Yamaha R-S501 or R-N500 and Airport Express?

N

nadavs123

New Member
Yamaha R-N501 or A-S500 and Airport Express?

Hi Guys,
I have an excellent pair of KEF 103.2 that currently are underdrived using Harman/Kardon 330c connected to the analog output of an apple airport express for Airplay.

I have all of my music on 320kbps MP3's and I only use Airplay to hear them.
As I wanna upgrade audio quality, I'm trying to decide between getting the Yamaha A-S501 and connecting it using toslink to my existing Airport Express (My budget won't allow me to buy a separate amp and one of those expensive streaming devices like the Pioneer N-50A) or getting the R-N500 that will connect directly to my files (either from my PC or using Airplay from my iPhone). Which will give me a better result in terms of sound quality?

Thanks!
 
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Do you need a radio? If not, I'd skip the whole receiver thing and look at the Yamaha
A-S501 integrated amp.
 
Oh jeez I got all my models mixed up.. (I corrected the post accordingly now).
While I absolutely don't need a radio, i'm concerned that the audio quality from the Airport Express will cause the A-S501 option to sound inferior to the R-N500. From what I understand, the Airport Express has no internal clock and so any packet loss (like when skipping a song in the middle) creates jitter which effects the sound. Any ideas?
 
I would stick with the integrated amps instead of the receivers. The amp sections are more robust and will be better equipped to drive your KEF's.

I used the R-S300 for a little while and it was an ok receiver I ended with the A-S500 and the difference was night and day. The Yamaha integrated amps are very solid pieces especially with the digital inputs they offer now. That's just icing on the cake.
 
I have the AS500 and use the Grace GDI-IRDT 200 FM/ Internet tuner and it is a great combo. The AS501, with its digital inputs and the same amplifier section as the AS500 would really mate well to the Grace tuner. That amp is crystal clear!
 
arclight73 said:
I used the R-S300 for a little while and it was an ok receiver I ended with the A-S500 and the difference was night and day. The Yamaha integrated amps are very solid pieces especially with the digital inputs they offer now. That's just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

The R-S300 is a bottom of the line receiver, I believe that the R-N500 should outperform it. Also, I like the fact that the R-N500 had 2 optical and 2 coaxial connections, while the A-S501 has only 1 of each.


johnda said:
I have the AS500 and use the Grace GDI-IRDT 200 FM/ Internet tuner and it is a great combo. The AS501, with its digital inputs and the same amplifier section as the AS500 would really mate well to the Grace tuner. That amp is crystal clear!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input John! Unfortunately the Grace has no Airplay support :(
 
Here are some images of the R-N500 and A-S501. I'm gonna take A-S501 any day of the week. I will take dual heat sinks and much larger caps all day long.

The R-N500 is 80 watts per channel and the A-S501 is 85 watts per channel. My money is on the A-S501.



 
If this helps, I have the Yamaha AS-701 the past 3 months and seem to enjoy it more than other entry level Yamaha receivers and amps I've listened to. The bass feels tight and accurate, in fact to the extent I do not use it with a subwoofer any more. Have fed it music through the Airport Express. The Airport Express has a decent DAC built-in with minimal jitter, much better than the Apple TV.

Back to the amp, have the bass knob turned perhaps to 2 o clock and the treble is flat. The loudness feature is turned down to perhaps 11 o clock. For speakers, it is the Pioneer Andrew Jones floor speakers through the AS-701 and find this a decent budget set up.
 
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I've had my a-s501 for november and have no complaints at all for the price I paid. I use it with the optical out of a pure i-20 ipod dock(160g alac files) and I have it on for hours everyday, sound great.It's quiet as a mouse at idle, crystal clear at reasonable to ear splitting levels, and has great connectivity.



I had read some reviews online that said yam's can be a little thin on bass. Not from what I've heard. I listen to a lot of hip hop, and even without a sub there's plenty of low end for this bass head. I like's me some loud music and this baby has plenty o' juice.
 
liquid10sion said:
If this helps, I have the Yamaha AS-701 the past 3 months and seem to enjoy it more than other entry level Yamaha receivers and amps I've listened to. The bass feels tight and accurate, in fact to the extent I do not use it with a subwoofer any more. Have fed it music through the Airport Express. The Airport Express has a decent DAC built-in with minimal jitter, much better than the Apple TV.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I can't afford an A-S701, only it's older model the A-S700 or the cheaper one, the A-S501. If you're using the optical output on the AE instead of the analog-out you'e actually bypassing it's built-in DAC and using the Yamaha's one instead.. that's exactly what I plan to do with the 501 if I get it.

fore said:
I've had my a-s501 for november and have no complaints at all for the price I paid. I use it with the optical out of a pure i-20 ipod dock(160g alac files) and I have it on for hours everyday, sound great.It's quiet as a mouse at idle, crystal clear at reasonable to ear splitting levels, and has great connectivity.

I had read some reviews online that said yam's can be a little thin on bass. Not from what I've heard. I listen to a lot of hip hop, and even without a sub there's plenty of low end for this bass head. I like's me some loud music and this baby has plenty o' juice.
Click to expand...

Oh that sounds absolutely terrific! :music:
 
If buying used is an option, deals pop up on Amazon Warehouse Deals for returned items. Snagged the AS701 for $350 - it appeared unopened, and the only downside is no warranty. Set up an alert on camelcamelcamel for the upper limit of your budget and you never know!
 
liquid10sion said:
If buying used is an option, deals pop up on Amazon Warehouse Deals for returned items. Snagged the AS701 for $350 - it appeared unopened, and the only downside is no warranty. Set up an alert on camelcamelcamel for the upper limit of your budget and you never know!
Click to expand...

Holy Sh** I had no idea that's possible. you got an amazing (amazing) deal! I ended up ordering the A-S501 from Amazon.de at 260 euros, which including shipping and taxes to Israel (where I live) ended up at 455 euros. You'd be surprised, but it's still much cheaper than buying one at a local retailer.
 
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