A-S801BL Natural Sound Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Black)

The Yamaha A-S801SL is a fantastic integrated stereo amplifier. I am not exaggerating when I say that you will need to spend 2-3x more to get something better due to Hi-Fi diminishing returns. Clean, powerful, pretty linear/neutral, excellent sound-stage and separation, with good detail retrieval. Plenty of input options, the silver unit looks great, and has a nice build quality. The real gem here is the USB connection for a PC or streamer. I've read some of the other reviews about low loudness/SPL and lack of bass. I can assure you that the A-S801 has plenty of power (the power ratings are conservative, it's actually about 105 watts/channel into 8-ohms, and 150+ into 4-ohms) and it has tight/punchy bass, so I have a few thoughts... 1. Make sure that your streamer or source device is at 100% output volume. 2. Double-check your speaker wire/connection polarities and subwoofer phase if you're using a sub. 3. Many people are used to compressed music and over-emphasized, bloated bass. Use CD-quality or higher music and then allow some time to get used to how music should sound. Overall, I'm extremely happy that I got this unit for $799 during Black Friday, it's a steal at that price. I'm going back and playing my CD collection as well as streaming hi-res music from Qobuz via my Wiim Ultra, which is a superb combination. Curiously, USPS was chosen for the last mile of delivery, and that was a disaster. The package was dropped off by Amazon on-time with USPS in my city and was to be delivered later that day. But it was not delivered. Three days elapsed and USPS sent it to another city, then they sent it back to Denver (from which it had already transited), at which point it seemed like it was lost, before it found its way back to my city a second time. I cannot say anything positive for USPS. Amazon customer service was great though.

First off, I've been using vintage equipment for a while. The problem is the constant breakdown of 40 year old equipment so i decided to go modern. I didn't want another BPC receiver, I've had two, a pioneer and a Sony, neither of which had any any real output, I had to turn them way up to get loud but was never satisfied with the sound quality, but then I found the Yamaha integrated amp with the silver face. Very clean lines, not cluttered with multiple switches. Its paired with a set of Klipsch R26FA speakers. The amp has only an A, B and A+B selection. A is hooked to the front speakers while the B is hooked to the top firing Atmos speakers. It has a subwoofer output which I attached to a Klipsch K100SW powered subwoofer. I have a large listening room and this set up fills the room with sound that you can feel as well as hear. I still use a vintage turntable and tape deck but I have an Echo Link hooked up as well. The sound is awesome, but then I said that already. I also have a top of the line modern Panasonic Blu-ray hooked up, when I watch a concert video it's almost like being there. A vintage Pioneer tuner completes the package however I have ordered the tuner from Yamaha so I can utilize the presets which can be accessed from the remote. With 100WPC at 8 ohms, it's got plenty of room, I barely turn it half way up and thats loud enough especially since i added the subwoofer. I rarely have to move the bass/treble control from neutral to get astonishing sound. Yamaha also has a "pure" CD and all input selector that bypasses all the internal filters if you want to hear exactly what the component signal sounds like. This becomes in handy if you have adjusted the bass/treble controls and want to revert back to the neutral setting without having to adjust the controls afterwards. There are three additional inputs as well as inputs for phono, cd, tuner and optic cable. Another plus of modern equipment is remote control. My Pioneer and Sony receivers had incredibly complicated remotes that usually required reading the instructions whenever i wanted to do anything with it other than powering on/off or adjusting volume. The remote with this model is like the amp, simple clean lines/controls and doesn't require a rocket science degree to comprehend. This amp also has an analog volume control which moves when you access it via the remote. Cons: no outlets on the amp. Not a big deal but I like having my turntable hooked up to an amp switched outlet so it can't turn on unless the amp is turned on. It would also be nice if it had the ability to run 3 channels simultaneously so I could bi-wire the front speakers but honestly my sound is impressive. Also no tape monitor which limits what I can do with my vintage equalizer. Another lack is a low volume bass boost, but since the bass is usually at neutral I've found I can turn it up a smidgen to get improved bass at low volume. By doing this and utilizing the Pure Input it is almost like having the bass boost option. Another improvment Yamaha could have added is a mute function on the amp control face. It does have one on the remote. There is "Loudness" control on the panel. This control can variably lower the volume without adjusting the main volume control. It is useful when I want to change the music selection on Alexa since she can't hear me talking when I have the volume pumped up. Afterwards i can resume at the volume I had previously dialed in. No HDMI input but then this isn't meant for a home theater. On the other hand it does have an optic input. It does have a USB output to power something, i don't use it yet, maybe I can power my echo dot with it or perhaps dress up the rack with an led tape to add a little color...or not The control and power on indicator lights could be a little bigger or brighter. From across the room I cant see them at all Overall impression...I'm very happy with this amp. Yamaha signature "natural sound". It plays my music clearly and loud enough to piss off the neighborhood if I wanted to. I wouldn't recommend it for a home theater system since it only has two speaker channels but that isn't what I wanted it for. If you want a clean sound and a silver vintage look without breaking the bank you couldn't go wrong with this amp. Just be sure to get a set of speakers with the legs to run the horsepower and you won't be disappointed

