Yamaha A - 720 intergrated amplifier Late 80s

[steam3642]

Hi
Looking to get one of these for a second system . it is rated at 105 wpc and is a 2 channel model , does anyone know of this model and are the mid 80s to early 90s intergrated amplifiers of good quality sound . cheers.

 

[joelongwood]

Well, I have the A-520.....same series, lesser wattage. I believe it's 65 watts per side. As far as driving speakers is concerned, I used it for about 15 years and was very pleased with its performance. I used it with both low and high efficiency speakers, and found the power to be clean, if a bit bright in the top end.........brighter than the earlier CA series amps, which, to my ears at least, presented a more neutral sound.
With headphones, I found basically the same thing.....a bit bright. But again, that was in direct comparison to the CA series amp I have, the CA-2010. I've found that Yamaha was not alone in changing the basic sound quality of their amps......Pioneer, Kenwood, and others, all began to produce amps in the mid 80's that tended to be too bright for my tastes.
I much prefer the vintage sound, when manufacturers were trying to emulate the tube sound.
In terms of reliability, the A-520 is a tank, much heavier and better built than today's mass market stuff. It still works perfectly.....I think.

 

[steam3642]

Thanks , i had a Denon Pma 750 a few years back it was rated at 80wpc and had a 670v power usage direct from the mains , i always look at pwer consumption , a beafy transformer is what counts.