Yamaha A-S1100 Owners?

BroonsBane

raisn em up waxin em down
I've owned some incredible Yamaha pieces over the years but it's been a long time since I've had any in the house. I've gotten out of the vintage game and my system is mostly modern gear, other than the turntable.

However, I find myself interested in the new A-S1100 integrated amp. I demoed it this morning at the one and only remaining audio shop here but their room and speaker set up was crap and the music sounded lousy. The sales guy kept turning it up louder and I kept turning it down as it sounded so bad. I don't believe what I heard what representative of what this amp is capable of.

Anything I can find about the S1100 on the net says it sounds great and folks are generally pleased with it. I'd like to hear from AK owners of this amp so please feel free to share your impressions with me, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses etc. Thanks!
 
I have had the A-S1100 for over a year now and love it. I previously had a Line Magnetic 216 kt88 amp, and before that vintage Mcintosh separates. The one constant has been my speakers. If the speaker setup in your demo was crap, then I am not surprised it sounded like, well, crap.

The MM phono stage in the Yamaha is excellent. Compared to Graham Slee reflex and gram amp se 2, Lounge Audio MK III, and my vintage C33 McIntosh stage, I'd say it is closet in performance to the reflex. The MC section is not bad, it is just a head amp to the MM stage. But a standalone SUT that I am now using is definitely, wildly better.

This amp is very natural, timbre is very accurate, and overall very dynamic. To me it sounds like a really great tube amp, without having to deal with tubes. It is shockingly close in performance to my friends setup, McIntosh C2500 with NOS mullard tubes + MC275 also with NOS tubes.
 
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I have had the A-S1100 for over a year now and love it. I previously had a Line Magnetic 216 kt88 amp, and before that vintage Mcintosh separates. The one constant has been my speakers. If the speaker setup in your demo was crap, then I am not surprised it sounded like, well, crap.

The MM phono stage in the Yamaha is excellent. Compared to Graham Slee reflex and gram amp se 2, Lounge Audio MK III, and my vintage C33 McIntosh stage, I'd say it is closet in performance to the reflex. The MC section is not bad, it is just a head amp to the MM stage. But a standalone SUT that I am not using is definitely, wildly better.

This amp is very natural, timbre is very accurate, and overall very dynamic. To me it sounds like a really great tube amp, without having to deal with tubes. It is shockingly close in performance to my friends setup, McIntosh C2500 with NOS mullard tubes + MC275 also with NOS tubes.

Well that's some very high praise indeed :thumbsup:
I'd read somewhere that this new line of amps has a very similar sonic signature to their vintage cousins which echoes the video brutal posted. That says a lot as I loved that Yamaha sound.
 
Well that's some very high praise indeed :thumbsup:
I'd read somewhere that this new line of amps has a very similar sonic signature to their vintage cousins which echoes the video brutal posted. That says a lot as I loved that Yamaha sound.
I have done direct comparisons between my CA-800 and A-S500 and they are extremely close; and yes they have basically the same sonic signature. They are very clean, detailed, and tight. I have a bit of a preference for the more forward midrange of the 500, but I love the class A on the 800 so :idea:...
 
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I bought an A-S1100 a couple of months ago. I started with an A-S801 but was never quite happy with the sound, it seemed a little muted and muddy to me. Decided to give the 1100 a try and I'm very pleased with it. Nice tight controlled base and very smooth and musical. It steps out of the way and lets the music pour out. The A-S1100 is just in a different class from the more mainstream consumer lineup.
 
I got an A-S1100 last month and am really loving it. It's a really hefty, well-built amplifier that seems to have oodles of power: it drives my speakers (known for not being the most efficient) with relative ease. I could have got an amp with DACs and more bells and whistles for the same (or even less) money but I'm glad I went for this. Once or twice I've thought that I should have gone the whole 9 yards and got the A-S2100 but that was £1,000 GBP more than I paid for my A-S1100 so it would have been difficult to justify.

Minor niggles?
  • The little indentation on the volume knob isn't the easiest to see even in bright daylight: once the sun goes down and you're sat in subdued lighting, it's virtually impossible to see.
  • The auto-off feature doesn't deem turning volume up/down as 'an activity'. Consequently, I had a scare on the second day when the amp powered off mid-song. I've since switched this feature off!
 
