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Yamaha A-S 2100 to A-S3000?.

Much appreciated two tone, I got on the trail and brought it home last night :)

2018 build, cleaned it lovingly this morning and as it means shuffling my system completely (except for turntable on wall) I set about the furniture it will all move to that will take the AS3000 size and weight. Sanded, knotting fluid and zinsser 123 on the bare wood furniture today, undercoat and light sand tomorrow then two coats of gloss. Hoping to have it done by Sunday eve for the first of many music nights.

I have to say this amp looks stunning in the flesh with its build finish and gloss side cheeks (and I prefer the black over the silver). When I went to check it out I deliberately did not go near it until I had a good listen, did not want to be influenced, but I have to say you could just sit and look at it unplugged with or without top cover on. I’ve owned some great quality vinyl spinners and speakers but never an amp that oozed this class. Seller was a really good chap too.

Without your link none of it would have happened.
 
Paul L said:
Much appreciated two tone, I got on the trail and brought it home last night
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I'm looking to try and pick up one of these second hand too. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it end up costing. Did you get any more money off the £2k? Trying to figure out what's a reasonable price to pay second hand. Thanks.
 
early said:
This alone is worth upgrading for :)



If it helps I can tell you my AS2100 has performed faultlessly .
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Never had a problem with it runing in a cafe every day all day for 2 years. Sold it to a mate he has had no problems ether.
 
£2K is cheap for one of these at this age and mint, seller did not have original box. As ever, it’s always timing, on another occasion it could easily be less or more.
 
Robby said:
Have you had any issues with the protection circuits kicking in? I have read a lot on a couple of other forums to the point where it seems to be happening too often to be deemed a rare occurrence.

Thank you.
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Just to chime in, I’ve had zero issues with the protection circuits on my 3000. IMO, this was a handful of issues blown up my the problems by Internet forums exposing the one or two issues that would have never have heard of years ago.

Mine occasionally makes noises whilst warming up but it's just down to thermal expansion and not electrical. My AC unit is opposite my amplifier and the amplifier makes similar noises when the cool or warm air blows onto it even if the amp is switched off.

It's definitely lasted me longer than any other amplifier I’ve owned and the only other amps I’ve looked at recently since I've just bought a Bryston Dac that I have been totally blown away by are some of their amplifiers which can be picked up at good prices second hand.
 
A question to the S3000 owners here. I recently picked up a secondhand S3000 in excellent (as new) condition.
I'm very happy with the sound it produces. The amp feels very sturdy and well build. And of course, the amp just looks amazing.
The volume knob does seem a bit sensitive, a specially at the lower region. The volume increases with 'big' steps at the lower region of the knob when turning it slowly up. I also notice this with the remote. Long pressing (maybe 0,5 sec) increases the volume by a lot. I guess I just have to get used to the coarse of the volume pot but is this also what you guys experience?
 
@Robby Experienced a power outage here locally and my A-S2100 went into protection. It does seem a bit over zealous, as others have experienced - no other gear was affected. I did think it was dead but perused the service manual and found out how to get it going again (placing tone controls at full while holding power switch, IIRC).

@delange yes, the vol control is a gripe by many. Wonder if new iterations corrected this...
 
I use an AS2100 but the AS3000 has the same volume pot .

I find volume control via the remote is crude , it's not bad using the knob but the input is very sensitive and it can get very load very quickly . I use 10dB attenuators on the inputs and the volume pot works perfectly with lots of control , volume via the remote is also improved but not to the same degree .
 
Many modern amps are still set for 150mV input sensitivity which is crazy IMO. I do wish the Yam's input sensitivity was lower but the volume pot is still manageable for me at least with a 2Vrms source input and 95dB sensitive speakers, though I imagine it could cause issues for those with 100+dB sensitive horn speakers and those who listen to digital recordings that are brickwalled at 0dBFS. The volume adjustments on the remote are very sensitive below 9 o'clock and there's a wasted region between 6.30 and 7.30 where there is no output at all. However, if you just do very short presses on the remote below 9 o'clock then you should be fine. I actually use a universal remote to control my Yam as I grew tired of juggling four different remotes, but I'm pretty sure the volume pot sensitivity will be the same regardless of the remote that's used to control it.
 
I be interested to know if anyone is using the internal phono stages on these Amps, particularly the mc input on the 2200 and 3200.
 
amazement said:
I be interested to know if anyone is using the internal phono stages on these Amps, particularly the mc input on the 2200 and 3200.
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Only MM use here, exceedingly quiet and low noise in my experience, good depth etc. I believe capacitance is high however.

An experienced gear head over on Hoffman reckons the MC is least comparable in quality to a Lehmann Blackcube, but ultimately preferred SUT into the MM. Stereophile has some additional commentary on both inputs in this month's edition.

Should add the phono section on all these series of amps is the same...
 
I briefly heard the S-3000 with the new NS-5000 speakers and it sounded harsh to me. Perhaps it was the source or the room but I would definitely suggest you hear it at home.
 
Paul L said:
Much appreciated two tone, I got on the trail and brought it home last night :)

2018 build, cleaned it lovingly this morning and as it means shuffling my system completely (except for turntable on wall) I set about the furniture it will all move to that will take the AS3000 size and weight. Sanded, knotting fluid and zinsser 123 on the bare wood furniture today, undercoat and light sand tomorrow then two coats of gloss. Hoping to have it done by Sunday eve for the first of many music nights.

I have to say this amp looks stunning in the flesh with its build finish and gloss side cheeks (and I prefer the black over the silver). When I went to check it out I deliberately did not go near it until I had a good listen, did not want to be influenced, but I have to say you could just sit and look at it unplugged with or without top cover on. I’ve owned some great quality vinyl spinners and speakers but never an amp that oozed this class. Seller was a really good chap too.

