It's a small but appreciable bump in sound quality with a huge bump in build quality. 10/10 would buy again
Thanks. It fits my budget. Got it in the Crutchfield cart. Need something new that's 4 ohm stable for these Allisons I picked up.
I have the A-S501 and from my point of view I would say "natural" describes the sound of the unit pretty well. I purchased it for $353 and it's a really good performer at that price point. I don't know anything about older models or the higher priced models.
I had a CR-640 as my audio buddy 1980-1990 or so. It went to receiver heaven. Loved the faux wood cabinet.
From the 70s, I had a CR 620 (lacked bass); a CR 1020 and 2020 (excellent sound and old school looks). Currently have a Yamaha RN-303 at the beach house. 100 wpc and it does nothing wrong. Neutral. As engaging as my ModWright>Krell kit? No. But superb entry-level audiophile gear. I also have a Yamaha SACD player that I dig. I've noticed the most expensive fishing boats on the Outer Banks have Yamaha outboards, FWIW.
A Yamaha VSX 335 or something like that which I sold and bought a Pioneer Elite which sounded better overall. I sold that and bought a Denon X3300W which I currently use. I'm thinking about upgrading to an Anthem but have read several comments about its reliability.
I got mine last year off eBay. Original box. CR-440. Didn't make a sound upon initial start up. Major Deoxit job. I run it on occasion. Have to hit it again with Deoxit. Pesky. It was stored for years. It's to be expected. I put LEDs in it. Very pretty little receiver. All oxidized control issues aside, it's very nice with little cosmetic problems
Listening to Oscar Peterson on a 1979 CR-840 at the moment and loving the clear, unadorned sound. Also have a Yamaha AV receiver in my TV 5.1 system and have no complaints about film or music listening on that system either. So for me the Yamaha “sound” is a transparency that doesn’t call attention to itself but lets the music through. What more could we ask of our audio equipment?
Yes I remember the nice feel to the knobs and the very good looking cosmetics. I think the 640 cost close to $500 1980 dollars too. Was expensive for the time. I certainly got my money's worth through high school and college. I even had a pair of Stax headphones connected to it, also purchased in 1980 (which I still own!). Speakers were a pair of BIC 44's with the big 12 inch woofers. Good party system.
I wanted to comment on that Pioneer receiver. I feel it's probably the best amp I've ever used. Maybe it's a nostalgic memory so I'll add what I remember as objectively as I am able. I had 4 speakers. 2 vintage Sonic 2way floor standing bass reflex. I actually upgraded the both drivers in each speaker. I bought two sets from Radio Shack that the tech recommended. I don't remember Thd specs, but they were very efficient. And, a pair of Realistic two way acoustic suspension bookshelf speakers. They were not efficient, but had excellent detail. That receiver didn't hesitate when driving both pairs. Either way, running the A speakers, the B speakers, or both, receiver didn't have a problem. I thought at 20 Watts it might present a challenge. I was totally wrong. I remember pushing the wattage up to 5 (per the vu meters) at the music's peak, and playing basic rock and roll. It was so loud you had to shout to be heard. It was almost too much to take. And it wasn't distorted. Even at increased volume it presented a nice sound without distortion. The listening room was about 15' X 20'. In the 8(?) years I owned that amp I never felt that amp faltered. It was always up to the music. It's FM reception was excellent, it's phono preamp was so good I never considered an exterior phono preamp. And it looked great with the long tunning bar, the meters, FM signal strength meter, and the soft glow from the back light. The controls all had the solid feel of a great piece if equipment. I had a friend who had a Pioneer 35 Watt receiver. It was a step or two up the Pioneer ladder. It was slightly larger, but the controls and look were the same. Just a great piece of equipment
Well, it's only been running for a few hours but, compared to my Cambridge Audio, the mids are a touch warmer, the trebles are slightly more rolled off, and bass is more controlled. In general, it sounds better. More analogue. It just sounded better right from the start, more pleasant, it makes me wanna listen to it. I still don't feel a huge difference in terms of power (60 watts the Cambridge, 100 watts the Yamaha), as the volume know is more or less in the same position as it was before but, at the same volume level, the sound is fuller and my NHT are driven with less effort. So I'd say that the difference in watts is more towards sound richness then sheer volume. That's a surprise, as I was expecting to have to keep the volume know more down. Does that make sense?
Huhmm.....I didn't see that coming; I like my upper treblr sparkly. You mean that, as in swish cymal sound, or general treble from guitars and such ? Well actually vol knob position has little to do with it. Used to have less powerful amp that I could not get past 10 o' clock, and with my current more powerful one I have to set it to 11 o' clock to attain the same loudness, yet when pushed higher, it unleashes more power. A lot to do with the impedance of the inputs and other factors like implementation of circuitry. Your 100w are real; as a matter of fact even a little more, for yamaha are very conservative at stating RMS power. The Cambridge was no slouch at 60wpc either.
They're just not as sparkling as in the Cambridge, and I like it, it's a plus. My speakers are more on the bright side, so it's a good match. Again, very very slightly rolled off, just a (nice) touch
Don't be surprised when that amplifier shows a bit of bloom after you've spent a good many hours with it. Whether it's ears acclimatizing or an electronic coalescence, both of my Yamaha amps audibly improved after a dedicated week or more of listening. Curious to hear if you still find the treble rolled off after you've given it time to settle in.
I can't remember where I have read it but they were recommending to run the amplifier on high impedance. And I did I was happier with the sound no matter what the impedance of my speakers were. You can give it a try to switch impedance selector on the back to high if you like. Peace ✌️
I would, but I've read in many articles tht that switch doesn't do anything, it's there just for some testing purposes. However, I left it on high impedance, which is the default it came on
Yeah, I've read that too. However, at least in my experience, that happens with every amps I've had, they kind of burn in I guess. Also, the rolled off trebles are just, I think, because I'm very used to the Cambridge Audio which is quite bright. And the roll off is barely noticeable (and I like it).