I just picked up an A-S1000 recently for roughly 2.5 times less $ than the 1100. My second go round with this amp and I love it. The specs are very very close. I can't see paying that much more for basically some pretty meters. Just my $0.02.
 
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I just picked up an A-S1000 recently for roughly 2.5 times less $ than the 1100. My second go round with this amp and I love it. The specs are very very close. I can't see paying that much more for basically some pretty meters. Just my $0.02.

I think if you can get an A-S1000 (or A-S2000) for a killer price as you've done, it would be silly not to!
 
Anyone had a chance to compare with Sony TAA1ES ? I heard one in Japan and while it was paired with top of the line speakers, i really liked it.

I am tossing up between the 1100 and the Sony.
 
Just wanted to throw out an update on the phono section of this excellent integrated. I used the built-in MM section for about a year with an Ortofon 2M Bronze and was really impressed. I thought it was comparable to something like the Graham Slee reflex that I used to own. I got my first MC cartridge, an Ortofon Quintet Bronze, and was really impressed by the jump in all directions of quality.
After a few months, a friend offered to loan me his MA Cotter Step Up Transformer, a notable SUT from the 80s. It was my first experience with a SUT in my own system, but having recently heard a friends Bobs devices SUT paired with a Koetsu rosewood signature platinum, I was really convinced by the naturalness and lack of noise a SUT can bring to the picture.

I happily used the Cotter for about 6 months, and have now returned it. Switching back to the built in MC head amp is surprisingly satisfying! It doesn't have quite the tonal colors of the SUT, but I have noted the music seems to have more drive and PRAT as they say.

All in all, a really solid and satisfying built-in phono stage in this one, that I can happily live with for awhile. A couple years down the road I may treat myself to something on the higher end, but it just reaffirms to me that this series of integrated amplifiers were really well thought out, and are a great value.
 
Just wanted to throw out an update on the phono section of this excellent integrated. I used the built-in MM section for about a year with an Ortofon 2M Bronze and was really impressed. I thought it was comparable to something like the Graham Slee reflex that I used to own. I got my first MC cartridge, an Ortofon Quintet Bronze, and was really impressed by the jump in all directions of quality.
After a few months, a friend offered to loan me his MA Cotter Step Up Transformer, a notable SUT from the 80s. It was my first experience with a SUT in my own system, but having recently heard a friends Bobs devices SUT paired with a Koetsu rosewood signature platinum, I was really convinced by the naturalness and lack of noise a SUT can bring to the picture.

I happily used the Cotter for about 6 months, and have now returned it. Switching back to the built in MC head amp is surprisingly satisfying! It doesn't have quite the tonal colors of the SUT, but I have noted the music seems to have more drive and PRAT as they say.

All in all, a really solid and satisfying built-in phono stage in this one, that I can happily live with for awhile. A couple years down the road I may treat myself to something on the higher end, but it just reaffirms to me that this series of integrated amplifiers were really well thought out, and are a great value.

Excellent to hear and the timing of your post is great!

I too have an A-S1100 and am awaiting the arrival of a vintage table for which I am proposing to upgrade the cartridge. Initially I was only considering MM carts, partly because I'd assumed the in-built provision for MC wouldn't be that great and I didn't want to consider a SUT or separate phono stage right now.

However, you're the third person within the last 24 hours that has stated that the in-built MC stage is good, so I'm now considering going MC too :)
 
These new Yamahas are missing:
- tape loop/monitor (x2, with bidirectional dubbing)
- pre/main separate switch
- mono
- subsonic filter
- loudness

Would have bought one in a blink if these features were included.
 
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I have the A-S2000 and i like it a lot. Wonderful amp. Audio.de magazine scores the A-S2000 in 100 points and the A-S2100 , 115 points, i guess.
 
Your opinions please about A-S1100 VS A-S2100. What are the exact differences internally besides the obvious external ones (MM/MC switch on front, XLR connection and phones trim)? Does 2100 sound better and feel more powerful? Is it worth the extra cash?
 
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