Yamaha A-S2000 Integrated Amplifier - any opinions? Have one on Home Demo coming...

The more I listen to the Yamaha a-s2000 the more amazed I am !.. The sound quality is just amazing for the price yamaha is selling it !....I don't know how they did it !.. Normally you would have to pay A LOT OF MONEY to get sound and built quality like this now !.. Yamaha seems to achieved their goal by giving us the best of both worlds (tubes and solid state) with the A-S2000 Integrated amp !.. The A-S2000 is a match made in heaven with my new and improved bose 901 series 6 version 2's (that just came out on the market a few months ago). Everything sounds SO SPOOKY REAL now ! I get that"YOU ARE THERE FEELING"when listening to music now ! I think this is an AMAZING achievement for Yamaha at a AMAZING PRICE !...

 

Owned mine for around 3-4 months now. Fantastic looking and, more importantly, sounding amp.

Brilliantly smooth and refined, never seems troubled by anything (nothing I've thrown at it yet anyway) and always gives the impression it has more in the tank.

As others have said, Yamaha are on to a real winner with this one. Stands out from all the black boxes out there and has the sound quality to match. Brings a smile to my face every time I listen to it. Great purchase.

 

Hi Matthew, I've only had mine for two days now. About how many hours does it take for break-in on these amps ? I thinking about trying out one of these new HiFi Tuning Supreme fuses in this amp later on.

 

Sorry for the delayed reply - I ended up not picking it up, and cancelled the demo. Can't recall why now, but think our car was in the garage and the bill came to not far off what the Yammy cost! Still running the Sansui 717 for now but it's due for replacement soon I think.

 

While in Germany last week, I saw the CD-S2000 (silver with light wood panels) in the window of a Hirsch + Ille store (www.hirsch-ille.de). Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to hear it, but it looks like a very solid machine. The specs. online say it weighs 33 lbs., and the craftsmanship looks to be first-rate. I'd love to hear it.

 

Problem with Yamaha in the audio press is, their good products like this fine amp you are lumped with their lower end gear since there's no separate high end marque. This appears to be a fine amp and that warranty is better than average.

 

Is the 'rec out' function on this amp the same as a tape monitor function?

 

No, its not the same as a tape monitor. I had to put bose equalizer between my satellite receiver and the CD inputs on my yamaha a-s2000 integrated amp.

 

Anyone know what kind of wood is on the side panels (or fake laminate?). Is that natural cherry?

 

The Yamaha A-S2000 integrated amp is an iron fist in a velvet glove ... amazing power with a detailed yet refined sound. I have owned all sorts of integrated amps and separates over the years (Simaudio; Plinius; Quad; Emotiva; Audio Refinement) and this Yammy bests them all. The really nice headphone amp and phono stage are just icing on the cake.

 

I'm pretty shocked at the build quality/sound of my budget Yamaha Receiver R-S700. For the street price of $450 this is nothing short of amazing. There are heavy buss bars all over the circuit board, and reasonably high quality parts abound. It has a good phono section, Sirius ready, ipod dock port, 2 zone, 100 WPC. If this is their low end I can just imagine how good their high end is.

 

The "audiophile" press is ignoring them because Yamaha is not dedicated to high end stuff. Most of their products are still cheaper home theatre. That doesn't mean they cannot make top notch stuff. They have in the past and still do in so many lines such as their Pianos. Yamaha has the ability to do whatever they please.

I think they made only one mistake with the line and thats going below the A-s700. The 700 should have been entry level because it still sounds good. But the 500 and 300 sound pretty much like typical bog box home theater and not indicative of the higher range at all. Unfortunately their dealers often only carry the lower end models.

Yamaha has more brains and experience than I do though and I am sure they don't care about the mags etc. Many companies pay to have people gush over their products. Yamaha is not only ignored but dissed by these publications. Tells me Yammy is ready to let the public decide. I respect that as Yamaha certainly has the time and $ to let people see for themselves and win in the end.

Notice the products that get reviews are also the biggest advertisers? I have been in this business. I can get anything a glowing review and it doesn't even cost much when you know what cheese to dangle to whom at what time.