This is a superb integrated amplifier, unfortunately the rec out selector was removed, still is of a high quality and of excellent performance. Supernatural sound and a lot of power that makes your neighbors complain. It handles very well your analog and digital sources in a way that will satisfy both tastes of music. Two thumbs down for those who gave this amp a lower review than 5 stars, there is no reason for that. Yamaha has built a great reputation through time and this machine is a legacy of this. Great, great, great and it comes with the highest recommendation.

A great amp, Yamaha is a name synonyms for quality and value for dollar. This amp has all the inputs you'll need to run a great sounding music system. Plenty of power and watts, rated for 8 and 6 ohm speakers. I like the tone controls but especially the loudness function. Set your main volume and then use the loudness control to dial in the sound without loosing detail. Remote so on and off is easy and the standby mode is convenient. Input for cd, phono, optical, and additional line it's make it versatile. Has a built in DAC The speaker binding posts are nice, you can use banana plugs which makes it so easy to hook up your speakers. Metal chassis, big transformers, its just a well constructed unit. I use it in my listening room, which is 15' x 11" and this amp doesn't need a lot to fill my room. I have my technics sl-40c and wiim pro hooked up to it, I do use an external preamp but the one in the Yamaha isn't bad, but I prefer the option to have lpaf settings for different cartridges. Good value for money and performance is what you would expect from Yamaha

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!

This Yamaha A-S501 amplifier replaced an Onkyo AV receiver I’ve had since the mid-90’s. This amp doesn’t “sound” different per se, as sonic differences between properly functioning solid state amps are virtually nonexistent, but it blows the old receiver out of the water with regard to technical performance and aesthetics. Its noise and distortion levels are inaudible, including the noise floor of the phono input. I listen to a lot of records and can attest to the quality of this amp’s phono section. I have to turn the volume up a bit higher on this input even though I use a standard MM cartridge with 5mV output, which leads me to conclude that there’s not a ton of gain in the circuit. That doesn’t bother me, but people with fussy cartridge requirements are likely using standalone phono preamps anyway. If you’re running a “standard” turntable setup, this amp’s phono stage will treat you very well. The digital inputs are a nice touch on a classic-minded amp like this. DAC chips don’t really sound different from each other, so I won’t entertain subjective analysis of these inputs’ “sound,” but the inputs function like they should and let me connect my TV and Airport Express digitally, which is nice. Everything sounds crystal clear and problem-free. There are a host of analog inputs and outputs, as well as a decent headphone output. I say “decent” because it does have high output impedance, which means it will cause some frequency response issues with certain headphones. It gives my Sennheiser 58x headphones a bit of a bass boost as a result, which I don’t mind, but people who fuss over headphones will want to use a standalone headphone amp via the amp’s analog outs. I find it odd that plugging headphones into the port shuts off audio to the speakers, and I wish I could leave my headphones connected to the amp at all times. Oh well. The amp has plenty of power and current, driving my relatively inefficient C-Note bookshelf speakers to very loud levels with ease and without distorting. In a time where many integrated amps are forgoing tone controls in the name of passing an audiophile purity test, Yamaha have gracefully included them here, along with an adjustable loudness contour. This knob is a godsend, allowing the user to compensate for the shortcomings of the human ear’s natural frequency response at lower listening levels by filling out the low and high end, so that even if you’re keeping things quiet, you’ll hear a full, pleasing balance of sound that’s adjustable to your needs. And, should you want to take all of those nasty enjoyment-enhancing impurities out of the signal path, just press the “Pure Direct” button. Aesthetically, the amp is very handsome, especially in the silver finish. It was a major factor in my purchasing decision, as I find so many amps and receivers to be hideous black boxes. The remote is very functional, though I just use my Fire TV remote to control the amp’s power and volume, and select input by hand. The lack of a screen and menus is perfect, as I’d much rather control things with knobs and buttons. The knobs and buttons do feel a tad cheap, which is my only minor gripe with this amp. I wish the tone knobs had a bit more weight behind their movement. Since that has no impact on performance, it doesn’t really bother me. Overall, if 85wpc is enough for your speakers and you like this style of amp, it’s a great buy!

