Well I had a chance to listen and open covers of few amps.. the two that seem most different in design and sound seemed to me yamaha m series.. and adcom 5500 ,5800.
Sound wise 5800 was no doubt a sweet beautiful sounding amplifier. My friend is using it. Under the cover.. huge transformer. Few resistors and capacitors.
Currently I use yamaha mx1. I think it's their best in M series. Well under the cover a rather complex HCA circuitry..maybe it's very simple to some)
Sound wise 5800 tends to be very mellow sweet. Piano especially. I was overwhelmed with bass of this amp.
Kind of dissapointed with lack of high and mid range resolution...
Yamaha mx1 on the other hand not a super sweet sounding amp. Yet not harsh or brittle. Very accurate. Reveals a lot more detail. Higher resolution amp. One thing that really sets it apart from older m80,m85, mx1000 is that expensive splash of trembles. Hard to explain. Many call them airy highs.
And of course sound is very personal) my friend loves adcom 5800. Jazz, launge music truly sounds beautiful.
I prefered yamaha mx1 because of its crispness, speed, presence of dc protection, and the fact that it's really hard to get it higher than room temperature. Ice cold)
And of course the splashing trebles.. I haven't heard amps That produce similar highs.
We have used same speakers, source, pre amp of course when comparing.
Most adcom owners I know hate yamaha m line)
I am a hobbeist.. can recap amps. Check leaking transistors. But that's it. Know nothing of circuitry and current flow in an amplifier. Exploring the basics of world inside the box.) Reading few into articles
Sound wise 5800 was no doubt a sweet beautiful sounding amplifier. My friend is using it. Under the cover.. huge transformer. Few resistors and capacitors.
Currently I use yamaha mx1. I think it's their best in M series. Well under the cover a rather complex HCA circuitry..maybe it's very simple to some)
Sound wise 5800 tends to be very mellow sweet. Piano especially. I was overwhelmed with bass of this amp.
Kind of dissapointed with lack of high and mid range resolution...
Yamaha mx1 on the other hand not a super sweet sounding amp. Yet not harsh or brittle. Very accurate. Reveals a lot more detail. Higher resolution amp. One thing that really sets it apart from older m80,m85, mx1000 is that expensive splash of trembles. Hard to explain. Many call them airy highs.
And of course sound is very personal) my friend loves adcom 5800. Jazz, launge music truly sounds beautiful.
I prefered yamaha mx1 because of its crispness, speed, presence of dc protection, and the fact that it's really hard to get it higher than room temperature. Ice cold)
And of course the splashing trebles.. I haven't heard amps That produce similar highs.
We have used same speakers, source, pre amp of course when comparing.
Most adcom owners I know hate yamaha m line)
I am a hobbeist.. can recap amps. Check leaking transistors. But that's it. Know nothing of circuitry and current flow in an amplifier. Exploring the basics of world inside the box.) Reading few into articles
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Hello. My name is Vincent, and I'm an audioholic.
My addiction first took hold in the early 1970s at a HiFi store in San Carlos after hearing a pair of bridged MC225s pushing a pair of K-Horns.
As a college student I couldn't afford anything close to that set up, so I walked out of there with a Yamaha CA1010 integrated amp that had been dropped in the street by a pair of thieves caught in the act by police responding to a silent alarm. Aside from the dented face plate, it was no worse for wear.
It played either Class A or A/B at the flip of a switch and sounded really good paired with the custom two-way cabinets I bought used. However, after upgrading to ADS 1290/2 speakers and bi-amping them with the ADS PA1 built in amp/crossover modules, the Yamaha lost its silver luster.
I know nothing about the current lineup, but in the '70s I considered them a good value.
My addiction first took hold in the early 1970s at a HiFi store in San Carlos after hearing a pair of bridged MC225s pushing a pair of K-Horns.
As a college student I couldn't afford anything close to that set up, so I walked out of there with a Yamaha CA1010 integrated amp that had been dropped in the street by a pair of thieves caught in the act by police responding to a silent alarm. Aside from the dented face plate, it was no worse for wear.
It played either Class A or A/B at the flip of a switch and sounded really good paired with the custom two-way cabinets I bought used. However, after upgrading to ADS 1290/2 speakers and bi-amping them with the ADS PA1 built in amp/crossover modules, the Yamaha lost its silver luster.
I know nothing about the current lineup, but in the '70s I considered them a good value.
This sounds like a blessing from God allmighty. Seems like i am on the right path of having 2 of them)
Yamaha is an amazing company. Pretty much every product they make is an excellent product and the diversity of types of products is even more amazing.
I am on my fourth Yamaha motorcycle in 30 years. All of them have been a joy to ride and own; 400CC, 650CC, 1100CC and now 1300CC.
I played bass guitar in a church band for a number of year. The bass guitar is a Yamaha. It is an excellent bass guitar and it did not break the bank to purchase.
Yamaha makes good pianos.
They make very good pro sound equipment.
I believe there is at least one speaker system that has a cult following.
All of that said, these are mass market products. I consider high end audio a niche market.
Comparing Yamaha to Pass Labs is like comparing Ruby Tuesday's to a fine French restaurant.
Over the last two years I have acquired an Aleph30 and an X2.5. I vote with my wallet.
