2020 Yamaha Integrated Amps A-S1200/2200/3200

Thanks Mike!!

 

I'm assuming the A-S3000 is the same

To make large adjustments to the sound level I hold down the vol up/down button or repeatedly press it.

To make smaller adjustments I just press the button however many times I need to.

I much prefer it to the volume on my old A-S701. Far more precise

 

I'm only recollecting the experience of the 2200 from new, so extrapolate from that what you think may be relevant to the 3200 (I know @ether-bored and I swapped notes back and forth as he burned in a 3200 before returning it when he got a good deal on a lightly used A-S3000) I know you had a 2200 too - would you say this is different to that?

I do recall it (the 2200) sounding so awful right out of the box - at least for the first day or two - that I had the worst buyers remorse. I thought I'd made a terrible downgrade from my A-S801!
Had I not had a long in store demo prior that gave me something to look forward I would've probably made a hasty return!

It was hard to put a finger on because it seemed both veiled, tubby and slow but also had a sort of "pingyness" on things like horns and piano. I'm pretty intolerant of anything too "insistent" in the upper mids/lower treble (glary is a good description), so I was happy when that mellowed off. But then progressively - and in a fairly linear fashion - it started opening up, getting lighter on it's feet. Never did get rid of that slightly excess richness... but that's just down to personal taste and why I expressed a preference for the 3000 Series signature upthread.

By about the end of the first week or so I seem to recall it being settled and within 90% + of as good as it was going to get. I don't recall dramatic lapses in form... I mean my own listening experience has always been that way generally... up and down every other day, but I put that down to other factors, like I might just not be feelin' it that day or there might be other temporary factors, sometimes even time of day? I have to notice a sustained and noticeable downturn in performance over say a number of days before I get concerned.

I'd leave it to do it's thing for several days before even attempting any sort of analysis even though it's fun to notice the changes along the way.

P.S - I found the volume control on the 2200 a little sluggish compared to the comparative "precision" and snappiness of the 801.

 

Yeah, that sounds like the 3200 remote volume. The good thing is that even if I hold it down, it doesn't turn up or down terribly fast, so I'm thinking with some experience I can get close that way and then micro-adjust from there.

Sounds like my 801.

 

Not very different, no. But the 3200 definitely sounded better at first and the burn in has been less rough, seemily faster. I am at 32 hours right now.

Good advice! And your adjectives (veiled, slow, pingyness) are all on the money!

Thomas Stereo on YouTube found the 2200 to have a upper midrange bump/glare and stated that he heard a shift at 40-60 hrs and another at 80-100 hrs. After that, like you, the upper mid bump was gone.

Sluggish is how I would describe the volume on my 3200. Well said!

 

And the best thing, just stick it next to a Goodwill find, and home invaders won't know which to steal! (unless they have two three-head tape decks)

 

Hi. Sometimes I have to turn the volume up and down to get the right volume level. But I do not see it as a problem at all. Most important for me is that they have designed a volume control with minimum loss in sound quality.

If you think your A-S3200 sometimes sounds «bright», then you have to look elsewhere for the problem, maybe some noise from AC, etc. The 3200 has a great bandwith (a good thing), but «bright» is the last word I can use to describe the sound quality from it.

Btw, my Technics SL-G700 is an extremly good match for this amp, Imo. Because the Technics is very clean and clear in sound with a low noise floor, but also very neutral and distinct sounding without adding warmth and coloring to the sound.

 

Are you speaking of controlling the volume by hand or by the remote? I was asking about the latter.

Good to know that once it burns in the brightness goes away. I know at least one reviewer who called the 3200. I'd bet he didn't fully burn it in.

 

Remote

 

I have my eye on that one for future consideration, but for now I am good with Marantz SA-KI Ruby. The Technics has a lot of stuff I wouldn't use, so I would maybe consider the Denon DCD-A110. Have you heard that one?

 

George, how would you compare the S300 to the SA-K1Ruby at this point?

I'm still on my CD-S300. Every now and then I get the itch for a higher end CD player with my A-S1100, but honestly the CD-S300 sounds excellent. I hear zero noise with the volume on full/max on the A-S1100 with it selected. It is dead silent. CDs sound great on it and I only have one SACD which I don't really care about, so I don't really need an SACD player. Not to mention I can stream DSD and hi-res files from my R-N602 via thumb drive. That said, depending on the mastering of the CD, the CD-S300 can sound as good as my vinyl on my 1210GR with various carts (2M Bronze, KABProS40 (Ortofon Shibata), AT95ML, and Nagaoka MP-200. The difference between the CD-S300 and the GR is similar to the difference between carts and of course the dead black background which to an extent makes the music feel like it's in a vacuum compared to vinyl. Part of the sonic attraction to vinyl is that certain presence that comes with a slight noise floor compared to CDs. I appreciate both but I have say the "illusion" of vinyl can give it more "presence" compared to the vacuum of music on CD.

To go back to my question on higher end CD players, I hear you get some of the magic in vinyl back. But I sometimes wonder how much of it is illusion based on how good the CD-S300 sounds. It would have to sound better than my GR and carts to make it worth it for me.

Update: I should mention I only listen over speakers, either my Harbeth P3ESRs or Klipsch Heresy IIIs which make a huge difference in sonics between them. I think speakers are far more forgiving than headphones where things are even more isolated. The room and space forgives.

 

No, haven’t heard it.

