New (Used) Yamaha M85 owner! Now What?

-MK-

New Member
Hi, I'm -MK-, and I'm out of my league. I just got back from a guy's house who has audio equipment ALL OVER the place. I heard good things about this amp and I picked it up for $380, talking him down from $450. I know these are likely found for cheaper, but he knows eBay and knows what he COULD sell it for, so I thought did the best I could. Maybe I got burned...anyhow...

...I'm new to the dedicated audio game. I'm wanting to build a manly stereo to offset the psychological effects of now knowing I have a 3rd kid on the way (2 under 4 right now). I've got plans for a nice system for CD/Vinyl listening sessions, but also want something versatile enough to add more speakers, plug in an iPod and crank up for a house party on it.

So...I have this M85 and really don't know what to do next. Any help would be great. The only "speakers" I have to are part of a HTiB in the living room, so I need literally everything else. Your speaker recommendations, suggestions of other components to pair with this amp, things I should understand about this amp before I blow something up, etc. are MOST WELCOME! Thanks in advance!!!

Here are some pics:

3n43k73p25Z45W35R0b5o95004d3f87811b81.jpg
[/URL]
3n53p33o75Y45Z05P0b5of92f7ad1d7241bc3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice amp and decent price if it is healthy. Do a search on DC offset and get a voltage meter and make sure the amp is operating per spec.

Then pick up a nice C-85 pre and you have a great combination. The C-85 has a great phono stage.

The M-85 will drive about any speaker out there so get what you can afford.

If you want it to live long you may not want to operate it in class A for long periods of time.

Welcome and enjoy.
 
You're right, your in over your head. Just send me your amp and forget you were ever here. :smoke:

All kidding aside you have managed to get one of the best amps ever made (as long as it is in ok shape). I paid $395 for my cherry M-80 and most M-85's go for $450 to as much as $850 plus shipping so you did good. Get yourself a good pre-amp (c-65, c-85, cx-800, cx-1000 if you want digital) and rock yourself silly.

If you think having three kids under five rocks your world wait until you have three kids graduate high school inside of four years (my beard has never been so gray).

Congrats and welcome!



.
 
M85

Congrats on that stellar score. Those rarely come up for sale near me.

As a father of two young children may I recommend that you put a pair or two of headphones on your shopping list? While that monster will make all high quality speakers come alive it might also stir your sleeping angels. This occurrence will likely interrupt your attempts to manufacture children numbers four and five.:banana:
 
Thanks for the recommendations and well-wishes, glad to hear I'm not the only one around fighting to keep sanity among a house full of kids! :D

ASPEC said:
Get yourself a good pre-amp (c-65, c-85, cx-800, cx-1000 if you want digital) and rock yourself silly.
I've believe I've seen reference to those on the net. Are any of them ideal over the others? In other words, should the c-85 be the "true" or "natural" match for this amp or does the model/specs of the pre-amp not matter as much as far as the amp is concerned and more about what features you desire? As far as hooking up an iPod or mp3 source, is the cx-1000 the only one from the list that allows it?

deep3shot said:
As a father of two young children may I recommend that you put a pair or two of headphones on your shopping list? While that monster will make all high quality speakers come alive it might also stir your sleeping angels. This occurrence will likely interrupt your attempts to manufacture children numbers four and five.
So first off, I don't WANT kids 4 and 5, so if stirring sleeping angels (mom included) every now and then is all it takes, thank you for the tip! :naughty: I also just got a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50s a few weeks ago and LOVE them! Not too pricey, but enough quality to REALLY make digital/CDs come alive. In fact, these headphones sounding so good was part of the reason I recently decided to get a nice stereo system going, while the sound quality is amazing, I'm a person who sweats when he just thinks about getting hot, and after a few tracks my ears are already uncomfortably warm. I just want the same (or better) quality from some speakers.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for the preamps mentioned, and will check the local electronics place for a voltage meter. We actually hooked it up in his house to show it worked, and he couldn't turn it up much past 0 without making the AR speakers he had SCREAM. I was happy. I found a good AK post on testing DC offset and found these instructions:

EchoWars said:
As a semi-poll, I'd like to see those on this board whip out their multimeters and take a look at the DC that is being presented to the speakers. This means..

1. Speakers disconnected (or connect the meter to the 'B' speakers and set the front panel speaker control accordingly)
2. Input set to an unusued position (not Phono)
3. Volume control at minimum.
4. Balance in center
5. Tone controls either defeated or set to mid position
6. Set your meter to read DC, and set to a low scale (300mV scale is common) Connect directly to the Pos and Neg of the speaker terminals
7. Give the amp 10 minutes to settle. Report back...I'd like to see how healthy all these old amps are.
Regarding step #6, does this mean I need to connect the meter to the speakers themselves after connecting to the amp, or is it saying that once the meter is configured correctly, to then touch it to the speaker inputs on the amp itself (speakers not required)?

SPEAKING of SPEAKERS, hehehehe, any specific speaker (or turntable, and CD player recommendations) for this amp? Thanks again!
 
Last edited:
I've believe I've seen reference to those on the net. Are any of them ideal over the others? In other words, should the c-85 be the "true" or "natural" match for this amp or does the model/specs of the pre-amp not matter as much as far as the amp is concerned and more about what features you desire? As far as hooking up an iPod or mp3 source, is the cx-1000 the only one from the list that allows it?

The C-85 is the matching pre sold with the M-85. Nothing else needed to connect an iPod or other source to an AUX or Tape input via RCA. I believe the reference to digital was with regards to the CX-1000 built-in DAC allowing you to connect a CDP or other source via Coax (preferred) or Toslink optical. The CX-1000 has a remote, the C-85 does not. They're both close enough in performance with, IMHO, a slight edge to the CX-1000, so it's likely more a matter of budget and needs.

Regarding step #6, does this mean I need to connect the meter to the speakers themselves after connecting to the amp, or is it saying that once the meter is configured correctly, to then touch it to the speaker inputs on the amp itself (speakers not required)?

SPEAKING of SPEAKERS, hehehehe, any specific speaker (or turntable, and CD player recommendations) for this amp? Thanks again!

Connect the meter only to the speaker outputs when measuring. No input signal/input attenuators turned all the way down. Speaker switch engaged.
 
Last edited:
Excellent, thanks brutal! Not sure I'm predisposed to one over the other, if both can handle an iPod via RCA I'd be happy with either. I'll keep my eyes peeled for them on Craigslist/eBay.
 
Excellent, thanks brutal! Not sure I'm predisposed to one over the other, if both can handle an iPod via RCA I'd be happy with either. I'll keep my eyes peeled for them on Craigslist/eBay.

For $25, you can subscribe to Audiokarma and get access to special members only areas, including Bartertown. There's a sticky in the Dollars and Sense forum with links and an old preview of the items for sale/trade/WTB.
 
Back
Top Bottom