Part 2 - Sony STR-AZ7000ES AV Receiver - Inhouse Review - Speaker Configuration and Calibration

[@nickmaddalena985]

Hey Jon, Great work as always. Love the indepth analysis of the sonys. 😊

[@ripewave]

Glad you are enjoying this review. Working on part 3 this weekend. -Jon

[@mattgiunt]

Excellent, clear look at calibration. Cant wait to hear the results

[@ripewave]

Working on these quickly but haven’t performed my A/B/C comparison yet. -Jon

[@kenaipaws477]

Hi Jon, I am looking forward to your other parts of the AZ7000ES review. What I like about your reviews is that you give your honest opinions. For example, in your A8A review, you made a graph and showed how different receivers sounded and I thought your statement was very accurate since I have owned a Cinema 40, A4A, 4800H, and AZ5000ES. When I just got the 4800H, the stereo performance was very thin and confined , so I went to different forums and reddit to ask around and see if I did not have the right settings, but the fans of Denon insisted that their units sounded superb and mine was defective😂. I then took a chance and got the Marantz after watching Andrew Robinson's review,but it sounded just as bad when it comes to 2 channel music performance. Long story short, I think the A8A takes the cake when it comes to music, it sounds so rich and spacious, and the Sony comes second out of the 4 AVRs out of the 4 AVRs I mentioned. The Sony makes the music sound very detailed, but not as rich as the A8A. When it comes to movie performance, i like the Sony the most and the Marantz takes the second spot in my opinion especially somehow Sony is able to make the dialogue very clear compares to others. I have already returned both the Denon and Marantz, and I will not get any one of their new units in the future unless I know they are finally good with music after watching your reviews. Thank you

[@ripewave]

Thanks for sharing your direct comparison results. Seems like we are pretty well aligned. I am in the middle of the Sony review and having A/B/C compared yet but we may be aligned again. Albeit, I preferred Yamaha over Marantz/Denon for movies as well. But for music the difference was more obvious. -Jon

[@davidl9207]

Thanks!

[@ripewave]

I really appreciate the donation and thanks. Glad the content has been helpful. Let me know if I can help. Glad you are here and hope to have you participate in future discussions. -Jon

[@gingergogh9297]

Thanks

[@ripewave]

You SuperThanks is very much appreciated. Too bad that some brands are not available to use in Australia. I am optimistic about the Integra and hope it is serving you well. Glad the videos are useful to you. Happy to have you weighing in on these discussions. -Jon

[@johnd7268]

Thorough overview of the setup! Sony seems to do a great job with processing. I wish they would just sell a processor with RCA or balanced xlr preouts so that you can use a dedicated amplifier. I realize you could do that with this unit, but then you pay for amplification you don’t need.

[@ripewave]

I feel as you do. I don’t want to have amplifiers sitting there generating heat. It seems Sony has no interest in a processor separate at this time. I hope they change their minds! Someone they may find a way to charge more for the processor then their receivers. -Jon

[@johnd7268]

I would be curious to know how the Sony compares to Emotiva seperates in terms of overall sound quality and spatial processing. I am still leaning toward either Emotiva XMC-2 or IOTA AVX17. The cost difference between these two is pretty significant as well. The drawback with IOTA, is that they don’t sell an 11-channel amp like Emotiva does. Want to purchase matching components once I decide to make the leap.

[@gingergogh9297]

Hi Jon, thanks very much for the detailed review. I was originally planning to acquire this unit however Sony unfortunately did not release this line in Australia :( I then chose Integra 8.4 as a replacement, hopefully I didn’t miss that much and look forward to your review on 8.4.

[@ripewave]

I hope to cover the Integra flagship model in my next review series. Let me know how your experience has been so far. -Jon

[@GaryWalters]

Thanks for this. Love the detail you go through in your videos. I really was considering this receiver but it seems Sony traded some traditional features for proprietary features, Sony ecosystem support and lifestyle features. How can a flagship receiver not have discrete subwoofer support?No parametric EQ.

