Yamaha A-S1100 or McIntosh MA5200

I have the SL1200GR and the Harbeth P3ESR combined with the Yamaha AS1100 and haven't regretted my decision once!

 

The AS1100 is a nice looking piece of kit but unfortunately the sound quality is way off the mark. imo

 

To find it out, by comparing the technical parameters of the two, is very easy: you have the Manual of your R-N602, and that of the A-S1100 is on their site.

What are “they”?

 

I have the black and the small speaker and meter knobs appear to be some type of plastic while the others are machined aluminum I assume anodized.

 

beautiful system! please do me (and yourself) one favor- replace the quintet blue as soon as you can! i've owned it and you can have so much better sound for very little additional money.

 

Awesome! That will be my setup. Only differences will be I'll have a Nagaoka MP-200 for the cart and I picked up the 40th anniversary P3s. I picked them up on Friday. They sound amazing. It's subtle and natural and just so pleasing to the ears.

 

Interesting. Why do you say that?

 

Interesting. Does anyone know if this is the same on the silver model? Why would they even do that? What about the on/off switch? Is it meta or plastic?

 

I should have said the A-S1100, not "they". Do you think the A-S1100 will sound better than the R-N602? I already looked at the technical parameters and the design/components of the two, and the A-S1100 looks better on paper. I'm interested in how that translates to the real world experience and those that believe amp technology has peaked and the difference you hear is psychological and not actual. One person in this thread owned both and did say the A-S1100 is sonically superior.

 

It just looks better than it sounds, not saying it sounds bad just a wee bit thin for my tastes. A friend had one for about a year then traded up to the slightly higher priced A-S2100, big improvement right off the hop. Then we tried the balanced inputs and the sound came alive. Reminded me of a CA-800 I used to own.

 

Were you listening over speakers or headphones? Over speakers they are exactly the same amp. This guy compared them through the schematics:

 

Really digging this.

 

Be a forum hero and buy both. Your thread will live on the internet in perpetuity, letting the world know once and forever which the superior amp is. Future Googlers will speak the username “matrix-6” in hushed, reverential tones.

 

Speakers, Revel Studio 2's, my old speakers.
Don't know how balanced can be compared to single ended and say it's the same, but I know what we both heard.
Don't take my word for it go listen for yourself and tell me what you think.

 

So the improvement was after using the balanced inputs. That and the better headphone amp are the only differences. I never listen with headphones so I'm good there. I don't think any of my components will have balanced outs. I'll be hooking up a Techinics SL-1210GR, a Yamaha CD-S300, and the R-N602 for my primary listening. I have an old JVC dual tape deck and JVC 6 disc CD changer as well, but I rarely use them.

 

If you guys want to fund it, I will happily test them out for you! Throw in a MAC7200 and I will let you know how it compares to the MAC5200 as well. I'll give the ones I don't keep away in a contest!

 

What looks better on paper in the A-S1100? Parameter by parameter please.

As with my three excellent quality integrateds and EQs I cited, the first thing I did was the analysis of their technical quality parameters. Never failed. The results, I described them in detail above.

Well, I owned neither. What do you think I could say to this?

 

Thanks for posting this, I've been curious about this exact topic. However, he is fundamentally wrong on a major point for dissing the A-S1000/2000's.
I own the A-S1000 and have the manual in front of me which clearly states: "When both the BASS and TREBLE controls are set to the center position, audio signal bypasses the tone control circuitry." He obviously didn't consult the manual and is simply interpreting schematics. Not sure how valid the rest of his evaluation is.

 

No offense, but I don't have time for this, and I don't care. You stepped into this conversation with your assessment, so feel free to share if you want. If you don't then don't. I'm not going to go dig up parameters for you. If you want to go up against Alan Shaw's assessments with the numbers then go for it. I'm more curious about the subjective aspects between different amps. Ultimately, for me, it's what I hear that will matter, not numbers or specs. As I said, I will let the forum know what my subjective take is on the R-N602 vs. A-S1100, in my setup, when the 1100 arrives. The original purpose of this thread was how the A-S1100 would compare to the MAC5200. That's what I was initially looking for.

 

No, go re-read. Sounds like you've already drawn your own conclusions, so why ask ?
Happy listening.

 

Watch the video. The AS-1100 and AS-2100 are the same amp.

 

He's looking at the service schematics provided by Yamaha, so I don't think he's wrong. He's talking about the op-amp the signal goes through. That's what's not bypassed. When Yamaha states in the manual that the audio signal bypasses the tone control circuitry that is correct as you are not applying any tone control to the signal. That doesn't however equate to the signal bypassing the op amp. That said, I have no idea if going through that op amp even matters. Like I said earlier, I here zero difference setting the tone controls to neutral/off vs. using the pure direct mode to bypass them on the R-N602.

 

Man that looks sharp. That Yamaha really does look gorgeous. Nice clean system.

 

He also mentions that an audible click is heard on the other amps with tone/op amp bypass (the sound of the bypass circuit engaging) when set to flat. Why then does the A S1000 also have an audible click when set in that position?

 

Yeah, I don't know. That would be a great question to ask him or Yamaha. I'm curious what even makes the click - components turning off and on, or just an audible queue Yamaha implemented to let you know. I can't imagine the op amp having a negative impact on the sound. The Pure Direct button on my R-N602 makes zero difference, so it just seems like hype to me. I don't think that guy ever compared his A-S1100 to the A-S1000. He's just going through the schematics.