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

My 20 year old Carver Amp gave up the ghost yesterday. I have been thinking of replacing it and the Carver Pre-Amp with something modern for some time. It will serve my 2nd system (family room, TV and streaming) so I do not need a ton of power and did not want to spend a ton of money.

I chose one of the new Yamaha A-s501 Integrateds. I only want 2ch + the digital inputs will be used as I (slowly) transition into streaming from my PC.

Really looking forward to hearing this bad boy.

 

Yamaha has owned a plant and been making gear in Malaysia since at least the 1990s. Anything they can make in Japan there can build there by now.

 

i have one of these "out for delivery" right now. pretty excited!

 

Share your impressions please, when you have it.

 

of course

 

I recently bought their $3500 SACD player. Love it.

 

2000 series?

 

although my vintage sansui (au-717) was recently rescued from a near death experience, i was almost and not-so-secretly hoping it might go as i had my on this a-s2000...

 

CD-S2100.

According to the Yamaha homepage MSRP is $3500 but everyone sells it for $2995.

 

what (manufacturer/model) did it replace in your system?

 

Immediate impressions after a few albums (through KEF LS50's and in comparison to a Brio-R)

• way, way more bass. Punchy and full
• more resolution
• soundstage feels a lot more locked in
• read a lot about build quality but was still surprised

 

Another major thing that's jumping out at me is that each instrument/amplifier appears to be more distinct; two different amplifiers sound like two different amps.

Chimey things sound chimier...everything has a pleasant chewiness to it (hope that's not going overboard on the adjectives, but it's what's coming to mind).

 

Pleasant chewiness? Sounds yummy.

 

What Carver amp and pre amp do you have?

 

when you say 'soundstage locked in' does that mean a more narrow and defined soundstage or.....?
oh.... LS50's. i'll bet *that's* a nice sound.

 

more defined instruments in space. more focus

 

Amp is a TFM35X

Pre-amp/tuner is CT23

 

wow. thanks. so, in short, zero downsides. plenty of power heft undeneath to drive it all, of course?

 

I couldn't be happier.

You might like to know that you can buy these right now for WAY less than the usual price. It's my understanding that Yamaha is coming out with a new version, so this exact model can be had for a lot less

 

Still one of the best kept secrets and bargains. The media is not covering them and hifi shops laugh about Yamaha. But if you can get an honest conversation in with any Hifi dealer you can learn the reason. Yamaha is not kicking back like the "premium" brands. Not saying premium is all markup as there as many companies making great stuff with a ton of R&D ... but much of the upper end hifi offerings are in markups and dealer spiffs. The New Yamaha 2 channel stuff holds its own strongly against more expensive options. There are 2 huge hifi name I know of that make everything in China .. alongside whatever else the Chinese factory makes. Including cable which is why Ebay is full of the biggest names in high end cable "fakes". So unfortunately we cannot trust hifi magazines etc. Very political market.

 

Yeah-good points. I would say too that the Yamaha new offerings are completely ignored in the rags( other than the Brits). They are building high quality units with typical good Yamaha sound and doing so at a reasonable price. I still own and enjoy an integrated amp from 1981 or so and a desk top mini component system from their Pianocraft series. Great equipment. If I needed something new I would go with the A-S2100 or the 3000 ( or really any of them) but I generally prefer their statement units because I want the extra features and higher quality of parts.

 

Ps-speaking of the rags-if they don't get perpetual advertising or endless equipment "loans" or discount purchase prices or if the price tag isn't laughably ridiculous they don't review the product. The particular offender I am speaking of seems only to review budget or mainstream offerings that are sold by one of its regular advertisers who sell online-you know who the usual suspects are. One of them does sell Yamaha and Onkyo but go figure-no reviews of those even so. Most folks I know who live in the real world are looking for good quality equipment at a reasonable price and not over-priced, over-hyped for what it is cynical crap. Yamaha has to my knowledge consistently offered good quality for the dollar asked. I also highly enjoy my Denon amp-another company universally ignored by the U.S. rags except when their turntable was panned. I also own the Anniversary turntable and would not part with it.

 

I recently purchased an A-S301 for my 2-channel family room TV system. The optical digital input is very nice for the television sound. The amp is also compatible with my Comcast remote which is a nice plus. Very pleased!

 

That is gorgeous. I love that they have resurrected the classic 1970s Yamaha styling, which itself is clean and not dated-looking.

It reminds me very much of my c.1978 CR-1020.

 

I have been using the A-S501 since November 2014. I bought it to use during the hot summer months and as an experiment to see if I could be satisfied with a $368 amp (price I paid on Amazon). Well, it has out performed all my expectations. So much so that I am considering just selling my other amp and phono stage as I don't think I need them anymore, the Yamaha offers greater performance at a fraction of the cost of my other gear all in one stylish easy to use box. If I ever change speakers the Yamaha's are UL certified to 4 ohms so I have plenty of speaker options. I can't speak to the unit's long term reliability and serviceability but everything else about it has been fantastic and far beyond my expectations.

Here is a pretty comprehensive test of the previous model:

http://i.nextmedia.com.au/avhub/aus...aha_as500_amplifier_review_and_test_lores.pdf