I personally would prefer a loudness control for all amps under 200 WPC…and any class D amp regardless of claimed power.
For my part, on some recordings I’ll turn the bass tone control to 1:00 or so to compensate for the lack of a loudness control. However, what I miss in a loudness control I more than compensate for in sheer accuracy and depth.
I’m having an issue with my 2200 and wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar? The issue occurs randomly and has happened 5 times in about a month. The issue is when adjusting volume via the remote a press of the vol up or down button will instead turn the unit off and on as if I pressed the power button 2 times. This has occurred after the unit has been playing for a few hours and also when only playing for a few minutes. Always listening at moderate levels. Not noticing any other issues but of course concerned…
How accurate are the meters for headphone listening? Had my HD600's plugged in last night, vinyl as source, but was somehow managing to draw more power than I would for my averagely efficient Harbeths! And I don't exactly crank my headphone nor speaker listening... Seemed to be easily peaking 1 watt for headphones...
I am a huge fan of Yamaha products, but am very impressed with this amp and cab. I have several tube amps, and the Yamaha does respond to picking dynamics in a similar way. The variety of power tube options is really nice, although I haven't fully explored them all. What has been most surprising is how the Yamaha recreates the D*mble tone. I have the Ethos Clean Fusion II pedal, and the Yamaha does that tone exceptionally well. I'm not chasing that tone exclusively, but find that the Gain on the Yamaha provides a rich and fairly well defined distortion that gets me as close as I want to get to the D*mble sound. I think pairing the Yamaha amp with the Yamaha cab makes a huge difference -- they really do go well together. No regrets at all with this purchase.
I feel like the longer I play my AS2200 , the more warmed up it is — the better it sounds .. especially when it is continuously playing music imo I sometimes feel I have a bit of a tube sound without the tubes but still has amazing clarity , and drive. love my AS2200. It’s a beast !!
I think my AS3000 sounds best after 20/30 minutes warm-up. Yes, I think it has some type of tube sound quality or at least what I associate with good tube sound-a lack of dry thin sterile sound. More color and tone nuance without sacrificing speed focus and detail. I had compared it with my tubed Quicksilver Audio Integrated ( using Russian military tube equivalent of EL84 power tubes) and had difficulty finding obvious differences.
Agreed however I’ve also noticed with my unit if it’s playing continuously for over 3 hours or so that the mids, vocals take on a more veiled tone. Anyone else notice this?
I don’t notice that on my A-S1100. Are you sure it’s not the mastering of what you are listening to after 3 hours? Try listening to the exact same recording if you haven’t already. I’ll often listen to a run of poorly mastered material and begin to think it’s the amp or my speakers only to play something better and realize it’s not. The amp is extremely revealing. I now research best pressings for vinyl and best mastering for CDs and vinyl. The volume you are listening to also makes a difference. There is a certain level, 65 to 70 dB for me, where it blooms and comes alive. Just be sure you are listening to the same recording at the same level when comparing.
Hi all, I belong to the camp whom feels that regular EI power transformers are superior to toroidals, so I opted for the A-S2100. I have ran it hard and often, and it has been flawless. Regarding the warm-up time, I have noticed that the unit really, really sounds fantastic at the 3-day mark. Sorry if this bothers anyone, it is just my opinion after living with the amp for a few years. I am very careful with my energy usage throughout the house, and don't drive much at all. So I am able to enjoy the slight luxury of running this system 24/7, and it really sounds wonderful. I also own an A-S501, and that amp sounds fine right from cold. I rarely use my secondary gear. My feeling is that you don't even need to run tubes after owning the 2100. It is just the perfect blend of both technologies. Just my opinions.
That's interesting. Do you put it in standby at the end of the day or just switch to an unused input, or turn the volume down? I usually click the power button on the remote putting my A-S1100 in standby every night. I then turn it back on in the morning for the day. I might have to convince my wife into leaving it on if it makes a difference. I reached out to Yamaha once and they said to put it in standby when not in use. It's not clear to me if standby still provides enough power to keep it continually warmed up so to speak, or if it needs to be fully on for that.
