Yamaha A-S501 Integrated Amplifier - Black

Product Information

In terms of amplifiers, the Yamaha A-S501 you were originally asking about is a brighter sounding amp. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does emphasise the high frequencies a little more which may not be the type of sound you’re looking for. Marantz amplifiers are warmer sounding and their vocal reproduction is outstanding, as is their ability to reproduce guitars and other acoustic instruments in particular. Then there are brands like Cambridge who offer a middle of the road option with a more neutral sound, designed to offer a flat frequency response. Sound staging is excellent, the A-S501 managing to convey a decent 3-dimensional stereo image. It’s also very coherent – its ability to separate the layers of a complex mix was a trait of its predecessor that I’m pleased to see the A-S501 has inherited.

The A-variable S501’s loudness control restores the low-end strength while enabling you to use a greater portion of the volume range. The A-S501 has also an adjustable volume control, which is unique for a speaker. When the loudness of a sound is changed, the sensitivity of people’s hearing to frequency extremes fluctuates. The aforementioned impedance selector switch accompanies the large speaker terminals, which can accept bare wire or banana plugs. Of course, no Yamaha would be complete without fiddly end caps pushed into the speaker terminals, which require removal if one wishes to use banana plugs. The front is distinctly Yamaha. To the right, the large textured volume control dominates much of the end of the front panel, accompanied by a smaller but similarly designed rotary dial for source selection. LEDs surround the source selection dial, illuminating the currently selected source – while the pure direct switch sits discretely beneath the 2 controls. This loudness control is designed to compensate for those changes by readjusting the balance of bass and treble. It works, and is well worth a try.and coaxial inputs will accept 2ch PCM (not Dolby Digital/DTS). The audio stays in the digital domain, giving you pure, I too wish Japanese equipment was more widely reviewed. Quite often they’re better engineered, more reliable and far better value for money despite what some will tell you. Sadly many of the brands don’t get anywhere near as much press as they should in the UK especially.

A-S501 with Apple TV to use Air Play (which I already use with the ridiculous tv’s speakers). Future combination with CD-N301 (despite no wifi and hoping they will produce one with). Serious candidate after this review but, how would it work with the Apple TV? The Altea EX is a 100W speaker that mean, the speaker will react to voltage upper than 20V during more than few seconds. Even at low volumes, the A-S501 gets to portray a high degree of detail that is quite remarkable. Because of the changeable loudness, it has a pleasant and appealing low-level sound that is just slightly missing in the bass although there’s in which the dynamic sound intensity comes into effect.Every audio enthusiast will be pleased by the elegant modern design. The model is small and straightforward to use. Even a rookie user will be able to operate the gadget with the help of the handles on the front panel. A one-of-a-kind and proprietary ToP-ART system is a concept that is constructed symmetrically.