Yamaha A-S501BL Natural Sound Integrated Stereo Amplifier - Black (Renewed)

This AmplifierBose 301 Series IVPolk Audio 10" SubwooferYamaha CD PlayerHouse of Marley Turntable w/Ortofon OM20- I always preface when reviewing audio equipment that I am not an audiophile. But am a musician and appreciate when a live recording can be reproduced the way the musician intended it. A lot of course has to do with the recording process and what medium it's recorded on. Equally important is how the audio equipment gets the music off the medium and into your ears.Wow. The soundstage is amazing; in a room that is 25x20x16, the sound is as if you are listening from a mid-center theater seat. The amplifier does an incredible job of sound separation while adding more than adequate power to demonstrate the nuances of the music. Music is clean; highs are clear, mids are solid and complimentary, and the bass is dry and unobtrusive. Ron Carter, Flea, or Jaco Pastorius on bass as you've never heard.The amplifier's enclosure is rock solid; some parts/dials are plastic but this system is not meant to be constantly handled. It makes for a beautiful presentation if you are not planning to hide it. Only thing is I have not figured out how to link the remote to the CD player. In time.All in all, if it holds up this will be my last audio amplifier. It provides all the sound and functionality I will ever need.

I had Yamaha and Pioneer and Sony growing up in the 80's, and always like the Yamaha sound the best of those. We built a Pub in the basement, and when it came time for sound, I discovered that Yamaha still makes a solid state A/B amplifier at a great price point. I knew I didn't want a class D. Glad I gave it a shot! Sounds just like I remember, but now paired with 4 Klipsch R-51Ms and 8 inch powered sub, and what a fun simple clean system. Sound quality is great, and with the sensitive speakers, 65w RMS will blow you out of the basement. Search online and you can see the internals and there is something joyful to see the attention to detail in these amps. Very happy with my purchase!

Really, really good sound from this receiver. Simple controls, no extra junk. Just solid metal components, powerful amp, and sweet beautiful sound. Expensive, but worth it. Makes music shine!

Ordered Yamaha A-S501 from One Call. Saved one hundred, and was surprised to get what appeared a absolutely NEW double boxed amp ( at least the best I can tell, and I am obsessively picky !)This amp, while not top of the line, or equal to multi-thousand $$ amps, nonetheless performs flawlessly to my ears. Can tailor sound how you like it with treble and bass controls, or just use Pure Direct for the "Natural sound" Yamaha tailored this amp for. If you want warm colored and in your face musical sounds, a tube amp or older vintage amp or receiver might be more suitable. But if you want natural as recorded sound (especially from lossless or flac or quality CD player, paired with neutral sounding speakers.....then this is the ticket!Amp is built like a battleship, weighs over 22lbs, gold plated connections, sub out, optical, coaxial, runs cool, has built in DAC, etc.For this money it exudes quality and likely will last a lifetime is cared for well.Is it perfect? No, but is mostly everything necessary, nothing more, producing quality sound from a company renowned for producing quality audio products for over 6 decades.Most highly recommend this amp.

It made my speakers sound great. Nice balance with the power it provided. At first I started to miss my avr receiver but in a week I got use to the sound. It gave a more music type than the movie sound from the onkyo. The bass from the subwoofer, along with the other speakers sounded louder, and more clear. All was good until about two weeks ago when it out of nowhere gave that yellow blinking light. Hopefully I can get it fixed or exchanged from Yamaha. Only had it for like 2 and a half months. Not really something to expect from something with that price. It was like new condition, so I'm not sure how that worked out in my situation to only last as long as it did.

I had a very old Yamaha amp already but the instant I hooked this one up I could hear an improvement in the quality of the sound. I mostly listen to contemporary composers and groups - Steve Reich, Nico Muhly, Arvo Part, David Lang and musicians like Kronos, Eighth Blackbird, Now Ensemble.... These involve voice, strings, percussion and come through flawlessly and with warm tones on this unit. No indication it was not brand new, everything looks pristine and came well packaged. Very happy with sound and added pleasure of saving some $$$

there’s nothing to dislike about this pre amplifier, good sound and plenty of power to drive 4speakersI would buy again

This is by far the most accurate Natural Sound Amplifier. Clear and no distortion at any volume levels. I connected a Yamaha CDC-600 5 Disk CD Changer to it, Samsung 65 inch Smarth TV, Rockville Rock Shaker 10 Inch 600 Watts Powered Subwoofer, and Acoustic Audio Center 3 Way Speaker 400 Watts to the Yamaha A-701BL Natural Sound Intergrated Stereo Amplifier. Boy, playing a Jazz music at mid level volume, I am speechless hearing the "Fantabulous" clear music comming out from it. This is a must have at home.