Yamaha A-S 1000 & 2000 --- How Good?

Jung,

What speakers did you use it with?

That might make a big difference in the results depending on how power and current hungry they are/were.

Things could be a lot different with speakers that are tube friendly and an easy load to drive.

I've used a vintage yamaha receiver with my Triangle monitors which are pretty easy to drive and the results were surprisingly good. The only problem is the receiver is only 20 watts and can only go so loud before hard clipping quite noticeably. If the new Yammys perform similarly or better (that is what I would expect), 80-90 watts could be the ticket to very good sound at very reasonable cost. I considered trying these newer Yamahas myself in my application but decided to go in a different direction than an integrated amp.

Funny how Juglern had a much different experience.

I currently own the A S-2000 Yamaha integrated and matching CD player. It is VERY refined, with a great 3D soundstage. It is not bright at all especially compared to 3 previous integrateds ( McIntosh 6500, Moon I-5, Musical Fidelity A5 ).

Build quality is off scale and this unit plays beautifully. Current speakers are Sonus Faber Domus, but I did have a one month trial with much more expensive 12k speakers. This beauty redefines the concept of value in a sub 3k product. Its that good. All of this with accurate tone controls, phono stage, great headphone amp and those cool rocking switches and stunning looks. What's not to like? Chers and good luck.

That is a very impressive array of integrated and very much in line with what I am looking to compare the Yamaha too. Could you say a bit more about the Yamaha versis the Mac - a 6600 is also an integrated I am considering, but the price is significantly higher.

I'm also using an A-S2000. I replaced a Parasound JC-2, XTA 224, Rawson clone Aleph J mini, and a Parasound A-23 by having passive crossovers made for my speakers and substituting the Yamaha integrated. Not only did I not experience any drop off in performance but I actually find I like the new arrangement much better in every way.

As a bonus I received a terrific phono section and a separate headphone amplifier all in the one box.

When Yamaha decided back in 1975 to enter the U.S. hifi market, they ignored the watts per dollar race then going on among Japanese manufacturers and offered instead a lineup of products that were very much superior in build quality and, hence, better sounding than the leaders at the time. Many of those products are still much sought after 35 years later.

Now it appears that Yamaha has once again decided to carve out a niche and they are doing so in style with a lineup that once again defies the current standards for pricing and performance. On top of that, the clever ones amongst you may discover a vendor in the U.S. who is selling the A-S2000 new in box for $1200. There can't be any way to beat that deal legally.

Encouraging! If it can compete with Mac, Sim, Parasound, and the great Aleph J (though a clone)- that would be pretty impressive given the build quality, appearance, and street price. Has anyone compared the 1000 versus 2000? Is it just fewer watts, or more going on there - other than balanced input.