YamahaA-S801BL Natural Sound Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Black)

Awesome product with fantastic sound - I am using it to connect my CD Player and Turntable which it is perfect for. Also, has an internal pre-amp for the turntable and no external pre-amp is required. Plenty of punch to power the subwoofer and pair of Klipsch Floor Speakers. Really impressed with ease of use, easy set up, overall functionality and build quality!

This unit replaced a three-year-old entry level Marantz integrated amplifier. The unit was very warm sounding but just seemed to lack enough power to drive my 6 ohm Deftech tower speakers. The bass was always a bit thin, even with the loudness control turned on. So, I got online and started looking for an amp that would sound good but also provide more oomph to my speakers. For about a month I went back and forth between the Marantz PM8006 and the Yamaha A-S801. The thing that turned my mind in favor of the Yamaha was the A-S701 at a lower price. My network player has an internal DAC, so the DAC on the more expensive Yamaha really was not necessary. The variable loudness control was also a plus, as most of my music has be played at low level, being in a small apartment.Prime got the unit to me in two days, then the unboxing started. This integrated amp is sharp looking and built like a tank. Hookup of everything was quick and easy, then it was time for the true test, powering the unit on and playing some test tracks. My go-tos are 'The Nightfly' by Donald Fagen (pretty much anything by Steely Dan will work), the Belgian jazz rock group Abraxis, and many more obscure jazz recordings from Europe.The first thing that was noticeable was that the Yamaha was somewhat more neutral than the Marantz, unless you activated the 'CD Direct' or 'Pure Direct' modes. Taking away the internal toine controls gives you a HUGE boost of volume and clarity in the mid and treble ranges. Turning these buttons off lowered the volume significantly but WOW! When you turned the volume back up, the bottom end was full without being boomy or muddy and the mids and highs were defined but not shrill or harsh. I have been running the variable loudness in the 'flat' position which really does all aspects of the music justice.In the end this is a fine product with amazing sound and build quality. This will be in my stereo system for years to come!5 year update: After many different speaker combinations, it appears that the Yamaha was not at fault; the DefTechs were notoriously inefficient. I now have a pair of Polk Es60s and they have never sounded so good.

This review is for Yamaha A-S801 model.Got it yesterday, and LOVE it. What a difference! This Yamaha is meant to replace my old TEAC AH-300, which was purchased 15 years ago as part of the TEAC mini-system. Came highly recommended by What Hi-Fi magazine at the time, and considered entry-level audiophile quality. I used it with Mission 700 speakers, also highly recommended by What Hi-Fi. Speakers are still the same, but the difference is stunning!Now, TEAC was much less powerful, at 35W per channel at 8Ohms, whereis Yamaha produces 100W at the same level. But if you would assume it got "louder" you would be wrong. The difference is not in loudness, it is in the detail. Yamaha opened a whole new sound-stage, several new dimensions in the music field. Everything sounds different now! Music got volume, and same old speakers produce quality I did not know they were capable of. To say I am "please" is not to say anything. Night and day. Highly recommended for all true music lovers!UPDATE: After a month of use I love this amp even more. In fact, I have updated my entire system, and tried different connections, so there is some new info I wanted to share.First of all, in addition to my good old Mission 700s I got two new floorstanding speakers, Dali Zensor 7, and a sub, B&W ASW610. Missions now serve as a back speakers, Dalis are in the front.Second, I have tried three types of sources for music: CD player (Marantz CD 6005, which has raving reviews), internet stream from Tidal (comes via USB cable from my computer) and playing CD's on the computer drive (also connected via the same USB cable).Here are the results:1) Best sound by FAR comes from using computer drive for CDs via USB cable.2.) Almost as good, but not quite, is streaming from Tidal (FLAC files, lossless quality) using Yamaha Steinberg USB driver and USB cable.3) CD player, when connected via analogue cables, is inferior to the above.Why? Simple answer is - DA conversion. Not only Yamaha has a great DA converter (what they say here is true - SABRE Premier Audio DAC from ESS Technology, Inc is one of the best on the market today), but when you transfer data via USB cable it virtually eliminates jitter. And jitter is the MAJOR source of problems. Simply put, when you send raw data via USB it makes no difference what the source is - as long as data is not compressed, it is all the same. Problems begin when DA begins the conversion from Digital to Analogue. Most cheap CD players to poor job; computers do even worse job. SO when you get analogue out, it carries crappy signal and amp simply amplifies it. Amp itself cannot "clean up" the analogue signal; it can make it worse, but not better. The best it can do is to preserve it.For internal converter situation is different. Yamaha uses internal master clock, which "times" data correctly for the DA, and then DA transfers data from digital to analogue with beauty and clarity which is truly amazing. Can it be done by the CD player? Perhaps, if you spend 10000 dollars on the machine, it will have the same result. Do you want to?Its not that signal coming from a CD player via analogue connection is "bad", its just that it is not as good, not for a true audiophile. For anyone who wants to experience truly amazing sound, I would highly advise to AVOID analogue connections (RCA) at all costs. Simply forget about them. What about digital coax and optical? Well, it is better, but still there is a problem. If you use them, you do take advantage of Yamaha's SABRE DA converter, which is, again, great. BUT, you do not have advantage of using the internal master clock. Digital signal transferred via optical or digital coax has its own timing, which may be jittery. Now here it depends on the source: if you are using high quality CD player, timing may be precise and quality just as good. If not, - you will have problems. Question is - why bother, if your computer can work better and most likely will not cost you extra?In conclusion, I will highly recommend not just any model, but Yamaha A-S 801. This is the only model with built in USB DA converter, and the value of this small addition is ENORMOUS: when connected via USB it truly gives you the quality of 10 000 dollar CD player. I am not even mentioning the advantages of streaming, with its instant access to millions of CDs at a click of a mouse.Good job, Yamaha!