Just bought a Yamaha A-S500 amplifier -Any views on this amp

[Oddball]

Got a little impulsive this morning , and agreed to buy a Yamaha A-S500 amp from a gentleman . £180 around 4 yrs old I think
I like the reviews I read ! This amp is in black and the seller is replacing it with one in silver to match his other stuff ,he loves them so much !! )
Boxed , looks mint and remote included , and an opportunity to listen to it (or the silver one) in its home system ,not too far away from here !:)

So , I can't wait to see if its going to be an improvement over my oldish Technics SU -VX700 , which ,while similar power output ,90 watt per channel , was a little tired and messed with when I bought it 18 months ago!!
My Tannoy 635's D 50's are ready and waiting :eyebrows:

[Macca]

Not heard one but supposed to be very good. They certainly look good.

[struth]

Nice one Anto. Hope it hits spot

[Oddball]

Thanks fellas :)
I was only thinking yesterday how I had never got impulsive any more , and couldn't be bothered to upgrade anything at present or in the foreseeable future , then I go and google the reviews on the amp, (which are very very good) and bang , there I go again:eek:
Hopefully new enough , little enough used , to stand me for a while :cool:

[Sherwood]

Got a little impulsive this morning , and agreed to buy a Yamaha A-S500 amp from a gentleman . £180 around 4 yrs old I think
I like the reviews I read ! This amp is in black and the seller is replacing it with one in silver to match his other stuff ,he loves them so much !! )
Boxed , looks mint and remote included , and an opportunity to listen to it (or the silver one) in its home system ,not too far away from here !:)

So , I can't wait to see if its going to be an improvement over my oldish Technics SU -VX700 , which ,while similar power output ,90 watt per channel , was a little tired and messed with when I bought it 18 months ago!!
My Tannoy 635's D 50's are ready and waiting :eyebrows:

Quality aside, the price seems high given that the A-S501 can be had for 249 quid new. As I understand it, the 501 has the same amp as the 500 but with a Yamaha DAC built in.

Geoff

[Oddball]

Nearly 2 yrs old but little use apparently- its mint.

[Pieoftheday]

Got a little impulsive this morning , and agreed to buy a Yamaha A-S500 amp from a gentleman . £180 around 4 yrs old I think
I like the reviews I read ! This amp is in black and the seller is replacing it with one in silver to match his other stuff ,he loves them so much !! )
Boxed , looks mint and remote included , and an opportunity to listen to it (or the silver one) in its home system ,not too far away from here !:)

So , I can't wait to see if its going to be an improvement over my oldish Technics SU -VX700 , which ,while similar power output ,90 watt per channel , was a little tired and messed with when I bought it 18 months ago!!
My Tannoy 635's D 50's are ready and waiting :eyebrows:

I had a 501.basically the same but with Dac, I paid £199 brand New, big powerful sound, I liked it:)

[struth]

Oops i thought it was the one with a dac. Nevertheless if its in nice nick then it should be value for money

[Roy S]

Had one of those I moved on a couple of years back, always found it a little bright with the Tannoy Mercury floorstanders I had at the time but it may match your speakers better.

[southall-1998]

Had one once. Nothing special to my ears. But maybe special to someone else!

S.

[Oddball]

Fetched it last night and fired her up this lunch time !
Quite minty . As Sherwood said , probably too expensive really , tried talking it down a bit , but it was from a really tidy home and careful owner who showed me it in action .

Bit of a false impression in some ways as he was running through a pair of Polkaudio floorstanders ,and a pair of Mordant Short on stands too, sexy setup , in a room that probably was an ideal shape ,with no clutter in it, nevertheless , sounded really good to my heathen ears :)
So today am I sort of impressed or wowed or not ?? Middle for diddle really !! Brightish sound , which is never a real negative for me as I love an extra bit of treble! The remote function is a bonus for an idle sod like me:D
I expect it will grow on me , and I have yet to try the sub hooked up to it !
When putting the Technics SU VX700 away , I was stuck by how it was 25% heavier than the Yam !! wooo

[Edward]

Give it a few days to settle in. I always find new items need some time - and my ears to tune into the sound.

And after a while switch back temporarily to the Technics (if you still have it) which will give you a much better idea of differences.

[Oddball]

Thanks Edward . To be honest I was not expecting a sea change in sound !! Similar power amps and the Technics has more punch I think.

The Yamaha has a single rca female for the sub out . I used to run the Rel Q50 sub with the aux rca's x 2 ,from the Technics to the 2 rca's on the line level input on the Rel.
How will I need to wire it up with just the one rca out of the amp and not 2 ?? :scratch:

[Oddball]

Found the instructions . Just connected the one red rca to red rca ,and shes away now !:)
Compliments it ,and seems to function better in this amp , with a dedicated subwoofer output than in the old Technics , not sure why ?

Anyway , using the power direct switch , and very very pleased with it !!

[TazSob]

Found the instructions . Just connected the one red rca to red rca ,and shes away now !:)
Compliments it ,and seems to function better in this amp , with a dedicated subwoofer output than in the old Technics , not sure why ?

Anyway , using the power direct switch , and very very pleased with it !!

The pure direct switch disables any interference from the amp and outputs the source as it receives it. Don't think the bass or treble adjustments work in this mode either.
On my Yamaha rxv 675 the whole front of the amp will turn off of I turn on pure direct

[Pieoftheday]

I'm surprised you've found it bright sounding, perhaps the as500 and 501 are quite different

[Oddball]

Not really fair to say bright . I think my first impressions were coloured by the Technics sounding a tad deeper.
I am not good at giving really good illustrations of the sounds of my system ,but I do know I like his amp a lot ,and am now pleased I got it !

Thats probably, the main thing!:eek:

[Pieoftheday]

Not really fair to say bright . I think my first impressions were coloured by the Technics sounding a tad deeper.
I am not good at giving really good illustrations of the sounds of my system ,but I do know I like his amp a lot ,and am now pleased I got it !

Thats probably, the main thing!:eek:

It most definitely is the main thing,you certainly get a nice chunk of Hifi for not a lot of money:)

[Oddball]

I'm surprised you've found it bright sounding, perhaps the as500 and 501 are quite different

I read , they are exactly the same but the i has the DAC !
I might just have to buy myself a DAC , but dont have the foggiest what an entry level one would cost me .

[sumday]

A SMSL Sanscrit mk6 from Amazon will cost you just under a hundred quid and is a major step up from the built in DAC aboard the 501.
I ran the above amp until quite recently, I'm afraid the DAC is pretty limited for critical listening....ok for TV hookup or set top box.

The Sanscrit for the money is a steal. It betters the DAC on-board my Roksan CDP and is built to the same standard...SMSL even offer a regulated power supply upgrade for well under a ton.

[Pigmy Pony]

MarginWalker has a Beresford Bushmaster DAC for sale, might be worth checking out.