[dmckean44]

YAMAHA does not just make everything though. They are mostly related/deriving.
And what’s important is, YAMAHA has YAMAHA beauty on its base throughout all their products (sound and design wise).

<Sound/Electronics>
Organ (from repairing organs as Mr. Yamaha’s business)
—> Piano (same keyboard instrument)
—> Electric organ (deriving from traditional organ)
—> Wind instruments (bought company Nikkan to broaden range of instruments)
—> IC (for eletronical organs)
—> Audio (using skills for electric organs and IC for electronic organs)
—> Routers (using ICs, after fail in PC business)
—> Vocaloids (using background of sound producing)


<Motorcycle/Recreation>
—> Motorcycle (using Piano frame casting/machining skill for engines, etc)
—> Boats (using knowledge for making engines for motorcycles)
—> Bathtub (using FRP skill for boats)
—> Swimming pool (using FRP skill for boats and bathtubs. Yeah, over 90% of Japanese school swimming pools are YAMAHAs)

I've always had a lot of respect for Japanese companies, I don't know how a single company can end up with the best piano, turntable and motorcycle all at the same time but it's pretty impressive when it happens.

 

[theveterans]

I've always had a lot of respect for Japanese companies, I don't know how a single company can end up with the best piano, turntable and motorcycle all at the same time but it's pretty impressive when it happens.

Yamaha - a brand that you always trust to give you one of the best sounds for the money.

 

[AudioBear]

To go back to the initial post, I would have no hesitation recommending a $1K Yamaha receiver.

 

[Anavel0]

If we're talking about engines. Here's the engine to a car that I've had the great pleasure to be a passenger in while it's been driven three times now in my life . Can anyone guess what car?.

Engine

Engine Bay

I know that engine anywhere. It’s the modified BMW S70 V12 that powers the McLaren F1 but was originally from the BMW 850CSi.

Still my favorite car and engine and all without a supercharger.

 

[Licht]

Napoleon......


I'm old enough to remember Suzuki also making guitars.
I have to admit to having bought an unspecified amount of Yamaha audio gear and motorcycles.
I have not heard a piece of Yamaha audio gear that I haven't liked. Ditto, the motorbicycles.

The name Suzuki is extremely popular name in Japan, you know Ichiro Suzuki?
That Suzuki making guitars is completely different company and no relation to the motorcycle manufacturer.
It's Suzuki Violin and its Suzuki method is very popular method for learning violin and piano in the United States of America and Japan.
Even famous Hilary Hahn or Yo-Yo Ma had studied by Suzuki method.

However, Yamaha is extremely rare name that I haven't even seen name Yamaha in my life except the founder of Yamaha.

Well, might be getting too long but I love Yamaha (Amp and Flute) as well as Schiit.
Presently I have switched my main 2ch amp from Yamaha A-S2100 to Schiit Freya + two Vidars.

 

[Licht]

This is at best a tangent, more realistically off-topic question for this thread; but I'm looking for suggestions. If there is somewhere better to do reading and research please point me in that direction.

My father-in-law is a two-channel listener, primarily classical music, via spinning CDs, broadcast FM, and a couple of internet radio streams. He is very unlikely to go beyond two channels (retired architect, large open floor plan room with lots of glass in the house he designed, other transducers or cabling would violate the style guidelines). He currently drives a pair of Snell Acoustics Type C/V speakers (manual recommends 50-250W of amplifier power) with an old Denon receiver. However, video has crept into this world with band-aid connectivity to the two-channel system ... The digital TV (with really horrid built-in speakers), satellite receiver, and DVD player live on the wall between the speakers. The DVD player is old enough to have unbalanced audio outputs, so those got connected to an input on the Denon. Neither the satellite receiver nor the digital TV have unbalanced stereo outputs, so his temporary solution was to pull a 3.5mm-to-RCA pair cable out of his collection-of-stuff drawer, and plug the headphone jack of the television into another input on the Denon.

The newest problem is that the Denon is suffering random self-muting and input changing that suggests its control logic is dying. So arriving at their home for Christmas I find him asking if he should just get replacement electronics.

The notion of getting an A/V receiver and running in 2.nothing mode, so that he could switch his audio and video sources at the receiver and handle the audio for devices which only have HDMI outputs seems compelling, but I gather from a bit of reading last night that this could be The Dark Side of the Force calling with respect to his music listening (i.e., a lot of A/V receivers seem to gather negative comments with respect to musicality). Also any number of the products I glanced at last night don't seem to reach into the power range that the Snell's recommend.

Are there A/V receivers that get good marks when used for two-channel music listening? Or should I find him a decent sound bar for his digital TV, declare that we are divorcing his video and audio worlds, and then suggest Saga+Vidar+somebody's FM tuner for the music listening side of his world? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Alan

To go back to the initial post, I would have no hesitation recommending a $1K Yamaha receiver.

I assume most TVs have optical out, so you can use optical out from TV to DAC and then to two channel amp, and that's what I am doing for my living room setup.

So for you father in law, Modi Multibit + Saga + Vidar shall do?
CD -- (coax digital) --> Modi Multibit --> Saga --> Vidar
DVD -- (HDMI) --> TV -- (optical)--> Modi Multibit --> Saga --> Vidar
Satellite tuner -- (HDMI) --> TV -- (optical: same as above from here) --> Modi Multibit --> Saga --> Vidar

If no optical out from TV, then audio wise could be like this?
CD -- (coax digital) --> Modi Multibit --> Saga --> Vidar
DVD -- (RCA stereo)--> Saga --> Vidar
Satellite tuner -- (HDMI) --> TV -- (headphone out)--> Saga --> Vidar

If you want three of them in one body then you can choose Yamaha A-S801 which has digital input as well, not as good as Mimby though.

