New stereo receiver: Yamaha RS-500

iMark

Well-known member
After owning a new Yamaha RS-500 stereo receiver for a couple of weeks now, I think it's time for a little review.

Our old Denon DRA-1000 stereo receiver gave up the ghost after nearly 14 years of daily use so it was time to look for a new receiver to replace the old one. I ended buying the the Yamaha RS-500 for EUR 329, which seems quite reasonable. Another candidate was the Harman-Kardon HK-3490 because of it's digital inputs. But since we have a DAC, I don't really need them in the amp and the HK doesn't really fit with our equipment.

We've had it playing for a couple of weeks now and we really like it. Nice sound to put in one word.

What we really like is the number of inputs and outputs, the very decent phono pre-amp (very nice sound from Pro-Ject record player) and the Pure Direct mode.

Tuner: good sound from the FM cable feed.

Extra features we like: Rec Out selector and A/B speaker switching with the remote control. It powers a second set of speakers in the kitchen. Plus a speaker impedance selector.

I can't really comment on the remote control (lots of fiddly buttons) because we use a Logitech Harmony Touch.

We've got a very nice black box in the living room. It sounds incredibly smooth with all sorts of music and we like it better than the old Denon receiver.

Anyone looking for a plain old good stereo receiver with great looks? I can really recomment the Yamaha RS-500.

Specs:

- Tuner FM/MW

- Line in: 3

- Tape: 2

- Phono MM

- Speakers A and B
 

audioaddict

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Nov 1, 2011
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i shouldimagine if its based on the as 500 amp it should be pretty good and also cuts down on boxes, I.d consider one if i was going down the separates route . I think theres also an rs 700 based on the as 700 amp also .......are they available in uk ?
 

dalwen

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Jan 18, 2012
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Hi iMark,

congratulations on your Yamaha receiver. I have the older Rx-497 receiver And i'm happy with it.

Enjoy your sound.
 

dalwen

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Jan 18, 2012
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Hi iMark,

congratulations on your Yamaha receiver. I have the older Rx-497 receiver And i'm happy with it. Numerous times ive thought on upgrading but Everytime i end on waiting fot à new model. So now i'm interested in the R-N500. Guess what ......i'm waiting for à review.........

Enjoy your sound.
 

iMark

Well-known member
I don't think the receivers are available in the UK.

I had a look at both the RS-500 and RS-700 (and listened to them). I don't think there's a lot of difference. The RS-700 however comes with a detachable lead, so if you bought one from Germany (example) you could simply change the kettle leads. The RS-700 is about EUR 70 more expensive than the RS-500. It has some extra features we don't need so that's why we opted for the RS-500.
 

iMark

Well-known member
I also had a look at the RN-500. Interesting box (not available in the shops yet) but it misses a few features for us.

Since we already have an Airport Express and a DAC there was no need for the networking features. It also doesn't come with a Rec Out selector and it doesn't seem to support Apple Lossless files even though Yamaha claims it is AirPlay compatible.

The Rec Out selector is very useful for recording while using the amp to listen to something else. I use it for digitizing LPs that I want to play on my iPod and for recording radio shows while watching TV.
 

Judefdes

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Nov 12, 2014
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Hi Mark,

Can you help me with impedance setting of the Rs- 500 ? The speakers are Q Acoustics 2020 . Appreciate any information you can pass on .

Thanks,

Jude
 

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