[@ripewave]

I think their reduction of EQ to just a two band (bass / treble) cut/boost on fixed frequencies is very odd. Seems like they are positioning for those who don’t want to tinker and just except the values from their automatic tools with a few modes to turn on/off to suit the listener’s preferences. That’s it. -Jon

[@garykarczewski6678]

John, if you look at the display of the mic stand, the bottom stand position is supposed to be rotated towards the front not to one of the walls. It isn't explained in text but I when looking at the image of that lower position it appears to be turned towards the TV. After testing both to the wall and then doing the measurement of the lower position towards the TV I liked the results much better. If you think about the mic it is stereo so to me I would think it should be facing forward for both measurements. Note: I found that the Easy setup would probably be ok for an actual rectangular built HT room with even walls. Being I don't currently have that, and utilize my great room which has various height, wall lengths, halls to other rooms and the back wall ends in the kitchen 40' away I opt for manual settings. Iopt to do all measurements manual. All speakers were set to small. This provides variable cross over points vs the default of 120 set at large. I utilize the filter roll off settings per each speaker at a plus 20hz. My front and Left mains were crossed at 70 hz to better match my subwoofer crossover though the spec states they can produce 30hz. All other speakers the filters were set to about at about a plus 20 hz but you probably could take them down to their max low spec but I didn't for my room.

[@ripewave]

Your points about non-box shaped room is valid and a common condition. While they don’t say the room have to be symmetrical, it is hard to imagine their measurements getting the odd shaped room right. So yes, post calibration tweaking usually helps. I don’t like that they didn’t do anything with the crossovers. Most make some effort - most often fail that try. As for the direction of position 2, pointing forwards the wall aligns with Sony’s own instructional video. It is hard to see in my video but the two levels of the stand are 90 degrees from each other. Sony says the top position measures the width of the room and second position measures the depths of the room. Jon

[@garykarczewski6678]

Good morning, Jon If you have all your speakers set to small you can update the cross over points. That is what I did made a huge difference. Thanks for the knowledge regarding the Mic stand! I didn't watch the videos prior, but did this morning via Sony. I am going to do another calibration using the mic as you and they stated. I am going to save it to Preset 2 then compare the two to see if it makes any improvements. I will let you know what I find.

[@ripewave]

That is the way to do it - the original calibration or one preset and the new calibration on the other. -Jon

[@trauma50disaster1]

thinking back when I had it I think forums had a discussion about it needing to be in afd movie mode for calibration for some reason, I can't remember the details. There are so many audio enhancement options if one was to do a scatter chart there would probably be 2 dozen individual combinations. A statistics guy might be able to name the correct chart I'm talking about but I think most people on the forum ended up giving up on trying all of the different options, and all just agree it sounds good with what ever combination they end up with.

[@ripewave]

I like your ending - "it sounds good with what ever combination they end up with." As I understand, the 360 Spatial Mapping needs the sound mode in Automatic Format Decode (AFD) mode to be enabled. AFD will match the native content Dolby to Dolby etc. -Jon

[@stingber]

It would be interesting to hear your experience with 360RA as a 5.1.5 +3B setup. The 3B is for the 3 bottom speakers. Great content!

[@chrisross5849]

Hi John, I really love and appreciate the amount of detail you put into this series of videos!! I have a very specific and technical question for you regarding speaker placement configuration. Based on your diagram at the 9:05 T/C, can I run a SBL and a SDL as 2 separate speakers not linked to their SBDL and SL mates respectively? Not sure if I asked this correctly. Please advise. Chris

[@ripewave]

Glad you find the videos helpful. I am not sure I am interpreting your question correctly. I gather that you want to de-couple the Dolby Reflective speaker from the physical location of the ear-level speakers that they are normally coupled with. That will enable you to mount the Dolby Reflective speaker in a different location then the side or back surround speakers. I believe that will be functional. As I have not tested Dolby Reflective speakers, it is not possible for me to comment on whether or not the localization of sound is impacted for height level content. -Jon

