Yamaha A-S2000 Natural Sound Stereo Amplifier, 2x 120W at 8 Ohms RMS Output Power, 5Hz-100kHz Frequency Response, Silver

2015-07-22T20:00:00

I Purchased the Yamaha A-S2000 (Black Version) in May 2014 from Crutchfield. Simply put, for the price, (especially if you manage to obtain an "Open Box" or "Scratch & Dent" unit) you are not going to do better then the Yamaha A-S2000. The Yamaha A-S2000 is built like a Tank! The unit is absolutely superb! The Bass is Tight, Clean and Powerful (as good as the A-S2100 - Please see my review on the A-S2100). The Sound Stage is great! Mids and Highs are Clean, Clear & Precise with excellent detail! To get this kind of build quality and exceptional audio performance from the "boutique" manufacturers, you'd have to spend 2x-3x the price and it would likely still not be as solid as the Yamaha A-S2000. My speakers are the Polk Audio LSIM 707's - These speakers are Awesome! Bottom Line: The Yamaha A-S2000 is great! If you can't afford the A-S2100, this is the next best thing! I Highly Recommend the A-S2000! Pros: Excellent Build Quality! Great Sound! Great "Bang for the Buck"! Tone Controls and overall Amplifier Topology is Superb! Cons: No Tape Loop Input. Not sure why all manufacturers have omitted this, but us old guys who got into HiFi in the Seventies realized that not all recordings are done properly (Not all recording engineers are Alan Parsons!) and sometimes (assuming you have a very high quality 14 band or greater EQ), you may need to "tweak the recording playback" to fix the recording engineer's mistakes (or their poor hearing). Okay, Audiophiles please don't be angry with me, but EQ's, if used properly, are not EVIL.

Chris.B

Originally posted at

2013-10-14T20:00:00

I purchased a complete S2000 system including this amp, the CD player and the network audio player this summer. Without hesitation I emphatically state I cannot be more pleased with the entire system. Speaking specifically of the amplifier I must say it is smooth, oh so smooth. The amp was extremely easy to set up. It looks exceptional and sounds as good. The build quality is beyond compare in most any price range. This amp is the best solid-state unit I've owned in many years. It isn't harsh and almost sounds tube like. Without reservation I would recommend this amplifier to anyone who wants a warm and clean sounding, well built and exceptional looking amplifier for their audiophile system. The only downside is Yamaha has discontinued availability of the Soavo speakers in North America. They would be an exceptional finish to this superb amplifier.

Roy N.

Originally posted at

2013-06-24T20:00:00

The price is pretty reasonable for everything this offers. For the vinyl crowd, there is a built in MM/MC preamp section. I did not audition it, but given this unit's pedigree, would reckon that it sounds pretty good. It also has some very sophisticated power supply regulation, generally seen in units costing far more than this one does. One look at the build quality and one quickly sees a high end pedigree. It also has a direct input for use in HT applications. The tone controls are also well engineered. They are bypassed when in the center detent, and do provide a useful room/recording correction capability if required. The mute circuit is also well engineered, and one of the few that actually works as it should. When a company like Yamaha puts their resources to work, it's very difficult for small audio manufactures to match their price/performance ratio. I was very surprised at just how good this unit sounds. It took some time to break in, but once it did, it is very impressive. The noise floor is remarkably low for an integrated amplifier. Dynamic contrasts are especially noteworthy with this unit, as it seems to play louder and cleaner than some other amps with higher power ratings. No doubt my ATC SCM 19 speakers help flesh this out, with their almost unique ability to reproduce dynamics without compression from the driver. I could wax poetic ad nauseum about sound staging, depth, etc. Suffice to say that this is one fine integrated amplifier, and the measured performance equal or exceed that of many separates. In summary, this is a excellent performer, and one that many audiophiles will find intensely satisfying. One could spend a lot more and not get any better performance than offered by this. This will serve as a fine music source for two channel audio use. Highly recommended for audition

Freo-1

Originally posted at

2012-04-11T20:00:00

Forget all of your stereotyped thoughts about recent Yamaha amplifiers. It is not bright and somewhat flat sounding. While your audiophile friends may look down their snobby noses at this unit, it is truly their mistake. The A-S2000 is a fabulous integrated amplifier. It performs well when run with single ended inputs. However, it is even better when run with balanced inputs to take advantage of the fully balanced internal topology and resulting CMRR. Sound emerges from a very "black" background. The low noise floor permits the reproduction of explosive dynamics. Low level detail is excellent and produces tone inflections in instruments and voices and very "lifelike" natural sound. The soundstage is 3D. Bass control is very taught and nothing short of being in the league of its boutique manufactured competition. It is a fun amplifier to listen to. At its price point, there is very little to complain about. The only real negative is that there is only one balanced input. If you desire to employ both of the matching digital source units (CD-S2000 and NP-S2000), you have to constantly switch your balanced interconnect from one to the other. Do not hesitate to mate this beast with the highest quality interconnects, speaker cables and speakers that your budget will permit. Highly recommended.

The D.

Originally posted at