Yamaha A-S500 or RX-A1010 for stereo?

[ErwinC]

I am planning on buying a Yamaha A-S500 in combination with a pair of Monitor Audo BX2, Dali Zensor 1 or Q Acoustics 2020i but i also need a new surround receiver in the near future that supports 3D. So i was wondering if it would be better to buy a Yamaha RX-A1010 and use this also for stereo in combination with the new speakers.

But is the RX-A1010 as good as the A-S500 for stereo? I listened to the A-S500 some time ago and i was very surprised by the sound quality.

What do you think is the best match with one of the Yamahas: the MA BX2, Dali Zensor 1 or QA 2020i?

 

[Anonymous]

RS-500 sounds quite good, it's the ampli-tuner version of the AS-500, and I was surprised by the overall quality of it. But still, even with an integrated tuner, it is dedicated for stereo use only, so maybe it's not that surprising. An A/V receiver, on the other hand, seldom sounds THAT good stereowise... still I'd rather go with Yamaha than Pioneer... but you should certainly try a few of them all... Onkyo too. All I can tell you is Yamaha RXV-371 doesn't sound so good when in stereo mode, so let's hope the Aventage series (RXA) sound better. On the other hand, for good surround, RXA-1010 is a great choice. To get more specific answers, you should perhaps try posting this in the HT forum instead, someone will come up with a good compromise. For all you know, it might still be the RXA! I promise I'll try to find the time and give it a run at work tomorrow, and I'll come back to you with that... I don't have the BX2 close at hand right now, nor the two other brands you're considering, but I can easily try it with BX5, BX6, RX1, RX8... I will also try the same with Pioneer Elite and Arcam receivers... Arcam isn't that good an A/V receiver, though, considering the price... Still I'll give it a more cautious run, just in case.

BX2 could be a great match with AS-500, but then I'd recommend choosing your CD player with the greatest of care...

 

[Anonymous]

Well... confirmation number one, Pioneer (VSX53) was the worst of them, stereo speaking. I've tried it (and some others) on plenty of occasions, always that same harsh sound... It's always "surprising" in a way, as the same receivers do so good with HT... you'd just expect to get about the same with music... still wouldn't be THAT good, for in my experience stereo soundstage is always quite narrow when using A/V amps... But the truth is Pioneer they always sound worse.

Yamaha RXA1010 is better. Of course it is a great HT amp just like Pioneer, but even more, Pure Direct mode will give you a clear upscale in sound when in stereo, and offer some smoothness (compared to Pioneer's similar function at least). Still, you can easily notice that the amp put some strain on analogue sound. Mind you, I was playing CD's in a Blu Ray player (Panasonic BDT310) for both Pioneer and Yamaha, and if I'd never consider upgrading for a decent CD player with Pioneer, I certainly would with Yamaha. It might REALLY help!

Arcam AVR400... it comes as no surprise that Arcam might give you the best musical presentation of all three brands, still with the same blu ray player... but a very shifty quality with HT at that price. And the Amp functions and display just look cheap in a way : no volume knob, but two simple +/- buttons... not responsive. It takes hours to turn it up or down by hand... Takes hours to change source, and don't think about pressing the buttons quickly, you HAVE to wait three seconds each time you press it. Yamaha RXA knob is like steering a great car while in a drift, it just wheels around smoothly and responsively, and sticks to your finger without you even thinking about gripping it. I wouldn't care about the buttons if I was only using Arcam for movies, as I would always use the remote... But when beginning to play music, I like to stick around the amp for a while, just play with the volume and feel the amp response closely. It's just a habit, I'm sure I'm not the only one... and Arcam AVR won't let you have that pleasure. In fact it is better to stay in the clear, and use the remote, because the more you look at that cheap row of buttons closely, the more you hate it.

So, RXA-1010 or AS-500... well, it just depends on your most fundamental needs : HT or music?