[@marcalvarado1915]

I’m really anxious to hear your impressions of the “360SSM” technology and if it adds a whole lot to the Atmos performance and if it is a better upmixer than Dolby Surround or DTS Neural X. My Pioneer Elite SC95 recently died forcing me to upgrade my AVR and I was on the fence between this Sony and the Denon X6700H. I was really intrigued by what 360SSM supposedly brings to the performance but in the end I got a really good deal on the Denon so I went that direction. I have been really pleased with Auro 3D as an upmixer but can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out on the Sony 360SSM.

[@ripewave]

I am still working on my analysis. The next video will be on the user experience followed by one about a week later on the sound quality comparisons. As much as Sony is promoting their Spacial Sound Mapping technology their is some details around how their receivers are handling upmixing. My current understanding is that the Spacial Sound Mapping is applied after a Dolby or DTS upmixer has determined the locations to place the objects. The Spacial Sound Mapping is applied on top of that result to better map the position within a hemispherical space by blending ear level or height channels with precision that is more accomplished with Dolby or DTS mapping alone. But is am also having some big differences in bass output with has me wondering what is going on when Spacial Sound Mapping is enabled. Is that mode changing the bass management as well? I need more time. -Jon

[@almightygonzo]

I cannot seem to locate what setting in speaker settings for all ceiling speakers. You have to select listener level speakers? I have 7 in ceiling speakers and two in wall subs. I know how to set the subs not don't know whats best way to connect and calibrate the others. Any suggestions?

[@michaelburton5198]

Hey John, Which Avr Receiver, Sounds And Performs Best Outta All The Avr Receiver's You Have Tested???

[@ripewave]

Yamaha RX-A8A - but I am still assessing the Sony. Need to compare against my two reference models to see were their STR-AZ7000ES sits. -Jon

[@M5.1.2]

@@ripewaveI sent back my rz50 Wi-Fi issues crutchfield rep says it’s a hardware issue, I got a great deal on 4800h 32 percent off how does it compare to a8a or Sony ?? Ty

[@michaelburton5198]

@@ripewave, Wow!!! Outta All The Avr Receivers (Marantz Denon Onkyo Ect.Ect) Yamaha, Is The TRUTH Right???

[@ripewave]

Yes - as a performance rating. But a few are close behind, but they are AV Processors. Still working on the Sony assessment. -Jon

[@FURognar]

I suspect the stereo microphones have a lot to do with how good they sound. If the Sony matches or exceeds the Yamaha, its more evidence to that effect.

[@ammankalyan7460]

Do you know how to configure access to a media server? I can't find it in my ta-an1000

[@ripewave]

I haven't tried as I don't have a media server setup right now. The manual seems to focus on their own "Sony Music Center" on a PC. -Jon

[@ammankalyan7460]

@@ripewave managed to figure it out. You use the pc music centre app as the server and the mobile music centre app as the controller. Not the best set up if I'm being honest. Usb is a far better way to go

[@DorisMom-g2b]

Ok there must be a parametric equalizer behind the scenes for the Sony 360 DSP post calibration. People have remarked the 360 DSP sounds Trinov like. Sony missed the boat with not issuing a processor only variant of STR-AZ7000ES with XLR.

