[Rawrbington]

480 ohm output impedance iirc.  which is really high.
not the best from what i've heard.
in fact i much prefer my vintage yamies hp jack.
 
if you are looking for a stereo amp in that price range its very nice.  you'll be hard pressed to find anything that bests it for the price.  mainly because its simple, no extra nonsense you'll never use or don't care about.  2 channels and a subwoofer.  nice clarity and detail.  lively souding. 
if you are looking for something to drive headphones that will also occaisionally drive speakers, i'd look elsewhere

 

[manveru]

480 ohms? That does seem strangely high...
Was just curious. I have an old Sansui receiver that I was afraid wasn't in fully working condition, and was considering getting the Yamaha if that was the case. I've been testing the Sansui today with my new speakers though and it seems to be working fine. If the Yamaha had a decent hpo it would have been an additional boon. I might have gotten it anyway, but if not I'll definitely put my money towards a dedicated headphone amp instead.

 

[Rawrbington]

actually its 470 BUT
i could be reading this thing wrong.
maybe someone else could confirm.
take a look:

 
what im not sure about is if thats the 430mw with an output impedance of 470 or 430mw into a 470 ohm load

 

[mouse6nelson]

I prefer to listen to headphones with my A-S500 over my Nuforce Icon-2, I find I gives a bigger soundstage and better clarity.
 
I don't find it very 'bright' unless the music im listening to is mixed fairly bright. I enjoy the bass with my K701's, a somewhat bass light headphone, and find that well recorded music gives plenty of bass.
 

 

[manveru]

 
Quote:

I prefer to listen to headphones with my A-S500 over my Nuforce Icon-2, I find I gives a bigger soundstage and better clarity.
 
I don't find it very 'bright' unless the music im listening to is mixed fairly bright. I enjoy the bass with my K701's, a somewhat bass light headphone, and find that well recorded music gives plenty of bass.

I wish I knew what the Icon sounded like so I could better weigh that statement.

 

[estreeter]

OK, the jury is clearly still out on the quality of the headphone stage in this integrated amp, but ask yourself this - how many products have you seen on Amazon with 16 reviews and nothing below 5 stars ? Even if Yamaha employees posted every single review here (!), you usually see at least one unhappy camper, esp if the amp had a manufacturing defect, Nothing here beyond someone complaining about Amazon's delivery time. 16 people took the time to post their thoughts, and they all seem ecstatic with the amp - try getting that sort of consensus anywhere else in the audio universe. My experience has been that the unhappy campers tend to be the first to vent their spleen on sites like this - kudos to Yamaha for keeping on top of quality control on this entry-level amp - quite a few could take a leaf out of their book, 
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004EBUOKC/ref=cm_cr_pr_btm_link_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0
 
 
 
 

 

[Rawrbington]

for a new 2 channel amp at its price point its awesome.  but mine's not even plugged in.  pioneer sx 950 and marantz 2245 beat it in sound quality to my ears.  and the marantz puts its headphone jack to shame.
but it really does sound noticeably better than just about anything you can get for under 600$ at best buy.  maybe more.  people think you need a 5.1 or 7.1 a/v receiver. 
give me stereo any day of the week

 

[estreeter]

Sure, but how many have the knowledge/skills needed to refurbish a vintage receiver ? Yamaha kit is readily available - take it home. hook it up and enjoy. Granted, it wont have the longevity of the older gear, but that applies to virtually everything manufactured today, at least at that price point. I love the aesthetics of many vintage receivers, but 30-40 year old internals are going to need some love. 
 
Personally, I lean more toward the Marantz house sound, but this caught my eye simply because of the price and the fact that Yamaha hadnt done a great deal in 2-channel for quite a while. 

 

[Rawrbington]

Ok so I just broke this thing out and hooked it up to some new speakers I just got. It sounds very good. My buddy was over and we were experimenting. He really liked the sound and when I told him I paid 250$ for the amp he about pooped his pants. Detail for days, especially at its price point.

I still don't really like its HP jack. It's meh. But that's ok, that's not it's day job.

Overall it rivals my marantz in the detail department,but not in the musicality dept.
It bests the pioneer 950 in the details and ties it in musicality.
And it might beat my vintage yam cr 640 everywhere but the HP jack.

Really glad now I didn't sell it when I saw that the price had gone up so much from when I purchased it.

 

[harshtimez]

Newbie here. Found this thread while looking for A-S500 mods. View the forum hundreds of times the past years.

Anyway, I sold my Marantz 5004 to try something else. Ended up buying the Yamaha due to reviews and price point.

1. I used the headphone amp several time but never liked it personally for any digital media. Just now after reading these reviews I figured I'd try it again and see if some lengthy burn in time had helped. It did a little. But my simple Ipod 5.5 gen and Fiio e11 amo sound about 10 times better.

2. So far in the past 4 years I have owned about 5 integrated amps, and through my speakers this amp sounds the best out of all of them--the Marantz being the best rated one. Music Hall a15.2 being my last favorite amp. Blows away the Pioneer Elite A35--which is sort of obvious.

Anyway who is looking for a solid amp under 400 or used at even 250 should buy this. The simplicity makes it good.

I have a used Clayx The Integrated coming to me in a week....I hope it outperforms the A-S500, it should and better!

 

[Rawrbington]

I've been using mine more in recent weeks. Love it with my speakers. It's fast, accurate, detailed and clean. Its become one of my favorite speaker amps.mI still am not a fan of the headphone jack though. Not sure what it is about it

 

[estreeter]

For the price, I don't know that we can expect the headphone stage to be anything other than basic. I know that's a cliche, and I don't hold with the usual 'headphone sockets on integrated amps are an afterthought' line, but personally I would be more interested in the S500 as a speaker amp. Thanks for the feedback on the amp. 

 

[Music-Acme]

You say you don't think much of the Yamaha A-S500 amp, but you don't actually say what it is you don't like about it.
 
I use the headphone out most of the time and play CD's / lossless through ipod classic connected to the CD-S300's (CD player) ipod port.
The sound is Alive:  It is powerful, energetic, clean, separation is incredible and in a word, spectacular!
 
Can you tell us what it is you object to about the Headphone Out.  I would be interested to know what you actually know about the amp.  
 
Just putting this out to those who criticise, if the criticism is valid, fair point, but at least make your case as to why you are critical.  
I have a theory:  A lot of people believe that because they have spent an absolute fortune on something that sound the same as something that costs a tenth of the price they have to justify their purchases by putting down anything that is not as expensive, even if it is as good or even better than what they were persuaded into buying and wished they hadn't.  
 
Quality is quality whether it's cheap or expensive, Junk is junk even if it cost a fortune.  
 
Tell us your honest thoughts on the Yamaha A-S500, as I for one am amazed that you have criticised such an outstanding example of audio excellence.
Criticism without foundation is just sour grapes.

 

[fatcat28037]

Hi-Fi Heaven in Green Bay, WI has an A-S500 display model for $349.95.
 
http://hifiheaven.net/store/Display-Models?sort=pd.name&order=DESC

 

[Music-Acme]

I paid £219 (UK).
"Cheap as chips"
What a bargain!