I am on my fourth Yamaha motorcycle in 30 years. All of them have been a joy to ride and own; 400CC, 650CC, 1100CC and now 1300CC.
I played bass guitar in a church band for a number of year. The bass guitar is a Yamaha. It is an excellent bass guitar and it did not break the bank to purchase.
Yamaha makes good pianos.
They make very good pro sound equipment.
I believe there is at least one speaker system that has a cult following.
All of that said, these are mass market products. I consider high end audio a niche market.
Comparing Yamaha to Pass Labs is like comparing Ruby Tuesday's to a fine French restaurant.
Over the last two years I have acquired an Aleph30 and an X2.5. I vote with my wallet.
You are aware of Yamaha being some of the first to implement a V-fet into an audio design..well they were actually the first, even if they came to the market with the B-1 after Sony came with their TAN-8650.
True, in a large corporation the engineers many times have to yield to preferences from sales and marketing departments and Yamaha has many middles of the road products as a result, but make no mistake, Yamaha is on Ruby Tuesday, but a true engineering company.
I think Mr Pass' assessment of the Yamaha products is a bit more accurate
True, in a large corporation the engineers many times have to yield to preferences from sales and marketing departments and Yamaha has many middles of the road products as a result, but make no mistake, Yamaha is on Ruby Tuesday, but a true engineering company.
I think Mr Pass' assessment of the Yamaha products is a bit more accurate
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Agreed. I have heard one in person while shopping for pianos many years ago. I ended up acquiring a family-in-law ancient upright that had a beautiful ancient solid spruce sound board and having that piano restored. New strings. New tuning pegs. New key tops. I stripped off the exterior paint and finished the gorgeous burled walnut veneer with hand rubbed oil. The burled walnut was a surprise.
The Yamaha upright was the fall-back option. Excellent instrument and good sound for a reasonable price.
You are aware of Yamaha being some of the first to implement a V-fet into an audio design..well they were actually the first, even if they came to the market with the B-1 after Sony came with their TAN-8650.
True, in a large corporation the engineers many times have to yield to preferences from sales and marketing departments and Yamaha has many middles of the road products as a result, but make no mistake, Yamaha is on Ruby Tuesday, but a true engineering company.
I think Mr Pass' assessment of the Yamaha products is a bit more accurate
I am not disagreeing with Mr. Pass. The Yamaha amp that you bring up was a mass market product in its day. The fact that it has a cult following today is not relevant to my point.
If I found a Yamama VFET amp at a reasonable price, I would strip it and use the parts to make a PL design. Not that there is necessarily wrong with Yamaha's design but that I would prefer to have the VFETs in a PL designed amp.
I had Sony (few of them actually,5650) for thorough refurbishment and repair
after doing everything , condition practically as new - I wasn't impressed at all with sound
they are different than majority of FiFi amps , but not even close to sense of immediacy I'm used to have with amps I'm enjoying
just looking at number of stages and amount of signal re-conditioning, completely logical
after doing everything , condition practically as new - I wasn't impressed at all with sound
they are different than majority of FiFi amps , but not even close to sense of immediacy I'm used to have with amps I'm enjoying
just looking at number of stages and amount of signal re-conditioning, completely logical
i have mod my 5650 too and prefer my moded aleph J , even if my L'AMP Css with thf51s is my preferate at the moment the only one who still give me nightmare is the Stax DA50 i have sold to a friend ( by weakness) .
those ones kills everything i have owned or built
those ones kills everything i have owned or built
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My 40 year old Yamaha B2 VFET is all original as far as I know, cleaned and re-biased once when I bought it over seven years ago. The various pots need spritzing for crackles from time to time but the sound quality to this day is hypnotic, entrancing and keeps me wanting to hear what comes next. I have to force myself to stop listening. I tried it with full range panel and Pass Korg NuTube recently, and the combo is heaven.
I have a Yamaha MX 600U that I use for surrounds, it it sounds OK. Several Yamaha AVR receivers also sound OK. I haven't heard any of the other big Yamaha amps, although I had an old 1010 class A integrated that worked for about a month and sounded pretty good while it was working.
I have gone to a few audio shows over the years, and only a few installations I have heard tend to compete with even the Yamaha B2.
How's it compare to First Watt M2, Pass Clone VFET DIY, or other Sony VFET I have had?
Whichever is in the system at the time is the best, because they all sound so good in their various ways they make me forget everything but what is in front of me at the moment, so they are an embarrassment of sonic riches. I typically operate them with directly heated triode drivers (now also Pass Korg Nutube).
I have a Yamaha MX 600U that I use for surrounds, it it sounds OK. Several Yamaha AVR receivers also sound OK. I haven't heard any of the other big Yamaha amps, although I had an old 1010 class A integrated that worked for about a month and sounded pretty good while it was working.
I have gone to a few audio shows over the years, and only a few installations I have heard tend to compete with even the Yamaha B2.
How's it compare to First Watt M2, Pass Clone VFET DIY, or other Sony VFET I have had?
Whichever is in the system at the time is the best, because they all sound so good in their various ways they make me forget everything but what is in front of me at the moment, so they are an embarrassment of sonic riches. I typically operate them with directly heated triode drivers (now also Pass Korg Nutube).