 

[OldRoadToad]

How about this? A two channel A/V receiver.

http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,FMJ,Stereo-AV-Receiver,sr250.htm

I own a nice Pioneer Elite SX-N30 but if I didn't I would get one of these -

Without hesitation.

ORT

 

[Oveja Negra]

YAMAHA does not just make everything though. They are mostly related/deriving.
And what’s important is, YAMAHA has YAMAHA beauty on its base throughout all their products (sound and design wise).

<Sound/Electronics>
Organ (from repairing organs as Mr. Yamaha’s business)
—> Piano (same keyboard instrument)
—> Electric organ (deriving from traditional organ)
—> Wind instruments (bought company Nikkan to broaden range of instruments)
—> IC (for eletronical organs)
—> Audio (using skills for electric organs and IC for electronic organs)
—> Routers (using ICs, after fail in PC business)
—> Vocaloids (using background of sound producing)


<Motorcycle/Recreation>
—> Motorcycle (using Piano frame casting/machining skill for engines, etc)
—> Boats (using knowledge for making engines for motorcycles)
—> Bathtub (using FRP skill for boats)
—> Swimming pool (using FRP skill for boats and bathtubs. Yeah, over 90% of Japanese school swimming pools are YAMAHAs)

I was being semi hyperbolic , still, thanks for the information, very interesting

Napoleon......


I'm old enough to remember Suzuki also making guitars.
I have to admit to having bought an unspecified amount of Yamaha audio gear and motorcycles.
I have not heard a piece of Yamaha audio gear that I haven't liked. Ditto, the motorbicycles.

Me neither. Really great audio gear.

 

[moopster]

I own a nice Pioneer Elite SX-N30 but if I didn't I would get one of these - Without hesitation. ORT

In my experience, Onkyo = Junkyo. I had one of their receivers a couple years back, it died one month after the 2-year warranty expired. Also Junkyo now owns Pioneer.

 

[KoshNaranek]

Well, I have had it set up for two weeks now and it has settled in nicely. Although Vidar appears to not quite have the sense of space of the Pass X150, it easily bests it in bass control and lack of distortion at high volumes. In fact, I put Vidar into protection mode while playing Kodo's Oki Age. At first, I was disappointed that it didn't get that loud, but when I pulled out the dB meter, it read 115!

What I took for lack of Volume was actually lack of distortion. The fact that I have to compare Vidar and Feya to an amp/preamp costing more than 5X the price speaks very well of it. It is not just a great value, it is a great setup in its own right.

@USBlues, I know that we had discussed the relative merits of NOS vs new Tung-Sol tubes, but after spending time with both in my system, I find that the vintage RCAs give a better sense of space. I think you may agree, despite both of our feelings about jumping in the NOS rabbit hole.

 

[RCBinTN]

Well, I have had it set up for two weeks now and it has settled in nicely. Although Vidar appears to not quite have the sense of space of the Pass X150, it easily bests it in bass control and lack of distortion at high volumes. In fact, I put Vidar into protection mode while playing Kodo's Oki Age. At first, I was disappointed that it didn't get that loud, but when I pulled out the dB meter, it read 115!

What I took for lack of Volume was actually lack of distortion. The fact that I have to compare Vidar and Feya to an amp/preamp costing more than 5X the price speaks very well of it. It is not just a great value, it is a great setup in its own right.

@USBlues, I know that we had discussed the relative merits of NOS vs new Tung-Sol tubes, but after spending time with both in my system, I find that the vintage RCAs give a better sense of space. I think you may agree, despite both of our feelings about jumping in the NOS rabbit hole.

Great picture! I wanna come over and listen (maybe a bit lower than 115dB).

 

[Mike Foley]

iIf your father in law wants an amplifier that will last for years then avoid Onkyo. When I worked in retail any Onkyo we sold often came back faulty, usually just after the warranty had expired. Yamaha receivers, especially the higher end models are very reliable, easy to use, and sound pretty decent.

 

[AudioBear]

Well, I have had it set up for two weeks now and it has settled in nicely. Although Vidar appears to not quite have the sense of space of the Pass X150, it easily bests it in bass control and lack of distortion at high volumes. In fact, I put Vidar into protection mode while playing Kodo's Oki Age. At first, I was disappointed that it didn't get that loud, but when I pulled out the dB meter, it read 115!

What I took for lack of Volume was actually lack of distortion. The fact that I have to compare Vidar and Feya to an amp/preamp costing more than 5X the price speaks very well of it. It is not just a great value, it is a great setup in its own right.

@USBlues, I know that we had discussed the relative merits of NOS vs new Tung-Sol tubes, but after spending time with both in my system, I find that the vintage RCAs give a better sense of space. I think you may agree, despite both of our feelings about jumping in the NOS rabbit hole.

Great set-up. 115dB is a bit excessive but I'll bet it sounds great. I also like the stand or rack. Who makes it and where can I get one? I can't quite read the label.

 

[artur9]

I have a 20yo Sony receiver that I use for various things. Durability-wise it's been a champ. It's an STR-DE475.

 

[artur9]

I put Vidar into protection mode while playing Kodo's Oki Age. At first, I was disappointed that it didn't get that loud, but when I pulled out the dB meter, it read 115!

What I took for lack of Volume was actually lack of distortion.

I think that's a really under-appreciated aspect of high quality electronics. It plays loud and does not set one's teeth on edge.

On the other hand, it may lead to more visits to the audiologist. ;-(