A Good Match?

No, you gotta do better than that.

Consider the amp's sound, not just it's ability to "drive" the Hales. The Hales are terrific speakers, but they are lean sounding. You should consider an amp that will give the sound a little meat-on-the-bones. FWIW, the WhatHifi review describes the Yamaha as "taut/slightly bright". Not a good pairing IMO.

If you are buying new, there a few budget integrated amps to consider. I am not familiar with the Hales, but taking from what Frogman has said, I would suggest looking at the following, which I have either owned or auditioned:

Cambridge Audio .

NAD .

Music Hall .

Best regards,

Rich

Thanks everyone! Helpful responses.

Stanwal.... You're over my head with your impedance curve question. Heres some info on the Hales:http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/weaver16.htm

Arni: Any suggestions? Did I mention I'm on a budget?

Frogman: Good point... with my limited and layman's level of experience I could not have known that.

Rich: Ahhh! Some concrete recommendations. The Cambridge sounds good but no phono input....That can be added separately later... no? The Music Hall is also real straight forward and that appeals to me (and has phono). The NAD.... folks seem to complain about the exterior build & quality on this one. Any preference among the Cambridge or Music Hall? Thanks. Mike

I owned the NAD C320BEE and really liked it. See my comments . At this level, it is OK in terms of fit and finish, but just ok.

I like both the Cambridge Audio and the Music Hall, as well and have owned products from both. If phono needs to be considered, go with the Music Hall.

Rich