Full on, meters switched off and volume down. I tend to switch the speaker selector to "off" when I leave the house, just in case. This is the only big item I leave on all the time. My tuner and DAC consume a total of 15 watts when fully powered; I have installed a switch for the Kenwood KT-7500 tuner lights, instead of modding it for LED lighting.
Interesting about this warm-up time. My A-S3200 amp sounds very, very good from cold start. A bit better after an hour, but not much. I have never before experienced an amp that sounds so good from cold start. In the year 2000 I bought a Sugden Masterclass power amp (class A amp). It had to be powered on at least a couple of hours before I could listen to it. Increased fidelity up to day 6, but from day 7 it sounded worse, more «closed in» and wolly.
Since it’s summer I’ve been powering my A-S3000 down nightly. It’s in a Salamander cabinet with no fewer than 4 separate cooling fans tied to a probed thermostat. I usually turn it on maybe up to 2 hours before listening daily. I’m not completely sure I can tell a difference straightway from having it powered up 24/7, but soon I’ll leave it on for a couple days and see (hear) what I find.
How many watts does the A-S2100 draw? Curious how long the meter lights would last if left on as well.
There are just too many factors involved to accurately predict whether leaving the amp on or not will affect SQ. For me, it does. But for real, you have ambient temperature differences, mains fluctuations (both in terms of quality, voltage, and frequency/harmonics), where you keep the amp in the rack, and even variations between units. For example, the bias current in these amps has been noted to vary unit-to-unit. It shouldn't, but it has been a common trend. I opened mine up shortly after the warranty ran out and set it exactly to the service manual. (There have heen threads stating that the manual gives the wrong instructions, but I carefully monitored the sink temps and then looked at some sine waves on a scope, and it sure seems to be correct on my example). The power consumption is listed in the SM as 350W, maximum 700W for the US model. I doubt it is pulling 350W with no signal, there just doesn't seem to be much heat at idle besides above the micro at the rear. The meter lights are all LED under a diffuser; they should probably never burn out in these. I'd worry about losing a relay or two way before any of the lighting in here. EDIT: Re power consumption. Pulled out my KillAWatt meter, because I had to know for sure. At 118VAC input, meters off, speaker selector on, volume down: 74.1 W consumption. This isn't much.
Need help/advice from you guys Just picked up an as1200 and am A/Bing it with my vintage Marantz 2238b (playing both through Wharfdale Lintons) . My brief initial impressions: The Yamaha seems to have more depth and clarity, wider soundstage. More relaxed. The problem I'm having is my Marantz sounds punchier to me, more forward in that respect. As someone with little experience comparing amps, is this possibly a product of the Yamaha having more power and able to handle the music in a more relaxed fashion? Would you give it time to break in before making a decision? I really enjoy the punchiness of my Marantz but it's hard to tell if it's just because I'm much more used to it. I know no one can answer for you what your ears prefer, but any thoughts would be welcomed. Thanks
I had the same impression comparing my A-S2100 to a vintage Sansui. I suspect the power ratings on the older amps are more conservative and they can dig a bit deeper but at the same time the level of precision and refinement is not up to the modern Yamahas.
Interesting, thanks. Yeah, I'm left wondering: is a more crowded presentation what I'm hearing as "punchiness" and am I just not used to the more relaxed and open sound of the Yamaha. Helpful to know you heard something similar. Did you stick with the Yamaha? Any break in period?
Yeah I’m still running the Yamaha. it’s 2-3 years old. It did sound a bit bright at the start but settled down after a while. Lots of people swear they have a break in so if yours is new maybe give it a while before making any more decisions. They are nice sounding amps.
How would you define this punchiness? I've owned Marantz in the past and wouldn't describe my experience of their house sound as forward at all? In fact laid back and relaxed would be my lasting impression? I currently own a A-S2200 and between the two I'd say the Yamaha is the one with the punch and liveliness. So as per the opening line of this reply... how would you define the punchiness? Do you find the Marantz more "exciting" and engaging? Does it grab you more? Or are you perceiving something "extra" in a particular part of the audio band? Like say for instance more weight in the bass that you perceive as punch?
