Yamaha RX-V6A vs Yamaha RX-A2A

Yamaha RX-V6A

The RX-V6A brings you the latest HDMI transmission suite featuring HDCP 2.3 and eARC, allowing for 8K sources to be displayed at 4K resolutions on your display! And that's not all-you'll also get advanced features like HDMI connectivity that allows up to eight inputs to simultaneously enjoy high-resolution content from any of today's modern media players!

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Alongside these incredible functions are other great technologies, such as digital decoding for Dolby Atmos®, DTS: X™, and Dolby Vision™ which offers support for HDR10 passthrough so you can access one of the most immersive surround sound experiences available today!

The Yamaha RX-V6A Receiver with voice control lets you easily control your music with Alexa or Google Assistant devices, or Siri via AirPlay 2. With support for Pandora, Spotify, Napster, SiriusXM, TIDAL, Deezer, Qobuz, and Amazon Music, this receiver offers great sound quality with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Plus, the future update will add Height Virtualization for an even more immersive audio experience.

Yamaha RX-A2A

The Yamaha RX-A2A is a top-of-the-line AV receiver that supports HDMI with HDCP 2.3 and eARC. It also features 4K60, 4K120AB*, 8K60B*, HDR10+*, and HDMI 2.1* (*via future update) for unbeatable image quality.

Plus, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect built-in, you can easily enjoy your favorite music throughout your home. And with MusicCast multi-room audio and MusicCast Surround capable with MusicCast 20 or MusicCast 50 wireless surround speakers, you can create the ultimate entertainment experience.

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The Yamaha RX-A2A is the perfect Atmos upgrade for your current AV entertainment center. This premier home theater receiver produces immersive sound with revolutionary Dolby Atmos, Dolby Audio object-based surround processing which provides an unparalleled listening experience with stunning clarity and breathtaking realism.

It also features up to six channels of uncompressed multichannel digital audio thanks to its advanced DSP circuitry, Yamaha achieves high-resolution sound no matter what music disc it's playing or movie you're watching.

Appearance

Yamaha RX-V6A has a simple black finish, while Yamaha RX-A2A is silver with a glass top.

Both have the same sleek black brushed metal look, but if you're planning to mount either one to a wall, there's now an option on the Yamaha RX-A2A for mounting directly with hardware instead of using those little plastic nubs; it also has those as well as little rubber bumps on the feet, which I would emphasize is really useful if you plan to use this in a room like mine where it can get quite dusty and dirty.

Also missing from both receivers is any sort of ventilation; they've done away with any mesh or holes on their sides and tops (which were present on older models). It doesn't seem like this will be a problem at all, but I do miss the mesh and little vents on my unit.

The Yamaha RX-V6A has no headphone jack, which makes sense given that it is also more expensive than the RX-A2A.

Sound Quality

In just about every way they're very similar, which is to say that they're both great sound. When it comes to the more technical aspects of the sound from each, I have no complaints whatsoever. However, when listening with headphones or in an unoptimized environment (such as my room's subwoofer), there are some differences between them that you can hear if you close your eyes and concentrate hard enough. The first thing that jumped out at me was the slight hissing noise present on the Yamaha RX-V6A that isn't present on the Yamaha RX-A2A.

Controls

The front panel of the Yamaha RX-V6A now has an AUX input (which means you can plug in something like an iPod directly into this receiver), while the Yamaha RX-A2A does not. On both, however, the front panel display has been changed to a new, higher-resolution type that can be difficult to read at certain angles.

The Yamaha RX-V6A also has an additional input called "Phono" which is useful if you're hooked up to a record player; I find this somewhat odd considering they've completely removed SACD support in favor of more film soundtracks and other lossy formats. It seems like they were reaching for compatibility with ancient equipment while intentionally not supporting modern high definition multi-channel audio.

Finally, on the Yamaha RX-V6A, there's now only one HDMI output instead of two (likely for cost reduction). This isn't really an issue because most people who buy these receivers won't have some sort of home theater system that requires four HDMI inputs anyway.

Connections

This is where they start to differ quite a bit. While they both have optical and coaxial digital inputs as well as analog stereo outputs for those who still want to use their old equipment, there are some glaring omissions from the Yamaha RX-V6A that many people might not like.

For example, it's now missing six input options compared to its predecessor (although I think most people would agree that these were pretty useless). It doesn't have component video inputs, which means you probably aren't going to want to use this receiver if your display only supports that type of connection. Also missing are any sort of extra outputs for subwoofers.

For some reason, Yamaha has also decided to include an "Aux" input on the front panel of the RX-V6A but has removed any headphone inputs from both receivers completely (which I find really weird considering that there are quite a few headphones out there that have an output jack).

The removal of the headphone jack is especially puzzling given how useful it was in certain situations; I can see where they're coming from by saying it's redundant since many people will still use their TV's built-in speakers when they watch a movie, but since many people's television speakers are completely lacking in bass, it's not all that bad of an idea.

Wireless Connectivity

This is another important difference between the two receivers that have been pointed out by a number of reviewers. The Yamaha RX-V6A had built-in wireless connectivity while its cheaper counterpart did not. Of course, if you plan to use this receiver for surround sound anyway, I wouldn't think twice about going with the more expensive option; but if you plan on using a wireless HDMI transmitter or a device like a Roku Box or Apple TV, I would highly recommend going with the Yamaha RX-A2A instead. Wireless connectivity is just more convenient overall and chances are you're already paying quite a bit for your home theater equipment anyway; why not make all of it wireless?

Remote Controls

Having the same simple, easy-to-navigate interface that has been used by Yamaha for years, both remotes are quite similar. The speakers and surround modes can be easily changed with just a few clicks of the buttons located on the front face. I don't think there's much to say about these except that they're also backlit now if you need them to be in dark settings.

There are quite a few differences between these two receivers, but I think that overall they're both very capable products. If you plan on using your home theater system in the same place every day and don't mind investing an extra couple hundred dollars for some added features (wireless connectivity comes to mind), then by all means go with the Yamaha RX-V6A; it's not like there's anything wrong with this receiver at all. It sounds great, has plenty of inputs and outputs for most people, and should be more than enough capacity to provide you with many years of service if taken care of properly.