 

You guys should check out their new top of the line amp/CD Player combo - a match made in heaven and built like a Ferrari with hot Line Outs, meaning the amp must be grounded. The power supply is fixed with the ground in a special metal case to avoid any contacts with the ground. The sanken transistors are Field effect types Class A with the specifics of valves - a bit like T+A's High voltafe series design. The Cd Player / DAC is even better with a hand crafted metallic tray. A lot of engineering skills went in the development of these classic looking Hi End devices that are voiced to sound best in tandem. Still the bigger names in the High End biz make it a hard couple to sell at 4.200 / 4.800 Euro - but the news is clear yamaha has returned to the world of Stereo (and still supply SACD plus DSD on the DAC input if the SACD - 3000.
Check them out - a piece of art :
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2013/05/yamaha-s3000-cd-s3000.html
Imo it is hard to find a more classy looking combo for under 10.000 Euro. MuFi Nu-Vista 800 or T+A HV 3000 are contenders but each amp costs twice as much -

 

Looks classy, but it is funny they photoshoped the back panel to hide the country of manufacturing. It actually makes it easy to guess.

 

Hi Jim, I had taken notice of the same thing. I had the chance to hear the CD-S1000 several years ago, and took the opportunity to compare it to several others in the $3000-$5100 ranges. In my own opinion, the Yamaha's frequency response, detail, and overall sense of clarity was a leg up over the others. It was the most cost effective of the group and the best looking, and seemed to have the quietest drive mechanism.

The reviewers were not as enthusiastic about the sound quality and power output, even though it met its specifications. That really left me with more questions than answers, as I had compared it to some of the CDP's they raved over (including the Sony PS1 SCPH-1001 and 7501). A reviewers also complained that the integrated amplifier falling short in some sonic area. I'm not sure what they are looking for in the audio press today.

 

You can get a B-Stock S700 Yamaha for $349 at accessories4less.com, which would be a great deal. I have a number of Denon pieces from there and have not been disappointed and saved some cash to boot. They also have other Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo pieces. I like saving money.

 

One problem is Yamaha are not sold by UK shops specialising in hi-end hi-fi. Marantz or NAD and Rotel have historically been stocked as entry level products. Yamaha are sold through box shifting chains that specialise in budget equipment.

 

Yeah, that's really good stuff...but is it comparable to Luxman and Accuphase is the question. I would say probably the lower end of Luxman and Accuphase.

 

Malaysia. I think.

 

I believe so.

 

Regarding the usual rankings in points given out y the 3 leading german HiFi magazines it is quite easy to see where these reviewers listed these components .
Audio (my personal favorite magazine after reading these mags for years and checking the personal preferences by the reviewers (audio's reviewers mostly love analog playback are very fond of valves and Streaming for example) tested the duo and gae each 125 points and 3 from 5 stars in terms of price/value. They loved the amp's big ballsy sound giving drums and pianos real forceful believable scale and drive but could be labelled as a bit too much bass dominat BUT in combination with the CD PPlayer the sound was right on point. 125 points is pretty much at the top of the rankings, you aree right Luxman and accuphase get the same 125 for their gear. The higher priced accuphase get even more - 130 points. The Top are atm. 135 points for amps like the new Musical Fidelity NU-VISTA 800 or T+A's High voltage amp HV 3.000. Other top ranking amps come from Nelson PASS INT 150 and INT 30, Devialet etc.
All of those cost twice as much as these Yamahas. Luxmann, accuphase or MacIntosh are in no way cheaper with their entry gea.
Malaysia is a prtty good place for HiFi manufacturing. Musical fidelity builds their stuff besides the TITAN and PRIMO in Malaysia, too. Not sure what is built in Japan at Yamaha = Pianos probably..
I am not saying this is the best you can get but it is a welcome back attempt I like.
BTW the 2100 is also a great Integrated got 115 points and 4 stars at audio and won a group test vs the Cambridge Audio for 18000 and Marantz 14 for 2.800 costing 2500 Euro.
Same classy look as the other S- series gear from Yamaha

BTW you won't find the 3.000 series from Yamaha at media stores and supermarkets, nor online from Yamaha - Only at HiFi dealers !

 

That's almost humorous how, for years, they critiqued Yamaha for being "thin" and now they critique them for being "fat". I very much prefer a pronounced and extended sounding-bass over one that recedes, or makes it sound like all the deep impacts and information is gone. There is no shortage of speakers that could serve as a solution.

 

When they started talking about albums as "software" and "bass slam", I started to make plans to jump ship...!

 

Perhaps and there's no issues with that. As long as the quality control is right, the product will be good.

 

Available from Amazon. Malaysia would be fine, but I assume if they hid it it's China.