Yamaha A-S501 or A-S801

This thread has been off-topic for a while! You are actually bringing it back to something related to its title.

 

You just created a load to draw current. A short circuit, but a load non the less.

There are two requirements for current to flow.
1. A difference in potential between two points.
2. A completed circuit which becomes the load.

Take a 120 V ac circuit, touch the hot with your left hand, touch the neutral with your right hand. Make sure your hands are bone dry before attempting this. Your body impedance dry is around 100,000 ohms. So, you will draw about 1.2 milliamps through your heart. You will probably squall and cuss, but otherwise you will be fine. Now, if your hands are wet, that impedance is around 1000 ohms. The current flowing through your heart will now be around 120 milliamps. You will be dead in about 5 seconds. Nothing gets sent anywhere, (well, if you try the second test, they will send you to the morgue) current is drawn through a load, which was you. Same as an amp providing current for a speaker to draw.

PS. Dont try the first test either!

 

Owners of the A-S801, I have a question:

I set mine up this weekend. My previous amplification/receiver was an old school Denon DRA-425R rated at 50wpc.

I noticed right off the bat that I need to turn the Yamaha volume up, roughly twice as much, to get to the same volume I achieved with the 50 WPC Denon. I realize that going from 50 to 100wpc does not mean "twice as loud" but I was not expecting this. It sounded fine, no distortion etc. But having the volume knob that high is creeping me out.

Is this due to a) Input sensitivity Denon vs the Yammy or b) The "taper" of the volume pot i.e. one is more linear than the other?

Anyone else have the same experience?

I don't have it on mute by the way All connections are fine, all components functioning etc. I played CD's through the CD inputs w/ CD Direct. SACDs from my Blu Ray Player into the Line In 1 and my Phono Preamp into the "Tuner" Line In.

JQ

 

The gain structure of (home) audio equipment is without rule and is not a reliable indicator of power output. Most consumer audio amps are playing near full output around 11/12 O' clock.

Thankfully, and according to bench testing I've seen elsewhere, your amp is true to spec, even accounting for the performance of the volume control.

 

Did you flip any impedance switches on the back? I think it's set to 4 ohms but it'll drive 8's, or vice versa.

Like Largerthan said though, there's no hard rule about how loud the amp is at any given dial level. I think this changed when they went to full rotary dials that you can spin around more than once. Back in the 70's hifi era, everything had a finite limit, you could turn the volume knob only so high and a lot of them had lit indicators. This has always bugged me on modern amps. Yamaha may have more levels of loudness (steps) as you turn it up than the Denon had. Double the steps, double the twist on the dial.

 

Good point. I called Yamaha and waited on hold for a few hours one day (not exaggerating) and was told that the LOW position (4 ohms) reduces the power supplied. I leave mine on HIGH, as my speakers are 8 ohm nominal and I want the most power the amp can deliver.

 

Wow!! These are still available?! Great speakers. Not sure what $429 Aus. is in Yankee dollars, but still.

 

You make good sense!!! To answer your question, the impedence switch is set to High. That’s the way it was set from the factory.

 

Where on the dial is your regular listening level? 12 O'Clock? More?

On my A-S801 (that I bought about 6 months ago) I have listened to a wide range of CDs, at many different levels. The dial is generally between 9 and 11, maybe 11:30 at max, but usually between 10 and 11, I'd say.

My usual listening level is around 75-78 dB or so. And my speakers really crave power.

 

My 801 volume sweet spot is between 10 and 11.

 

On the Denon it would get really loud at about 9-10. To get that same volume on the Yammy, I need to go up to 11-12. Keep in mind, this is insane volume. I used my SPL app and I was getting around 105 DB's. So volume is not the issue, I was just curious why I was getting louder volume, at a lower dial setting on a 50 WPC amp. I think I understand now though - thanks for the replies.

 

No problem.

I guess the main thing is that the Yamaha A-S801 is a damn good amp, with superb bang for the buck. I really like that you can really dial in a very specific volume from the remote. Clicking once on the remote barely moves the knob, so I can choose a very specific volume. I feel this comes in handy for very loud CDs. I wish my Android has this. When I click the volume up or down once I get a huge jump in volume.

 

I just got mine last week and was coming here with the same question. My old receiver I only had to turn it up to about 9 to get the same volume I get at 12 with the 801. Guess it's the nature of the beast, the only thing I don't like is that vinyl hiss seems to be much louder on this amp than the old one, not sure if it's a result of how loud it has to be turned up or just the phono amp maybe being a bit hotter on this.

 

Probably the result of having to turn up the volume more. I actually have not tried the 801's Phono stage, I use a Phono preamp into the Line In named "Tuner."

But yeah - the amount I had to crack the volume knob to get a comparable volume to my old 50 watter, really threw me for a loop when I first connected it!

 

Yep, that's the way to do it. Most speakers list their impedance on the back...if they're 4ohm you flip the switch on the amp, otherwise you leave it on 8ohms. 8ohm speakers are more efficient and "easier" on the amp.

By the way, I've had shockingly good luck with Yamaha support. I buy and refurb their PX-3 linear turntables which they quit producing way back in the early 80's. I wanted an original service manual and called them. A week later, a surprise package arrived. It was literally the last original service manual, complete with handwritten notes for updated parts corrections, etc. which Yamaha USA had in their California HQ. They had to have one of their old archivists dig it out of storage but knew they had one remaining. So I got the last manual straight from the source and it didn't cost me a dime.

Stuff like that makes me happy to do business with Yamaha.

 

About the impedance switch on the back - Audioholics recommends to "Do NOT change the impedance switch from it's default setting." See their review Yamaha A-S801 Integrated Amplifier Review for their reasoning.

 

Yeah I just threw it out there in case he had some oddball speakers that required 4ohms.

 

So if I am running 4ohm speakers on my AS-501, I should actually leave switch at 8ohms?

 

You are lucky you now have an amp with a sensible volume control range. Think of your car's gas pedal. Why would it be designed for full speed half way down to the floor? You want to use the full range so that you have more options at the bottom and the top. Some amp makers make full power at half volume to fool some users into thinking there is more power on reserve than there really is.

 

That's what I understand Audioholics are saying. I don't have a Yamaha amp so I cannot speak from personal experience. Just remember reading about it when I was looking for an amp.

 

so what's up with this Pure Direct button? I've always just left it on as suggested in a review I read. I hooked up some new speakers and was looking at the remote to see if there's an A/B/A+B button. There's not, but I noticed the Pure Direct button, so you can switch back and forth from your seat.

Why is the difference so dramatic? It surprised me. Pure Direct mode sounds warmer and softer. Pure Direct mode OFF sounds more detailed, but thinner...maybe a more precise sound stage.

What's happening there that makes it sound so dramatically different? It sounds as different as two different amps...maybe even two different speakers or phono carts.

 

From their website:

 

Wait, I'm confused.
Pure Direct = warmer/softer
Pure Direct = more detailed

Which is it?

 

my bad. edited my post. Direct ON = warmer. OFF = thinner

 

If you have a Yamaha CD player, the CD Direct on that also improves the sound, though only slightly - less noise in the upper frequencies.