Wow! Arrived today. This replaces my CR-640 that has been struggling for a while. It has a channel that is troublesome and I am tired of fixing and cleaning it out. Got the Silver version.
Looks: Beautiful - a very classic look and has metal knobs (some had stated it might have plastic). An understated elegance to the look. AS one who came of age in the 1970's I appreciate this look. Looks like the amps the rich guys in my fraternity house had back then.
Sound: Clear and tidy. Paired with my Klipsch KG 2.5 speakers it sounds very nice. Good balance of sound. I have listened to LP versions of Crime of the Century, Random Access Memories, and Grover Washington Jr's Winelighting on my UTurn Orbit Plus with a Grado Blue cartridge and 8MZ stylus. Will be trying some classical later on but all of these sounded more alive than I have been used to. I am hearing nuances to the recordings that were lacking, something I was suspecting was due to the speakers needing to be recapped.
I have mostly been running in the Pure Direct mode which sounds really good to me. In regular mode with tone controls adjusted a bit is sounds good too. I will be spending a great deal of time playing around with this.
DAC: I have been using a Maverick DAC with upgraded tube and chips for digital playback from iTunes through my Apple TV box. The DAC in the Yamaha sounds good. I will be doing a comparison seen. DAC input has quite a bit more volume that the phono input. Very clear sound.
Tuner: I have an Adcom GFT-555 II that I will be hooking up in a few days. Looking forward to hearing it.
CD: Using my Sony Bluray player for CD. Tried Tommy Emmanuel's Christmas album (was on top of the pile) and it sounded great. Acoustic guitar is very realistic. Will be trying others soon.
Summary: I am exceptionally pleased with this amp thus far. I give it high marks in all areas at my initial impression. Will update soon as I try more things. And gosh does it look wonderful. I am a musician by training, now retired from that biz, and it is important to me that instruments sound like they really sound in the recordings I listen to. This unit seems to do just that. :tresbon:
Looks: Beautiful - a very classic look and has metal knobs (some had stated it might have plastic). An understated elegance to the look. AS one who came of age in the 1970's I appreciate this look. Looks like the amps the rich guys in my fraternity house had back then.
Sound: Clear and tidy. Paired with my Klipsch KG 2.5 speakers it sounds very nice. Good balance of sound. I have listened to LP versions of Crime of the Century, Random Access Memories, and Grover Washington Jr's Winelighting on my UTurn Orbit Plus with a Grado Blue cartridge and 8MZ stylus. Will be trying some classical later on but all of these sounded more alive than I have been used to. I am hearing nuances to the recordings that were lacking, something I was suspecting was due to the speakers needing to be recapped.
I have mostly been running in the Pure Direct mode which sounds really good to me. In regular mode with tone controls adjusted a bit is sounds good too. I will be spending a great deal of time playing around with this.
DAC: I have been using a Maverick DAC with upgraded tube and chips for digital playback from iTunes through my Apple TV box. The DAC in the Yamaha sounds good. I will be doing a comparison seen. DAC input has quite a bit more volume that the phono input. Very clear sound.
Tuner: I have an Adcom GFT-555 II that I will be hooking up in a few days. Looking forward to hearing it.
CD: Using my Sony Bluray player for CD. Tried Tommy Emmanuel's Christmas album (was on top of the pile) and it sounded great. Acoustic guitar is very realistic. Will be trying others soon.
Summary: I am exceptionally pleased with this amp thus far. I give it high marks in all areas at my initial impression. Will update soon as I try more things. And gosh does it look wonderful. I am a musician by training, now retired from that biz, and it is important to me that instruments sound like they really sound in the recordings I listen to. This unit seems to do just that. :tresbon:
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