Yamaha M-5000 - Has anybody heard it

[Jozua]

Hi

The Yamaha M-5000 looks very yummy.

Has anybody heard it?

Regards

J

[Jozua]

https://www.avsa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/News_M5000-Front-On-e1535381540905.jpg

[Macca]

It does look tasty and the spec is very good but I'd hope so at the price.

[Yomanze]

It looks the business inside too. Maybe a tad complex for my liking, don’t usually find “more is more”. Looks lovely though, a bit like an Accuphase.

[Jozua]

I would have preferred no meters- will they last 15-20 years ?

[Macca]

There's Yam kit way older than 20 years where the meters are still going strong.

Looks like as statement piece and the Japanese engineers take the kit at that level very seriously. If I was buying one reliability would be my least cause of concern.

[Svend N]

Jozua, I heard this amp briefly at the recent Toronto Audio Fest show that I attended with a friend (also an avid audiophile, more so than I). It was in a large, high-rent, all-Yamaha room, which we were quite surprised to find at a high-end audio show, Yamaha having been pretty much absent from this market (they are better known here for low end systems sold in big-box electronics stores). We therefore went in with some scepticism, not expecting much, but left being very impressed. The system sounded terrific -- for me it was in the top 5 or 6 rooms at the show, which is saying a lot (see below).

Pros: very open, detailed, great soundstage and imaging, quick and light on it's feet, punchy and dynamic but not overbearingly aggressive, a very nice delicacy in musical passages that needed it.

Cons: somewhat analytical and sterile sounding, lacking warmth. This could have been the speakers (highly likely, in fact). To my ears, so many loudspeaker designs these days sound very forward, in yer face and harsh; not musical, overly technical, with a metallic sheen to their sound that seems unnatural. The Yamahas were a bit like that, but then I am very picky about loudspeaker sound character. Hard to tell then how good the amp is, but judging by the speed and detail and dynamics that it drove the speakers with, I'd say it was pretty darn good. I would love to hear it matched with a more natural sounding speaker.

Hope this helps, and take it for what it's worth -- a 15 minute audition in a day full of dozens of such.

Best,
Svend

[hifi_dave]

Not heard that particular Yamaha, though I have tried a couple of their top end integrateds.

I agree with you about modern speakers.

[Jozua]

Svend


Thanks for the feedback. I bought my Yamaha CDS3000 blindly- and I am very impressed with it- especially when using it as a DAC.

I have this amp on my radar.. and would love to hear it with a ARC pre.

Take care


J

[sumday]

I had a Yamaha CR1020 reciever dating from the mid 70s a few years back.
When i bought it all the lamps were out but apart from noisy pots everything worked fine...including the signal/power meters.
Considering how hot the preamp section runs on this range i was pretty impressed.

Yamahs kit is built to last.