The new amp buying blues, peachtree/rogue/outlaw/Yamaha

Even the 501 is an excellent amp - puts out a few more watts than the specs indicate. Another strength of the Yammies is their noise floor. You won't get any buzz or hum through your speakers as is the case with many other amps.

 

If that's the case, I say grab the A-S501 and get an external DAC. You can get the silver one new right now from amazon for only $439.96

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-S501S...8&qid=1543431971&sr=8-1&keywords=yamaha+As501

I owned the predecessor to the A-S501 for 12 or so years and loved it. I only got rid of it because I needed a bit more power, due to getting new (floorstander) speakers. I went with the A-S801, just to try it out, since I could return it for a refund withing 30 days. After a few days with it, I fell in love with it. It provides all the power I need, nice musical sound and although I am not a fan of the chip (ESS Sabre) it contains (my Yamaha CD-S300 gives me a warmer, more musical sound), it is a rock solid unit, one that I expect will give me years of pleasure, just as my prior Yamaha amp did.

One thing - if you go Yamaha new, be sure and burn it in for a good 100 hours of music listening before making any final decisions. My A-S801 took that long to sharpen its focus and truly show its potential in my system.

 

You can't really argue with the economies of scale from Yamaha in this question. It'll definitely give you the best bang for the buck (and probably best reliability long-term as well). Better yet, try to find a good functioning used Yamaha or so, to save even more cash.

 

For the $439.96 that he can get the silver one new right now from Amazon for, it is not worth buying used.

 

Yeah that’s cheap for a new silver one too
I might jump on that and get a puffin or lounge phono

 

One really needs ~$2K speakers before the 500/501 becomes a bottleneck IME. Even then, that's a case by case scenario. I'd also look into the R-S700. It's basically a 501 on steroids sans the DAC, but with a tuner. It also has pre-in/pre-out couplers, which is extremely rare in new amps. This would allow you to use a subwoofer's built-in high pass filter and relieve your mains of lower bass duties. That would be like having an amp of even greater power.

 

Ordered the as501 from amazon, for that price it was just too good to pass up.
This old 810 is rated at 65w and bench tests online show it in the 80w range so it’s close.
Once this gets here I’ll get a professional to check my old amp, I pulled it open today and there’s a lot of loose caps and gunk. If I’m lucky it’s a cheap fix and for 200 in repairs I’ll have two solid amps . My fear was hitting the point of diminishing returns with a repair when I can get a new amp for the cost of a full recap

Thanks for the help everyone

 

I really doubt if your old amp is worth the time and expense to bother with.

Check on eBay to see what they are selling for, you will see.

Time to move on...

 

Running cds on repeat to help burn in quicker, initial Impression is that the amp is lifeless no body to it in 2.0 mode no sub
But I know from this and posts in the past that these really do take some time to open up

 

Smart move! It does get better.

 

Are you using the Pure Direct function? I highly recommend it. Cleaner, clearer, better sound than with it off.

 

+1.. the Pure Direct button is a must IMO.

 

That helped a lot, like by a surprising amount .

Phono stage is nothing to write home about compared to my vintage rig, but that was to be expected.

 

yamaha ax-592 | eBay I have a Yamaha AX-592 integrated that's 20 years old, a real workhorse. Nothing's ever gone wrong with it, and it sounds great. I'm using it now to drive two pairs of speakers for my home theater setup. I bought a Rogue Sphinx v.1 to replace a NAD amp on my main system that blew up, but hated it. I returned it to the dealer, and demo'ed a $2,000 Rotel amp, but didn't like the sound of it compared to my old NAD, so I ended up buying another NAD amp. I also owned a Peachtree DAC*iT, which was OK, but my NAD DAC blows it away (admittedly, at 4x the price). Don't have any firsthand experience with Peachtree amps, but have heard good things from friends.

I've got a Yamaha AX-592. Don't know if you should buy something like that, but I love mine. A real workhorse. I used it every day, now with my home theater to drive two sets of speakers. Nothing has ever gone wrong with it in 20 years. 100/wpc, 2 sets speakers, separated preamp and power sections, all the bells & whistles of an integrated. I'd definitely buy another Yamaha amp.
I also tested the first version of the Rogue Sphinx. Hated it.

yamaha ax-592 | eBay

 

I've got a Yamaha AX-592. also for my TV with a set of Bose acoustamass speakers. my home theater.. sounds great with them..paid 100 bucks 12 yrs ago off eBay..

 

Yeah, it bypasses all of the controls, so you get the best sound it can give.

 

the cd input on the as-501 is really pretty good, but the phono is very meh. much much less dynamic than my vintage amp was, this must have a really low gain on it.
switched to my backup uturn pluto phono which isnt much better until i get a lounge or parks phono

 

I've been reading up on both Yamahas, the 801 amp and 803 receiver. TAS gave the 803 a good review as an above-average do-everything box.

Does anyone have any experience with the 803? I don't have the immediate need for the Musiccast feature, but this is a neat future proofing feature , especially if I want to move it to a secondary system someday.