Yamaha A-S501 Amp Review (2023)

Yamaha is a popular and trusted brand for its audio products that are well priced and reliable. Their high-quality high-end integrated amps the great built quality and produce a very beautiful sound that will justify their asking price. 

The Yamaha A-S501 is a well-finished integrated amp with a retro appeal and controls that work with crisp precision. It comes with a wide range of useful features that will produce good quality sound than most amps in its price range.

Yamaha A-S501 Amp Review and Breakdown

The A-S501 amp has a very similar design to the 500 amp. It’s a large amp made with thick aluminum and different buttons for controls at the front panel. It features up to 85W per channel at 8 ohms of RMS power, digital inputs to connect with your TV or medial players, and dual stereo outputs to power 2 sets of speakers that you can alternate or play simultaneously in different rooms. You can also connect your subwoofer to increase the bass of your sound system. This amp can switch itself to idle mode when you’re not using it to save on energy. The loudness control gives you the freedom to readjust the balance of the bass and treble. The A-S501 comes with 5 line inputs including 2 recorder loops and the inputs have a moving magnet phono stage. The built-in DAC, analog inputs, and output power ensure that you have everything you need for high-quality sound.

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Yamaha A-S501 Specifications

Yamaha A-S501 Features

Build and design

The A-S501 is a large amp with a simple yet cool design. The top cover has large cooling vents that help to keep your amp cool to prevent overheating and a front panel with a huge volume control knob on the right side and a small rotary dial next to it for selecting a source. A pure direct button is below the two functions. The digital inputs volume control can be operated using a digital audio remote control which has a resistor-type control that will help you switch in or out of the circuits. In the middle are 4 vertical dials for bass, treble, balance, and loudness control, and at the far left is a power button, headphone jack and speakers select dial. However, this amp doesn’t have a built-in Bluetooth receiver, but you can use an outboard unit and use the USB connection at the back.

Pure Direct mode

Once you activate this mode using the button at the front of the unit will allow the music signals to bypass the unused circuits like the tone, buffer amp, balance, and loudness controls and take the shortest circuit route. This will help to reduce distortion and signal degradation to produce the cleanest and purest sound quality.

Variable loudness control

This loudness analog control allows you to balance the low and high-frequency inputs so you can be able to hear the music at any volume level. This also helps to compensate for the soft low and high levels of tones that your human ears cant hear.

Power supply

The power supply on the A-S501 has a custom-made 12000UF block capacitor and a custom transformer which is the same as the 500 amp. The only difference is the A-S501 uses separate power supplies for its digital and analog inputs so that there’s no interruption between the two. This means you can use the digital side without touching the analog side. The impedance selector will adjust your amp’s power supply so that it can increase the power it pumps into your low impedance speakers.

ART technology

The amp’s chassis has been built with Anti-resonance and tough (ART) technology that’s reinforced with a solid base and central bars to provide better support. This technology and the central bar will help in reducing the vibrations so that you can only hear quality sounds and limit resonance. The sensitive electrical components in this amp have also been protected from vibrations.

Who is it best suited for?

The A-S501 is a great integrated amp that’s very well built and has useful features and is very easy to use. This will make it perfect for anyone looking for an amp with lots of inputs and output connectors and clear powerful sound with low distortion.

Are there alternatives?

So, should you buy the Yamaha A-S501 amp?

Yes, you should buy this amp. It’s a well-constructed amp that will deliver very powerful and clear sounds from any music you play. It also comes at a good price and has very useful features that you can easily use to control the amp. This amp also features a loudness control that’s very rare to find in most of the integrated amps and the pure direct mode is just some of the features that make this amp a good investment.

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