Yamaha MX-A5200 11-Channel Power Amplifier Review & Comments

Mr Hinton, in the first section of the highly informative review, at the end of this paragraph

"We tested the MX-A5200 11-channel power amplifier alongside the Yamaha CX-A5200 11.2-channel processor and our detailed assessment of both can be found in the review for the processor HERE."

the word HERE maybe should be a hyperlink?
 
Thanks, the link is on CX-A5200. I have edited that. Cheers
 
For 7 channels looking at 78w per channel that's with 1khz tone. Dread to think with all channels active

I'd look at other proper amps.
 
For 7 channels looking at 78w per channel that's with 1khz tone. Dread to think with all channels active

I'd look at other proper amps.
Then you'd be missing out, Having owned the previous version for many years I've never found it lacking in power or sound quality. I could be deaf though.
Honestly for anyone with a garage conversion size cinema You cant go wrong.
Sure If you're wanting an amp for a huge half million pound cinema you'd want a ATI ect but thats not what/who this is aimed at.
 
For sides, rears, ceiling, sure this will be fine.

Using all channels probably mean have 40-50w per channel.

If you're spending close to £3000 may as well spend the same but with less channels.


Power consumption is 650w. Hmmm 650/11=60

But the asking price isn't low budget, and if you're powering mains as well then want something better.
 
You spend according to budget, If you want 11 channels its no point buying a 7 channel amp.
Now I have to admit I got mine on a half price deal with the processor so value wise for myself it was fantastic.
But it irks me somewhat that every review I have read of these Yamaha amps is positive, never saying it runs out of power or distorts or starts to destroy itself.
Yet on every comments page people who have never owned one decide to tell everyone else how bad it is because the specs don't look very good.
In these very reviews @Phil Hinton say's how it sounded great running a high end MK 300 system but still finger pointing at the specs sheet starts.
Again from having actually owned one and listened over thousands of hours to films and music I can honestly say I've never found it wanting or lacking at all.
Are there better amps? yes sure but at what cost? the only other 11 channel one box amp is the Emotiva at slightly less cost.
And thats one of the selling points, its a one box 11 channel solution for someone who wants to run an Atmos system without the multiple boxes to hide.
 
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Tests show it isn't exactly a powerhouse. Like I said I'd rather spending £2500 rather have less channels, same for speakers I'd rather prefer top end 7.1 rather than low quality 16 channel.

Once you have a low powered 11 channel you're stuck with it. If you get a proper 200wx7 you can simply as another amp when funds allow. I'm using 200w7 plus have eight x60w when they're needed
 
And I give up.

Somehow I doubt someone with 11 speakers and a sub is concerned about two boxes of amps. 60w X 11 is not sufficient and at that price its hardly upgrade over a flagship avr.


Rather have those two anthem PVA amps on sale than one multichannel low powered amp

 
You don't seem to understand it's not aimed at you but that doesn't mean you have to slag it off.
Please don't tell me that 11x60w is not sufficient when I have it and it is.
Please go and read up on how it takes a doubling of wattage to get a 3db sound level increase so a 200w amp only has 3db on a 100w amp.
And then forget that I replied and stop trolling please.
 
You don't seem to understand it's not aimed at you but that doesn't mean you have to slag it off.
Please don't tell me that 11x60w is not sufficient when I have it and it is.
Please go and read up on how it takes a doubling of wattage to get a 3db sound level increase so a 200w amp only has 3db on a 100w amp.
And then forget that I replied and stop trolling please.

Rather have ATI 6012 than the Yamaha. That ATI has whopping two psu. The Yamaha one tiny one,600w power usage, 1.8kw power usage. So you know the ATI able to provide proper all channels driven and into 4ohm load x12
 
How much is the ATI at RRP?

Same price as the Yamaha.

ATI is 60 w all channels driven, full bandwidth 20hz-20khz,into 8 ohm, 0.05%thd. or 90w into 4 ohm same conditions . With 8200uf capacitance per channel. FTC spec so that means tested like that for 30 mins 1800w psu

Or you can have less power, with higher distortion, 1khz. With only 27,000uf for all 11 channels. 600w psu

Oh dear.
 
