NEWS

Yamaha Unveils Its First AV Receivers With Wireless Surround, Introduces New Wireless Speakers And Subwoofer

September 15, 2019

Entertainment enthusiasts know well that the best way to builda reliable, versatile and great-sounding home theater surround system is to use an AV receiver with wired speakers. For many, this is still a go-to solution that works seamlessly. For others, it presents a dilemma: how to get wires to the back of the roomfor surround sound speakers without having unsightly exposed cables. Running speaker wire through walls can be a headache, and for those who rent their homes or have plaster walls, it’s simply not feasible. Now Yamaha gives home theater fans a choice: wired orwireless surrounds.Yamaha is introducingthree new 4K AV receivers—the 5.1-channel RX-V485 and 7.2-channel RX-V585 and RX-V685—two new speakers, the MusicCast 20 and MusicCast 50, and the new MusicCast SUB 100 subwoofer, all featuringanew wirelesstechnology called MusicCast Surround.

An enhancement of the company’s MusicCast wireless multi-room audio system, MusicCast Surround allows a user to build an AV receiver-based 5.1-channel surround sound system with wired speakers for the front channels (Front Left, Center, Front Right) and wireless speakers for the surrounds (Surround Left, Surround Right).It also supports the option of using a wireless subwoofer. Rivaling the sound quality of a wired system, MusicCast Surround technology brings for thefirst time awireless surround capability to YamahaAV receivers, appealing toa broad range of customers at a variety of price and performance levels.

The RX-V 85 series AV receivers are also capable of supporting wired surround speakers for those who prefera traditional setupor a speaker configuration withmore than5.1-channels. They also feature a host of other upgrades from last year’s line.MusicCast Surroundbuilds ontheYamaha MusicCast wirelessmulti-roomaudio systemwhich enables music enthusiasts to stream their favorite tunes from almostany audio source over a Wi-Fi network to MusicCast-enabled productsthroughoutthe house.In comparison, when the MusicCast Surround mode is employed, a direct Wi-Fi connection is made between an RX-V 85 series AV receiver and the MusicCast 20 orMusicCast 50 wireless speakers so that the surround audio streams donot have to pass through the user’s home router.All of the new models come fully-loadedwith wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, Apple AirPlay®and Spotify Connect. They support numerous built-in streaming services, including Spotify, Pandora®, SiriusXM Internet Radio, TIDAL, Deezer, Napster and thousands of free internet radio stations, all accessible via the free MusicCast app. They also all feature voice control via Amazon Alexa-equipped devices, such as the Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers, through the use of free MusicCast skills available on the Alexa Skills Store.“For entertainment fanatics who love movies, TV and gaming, nothing beats using an AV receiver to build a true surround sound system,” said Robert Goedken, general manager, AV division, Yamaha Corporation of America. “By adding a wireless surround capability toour new line, we’ve made it easier than ever to create an amazing, theater-like experience at home. MusicCast Surround suddenly makes an AV receiver an attractive option for a whole new audience of entertainment fans.”

Here are some additional key features and benefits of the new products:RX-V 85 Series4K AV Receivers:All three receivers deliver life-like images to connected TVs with up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The receivers also pass through high dynamic range (HDR) video inthe HDR 10, Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log-Gamma formats with BT.2020 wide color gamut (WCG) compatibility, delivering a wider, more realistic palette of colors, greater brightness and contrast, and details previously not visible in the darkest and lightest portions of a scene.

The RX-V685 offers dual HDMI outputs for rooms incorporating both a flat-screen TV and a video projector. All three models support HD Audio decoding of Dolby®TrueHD and DTS-HD Master AudioTMsound tracks, while the RX-V585 and RX-V685 also supportobject-based Dolby Atmos®and DTS:XTM decoding, which adds height effects through overhead speaker channels. All feature Yamaha-exclusive sound technologies, such as YPAO auto-calibration and Cinema DSP, which transforms the dynamics of thelistening environmentto recreate the acoustic experience of being in amovie theater or even famous music venues likethe Bottom Line, Roxy Theater or European cathedrals.

MusicCast Speakers: The compact MusicCast 20and high-performance MusicCast 50 wireless speakersstand out for their versatility. Bothcan be used as standalone audio systems, or with existing MusicCast componentsfor multi-roomaudiolinking,or used as wireless surround speakers with MusicCast Surround-enabled AV receivers.Two MusicCast 20 speakers canbe paired in stereo mode. A single MusicCast 50 delivers stereo sound by itself, while using two MusicCast 50 speakers yields even higher output and a wider sound field.

In a MusicCast Surround configuration, only a single MusicCast 50 is needed to produce two surround channels, but two units may be used for better performance.The MusicCast 50delivers the highest performance of any MusicCast speaker,andfeatures a lower profile than competing models in its performance classto fitmore discreetly in more places athome.The two modelscome withmoretop-panel controlsthan previous MusicCast speakers, addingan alarm-clock button and three presets for your favorite music channels.

Subwoofer:The MusicCast SUB 100, which sports a stylish piano-gloss finish, can be paired wirelessly with the new AV receivers as an alternative to a wired subwoofer, allowing for easy placement anywhere in the room. It can also be paired with either a single or two MusicCast 20 or MusicCast 50 speakers for 1.1-channel and 2.1-channel systems.

Pricing and AvailabilityThe three RX-V 85 4K AV receivers will be available in May at the following MSRPs:

? RX-V485, $449.95 MSRP?RX-V585, $549.95 MSRP

? RX-V685,$649.95MSRP

The following two MusicCast speakers will be available in July in a choice of black orwhite at the following MSRPs:

? MusicCast 20at $229.95 MSRP

? MusicCast 50 at $499.95MSRP

TheMusicCast SUB100 will be available in Septemberin a piano black finish at $549.95MSRP.

To learn more please visit:

? RX-V 85 Series:http://4wrd.it/RX-V-RECEIVERS

? MusicCast 20: http://4wrd.it/MUSICCAST20

? MusicCast 50: http://4wrd.it/MUSICCAST50

? MusicCast SUB 100:http://4wrd.it/MUSICCASTSUB100