Yamaha A-S500

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:
maxflinn:i love mine

Hi maxflinn

Great

My demo A-S500 is currently playing in the background and the amp is subtley getting better and better.

Btw, any chance of some pictures of your A-S500 please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

not the best pic i know

its the top one on the right, next to the speaker stands bricks

ill post a few decent pics tmw, it is a lovely looking amp..

ive stuck a very thin strip of luminous silver tape over the notch on the volume knob, i can see where the volume is at now, important when switching between av and stereo music as the as-500 is connected to my avr's pre-outs..

..

 

[Frank Harvey]

Cypher:
Have you tried the A-S500 with the new Kef Q100 and/or Q300 ? Does it sound any good ?

I briefly tried the Q500 and Q700 with the AS500 earlier. It worked well with the Q500, but didn't feel it controlled the extra depth of the Q700's, although the combination was more pleasing to listen to. The Q500 and AS500 was a little lean for my liking, but then our room is about 3.5m x 6m, and I think the Q700's just suit the room much better.

 

[Cypher]

Thanks for the answer. I thought maybe the sound of the yamaha and kef together would be a little too bright.

 

[tosh]

So are Kef considered to be a bright speaker then.I was considering the Yamaha but brightness would be the last thing i wanted.

 

[Frank Harvey]

It sounded a little bit bright with the Q500's, but they're a much leaner sound than the Q700's. Like some other speakers, the Q series isn't bright per se, but using bright electronics will move them that way as the KEF's are very revealing.

 

[the record spot]

...which seems to be the way of many electronics these days; not sure that's a wholly good thing. If this is what accuracy gets you, I'll stick to ancient amps I think! Actually, I think Yamaha have hit the paydirt with their recent series of amps and CDPs. There older AX-397/597s were underrated too I think. Not with this batch. If they don't work too well with the KEFs, that's no criticism of either product, but a steer that there are more speakers out there on the market than you often hear of on here.

 

[Frank Harvey]

True, but I've not found any amp yet that this Q series doesn't sound good with. The Q500's was because the leaner sound of them didn't suit the AS500, not with the music I was playing anyway. The fact it couldn't control the bass of the Q700 just means to avoid speakers with strong bass - this could include Dynaudio, B&W, Monitor Audio etc. It did sound good, as I mentioned, but bass was just a bit loose.

I'm assuming the AS500 is based on the AX597, as the power is the same, and they're not too dissimilar price wise. It'd be interesting to see if anything's changed internally...

 

[emcc_3]

In ansewer to Music crafts question. The amp is in silver and my speakers are in natural oak.

 

[tosh]

Sorry to go off subject but would the Rega Brio be better matched to the IQ5se?They are reduced to £248 at the moment.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Bargain. Very natural sounding amplifier - I'd go for it, unless you need the features that the AS500 gives you.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

emcc_3:In ansewer to Music crafts question. The amp is in silver and my speakers are in natural oak.

Hi emcc_3

Thanks for your reply.

Very nice.

My display A-S500 and BX5's are in these colours too. Anyway i hope you'll enjoy the performance of your new components for many years to come.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Cypher:
Musicraft,

Have you tried the A-S500 with the new Kef Q100 and/or Q300 ? Does it sound any good ?

Hi Cyper

I have heard heard both makes but not together. If my instincts are right then i don't feel the match would be ideal as i frankly found the Q's to be far too upfront.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Frank Harvey]

That doesn't quite tally with what I heard with the Q700's. The range is no more 'upfront' than the ATC 's when I tried the Q700's against the SCM11's the other day...

 

[Anonymous]

maxflinn:MUSICRAFT:
maxflinn:i love mine

Hi maxflinn

Great

My demo A-S500 is currently playing in the background and the amp is subtley getting better and better.

Btw, any chance of some pictures of your A-S500 please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

not the best pic i know

its the top one on the right, next to the speaker stands bricks

ill post a few decent pics tmw, it is a lovely looking amp..

ive stuck a very thin strip of luminous silver tape over the notch on the volume knob, i can see where the volume is at now, important when switching between av and stereo music as the as-500 is connected to my avr's pre-outs..

