CEDIA 2013

The CX-A5000 is the new crowning jewel of the Aventage series introduced by Yamaha a few years ago. The 11 channels (not even counting the subs here folks) pre-pro uses Yamaha’s proprietary YPAO room correction software, four distinct zones and more ins and outs than the revolving doors in Washington D.C. The extra channels are a Yamaha trademark, you know the old, you bring a knife, I’ll bring a gun chestnut. But they are used to create front and rear “presence” channels which, if your room and budget allow, could make your movie experience all that much more intense.

The CX-A5000 also features AirPlay technology, something I’m happy to see popping up everywhere, so you can stream Pandora away from your iPhone’s blissfully inadequate internal speaker to your home theater system. But it’s not just a parade of features, as the CX-A-5000 really claims to have catered to audiophiles. Touting 192 kHz/32-bit, ESS Technology ES9016 SABRE32™ Ultra DACs with a claimed 124 dB of dynamic range, and balanced XLR connections to keep the noise floor low, the CX-A5000 promises to be something we definitely have to investigate. Price is $2,995.95 MSRP.