Without your link none of it would have happened.
Click to expand...
Congratulations you have a great amp. My dealer said it has a very good phono stage. Let's us know if you try it. Enjoy
 
wacko said:
I briefly heard the S-3000 with the new NS-5000 speakers and it sounded harsh to me. Perhaps it was the source or the room but I would definitely suggest you hear it at home.
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A-S3000 is not a harsh amp IMO, if anything it's a touch on the warm side so I'd be looking at either the source, speakers or room as the culprit (I haven't heard the NS-5000s so cannot comment on them).
 
Thanks IDC, I’m trying it out at the moment but I’ve got lots of moving parts in the room at the moment which is why I’m deliberately not posting about what I’m finding with the amp and expect I’ll be posting in a few weeks time. That sounds a bit cryptic so I’ll just add that I’m loving the amp and enjoying its mc phono stage in isolation and I will compare with the Aria (£850 job) if that’s the right name. Just need time to get used to many variables in the time I have to listen.

longer story for anyone interested but I genuinely don’t blame you if you’re not!
  • House completely disrupted for a year with major decoration to entire ground floor
  • rear room done last summer incl electrics, garden workshop armoured cabling under floor, plastering and grade 5 laminated flooring down. Rest of downstairs ie.lounge, large kitchen and hall a mess as a result.
  • I spot old Martin Logan Aerius i cheap and pounce, I know panels will need replacing at some point.
  • Christmas disruption with entertaining and making good of the chaos enough to cope with it
  • illness of skilled chap that does the work beyond my capability, COVID etc. mean we only get to resume the transformation properly in recent months
  • Electrics in lounge a mess to the point of being a nightmare, illegal in fact. All done plus continuing under floor cabling (headed for mains box ultimately of course when we get there), lights wiring into walls, create dedicated circuit for hifi (I wanted this my entire adult life!!!)
  • Chimney visibly broken spotted earlier this year so more expense and finally time to get it done in Aug, I take advantage and have both fm and dab aerials put up and cabling taken down inside the wall to come at newly created twin f-type socket (another lifelong ambition to have this stuff plumbed in properly), I go on the search for a tuner and pick up a Yamaha T85
  • plaster entire room, new coving, new skirting, flooring continued from previous room, I start long slow slog of painting, painting, painting
  • Hifi area finished first (naturally!) and Opera Superpavarottis I have had for years put into use and the T85 sounds good on various stations, really enjoyable
  • I put the Martin Logan’s back in and I’m underwhelmed, there’s a veil on too much and a classic sign of panels fading, but it’s not night and day and some music sounds stunning
  • I spot the AS3000 in this thread and pounce, put it in the system and I can hear its quality but I’m expecting more, I listen to the T85, the RP10 via the Aria and internal phono stage and don’t really hear a difference and lost of lossless FLACs via my Raumfeld connector, it’s good sometimes stunning but I’m expecting more
  • I swap out the Martin Logan’s and bring in my LSA2 speakers, wow, that’s what I was expecting, scale, power, clarity, subtle tones, layered instruments etc, I’m truly hearing the AS3000 for the first time
  • I order new panels via the distributor these days PMC and they will take up to 12 weeks to come over from the US, I knew they can still do this and I’m glad they can or I wouldn’t have bought of course
So, my sincere apologies as that’s quite a ramble but you get the drift. More painting, radiator to go on, door frames to sand and paint, fiddly painting of doors with glass panels, all sorts of time consuming but satisfying jobs as the results come together and putting stuff scattered around the house back together. All amidst long working hours and exercise routines. And all amidst listening as much as I can, comparisons to be made with phono stages, electrostatics to come back in at some point, positioning, maybe a bit of room tuning and so on.

I’m enjoying reading these threads and genuinely respect the disparate views on Japanese gear and there are various people on here including Tony who have had a lot of gear and know what they like. I might arrive at different conclusions but it’s always a pleasure to read and I know I would enjoy sitting and chatting with them and listening to their systems. I can only say that in my case I am finding this AS3000 astonishing and don’t give a hoot how it compares to a Luxman, Accuphase, Denon or Marantz or anything else to be honest. I know what these Martin Logan’s are capable of and really look forward to putting them back in the mix when they’re sorted. I had a lot of fun with my Linns, pink triangle, Nottingham analogue and SME and after 10-year vinyl gap I’m loving the Rega RP10 as much as I enjoy my digital and fm tuner listening. A bit like Tony and others you sort of get off the carousel and just enjoy a huge variety of music, I’m questioning whether it’s worth having a TV licence such as my lack of watching a tv again!!

Anyway, morning listen over and time to pick up a paint brush and tools again, lots of laughs.
 
amazement said:
I be interested to know if anyone is using the internal phono stages on these Amps, particularly the mc input on the 2200 and 3200.
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I'm using the internal phono amp. I have an AT-OC9 III cart (which is MC as you probably know). I own a A-S3000 since almost a week now and so far I'm very impressed with this amp, including the phono amp. One of the reasons why I bought the Yamaha is to reduce the number of boxes.
The phono amp is built with the same attention as the rest of the amp. To my ears it sounds great.
 
delange said:
I'm using the internal phono amp. I have an AT-OC9 III cart (which is MC as you probably know). I own a A-S3000 since almost a week now and so far I'm very impressed with this amp, including the phono amp. One of the reasons why I bought the Yamaha is to reduce the number of boxes.
The phono amp is built with the same attention as the rest of the amp. To my ears it sounds great.
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That’s good to know, I use OC9XML so very similar and like you be nice to reduce box count.
 
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