..

apparently there's no pic..i can see one on my computer, but i didnt upload it to photoshop so...

 

[Anonymous]

what do you think about A-S500 with Jamo C-407? Will I get a deep bass and detailed sound?

 

[Nolia]

will my M-Thirty Fives(M35i) be good enough for this amplifier?

 

[Anonymous]

I have a pair of PSB Image T5 speakers that I am running via a HT 7.1 Marantz SR5004 amp. For my 2 channel music, I sometimes find the T5s to be a little too polite. Really this is only an issue when I am listening to dense Prog-Rock material, otherwise the T5's sound great. Would running them with a "brighter" amp such as the A-s500 help this?

Sorry, I am a bit of a newbie to Hi-Fi audio systems... and this is my first post on this forum.

thanks,

Matt

 

[jerry klinger]

The picture has a 'Phono' input but the specs don't mention a phono stage. Can someone confirm if it has one, and what it's like if you've heard it?

Looks as though it's built a bit like the Denon PMA A100 which WHF isn't going to review (sniff). Great to see Jap amp makers coming in with all the traditional features like a grown-up headphone socket.

My perfect amp = Japanese build, UK sound, traditional features (headphone socket, phono stage, tone bypass) and contemporary ones as well (ipod input, DAC, USB etc). Dream on...

 

[Frank Harvey]

Yes, it does have a phono stage. Moving magnet only I'm afraid, but you can't have everything

The PMA100 is in a different league as far as build quality is concerned - it's battleship grade! I'll have some photos on Flickr over the next few days.

 

[Anonymous]

can someone please answer a question for me about this amp.

i just read a review and the reviewer said the only bad thing about the amp is that the sub out is a pre-amp out with summed left and right channels.

can someone please explain what this means?

im planning on buying a wharfedale 10 sx sub. will I be able to use this sub with the amp?

Cheers

 

[clamjouster]

thanks for the input Rick, much appreciated.

i am just waiting for my local seven oaks to get the a-s500 in stock (apparently extremely difficult due to popularity in japan) and give it a listen with the b&w's.

may i ask what kind of music you listened to with the a-s500 and b&w combo? and did you find it "bright"?

muchas gracias...

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi clamjouster

Your welcome.

I used these albums Real Ibiza 4 - Balearic Bliss, Pirates Of The Caribbean - At World's End and Kronos Quartet - You've Stolen My Heart (featuring Asha Bhosle).

No, i have not found the A-S500 to be bright. The A-S500 has a clear presentation which is all pinned with a beautiful silk like quality.

Btw, i hope you'll enjoy the performance of your new A-S500 and also Yamaha's legendary robustness and reliability for many years to come.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

Yesterday at Media Markt in Heilbronn/Gerrmany I saw the new Yamaha-series for the first time and I could not believe it: The AS- amplifiers (they had the 300, 500 and 700 in their showroom) had such a bad and and cheap manufactoring quality which I have never seen from a well known brand in my live before. Never would buy an amplifier from that series. I wonder how such an amplifier can get 5 stars if manufacturing quality is that low. I feared the tone controls would fall off when touching them. Even the seller agreed that this series is really a bad joke though the AS 700 I tested sounded good.

@MUSICRAFT: What robustness? This series is the opposite or the models for UK are different than ours in Germany which I do not believe!

 

[matthewpiano]

Ingo, I agree with you about the controls on these Yamaha amps. They do feel very cheap compared to those on equivalent Marantz or Cambridge Audio models.

I think the rest of the build is pretty good though, apart from those dreadful cheap binding posts on the back of the A-S700.

 

[the record spot]

Agreed here too - I thought the plastic tone controls and knobs on the front cheapened the amp. Stainless steel surely! Almost as bad as the volume and selector knobs on the Teac AR650 which likewise inspired little confidence. The Yammies are meant to sound good but this is the compromise unfortunately.