The same happened to this poweramp (well A5000 which is identical) in the measurements as to RX-A30x0 av-receiver when doing ACD test with 7channels. ** current protection engaged So there is bit more power for those who eye the all channel driven figures. German site has shown it for the receiver. Real world usage movies with powered subwoofer(s) taking big weight off is still different scenario and picking speakers wisely one shouldn´t need to worry much. Superb build quality and being one of the most reliable brand still counts for many. Those that have very power hungry speakers and play stupid loud probably will pick something else.

Gene also mentioned; I've been using the MX-A5000 to power all the speakers in my 11.2 system except the mains and believe it or NOT, it's more than capable. I've never observed any noticeable power limiting and the amp never overheated or enabled the fans even when I was slamming it with a Porcupine Tree Blu-ray. It's definitely a good multi-ch amp, better than I imagined from bench tests alone.
 
Let’s remember that while watching a film, you are unlikely to call on all channels running with full power. Test bench with a sine wave and load running all channels and the power will drop per channel, but that’s not real world usage. This is a powerful amplifier by any measure.
 
I too am running the predecessor to this amp - and it most certainly does not lack power!

I may be running it with fairly sensitive speakers, (self built DIY Soundgroup HTM-12s and Volt 6’s), but I’d imagine it’d cope just fine with some of the difficult to drive offerings around too.

The thing is, we live in the real world, not some lab - so while other amps may theoretically offer more headroom, the truth is, you’ll never notice, or need it unless you’re playing at levels well above reference - and I don’t know of anyone that does that!

Once you get past a certain level, it just becomes bragging rights rather than anything meaningful.
 
Hi All,
I’m running the MX-A5200 amp with the CX-A5100. I’m using Martin Logan Motion speakers all round and SVS subs in a 7.2 Setup. Room is 6.5x6.0x2.7metres. Sound is incredibly clean. To be honest I’ve never turned the volume up past -12db. At that level it is scary! Saying that, the sound is powerful, clean and distortion free. It is a marked improvement in detail and clarity over the Rotel power amps I use to run with the CX-5100.

You can see my setup in the sig below.

regards,
stephen
 
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Let’s remember that while watching a film, you are unlikely to call on all channels running with full power. Test bench with a sine wave and load running all channels and the power will drop per channel, but that’s not real world usage. This is a powerful amplifier by any measure.

If I was (and I have) spent that sort of money I'd expect it to perform all channels driven.

Fact is it's only roughly 50w per channel all channels driven continuous.

If other amp manufacturers can produce amps with passing grade why can't these?

It has small psu, and low amount of storage capacitance.

It won't pass FTC testing.

It's like buying a supercar with disclaimer it can go fast but only in short bursts, yet another supercar at the same price can go fast and race le man 24 hour.

Which is better engineered car?

I'm aware under normal use speakers only need a few watts, that's not the point, you're upgrading from avr to a dedicated amp. This is no better than a flagship amp (and in fact worse ie Denon 8500 has more power)

I'd rather have ATI 6012.
 
I notice that @ian34g, @The Dreamer and @whmacs are all operating either this very same power amplifier or its immediate predecessor, and all are very happy with their machines.

You will see from my signature (although that will change soon as I put it on a year's leave and use either a Pioneer or a Denon receiver) that I have a Yamaha RX-A2010 receiver in the kitchen. I bought it in July 2012. so it is eight years old now.
Image012_310.0_kB_18-Jul-2012_15h15_B55.jpg

