Yamaha A-S501 or IOTAVX SA3? or what...? haha!

[SUMAJU]

Good afternoon group, I'm a musician, but a total beginner in audiophilia... I'm very interested in learning and being able to sit in my living room to listen good classical, jazz, blues... I'm about to build my first equipment, and I have no idea how to start...
I've been researching, watching videos, reading... I was going to start with some active speakers, but I preferred to go straight to the point and avoid that... I saw some reviews of the Yamaha and some people have recommended me the Iota... my budget for an amplifier is 500 euros maximum...
What do you say... thank you very much for helping me!

 

[TimW]

You are located in the EU? What kind of speakers will you be using? Sound quality of the system is determined much more by the speakers than the amp. The amp just needs to have the features you want and power necessary for the chosen speakers. Active speakers may be a good option for you if you don't already have a pair of speakers.

 

[SUMAJU]

Exactly, I live in Berlin, Germany.
I haven't thought about speakers yet. The idea is to put together a HIFI system. That's why I'm thinking about investing in an amplifier that I can add parts to in the future. For example, a DAC, as I know that most of these amplifiers in this price range have quite poor DACs...
I have been recommended the Sony ss-cs5 speakers and the idea is to add a REL Acoustics T/Zero MKIII Subwoofer in the future... the same person who recommended me to start with that, was the one who recommended me to buy an Iota SA3...
Thanks for your answer TimW!

 

[Chrise36]

Good afternoon group, I'm a musician, but a total beginner in audiophilia... I'm very interested in learning and being able to sit in my living room to listen good classical, jazz, blues... I'm about to build my first equipment, and I have no idea how to start...
I've been researching, watching videos, reading... I was going to start with some active speakers, but I preferred to go straight to the point and avoid that... I saw some reviews of the Yamaha and some people have recommended me the Iota... my budget for an amplifier is 500 euros maximum...
What do you say... thank you very much for helping me!

Do you have a budget;

 

[SUMAJU]

The budget in principle is around 750, between amplifier and speakers...

 

[Zek]

I have been recommended the Sony ss-cs5 speakers

My opinion is that these speakers are not in the same range as the suggested amplifiers.
When assembling an audio system, my suggestion would be that the price ratio of speakers and amplifiers should be around 50:50 to 70:30.

 

[Chrise36]

https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/200326522_-debut-reference-dbr62-schwarz-holz-elac.html

The budget in principle is around 750, between amplifier and speakers...

Elac dbr62 should be much better than Sony speakers
The 301 from Yamaha is ok also

https://geizhals.de/yamaha-a-s301-v55271.html

 

[ZolaIII]

Elac DBR62 + Yamaha R-N803D

Yamaha MusicCast R-N803D - Thomas Electronic Online Shop - RN803D

www.thomas-electronic-online-shop.de

Edit: and for the budget you probably can get and a budget 10" subwoofer.

 

[SUMAJU]

I give you the right. You are absolutely right. I honestly don't know which speakers to buy. The speakers that Chrise36 recommended to me now, I'm going to analyse them. They look too good, for sure much better than the Sony ones, which are quite Chinese hahaha (with all the respect that Chinese people deserve).

 

[TimW]

All competent DACs sound indistinguishable from each other, and most DACs are competent. Same goes for amplifiers. I understand you are excited about putting together a great system but unfortunately there is a lot of myths out there about what it takes to get great sound. Those Sony Speakers are good for their price, especially when on sale, but with a $750 budget for speakers and amp you could do better. The amps you list are decent, and I would prefer the Yamaha, but they eat up too much of the budget. As others have suggested, I would choose a lower end Yamaha or other amp if you prefer to stick with passive speakers. That REL is barely a subwoofer with a 6 1/2" woofer and does not represent great value, at least not compared to what I can get for that price in my country.