But here it goes. For me, Technics is hardcore engineering. After they re-invented the brand in 2015, they put some serious money into product developments.
The core in any digital disc player is the DAC chip. The quality of the DAC will ultimate limiting the sound quality. Everything else in the player as power supply, bit clock, output analog stage etc has to be designed to equal the quality of the D/A converter. And better the D/A is, the harder you have to work to get the noise level as low as possible. And lower the level of noise, better sound you get.

The D/A converter in DCD—110 is the Burr Brown Pcm1795, mostly the same as in my 12 years old Yamaha CD-S1000. It’s a pretty good converter, but not up to the best today. The AK4497eq in my new player is better!
And I’ve read that several Denon player does not native DSD, they convert DSD to Pcm. That’s not an option for me.

 

The CD-S300 was my trusty player for years. The Ruby has the benefit of two filters. Filter one has that warm, Marantz sound. The treble is rolled off. I like filter 2, which has a flat EQ. Even with filter 2, I get a more analog sound from the Ruby than from the CD-S300. Dynamics are very similar. The CD-S300 is an incredible bargain and a reliable player. I tried a 700 a number of times, in an effort to upgrade, but they all ended up defective. The CD-S1000 didn't impress me, I sent it back after trying it out for a few weeks.

Yeah, I would stick with the CD-S300. Shame they discontinued it and replaced it with something more expensive (the 303) that likely has the same internal parts.

To be honest, it took me a long time to get used to the smoother, more analog sound of the Ruby. I liked the more defined images I would get from the CD-S300.

I only listen through speakers too.

 

Yes, I know they used AK chips, but sadly, Technics now uses ESS chips in their SACD player.

 

But wait for the reviews before juding It’s about how you implement the DAC in design of the player

 

That CD-S 300 seems like a stone cold bargain. I have always enjoyed Yamaha CDPs. I still have my Yamaha CD-870 combo CD/LD player with S Bit Dac. Still works great.
How would you describe the sound of the CDs300 ? Thinking when I finally set up my downstairs system may put in a cost effective CD only player as an alternative the Oppo 205 SACD player even though it does have a CD player in it lol. Just like to experiment I suppose and still love Yamaha stuff (I have a Yamaha CXA5200 pre pro which will be part of my downstairs home theatre and some music system ). I always considered the CD-S1000 as well but for the cost and the age I’m not sure the sound quality is all there as have heard mixed things.

 

The CD-S300 is no longer being made, but it's successor, the CD-S303 looks to be very similar. I have not heard the CD-303, sorrry. I wouldn't hesitate to audition it, though.

 

I have one (the 303) which I use as a transport only. In that role it's pretty decent. Better than merely decent actually. But in the context of systems with higher aspirations and resolving power it's not much to write home about via it's analogue outs. Via those it sounds like precisely what it is - a budget CD player.

My two cents? CD (is it too bold to say digital in general?) has been a mature technology for ages, in other words give or take a preferred "flavour" this way or that it's most likely leveled off? And that model in particular - while I take your point regarding it's age - was released right around the zenith of the popularity of CD as the primary source in a good music/audiophile system. I guess that's a round-about way of saying it'll probably still very much hold it's own? And specials like this one (or for the same price here if you prefer?) make it perhaps a little less cost prohibitive. I'd happily wager that it would surpass the CD-S303 via it's analogue outs. Of course it would have to at multiples of the 303's asking price

 

Yeah I always wondered if the SACD portion would sound compared to my Oppo 105 ? The burr brown and Yamaha configuration would be interesting to hear … pricing is still not too bad on that model. Seems to be built well too

 

Pass on the SACD question.
If you have a large enough collection of those to merit the concern, then I guess further investigation will be meritted?

Burr Brown, AKM, ESS... I reckon the chipset matters less than how well designed and regulated the surrounding device is, how good it is at resonance control, etc... so yes, build quality would probably be a more relevant consideration? It's more expensive than the 303 for sure but for what it is perhaps not prohibitively so?

My 303's fine, but you'd never mistake it for having battleship grade build

 

The CD-S300 sound is clean, clear, neutral, and open. I'm guessing it would be comparable to the Yamaha A-S1000 and below compared the A-S1100/A-S1200 and above which add a little bit of that analog warmth.

Rumor has it the CD-S303 is the same when it comes to CD playback.

 

If you see my profile, I own the Denon A110 (and A100) and they both leave me wanting more as I find their transients somewhat veiled and imprecise as compared to reference gear. This is one reason I’m in Japan and returning home with a Luxman.

So in summary, the Denon A110 is “nice” and may please many, I feel the A-S3000/3200 (which sound identical based on extensive blindfold tests in my system, by the way) deserves a far better player.

 

Thanks! Have you heard the SA-KI Ruby?

 

I’ve not, unfortunately. @Agitater could maybe weigh in?

 

Oh, it's OK. I was more interested in how the Ruby compares with what you have heard.

By the way, a black A-S3200 can be had right now for 20% off on amazon. - but only one left, $6,399. I was tempted to return mine and buy this one, but called amazon instead. They offered me a $200 credit. So mine ended up being $6,959. 13% off. Not too shabby, given that everywhere else has it for full retail price, $7,999 and I already have 77 hours on mine.

Also, if you are willing to go used and don't want silver, Safe And Sound has one for $5,199 - Yamaha A-S3200 Natural Sound Integrated Amplifier Customer ReturnBlack