Listener Rant on Yamaha Aventage Marketing
I received this rant from Henry a few days ago. It was so good, I couldn’t help but ask his permission to post it. He’s graciously agreed.
Tom,
I am really impressed with the quantifiable benefits Yamaha is bringing to market with their new Aventage line of AVRs. However I am really getting pissed off by the way they are marketing them…and starting to lose faith in the credibility of all their otherwise legitimate claims.
For example:
“The optimum sound fuse” (Check the press release from Yamaha)
“Additional bottom cover added for additional support and to improve sound performance at higher volume levels”
“Specially designed 5th foot. The Anti-Resonance Technology (A.R.T. Wedge) design improves structural rigidity and reduces vibration resulting in sound improvement.”
“Zip ties to ground. Minimizes magnetic interference as well as reduces unwanted radio frequency interference.” (Really? Plastic tie wraps around internal wire bundles do all that? Wow, a lot of lesser engineers have really been missing that cheap little trick and wasting lots of money on mu metal shielding, careful circuit layout, proper grounding, and Faraday cage housings.)
Suggestions for future Aventage marketing efforts:
“Black oxide coating on exterior housing helps dampen unwanted light interference for improved sonic purity”
“Anti-resonance (A.R.T. Rotary) volume knob prevents transmission of vibrations from operator to the filter capacitors, preserving audio signal integrity”
“Progressively-stamped Cu3Zn2-plated power plug prongs with thermoplastic polymer encapsulated cord grip ensure even power flow and enhanced musicality”
Thanks for keeping the show going from Down Under, and Liz is a fantastic successor to Dina.
Henry
Henry, I totally agree that some of these claims are dubious at best. If I were on the market for a new receiver, I’d probably look very hard at the Aventage line. It is unfortunate that manufacturers feel the need to cater to the audiophools to sell receivers especially when their Aventage line is technologically very superior.
Unfortunately, “we made some sensible engineering decisions, but you can’t really see any of them on the outside or through the vents, plus, all they really do is avoid mucking up the signal like a lot of other designs do” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
:p
No doubt. But look, it’s shiny and black! Don’t you want one?
^^^ Not unless it has a 5th foot!!! We all know that what has been holding back pristine audio quality has been a lack of odd-numbered feet!
This is easy!
“LED readouts allow limited night vision.”
“Atomic structure prevents you from passing hand through receiver, avoiding shock.”
“Removal of legacy outputs reduces probability of miswiring on installation.”
“Additional bottom cover added for additional support…”
Anything else added in addition?
$150 accessory: “Yamaha AVENTAGE wall outlet, specially developed by Yamaha R&D after after exhaustive tests of hundreds different duplex receptacles revealed that none of them could pass AC line power without adversely coloring the carefully balanced sound of the AVENTAGE A/V Series.”
lol
Just saw an Aventage ad feature a picture of its fuse.
Are they purposefully advertising to the esoteric crowd?
Would the esoterics even buy something made by Yamaha?