Excellent power amp, dirt cheap.

I've had this amp for years and it's come up trumps again and again so I thought I should share it with everyone.

It's actually a Yamaha DSP -E800 which was designed to allow audiophiles to add surround sound to their system without compromising the 2 channel sound. However with a few settings you can convert it to an excellent 2ch power amp.

It has inputs for 6 channels which can be switched to bypass the inbuilt pre amp at the back. You have to select 6ch input on the front too.

It also has a 4/8 ohm speaker selection switch as well for impedance matching. I've used this to good effect when the bass sounded a little loose, so it does work.

The power spec is 70w X3 so if you only use 2 channels then you have a nice over specified power supply.

You also have the option to use it as a 2 channel integrated, with or without the inbuilt dac. You just have to select the effect to be "Disco"(!) which means the rear surrounds mirror the front main speakers. You need to set up the rear surrounds as large so they get all the bass, switch off center speaker and sub etc.

It says Natural Sound on the front, and I have to say compared to many so called audiophile dedicated power amps, I have to agree. I'm currently using it with a fancy Ming Da pre and, although it seems ridiculous, it sounds great!

They can be picked up for about £50 and represent an absolute bargain. I'd anyone wants to try one to verify my findings then I strongly recommend it!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...489123b527.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d672e0b53c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e7b9f420ca.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...18f5a9adf5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4ffff3f094.jpg

Interesting. Did did you buy it for surround sound in the first place Lawrence?

Yes I bought it new from Hyperfi when I bought a flat. It was probably end of line then. I had big mission fronts at the time so I bought small Missions (M71s?) for the rears and a Kef Cresta centre from Richer Sounds for about £80.

I think I had a Panasonic CRT as well, that was probably from Currys. I'm not sure flat screens were available then, if they were they were very expensive. I think the big rear projection TVs were popular but I hated them. I'm not sure we even had Freeview then, but I think there was at least NICAM stereo [emoji38]

I probably watched about 50 films with my Pioneer DVD player through it all in total! I just liked to have it in case I fancied watching one. I think that was around the time when Justfilm(?) came out and you could subscribe to rental DVDs by post. I got quite a few foreign films then you couldn't get in Blockbusters.

I feel old now [emoji23]

I replaced the stock fixed cable with a good quality IEC inlet. This allowed me to use whatever power cable I wanted. The gauge of the fixed cables conductors is comically thin.
Using my own power cable really brought it to life.

Good upgrade that I would try if I wasn't now selling it - must bump the ad actually, thanks for the reminder [emoji16]