This is my review about the seller for the most part, will update later with amp feedback. Received the unit it passed visual inspection. Reviewed all physical features and everything checked out (it was listed as renewed, checked out, with slight damage to boxing). I had everything waiting wire wise and hook up was quick and painless. Immediately upon picking it up to put it into its place there was something sticky on top, can't tell if it was an original label or something else, something possibly disgusting. Powered up the amp and everything was working as intended, until I got to the remote. Didn't work, ok let's try new batteries. I take out the old ones, the battery area is full of corrosion, loads of it. Battery corrosion everywhere, it took more time to clean up the remote than it did to unpack the entire system. Batteries should always be removed from any remote that's not going to get used for awhile!!! Once clean and with new batteries it too worked fine. I put on some music to test channels and sit back to review the paperwork. The original order paperwork was still with manual, I now have the complete information of the original purchaser, and yes that includes his address. HORRIBLE form World Wide, just plain horrible. Turn and burn returns, improper inspection, and I bet not even tested...so I have no freaking idea why the original buyer truly returned it. Maybe I should reach out to him and ask since I now have his info? Just plain unacceptable.

After a month of routine listening to LP's and digital files I must say that I'm very satisfied and impressed with the natural sound and unbelievable clarity of my new Yamaha! I have my A S801 connected to a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170's and a Rhythmik L12 sub. The music comes through with remarkable clarity. It imparts little-to-no false coloration of the sound. The Pure Direct function gives an excellent representation of the recorded music with a purity that is well beyond the price of the amplifier. The 801 is so blissfully transparent that it inspired me to re-rip all of my cd's into a lossless 16 bit WAV format to give the Yamaha every opportunity to display everything in the recordings (I haven't owned a household cd player in a long time). I'm not a hardcore audiophile, and I can't put the purity and balance of the music played this way into a technical prose that will do it justice, but I'm constantly pushing the volume up to let the incredible sound consume me. It feels wonderful. I appreciate that the included remote has a Pure Direct button so I can leave the bass and/or treble controls a touch elevated and toggle Pure Direct on or off from my seat and enjoy picking out the differences. I'm so impressed with the A S801 that I'll definitely be looking further up the Yamaha ladder for any future amplifier upgrades (A S1100??). The sound quality of the A S801 is an incredible bargain! And kudos to IQ Audio for the "open box" option. My amplifier looked like it'd never been touched and shaved nearly 25% off the price. Minor gripes regarding the A S801 are limited to; 1) Stepped vs. ramped volume control. At lower volumes the steps are rather evident. 2) No dedicated line level out for a subwoofer. Not a big deal. I've employed a "Y" splitter to connect to my sub's rca's as to maintain its onboard eq (crossover, phase, slope) and it works great. 3) The built-in phono stage is predictably lackluster. How awesome do you expect an integrated amp to be for under $1k? In Pure Direct mode, My AT LP120, w/ the stock AT95E cartridge, sounds much harsher through the Yamaha's phono stage than it did through the charming (albeit oxidized) Sansui 2000A this 801 is replacing. The soundscape is shallow, lacking depth and detail and has a harshness that prevents any desire to "turn it up". Clicking out of Pure Direct, and dialing the bass and treble controls to nearly 2 o' clock, brings a much fuller dynamic with far better contrast, less top end shrill, and richer tone all-around. A much more satisfying experience but a dedicated phono preamp is now on my short list- and a nicer cartridge. Hi-fi is a slippery slope! The built-in DAC is incredible and well worth the price of entry alone. Adding a quality phono preamp for vinyl playback will no doubt prove worthwhile and likely sway my tendencies back to spinning records instead of clicking files. All in all the A S801 is a fantastic amplifier for critical 2 channel listening at a bargain price. 100% recommended!