Yamaha A-S500 feedback please!

[srisaikat]

Hello!

A friend of mine want to buy Yamaha A-S500 inte-amp, he also have an option to buy an used NAD C356BEE. I have experience with NAD C356 but never have a chance to hear Yamaha A-S500. So need some feedback and advice. Please help me who ever have experience with both or any. Sincere thanks in advance.

Warm Regards

 

[az2325]

Hello,

I have been using it for about 6 months. The sound signature is good and i am getting clear sound. Especially the vocals are very sweet and clear. I use the pure-direct mode with ipod or oppo player. I find the amp very musical. Since i have used the amp only in pure direct mode, i may not be able to detail about the rest of the controls available. Build is solid as well.

Regards,
Antony

 

[srisaikat]

Hello,

I have been using it for about 6 months. The sound signature is good and i am getting clear sound. Especially the vocals are very sweet and clear. I use the pure-direct mode with ipod or oppo player. I find the amp very musical. Since i have used the amp only in pure direct mode, i may not be able to detail about the rest of the controls available. Build is solid as well.

Regards,
Antony

Many thanks for the reply. May I know which speaker you use with Yamaha A-S500?

Regards

 

[afj]

the yamaha is not as good as the nad in sound quality. but if youre looking for a good stereo amp with high power, its one of the better ones out there. if im not mistaken, you can get one for around 30k if you bargain right. a friend of mine purchased one a few months ago and is very happy with it

 

[arvind.kanswal]

Hi Srisaikat, I have owned the A-S500 for the last four months. I am not yet fully qualified to comment on it, as I am yet to get good speakers for it. Currently it drives a pair of low-impedance local-brand three-way towers. Music input is from laptop through Behringer UCA202. In the current setup, the sound is detailed (not sure whether I should call it bright) and there is ample bass, but I feel the midrange and the midbass have a bit less presence, which is certainly an issue with my speakers (I was surprised by the very small size of the magnet of the midrange in my speakers). Still it is a sweet-sounding setup. Hopefully with better speakers, the amp will reveal itself more.

 

[ESP]

What speakers does he plan to connect ?

Yamaha entry level 2 channel stuff like denon is pretty much crap. the NAD 356 would be a better choice, but at a higher price than the yamaha.

He could look for some vintage amps in the local market to give him better bang for buck.

 

[santu]

I was using YAMAHA A-S500 till dec. 2013.I sold it to a friend.I'd been using it for 2 yrs with Monitor Audio BX2.I would say it sounded good without going into too much analysis.Its one of those "plug in and forget" kind of amp I think.And don't forget that the ' 'mid-vocal' thing is its strength.

 

[BLASTO]

I have a boxed up Yamaha AS-500 with original box and all accessories.
If you want I can ship it for 15k.

About it, The sound is bass heavy with good midrange and vocals. The scale of sound is very large but with limited side to side imaging and not much image depth.

All the above compared to Sugden Mystro which I currently use. It is a completely different league.

One more thing is, It did not scale up well with better DACs. For instance, the difference between Schiit Modi and Gungnir is huge with Sugden but marginal with the Yamaha AS500. It pairs well with ODAC more than schiit DACs.

All the above with thiel speakers.

 

[srisaikat]

What speakers does he plan to connect ?

Yamaha entry level 2 channel stuff like denon is pretty much crap. the NAD 356 would be a better choice, but at a higher price than the yamaha.

He could look for some vintage amps in the local market to give him better bang for buck.

My friend has Polk Rti-A7 for which he need an amp, but he do want to spend over 35k.

 

[srisaikat]

I have a boxed up Yamaha AS-500 with original box and all accessories.
If you want I can ship it for 15k.

About it, The sound is bass heavy with good midrange and vocals. The scale of sound is very large but with limited side to side imaging and not much image depth.

All the above compared to Sugden Mystro which I currently use. It is a completely different league.

One more thing is, It did not scale up well with better DACs. For instance, the difference between Schiit Modi and Gungnir is huge with Sugden but marginal with the Yamaha AS500. It pairs well with ODAC more than schiit DACs.

All the above with thiel speakers.

Many thanks for that great offer. I will pass your offer to my friend. If he show interests I will let you know.

Regards

 

[ESP]

My friend has Polk Rti-A7 for which he need an amp, but he do want to spend over 35k.

Yamaha with polk will be disaster, unless he likes that kind of fatiguing sound.

 

[az2325]

One more thing is, It did not scale up well with better DACs. For instance, the difference between Schiit Modi and Gungnir is huge with Sugden but marginal with the Yamaha AS500. It pairs well with ODAC more than schiit DACs.

Thanks BLASTO. You saved me a lot of money I own a Yamaha AS500 and was planning for Schiit Bifrost. From what you said, i feel my amp may not be enough for bifrost dac. Anyway will probe more before i put my money on Bifrost.

Regards,
Antony

 

[crosstalk]

After auditioning both Yamaha S-500 and Onkyo A-9030 I settled for Onkyo A-9030. Both were tested using PSB Aplha B1 bookshelves.

 

[srisaikat]

After auditioning both Yamaha S-500 and Onkyo A-9030 I settled for Onkyo A-9030. Both were tested using PSB Aplha B1 bookshelves.

Right now my friend is also leaning towards Onkyo A-9050 (Not A-9030) as he want to drive Polk Rti-A7. Very soon we will audition Onkyo A-9050 at PROMISES.

 

[efernand1]

Hi

The old days had real good stereo amps which were worth every penny...nowadays the big manufacturers just make stuff that sound to most extent crap and empty..there is no depth or punch like before...either the amp is built up of cheap components or is indeed flawed.

