Yamaha DSP-E800 review

[steve_1979]

Got the Yamaha DSP-E800 plugged in and working today. Despite being 15 years old the build quality and aesthetics are a bit better than current modern Yamaha AV receivers and I've always preferred the warm look of the old amber displays over the cold white/blue tint of the new Yamaha's. It's also quite slim which looks smarter than the normally huge proportions that AV receivers have.

It seems like a good bit of kit with good sound quality. The menus and remote control are fairly straight forward to navigate after just 10 minutes of fiddling and all of the functions can be accessed without needing to connect it up to a TV which is handy. The DAC section seems to be audibly transparent or at least so close that I'm not sure if I can tell any difference between the ODAC and the Yamaha DAC. It also has a dynamic range compressor which is often useful when watching loud action movies.

For £8 (plus £13 P&P) it was a real bargain. The usual price for these is around £50 give or take a few quid and it would be ideal for anyone looking for cheap DAC/pre for a pair of active speakers. So far it seems better than the Nakamichi AV1 and the Teufel DecoderStation for simple audio duties (if you want video it doesn't have any HDMI which might put you off).

 

[Troy62]

I've got one of these in the loft waiting for me to set it up in a 2nd system in my man cave. Nice bit of kit and surprisingly good with music.

 

[steve_1979]

I do have one question for any other DSP-E800 owners out there. The subwoofer output seems to be fixed at 90Hz. Can this be changed?

It's not an issue for me because I've found that with my rooms acoustics an 80Hz subwoofer roll off is better than 60Hz anyway. I have the DM10 speakers running full range output with the subwoofer only adding a tiny bit of extra bass so having it roll off 10 Hz higher than usual isn't a problem but it would be interesting to know if this can be altered.

 

[Troy62]

Manual

Don't think you can

 

[steve_1979]

Manual

Thanks.

Don't think you can

I've had a play about with the settings and had a look through the paper manual that came with it and it seems that you're right.

Luckily with my rooms acoustics 90Hz works fine. When I move house in a year or two if I find a lower roll off is needed in a different room I can always use the 80 or 60Hz manual roll of switch on back of the subwoofer so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Vladimir]

The Yamaha DSP series was on par with sound and quality with Sony ES series. Excellent gear. If the Yamaha DSP A1 ever comes in your scope that beast is a keeper. IIRC DSP's later successor is the RX series, not cheap or flimsy kit by any means. I'd rather have a big Yamaha receiver than anything by Naim or Linn. I had a Yamaha CDP of that era and it's still working like a champ at an aquaitance that bought it from me.

 

[chrisr1718]

I had one of these in my first AV setup, great bit of kit. I used Tannoy Mercurys on Atacama stands, a Paradigm sub, and to power the front speakers I used the Main Output terminals into a Cyrus One! I had a Pioneer DVD player at the time with 6 channel output, as well as digital out, which I used for the few DVD-Audio discs I have. I loved the sound and only changed 'cos the wife wanted something a little more discrete.

 

[Vladimir]

90's gear is in that value for money sweet spot right now. It's too young to be Vintage and too old to be Second Hand. It's now Classical and some lust worthy pieces of that era can be had for small amounts of money. The sweetspot is moving now in late 90's and early 00's. If you look at 80's gear, it's already looking old and vintage, it needs recap, maintanance etc.

Only thing I would hesitate to pick up is NAD from the 90's. A lot of problems with that lead free solder to otherwise excellent gear. Harman Kardon had the same issue in the 80's with their amps. Cracked solder joints galore.

 

[steve_1979]

The Yamaha DSP series was on par with sound and quality with Sony ES series. Excellent gear. If the Yamaha DSP A1 ever comes in your scope that beast is a keeper. IIRC DSP's later successor is the RX series, not cheap or flimsy kit by any means. I'd rather have a big Yamaha receiver than anything by Naim or Linn. I had a Yamaha CDP of that era and it's still working like a champ at an aquaitance that bought it from me.

From what I've seen (which isn't that much TBH) the old Sony ES's and Yamaha's from 15-20 years ago seem much better built than most of the hifi equipment nowadays. They just feel more solid with better quality materials. Most modern hifi seems to use more plastics in the construction and even the metal parts look thinner and more cheaply made now.

Unlike the previous AV receivers that I used in the past this Yamaha feels like it's built to last a lifetime and will be utterly reliable. All of the previous AV receivers and the Marantz NR that I've also considered using felt a bit flimsy in comparison.

The Yamaha lacks a lot of modern features that you would probably want if you intended to use it for TV duties but I find that this simplicity is actually a bonus if all you want is a simple DAC and pre-amp for a 2.0 stereo upto 5.1 multi-channel active speakers setup used with a computer.

Last night I was playing a computer game and it's really handy being able to flick the subwoofer volume up by 20dB with a single press of a button on the remote control. Gun shots and explosions are so much more visceral when you can feel the bass kick. This is the only thing I missed when using the DAC/pre that's built into the DM10.

 

[steve_1979]

Has anyone tried using one of these as a standalone amplifier with a pair of passive speakers? Judging by the weight of the unit and size of the PSU I bet it has quite good power amplifiers in there. The weight and PSU size is similar to what you find in most modern sub £500 AV receivers even though this only has 3 powered channels instead of the usual 7 that you find nowerdays.

For sub £50 it could be quite a bargin for anyone on a tight budget wanting an decent DAC and amplifier for use with passive speakers as well as actives.

 

[steve_1979]

I do have one question for any other DSP-E800 owners out there. The subwoofer output seems to be fixed at 90Hz. Can this be changed?

It's not an issue for me because I've found that with my rooms acoustics an 80Hz subwoofer roll off is better than 60Hz anyway. I have the DM10 speakers running full range output with the subwoofer only adding a tiny bit of extra bass so having it roll off 10 Hz higher than usual isn't a problem but it would be interesting to know if this can be altered.

90Hz is definitely to high for some tracks so I've now reverted to using the 80Hz crossover switch built into the AVI subwoofer which works perfectly.

Still, it seems like a bit of an odd exclusion for Yamaha to have for an AV receiver that has a non adjustable subwoofer roll off frequency. It could prove awkward for anyone who doesn't want to run their main speakers fullrange because they'd be stuck with a 90 crossover.