Yamaha A-S701 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Valentino]

I just love the silver Yamaha design and just booted out an old black Rotel CD-player for a CD-S300 for that single reason. Optical out only of course.

This member of the Yamaha Fan Club says thanks for the review. I like others would have liked to see measurements of DAC and Phono performance since both are part of the package.

 

[peng]

Thanks for review.
love my amp. Although my model is a little different - A-S700.
Looks the same. Only the knobs are still metal, not plastic. I wonder what else is different.


View attachment 375944

That one got decent results too:

Measured by Australian Hi Fi

 

[French Meloman]

The performance of the amplifier is good for the price and features offered. For the DAC, it is sufficient to obtain transparency for 16-bit content (so a SINAD >= 94 dB). All that remains is to test the phono stage. I guess it's limited to MM cells.

 

[EXIF68]

I have an AS2100. It works very fine and it was relatively cheap wit 1200 bucks. And of course it has Aluminium controls for all.

 

[AcousticTheory]

Seems like a mass-market amplifier that turns in a competent SINAD/dynamic range sufficient for CD playback, so no apologies need to be made for it. And since it's Yamaha, it won't assault your ears either - if it's like other Yamaha products it should have a bit warmish character with good detail on top.

 

[Guddu]

And since it's Yamaha, it won't assault your ears either - if it's like other Yamaha products it should have a bit warmish character with good detail on top.

It has flat frequency response, we see it in measurements.
Warm or bright - shifts to ability of the speakers and room acoustics.

 

[AcousticTheory]

It has flat frequency response, we see it in measurements.
Warm or bright - shifts to ability of the speakers and room acoustics.

I'm sorry, how wrong of me. All amps measuring flat sound the same.

 

[Guddu]

I'm sorry, how wrong of me.

I hope not, but nothing wrong in it.

All amps measuring flat sound the same.

Let me take it back, they don’t!

Agreed.

PE. Not ideal thread for this discussion!

 

[Rja4000]

For kicks, I tested the loudness response as you see above. I have never used an amp with variable loudness. The ones with switches made things louder, not less loud.

You have the same principle in your RME ADI-2.
Have you really never used it ?

 

[AndreaT]

I own the A-S301, the little brother, since 2018. Fair build quality, competent performance. Thank you Amir for a well presented impeccable review. Would you consider testing the phono equalization and quality?

 

[formdissolve]

Is that variable loudness using Fletcher-Munson curve? I think my old Denon uses that.. not sure though.

 

[caioferrari]

I had an AS 500, the weaker brother of the 700.

At that time, I had a Klipsch speaker with all that brightness, and when I started using a Marantz NR1504, I felt the sound got warmer.

As someone who always trusts measurements, I’d like to ask: What indicates the difference I heard between those amps?

When I looked around, I saw a common belief that some Yamaha models are “bright,” which is something I experienced myself.

 

[Doodski]

I had an AS 500, the weaker brother of the 700.

At that time, I had a Klipsch speaker with all that brightness, and when I started using a Marantz NR1504, I felt the sound got warmer.

As someone who always trusts measurements, I’d like to ask: What indicates the difference I heard between those amps?

When I looked around, I saw a common belief that some Yamaha models are “bright,” which is something I experienced myself.

I have used a switchbox comparing Yamaha to Harmon Kardon, Luxman, Sony, NAD and Pioneer. I compared over the years hundreds of them. Unless we are talking comparing a 120 W/ch Yamaha to a 40 W/ch Yamaha they all sounded the same except for a cheap STK IC amplifier we had at the time. Yamaha don't sound any brighter than a HK, Luxman, Pioneer, NAD or a Sony.

 

[MusicMan77]

My Yamaha RX-495 is still in service, 28 years later, for the speakers on my front porch. Love that little thing.

 

[Alt-Wrong]

thanks for the review, Amir. Like others here, that classic yamaha styling is taking us back.
my first bit of hifi kit (after earning the money from a summer of house painting) was a yamaha cr-400,
a garard turntable (can’t remember which model) and a pair of epicure 5 speakers; back around ‘76 or so.

 

[caioferrari]

I have used a switchbox comparing Yamaha to Harmon Kardon, Luxman, Sony, NAD and Pioneer. I compared over the years hundreds of them. Unless we are talking comparing a 120 W/ch Yamaha to a 40 W/ch Yamaha they all sounded the same except for a cheap STK IC amplifier we had at the time. Yamaha don't sound any brighter than a HK, Luxman, Pioneer, NAD or a Sony.

That's cool that you did an A/B comparison of the amplifiers. I did one with a very old amplifier here, which sounded less bright than the Yamaha, but I believe that's because the old one has a steeper rolloff in the high frequencies. What I have tried is swapping my amplifier for an Arylic, and it sounded awful. Everything seemed like a low-resolution MP3. I also don't know how the data Amir provides would explain this.

 

[pma]

And you have checked that the level was matched within 0.1dB, I guess. Otherwise, the A/B test is pointless.

 

[Doodski]

And you have checked that the level was matched within 0.1dB, I guess. Otherwise, the A/B test is pointless.

With careful adjustment one can get the volume to where when switched they sound the same with no increase or decrease in volume level. At that point a good enough hearing test can be done. If amps are switched and nobody can detect if there was a change then it is good enough even if it is a bit fast and loose.

 

[ZolaIII]

Thanks for review.
love my amp. Although my model is a little different - A-S700.
Looks the same. Only the knobs are still metal, not plastic. I wonder what else is different.


View attachment 375944

Has a better analog input stage (10 dB higher SNR), autenders are mechanical, has selectable loop I/O. Doesn't have DAC, rest is the same.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Now that is a nice inexpensive stereo receiver. I loved the internal view as it brought back the old repair bench days from 40 years ago. Stuff you can actually repair. It brought back very nice memories and I would recommend it to anyone without hesitation. Performance was darn near excellent across the board. For a receiver , that is amazing! Then there is the price when it goes on sale.......no separate DAC needed. Just pure plug and play. Lots of goodness in that product. Plus you get real bass and treble controls. No having to run stuff through your computer, which is tough in your computerless living room. Would be great for running a TV through too. Depending on the speakers, you would have mega stereo sound for the TV. I want to buy one even though I have no use for it and it would sit new in the box until I croak from old age. It is just so much better looking then most of the teeny tiny Class D (even though I like class D a lot!) Just not made for computer use and that is a good thing! LOL