The below link really gives an insight to amplifiers and the manufacturers which is posted by most FM

AV Receiver and Amplifier Power Ratings Trends: How and Why Wattage Ratings are Manipulated | Audioholics

In my opinion, I would either go for Cambridge Audio OR Marantz or NAD. These companies are the few who really take pride in making their products consumer friendly and appealing and ensure the required performance is delivered....

There are tons of reviews and videos over the net....you can go through them and decide on the best one...

Hope this helps.

 

[crosstalk]

Right now my friend is also leaning towards Onkyo A-9050 (Not A-9030) as he want to drive Polk Rti-A7. Very soon we will audition Onkyo A-9050 at PROMISES.

The downside is, the A-9050 is bit coloured.

The upside is you get a Wolfson 192kHz/24-bit DAC inside the belly with of course digital inputs.

But those are my personal opinions, happy auditioning.

PS: Whatever you do, don't forget to listen to the
Onkyo C-7000R [cd] + Onkyo P-3000R [pre] + Onkyo M-5000R[power] driving a pair of Guru QM60 in the first floor listening room of Promises. I took a few glass shattering tracks of R D Burman and returned home with holes in the entire body. hyeah:

With eyes closed you feel the singers and musicians are infront of you and RDB standing at a distance for the "take".

But then that's a Rs 9 Lac setup? :yahoo:

 

[crosstalk]

Hi

The old days had real good stereo amps which were worth every penny...nowadays the big manufacturers just make stuff that sound to most extent crap and empty..there is no depth or punch like before...either the amp is built up of cheap components or is indeed flawed.

The below link really gives an insight to amplifiers and the manufacturers which is posted by most FM

AV Receiver and Amplifier Power Ratings Trends: How and Why Wattage Ratings are Manipulated | Audioholics

In my opinion, I would either go for Cambridge Audio OR Marantz or NAD. These companies are the few who really take pride in making their products consumer friendly and appealing and ensure the required performance is delivered....

There are tons of reviews and videos over the net....you can go through them and decide on the best one...

Hope this helps.

I believe the article is applicable for AV Receivers and not Stereo Amplifiers.

The manufacturers know very well that in this age of ipods and 9.1 setups the few chosen ones who look for 2 channel for the 2 ears have a clear idea of how and what wattages should be before they reach for their wallet or chequebook.

I do not have any issues against AV Receivers but they have entered a class of gadgets called "lifestyle gadgets" that signifies the status of some. Now when a % of clueless people flood the digital stores to buy these, the manufacturers know very well, how to exploit and make the best of this trend.

For example Reliance Digital sells AV Receivers of Onkyo and Yamaha. But they do not sell Stereo Amps. Not even if you order one.

Sorry for going off topic but the .1 thing had to stop at 5.1. I don't know where it will stop though.

 

[efernand1]

Hi Crosstalk

The article is applicable to all amplifier manufacturers and it has been indeed posted by some of our very own senior FM members....there was no AV amplifiers in the old days and today the same stereo amplifier manufacturers make AV amplifiers....

Yamaha / Denon / Marantz / Harmon Kardon etc make both stereo as well as AVRs....while I agree with you that most of them have entered a class of gadgets called "Lifestyle gadgets" and that is why this forum and other reviews and videos are posted on the web to provide guidance and feedback to new aspirants.

End of the day it is what appeals to the buyer and his/her wallet....it also all depends to what level of quality he/she would want to obtain from a stereo or AV setup.

 

[srisaikat]

I always pick my system targeting the Music only and love the old charm of Stereo system. I have little experience with vintage stereo amp like AKAI, Fisher, Technics. So I can compare them (with the help of memory) with the modern stereo amp of Emotiva, NAD, Denon and Music Hall (from ownership experience). Do not agree that there is huge degrade in quality with 2 channels. Rather I think there is quite raise in price for a quality one and philosophical change behind designing stereo amp targeting the audiences who mostly claim or love to think themselves as Audiophile. Vintage amps were more punchy with all those common controls (Bass, Treble, Loudness) where as Manufacturers of modern stereo amps always highlights how natural and detailed they sound with bypass or minimal intervention of tone control circuit. AVR is not my field, so I will not comment.

 

[GCE]

Insane test : Marantz Pm 6004 vs Quad 34 + 306 vs Yam AS 500 on B&W 603 floorstanding

Yam as 500 in direct comparison with pm 6004 shows more dry, although more diffuse and detailed high frequencies, similar bass punch, but more fatiguing listening overall, for me. I tested this AS 500 for a week at home , but then I changed with Marantz PM 6004 .
Yam AS 500 is a very complete amp, but doesn't meet my preferences for a warm sound with my B&W; is a beautifull vintage looking amp, with a lot of features, but no good vol and tone knobs and a delicate front plate for fingerprints when you touch ...
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Some months ago I did some measures: CD PinkF Dark Side otm - absolutely high volumes ( there were no neighbors! ) , with vol knob at 15 o'clock , (max is 17 hours) and source direct ; in the peaks I digitally tested (average) : Vmax = 14 V/ch and Imax = 1.7 A, for a maximum power of almost 25 W/ch; I generally listen to 9:30 hours max, with my wife coming & asking me for a lower volumes....I've to say that, while the Quad 34 + 306 that I owned before for 20 years , with the same B&W towers, and at a little lower volume, was going in protection (I had to unlock it using the back button) and also warmed up a bit on the smart front radiator, the Marantz instead was almost cold and never gone + in protection. The Quad was also sounding a little harsh and with harder highs, at these levels, while the Pm 6004 has retained a good liquidity on the mid & highs, which were still confortable...; anyway, in everydays normal cd listening, at 9:30, I get only an output of 1 W/ch max on peaks, more punchy bass and similar mid vs Quad!

Just a few thoughts