What’s more, you get stunningly realistic sound with a clean, clutter-free setup. Easily turn your current living room into a special entertainment environment where you can fully enjoy movies and music.

Easy Operation by MusicCast App

Use your smartphone or tablet together with the MusicCast CONTROLLER app to operate the AVR and change settings quickly and easily. The same Controller app functions as a remote control for all your MusicCast-compatible devices as well as full multi-room audio controls.

Multi-room Audio - MusicCast

Imagine sharing all the music you love throughout the home – no matter the format. From your favourite vinyl to AirPlay®, Bluetooth® to music streaming services* and even sound from your TV, MusicCast has it covered. Additionally, all MusicCast products are designed with sound quality at the front of mind. High-res formats including Apple Lossless (ALAC) up to 96 kHz, WAV, FLAC and FLAC or AIFF up to 192 kHz are supported.

Streaming Services

Explore a world of music with music streaming services* built-in. Synchronizing your playlists and tracks from your smartphone or computer to the AV receiver, music streaming services make it impossibly easy to either listen to your favourites or discover new music.

YPAO™ - R.S.C. (with 3D, Multi-Point Measurement and 64-bit High Precision EQ)

YPAO-R.S.C. (Reflected Sound Control) analyses the room acoustics with the included YPAO microphone to tune your system for the best sound in your unique room. It employs R.S.C. to correct early reflections for studio-quality surround sound. YPAO 3D provides automatic sound parameter optimisation that maximises the 3D sound field effectiveness of SURROUND:AI as well as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. 64-bit high precision EQ calculation achieves the most natural room acoustics possible.

Playback in Multiple Zones/Advanced HDMI Zone Switching

You can transmit the video or audio content (not only the HDMI input, but also other audio sources, such as digital or analogue audio, network content and FM/DAB radio) to a TV or home theatre system in another room (Zone2/4). This lets you enjoy viewing and listening to the same main room content (where the AV receiver is installed), or even different content. An on-screen graphical user interface makes it easy to browse and select content from the second zone no matter what is being played in the main zone.

11ch Pre Out

You can add an external power amplifier (pre-main amplifier) to this AV receiver to improve and enhance the sound of your speakers. For example, using a power amplifier to drive the important front channel in home theatre gives you the added flexibility of building a system with an emphasis on sound quality.

XLR Input Terminal

Equipped with XLR balanced audio input terminals that have an outstanding reputation in the world of professional audio and are highly sensitive to noise. In combination with balanced output terminals on Blu-ray player or CD player, this connectivity enables high-quality signal transmission with reduced degradation of sound quality due to external noise.

Anti Resonance Technology Wedge

Exclusive to the Yamaha AVENTAGE models, the newly designed Anti Resonance Technology (A.R.T.) Wedge is a fifth foot in the front and centre of the chassis unit base. It dampens much more vibrations from the power transformer, power transistors and heat sinks, as well as vibrations that might be caused by the sound from the speakers. This reinforced design provides dynamic sound and accurate audio reproduction, and means that your receivers' performance will be undisturbed by your loudspeakers and subwoofer, or by external vibrations.

Dynamic and Compelling Design

Yamaha's detail in design and craftsmanship produces a work of visual and acoustic art. The immaculate chassis construction further solidifies the alignment of stability in performance. A beautiful form that deepens the AVENTAGE uniqueness and continues to further enhance key acoustic authority. Utilizing faithful reflections of tradition and incorporating fresh new design principles, the new look AVENTAGE exhibits engineering at its most innovative awe-inspiring best.

Newly Designed Mechanical Structure

The highly logical and symmetrical internal layout of parts and totally renewed circuit boards are designed to keep the signal paths on each board as short as possible. The new H-cross frame improves rigidity of the receiver body and sound stability, allowing for a more clear, sharp and transparent reproduction. Also the newly redesigned mechanical structure contributes to avoiding the transition of vibration from the transformer to the amplifier circuit. Sound noises are reduced to improve clarity.

SCENE Buttons with the Ability to Preset Songs and Stations

There are four SCENE buttons. You can preset them for different inputs, as well as a sound field program, Music Enhancer, HDMI output and more. The inputs can be set to specific sources, such as an FM or Internet radio station, a station on a streaming service, a USB device or a song on a PC or NAS (network). Once you have set the buttons, simply press one on the main unit or the remote control to power on the receiver and hear your desired music. The buttons can be re-set at any time.

Voice Control (Alexa, Google Assistant)

Touch or voice control – the choice is yours. Intuitively control a single MusicCast product or an entire whole-of-home system with ease using Alexa or Google Assistant and hear your home come alive.
*A third-party device is required to initiate voice commands.

AirPlay 2

"Hey Siri. Play music in the kitchen and living room."
AirPlay 2 adds the ability to stream Apple Music and other streaming services to multiple MusicCast devices throughout your home. Easily control it from your iPhone or iPad, link it with a HomePod, or simply utilize voice control and ask Siri to assist.

AV Setup Guide App for Initial Setup

No worries, no confusion. Use this special app to receive expert set up assistance for your AV receiver and source devices. It even guides you through various other settings such as speaker connections, TV and source device connections and power amplifier assignments.

Learn more about the AV Setup Guide App

Yamaha AVENTAGE 2021 A Series

Designed to Deliver the Highest Levels of Audio Performance.

The AVENTAGE line of high-performance AV receivers is based on the audio design concept of providing a massive, full-bodied sound for movie sound effects and the accurate reproduction of music sources. By expertly harmonising traditional and advanced technologies, every factor that affects sound quality, from materials and parts to construction, layout, vibration damping (unique foot) and “fine-tuning” the sound, is handled with no other thought than to achieve the best possible audio quality. As a result, every AVENTAGE model has the ability to reproduce the most subtle details of high-definition sound, so that listeners can enjoy a truly high-class sound studio experience at home.

Yamaha AVENTAGE 2021 A Series Lineup (left to right): RX-A8A, RX-A6A, RX-A2A, RX-A4A