[@ripewave]

Yes - behind the scenes as Sony doesn’t publish details about their process and they don’t provide tools so you can view or modify the results of the calibration. As for the calibration they start with their D.C.A.C. IX calibration which by default doesn’t apply the 360 Spacial Calibration, that is a separate layer which I don’t perceive as calibration but rather a more accurate means of positioning objects in a virtual space leveraging the speakers you have. It does require that D.C.A.C. IX has been run, so it does leverage that calibration, but is independent. Also independent is their speaker repositioning technology, which I understand is applied after the D.C.A.C. IX calibration as one of two position options where the side surrounds are either placed behind the listener slightly (type A) or behind (type B) or can be turned off and is not a requirement for the 360 Spacial Sound Mapping. I have the impression that Sony has designed these receivers for those who do not want to manually optimize and simply seek an automated set of enhanced outputs modes they can turn on or off. If this sounds similar to Trinnov then that is a big win for Sony, but Trinnov I understand has extensive support for fine tuning beyond the automatic process. I don’t have experience with Trinnov. -Jon

[@DorisMom-g2b]

@@ripewave you know a lot Jon. Ask Sony to make a processor variant.

[@brosmile9388]

The Denon 6800 is on sale for $2799 and the Sony 7000ES holds firm at $3299. Should I pull the trigger on the Denon or still go with Sony? I am planning on buying the Sony.

[@ripewave]

It depends on which features matter most to you. Each have their merits. -Jon

[@dusshyi]

Does it support 9.1.4 configuration?

[@maxdoodles]

Yes

[@ripewave]

That what I believe as well - it supports 9.1.4.

[@djparra41]

Why do I wish Sony and Marantz had a baby but Marantz is a little suspicious because even tho it sounds like him it’s starting to look a lot like Anthem…👀

[@ripewave]

That's funny. -Jon

[@jeff-w]

Thoughts so far: 1. You do a great job 2. Sony should have dropped all the buttons and removable face and put in an AM tuner 3. No equalizer? Seriously? 4. Yamaha is looking good.

[@GeeksFeelingGood]

I would love for Sony to make a real Anthem AVM 90 / Marantz AV 10 killer for about $6000. Make a high quality Sony version of Arc Genesis with full room correction with 4 sub bass management - and let me make fine adjustments. Dear Sony, ES that to me!!

[@ripewave]

I agree Sony just needs to add a few things to compete with the other flagship models. Multi-sub support is one of those gaps and provide us with a room calibration tool that allows for more visualization of the correction with the ability to manually adjust the target curves like the other advanced solutions. -Jon

[@FURognar]

Woah. That lack of even manual EQ is shocking. Even the most basic D&M models will have like an 8-band manual EQ for each speaker pair. I found the calibration process quite fascinating, as I want to see other brands adopt stereo measurement microphones for their calibration processes too. Its interesting to see them have you input the distance and ceiling height before starting the process.

[@ripewave]

My Sony TA-E9000ES launched in 1998 has a 3-band where you can set the bass, mid, and treble frequency, gain and bandwidth (wide, middle, narrow) for the midrange. And yes - other systems are able to calculate the distance completely on their own. Sure this one measure height and direction, not just distances for speakers, but I recall there was another brand that did that all automatically. -Jon

[@FURognar]

@@ripewave the Trinnov also measures angle of elevation. It makes a map of where your speakers are in relation to your seating position. Did you notice the Yamaha doing this when you did its measurements? According to Yamaha's website, the A8A is supposed to measure elevation as well.

[@ripewave]

Yes - the Yamaha was measuring angles. They seemed to be close. Of course 3 microphones would most likely product better results. -Jon

[@FURognar]

@@ripewave I think the 3D measuring process is going to be the advantage for these receivers. Thats something Dirac, Audyssey and ARC need to consider adding to their process.

[@ripewave]

I agree

[@tordb]

This thing is a ripoff for the money. You can get a Marantz receiver for $1500 and this receiver is $3400.

[@ripewave]

It depends how you compare. Marantz makes several models which support the same channel counts and the prices vary widely. Their performance also varies. -Jon

[@BradFletcher-sg8ft]

Thank you for your thorough review. I have some questions for you regarding sub output and the setup of this receiver for signals below 80 hz to be sent to the subwoofer output. is it possible to email you?

[@ripewave]

You may email me. [e-mail] -Jon