The A-700 is supposed to sound even "better" than the mighty CA-2010 according to AK member belgianbrain here. That's why I got real interest in this series and also because I've an A-520 which sounds incredible sweet to my ears.I bought an A-700 new. Still have it and still using it. Can't comment on the A-720 and AX-700.Very dependable and nice sounding integrated.
The A-700 is supposed to sound even "better" than the mighty CA-2010 according to AK member belgianbrain here.
Thanks, Rool..
I wouldn't be surprised. 80's gear is generally better than its 70's counterparts.
I only have experience with the AX-700, which was really great. A bit harsh on the ears, perhaps, and I couldn't quite feel the bass, but otherwise I liked it a great deal.
It looked really cool. And I miss it.
I have an A-720, which I think sounds very good. I was not really expecting it to sound as good as it does, based on it's external appearance, but the looks were deceiving. To my ears Class A mode is an improvement over Class A/B. It has a few Blackgates inside, they appear to be original to the amp, Yamaha must have built them this way.
From pictures I have seen, internally the A-700 has more robust heat sinks. I don't know if this indicates a slightly higher build quality, or just a cost savings vs. the 720. I have not heard an A-700, so I can make no comparison there, but it would surprise me if it the sound is not quite similar. Without comparing two amps in similar condition, it would be difficult to make a realistic judgment, but you already know that.
Good luck picking out your amp, I hope you enjoy whichever one you end up with!
Yeah, I remember I read that review as well. They removed some of their links but it seems that the A-720 was the only 1980s' amp to "convince" them. A bit exaggerated maybe but still a good point in its favour. There are also the HK6950R and the Sony TA-F800ES (xxxxxx-rare pieces over here).Karl, some more info for you, the A-720 has a couple of IC's in the phono stage but otherwise mostly if not all discrete components. Not sure if the phono IC's are used only for the MC input or not. There is (or was) a good review of the A-720 at the select45rpm.com website, but it's not available right now. This review helped convince me to buy mine.
39cross, I had the same problem with the A-520's Direct Souce switch.Hey Karl, one other thing with the A-720 to let you know about. We had some problems with the Class A and Direct switches not working very well. I loaned my son, who has the amp for now (hooked up to some Monitor 10b's), my can of deoxit and it seems he must have fixed them for now.
I have advised him to make sure to run it in Class A this winter, it will help heat the apartment. He can also use it to cook eggs with. Yes, it does run that hot
I have the ax 700.I completely re-capped all the electrolytics and absolutely love it.Beautiful sounding integrated amp to my ears.
I was thinking of re-capping mine, but with that pair of 22K uf filter caps in the power supply it would probably be a little pricey.
How much did it cost you? What brand did you use, especially for the filters?