Yamaha A-S3000 arrived...

Sounds like Class D is still a dirty phrase for many true blue audiophiles ...

 

Yes, iPhono 2

 

More listening over the weekend. I spun a favorite CD of solo piano performance of Chopin's Nocturnes and was shocked to discover that the recording quality of the CD was not what I had previously thought-unfortunately the amp was revealing a poorly recorded piano with way too reflective reverberation. I listened through and then connected my Denon amp into system with every other component the same including speaker wires. I re-listened-the revealing detail that pushed the recording into unpleasantness was virtually gone. There was enough softening or lack of transparency to remove that layer of detail. So -the blessing and the curse. I have experienced this with some of my other recordings-you will hear the goodness or the warts as they exist on the recording with this amp. so what is this amp's primary characteristic: I would have to say neutrality or transparentcy. Perhaps professional reviewers with their professional ears may describe this component better than I have but this is my conclusion so far.

 

Did anyone had a chance to compare the Yamaha 3000 with Accuphase e-370 or e-470?
Really love to know.

 

That's exactly what the Absolute Sound concluded.

 

The review in TAS was very complimentary

 

When I was trying out the Yamaha A-S1100, I thought I was having a similar experience. However, the amp I compared to the Yamaha seemed to reveal just as much detail without the (very subtle) unpleasant artifacts. I can't say whether it was the amp or the recordings, but ultimately I chose the other amp because I preferred its tonal attributes.

 

Wow, that leaves my Yamaha in the dust, I bought a integrated S501 - 85 watt per Chanel amp last year. This is the bomb.

 

No, remember, all amps sound exactly the same

 

No it doesn't, but the matching (SA)CD-S3000 has a built-in DAC, with USB, optical and coax (capable of 24-bit/192kHz with USB adding DSD). Regretfully it is not capable of decoding HD-CD

 

Well I'm way out on the fringe so I us a powered Phillips antenna and I pick up a lot of stations I never thought I would and quite clean sounding too. It's certainly no competitor for my Adcom GFT 555 II or my Pioneer Elite F91 stand alone tuners but it's a good sounding tuner section with good selectivity all things considered.

 

I have not-but I have always wanted to hear some Accuphase amps.

 

I have concluded that this was the recording being revealed as far as my experience with this amp goes. There have been other recordings which have revealed subtle sounds-creaks, hums, breath sounds which do not reveal themselves with my other main amps. I have some live concert recordings which now have understandable stage banter. As I said-blessing and curse.

 

In the early 1980s I used a Mark Levinson ML-7A preamp. I had the same feeling about its phono stage. It somehow changed the sound subtly in its favor. The change was very enjoyable. The word euphonic, which means agreeable sounding, exactly described the experience. Eventually this euphony drove me away from the ML-7A as it sprinkled that sound over all my records, including ones I didn't want to sound so pleasing. The ML-7A added its sound to the music and while it took years, I found I didn't like that.

 

I have a Yamaha A-S701- it is the perfect SACD amp. The sound is so precise- whatever that means, although it makes sense when I am listening to it. The phono stage is also shockingly good for what it costs. Enjoy!

 

I am going to pick up the Absolute Sound issue today in my work travels and read the review on this piece. Anyway-I am enjoying this amp immensely. I have hooked it to my Dentons and like what I am hearing.

 

Phono stage on this amp is excellent as well-both MM/MC.

 

I was under the impression that the new Marantz PM-10 had a switching power supply instead of using a massive transformer, and the rest of the design was all analogue. My impression was that the switching supply was just a different way to get power from the mains to the rest of the circuitry. I don't think they are doing anything like NAD or the ICE-based amps like Nuprime and Wyred. Not sure though.

 

Does anyone know if there is anyway to use the As3000 or AS2100 in a home theater4 setup with some sort of bypass or pass thru loop?

 

At least regarding the A-S3000, it doesn't have a loop per se but you could hook it up to a home theater receiver. When you switch the Yamaha's input selector to Main Direct, it plays whatever is plugged into its Main In jacks. You'd want those jacks hooked up to the front preamp output jacks of the home theater receiver. Your two channel audio sources like turntable or tape would be plugged into the Yamaha. Video sources would be hooked up to the home theater receiver.

A bigger problem is I've never got a 2 channel system to sound good when it's also used as a home theater set-up. The glass of the TV screen alone in enough to cause bad sound. Reflections off it blur the stereo image. Plus with the addition of a center channel speaker, the two front main speakers in a home theater system are often too widely spaced to sound good in stereo. There is a hole in the middle of the sound.

But maybe you have a set-up that would work.

 

I have a Yamaha AS-2000 and use it for this purpose, in 2.1 for movies.

If you already have a surround setup for home theater with a receiver, use the pre-outs on the receiver for the front R and L channels to feed directly into the power amp on the Yamaha ("Main Direct").

For a stereo setup, you will need some way to downmix surround sound to stereo. My method is to take the optical output from my TV to a DAC (I use a Schiit Modi 2 Uber) to one of the line inputs on my amp. Works fine.

 

Nope. It is a true balanced amp with MOSFETs
from the yamaha us website

• Rigid streamlined construction — provides strict anti-vibration protection and enables shortest cabling routes
• Large toroidal transformer, solidly mounted with independent three-dimensional inner frame
• Comprehensive low impedance design, shortened signal paths and copper-plated chassis
• 1/4" thick top panel made of non-magnetic aluminum plate
• Left-right symmetrical design for independent pre amp and power amp blocks
• Floating and balanced power amplifier with MOSFETs
• All-stage balanced transmission
• Direct drawing toroidal transformer for complete elimination of signal transmission loss
• Exceptionally low impedance through secure screw connections
• Superior quality electronic volume control for optimum sound
• Discretely configured phono amp

 

A couple of people on this thread are talking about the Marantz PM-10 being class D. I don't think anybody is saying the A-S3000, or the A-S2100 is class D. I wouldn't own one, if it were class D.

 

I had a class D system in my Volvo xc 90-I hated it. No color or juice whatsoever. That has been my only experience with Class D.

 

MY apologies to Daedalus. As a A-S2000 owner, I've been following this thread & the talk of Yamaha Class D should reflect what they're doing in pro series amps.

Yamaha's new PX series of pro power amps is now Class D. The TOTL PX10: 1000W x 2 at 8Ω / 1200W x 2 at 4Ω.

"PX series models are driven by a newly developed Class-D amplifier engine that concentrates all the necessary functions into a single custom LSI chip, and uses PLL technology to control transfer characteristics in real time, achieving impressive sound quality and power. This new single-chip architecture offers higher output and improved performance in a more lightweight, yet reliable design."

For several years, in HT & 2.0, I've been using 2 of the previous P-series Yamaha pro power amps (TOTL P7000s 700W x 2 at 8Ω, & P3500s 350W x 2 at 8Ω) with Yamaha's exclusive EEEngine technology:

With the final output stage operating at Class AB, the output signal is of remarkably high sound quality. The signal remains analog from input to output, without being converted to a PWM signal. There is none of the deterioration of frequency response and damping factor found with Class D systems. Plus, EEEngine is designed to operate perfectly while keeping the power amplifier heat generation to a minimum, regardless of the load requirements. All together, you get Class AB sound quality with efficiency that matches Class D.

I'm not prepared to compare my A-S2000 to my P-Series power amps. I do gush over the sound of the power amps, plus no heat & the fans have never come on, AFAIK.