 

[SUMAJU]

Elac DBR62 + Yamaha R-N803D

Yamaha MusicCast R-N803D - Thomas Electronic Online Shop - RN803D

www.thomas-electronic-online-shop.de

Edit: and for the budget you probably can get and a budget 10" subwoofer.

That Yamaha is interesting, but it costs my entire budget.... My idea is to go with either the Yamaha AS501 or the Iota, because my idea is in the future, not to have to change everything, but maybe modify the speakers and add a DAC, a CD player, a record player.

 

[ZolaIII]

I give you the right. You are absolutely right. I honestly don't know which speakers to buy. The speakers that Chrise36 recommended to me now, I'm going to analyse them. They look too good, for sure much better than the Sony ones, which are quite Chinese hahaha (with all the respect that Chinese people deserve).

Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased new and drop shipped to me for testing. The DBR-62 costs US $600 a pair from multiple sources/dealers. The DBR-62 comes in black and walnut finish or the distressed Oak and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Yamaha R-N803 Smart Receiver Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Yamaha R-N803 Receiver, amplifier, and streamer. It was purchased by a member (b-stock?) and drop shipped to me. The R-N803 costs US $750 from amazon including Prime shipping. The R-N803 has AV-style features such as Room EQ but with only two...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Chrise36]

I give you the right. You are absolutely right. I honestly don't know which speakers to buy. The speakers that Chrise36 recommended to me now, I'm going to analyse them. They look too good, for sure much better than the Sony ones, which are quite Chinese hahaha (with all the respect that Chinese people deserve).

Listen to them please Wharfedale diamond series are also recomended.

 

[ZolaIII]

That Yamaha is interesting, but it costs my entire budget.... My idea is to go with either the Yamaha AS501 or the Iota, because my idea is in the future, not to have to change everything, but maybe modify the speakers and add a DAC, a CD player, a record player.

Sorry then I thought budget is 750/750 split or 1500€ together.
Of course DBR62 price of 250€ is per peace.

 

[TimW]

Canton Vento 826.2 are also very good, hopefully available for a good price in Germany.

 

[TimW]

What is the size of room and listening distance you will use this system in? Do you like your music very loud?

 

[ZolaIII]

OK...
DBR62 330€ pair (on discount and I hope you catch it).

Elac Debut Reference B6.2 -Paarpreis Regallautsprecher (holz schwarz) - Hidden Audio

| Elac Debut Reference B6.2 -Paarpreis Regallautsprecher (holz schwarz)

hidden-audio.de

And now you have enough for Yamaha A-S501 (435€) hopefully.

 

[SUMAJU]

Canton Vento 826.2 are also very good, hopefully available for a good price in Germany.

They look nice, but they're around 390 euros each... but future upgrades wouldn't be bad... The Elac Debut Reference DBR62, I can get a pair for 400...

https://www.visunext.de/p/elac-debu...JZuk0xVyvGIdk03N-K6r8QtLDNdcrTK0aAkRSEALw_wcB

My room isn't GIANT, it's a living room in a flat that must be 25m2... My preference is to listen to music at a moderate volume... distinguish sounds, not destroy my ears hahaha!

THANK YOU FRIENDS! I'm glad you are giving me SO MANY ideas! I'm very grateful!

 

[SUMAJU]

OK...
DBR62 330€ pair (on discount and I hope you catch it).

Elac Debut Reference B6.2 -Paarpreis Regallautsprecher (holz schwarz) - Hidden Audio

| Elac Debut Reference B6.2 -Paarpreis Regallautsprecher (holz schwarz)

hidden-audio.de

And now you have enough for Yamaha A-S501 (435€) hopefully.

ohhhh yeahhh!!! GENIALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! thx!!!!!!!

 

[ZolaIII]

ohhhh yeahhh!!! GENIALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! thx!!!!!!!

And don't worry old Texas Instruments PCM5101 (former Burr Brown) DAC in it (about 100 dB SINAD and no interconnect losses) will be good enough trough optical inputs.