I am keenly aware that its age means that it is now well behind more modern devices. I am also aware that at the time that I bought it, it was second from top of Yamaha's integrated receiver range, the top model being the Yamaha RX-A 3010. (However, last year, I played a bit of the Blu-ray of Fury to a younger (he's 37) relative of mine, who, although not a fanatic, is pretty switched-on about audio-visual stuff. With reference to @whmacs's post #18 above the volume control was at about -15dB, and I very seldom go above -12dB. My cousin's son described the sound in my kitchen from my 8.1 speaker system as being "ridiculously clear", which did please me.) I am further aware that, in most manufacturer ranges, a separate processor / power amplifier combination will, by some margin, outrank the best integrated receiver that that manufacturer makes. Indeed Mr Phil Hinton, in his review of the IOTA AVXP1 seven-channel power amplifier mentions, when comparing the IOTA to the integrated Yamaha RX-A 3050 receiver, that: "Coming from using the Yamaha RX-A3050 with the built-in amplification as my normal reference, it was clear to hear an instant improvement in power and headroom from the IOTA now taking over that role.". And, @Steve Withers and @mb3195 mentioned in the discussion thread of the Emotiva XPA-11 Gen 3 power amplifier that the Emotiva is better than the IOTA (which it should be, at twice the price). In their conclusions to their reviews, Messrs Withers and Hinton suggest that the Yamaha MX-A5200 and the Emotiva XPA-11 Gen 3 are approximately on a par. Now, I fully acknowledge that there will be other, international, manufacturers of power amplifIers which compete on a global market. For instance, if you google "ATI Power amplifiers" you will be taken to some seriously impressive machines. Lastly, those interested in power per channel numbers will find them on page 3 of this review Yamaha RX-A2010 receiver of my now pretty humble machine in my kitchen system, which in my flat operates in a room that measures 17' x 14' x 7'6" (it's a false ceiling).

So what do I conclude?

1. ATI amplifiers (and others) may indeed be better be better than the Yamaha MX-A5200 that is the subject of this review.

2. The Yamaha MX-A5200 and its predecessor give great pleasure to at least three contributors to this thread, and they show no sign of wanting to change. with no owners dissenting,

3. The Yamaha MX-A5200 power amplifier and its predecessor, or even the IOTA power amplifier, is certainly significantly better than the power section of any Yamaha integrated receiver, such as my own Yamaha RX-A2010.

4. However, my very lowly, fairly ancient, Yamaha RX-A2010 continues to satisfy me (and all visitors, not only my cousin's son) so without a lottery win - hell, since I'm a good environmentalist, even with a lottery win - despite any percieved deficiencies in the numbers of its specified power outputs, I'll probably keep it.
 
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I'm aware under normal use speakers only need a few watts, that's not the point, you're upgrading from avr to a dedicated amp. This is no better than a flagship amp (and in fact worse ie Denon 8500 has more power)
That is emphatically not what Mr Hinton says, he says: "There is nothing the MK MP300’s like more than being fed high-quality power, and the Yamaha managed to do this all day long with superb speed and transients and oodles of headroom on tap. The system really came to life after using a Denon X8500 for a few months using that AVR’s built-in amplification. That is no slight on the Denon as it really does manage to drive the MK system to a reasonable level. But when you add in more power the MK’s thrive and that was the case here."
 
Well I'd like to see bench tests of the Denon and Yamaha.

All channels driven, FTC, 20hz-20khz, into 8 ohm, 0.05% thd , 30 minute test. If it's 50w x11 why even bother with it?

But the Yamaha will not pass the far more stringent FTC ratings, as the output tested is with 7 out of 11 channels, 1khz, 0.1%thd. when it has 600w psu for all channels it cannot beat the laws of physics.

So until then the issue is moot.
 
I refer to @ian34g's post #9 above.
 
@SonOfSJ
just ignore him, you're only feeding his ego trip.
I didn't join these forums to have pointless arguments.
If you're happy with the sound from the 2010 then save the money and keep it, I'd only swap it out for a model with newer formats / Hdmi revisions ect.
The Yamaha 5000 and 5200 are solid, dependable, high quality items that have been well reviewed and as you say vouched for by owners on here.
I'd have no problem calling out a product that I had bought and did'nt satisfy me. At the same time I have no need to come here and justify my purchases.
It's a good amp not the best not the worst but to borrow the phrase from pevious posts " In real world usage " I have never found it wanting at all. I go nowhere near full volume but its still loud enough / clean enough for me.
 

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