Yamaha A-S801 Integrated Amp unites analog and digital audio

[haraldo]

I'm a little baffled by some of the responses. AVSForums also did a review of the Yamaha AS801, and got the same response. The condensed version is -

It's not an AV Receiver!

Well guess what, it is not an AV Receiver and is not intended to be one. Wishing it was is like buying a Mini-Copper then complaining that you can't haul cargo freight.

Get what you need. But don't deny others getting what they feel they need.

Myself, until I win the Lottery, I'm going with a Stereo Amp and Floorstanding Speakers, to me that represents the best possible application of my money.

I'm fond of saying -

If you want a Music system, get a Music system; meaning a Stereo.

If you want a Movie system, then get a Movie system; meaning Surround Sound.

While each will do the other, each will do what it does best.

Yamaha has many new INNOVATIVE Stereo Amp and Stereo Receivers. Many people are moving away from AV Surround and getting back into Stereo. And Yamaha as much as if not more than other makers, is filling that need.

They make several Network Receiver that have Network Streaming built in. The most recent and most appealing is the Yamaha RN803 with 100w/ch, Bluetooth, Network Streaming, and in the UK with DAB/DAB+ Radio. Sweet amp.

The Yamaha AS801 is geared toward a quality amp, top of the Consumer Line, that has an outstanding DAC, and a solid 100w/ch.

However, as much as I like this amp, there are a couple of problems I see -

1.) Lose the Sub-Out and replace it with Stereo Pre-Amp out. Pre-Amp out will drive a Subwoofer with no problem as well as an external Amp, however, a Sub-Out will only drive a Sub, it doesn't have many other uses.

2.) Minimal FRONT Bass Management. Outlaw Audio's Receiver, has very simple switchable Bass Management for the Front speakers. There is no need to manage the low bass for the Sub because the controls in the Sub can handle that, but to seamlessly blend the Front Speakers, you need them to match the crossover of the Sub.

Even if there was a simple switch with a fixed 80hz crossover that could cut frequencies below 80hz from the Front Speakers, that would go a long way to seamlessly integrating Front and Sub. Subs in the modern world are an inevitable reality, and a bit more effort to accommodate them would go a long way. I think an 70hz or 80hz fixed switchable Front Crossover, would allow you to seamlessly blend with a vast majority of Bookshelf and Floorstanding Speakers, and would add very little cost to the Amp.

But then ... that's just my opinion.

Steve/bluewizard

I’m a pure two channel guy too and agree

Also the hi pass filter will releave the 2 way bookshelf from the low bass, which will improve the midrange (less excursion from the mid/woofer)

I call for more Stereo focus in AH

Cheers

/Harald

 

[Pogre]

I'm mostly music, but have a 5.2 setup which I really like for movies. I use the same system for both. I can't say that a separate amp provides much more than more stability, longevity and the ability to blow your eardrums out without blowing your speakers. I think my SR6011 sounds just as good as a separate amplifier in stereo. Well, except the blow your eardrums out part.

 

[killdozzer]

I agree; not that far away.

But in all my life, listening to amps from 100€ to 4000€ (I've never heard a more expensive one), I didn't find this to be true (maybe I don't hear that well):
Each WILL do the other, but each does what it does best. Certainly if you spend a considerable amount on an AVR it is going to sound good for music. But probably not as good as a plain Stereo Amp for similar money.

Also, I listen to a lot of contemporary production and can't really agree with this (but this is conditioned by my preferences):
But in near 50 years of dabbling in Audio, I've not found a need for any of those extras.

You should check our "Subwoofer Candy" thread with all those numbers that hit well bellow 60Hz in audio material - music, not movies. I begun leaning towards the wisdom of "all speakers can benefit from subwoofers".

This being a crucial thought:
At least sufficient bass management to meet my needs.

I'd like to get a solid full range sound for my music, deepest to highest.

Room EQ I see as very handy. It is a welcome effort at eliminating bad room influences (if you know how to do it). I see room EQ entering the home audio market as a big step forward in achieving a solid representation of recorded material.

I just got back from a friend who could buy 2.5 of my systems for the price of one of his speakers and still my underdog outplays his Goliath in every way. It is a lottery system as you say, but it gets devoured by my budget stereo. My lows run deeper and better, my midds articulate better and my highs are honey sweet compared to his although my system is considered "analytical" and his components should be laid back for prolonged listening. By mere shape of his listening room his 4woofer system desperately lacks lows. This is where room EQ and modes calculating come in handy.

By no means should my 100$ Yamaha do a better job than his Acoustic Research, Mark Levinson level pure direct amp. And it does.

I think he shouldn't be considered a purist.

 

[killdozzer]

I’m a pure two channel guy too and agree

Also the hi pass filter will releave the 2 way bookshelf from the low bass, which will improve the midrange (less excursion from the mid/woofer)

I call for more Stereo focus in AH

Cheers

/Harald

And in my point source speakers less excursion means less change in tweeter dispersion from what I read around these forums when know-it-all's start to discuss.

But, it will only make it easier on the speakers, not significantly on an amp. I see more and more brands implementing the latest from AVR's. I don't mind, nothing is sacred to me. I want it to sound good in a stereo set up. End of story.

 

[bluewizard]

I agree; not that far away.

...

You should check our "Subwoofer Candy" thread with all those numbers that hit well bellow 60Hz in audio material - music, not movies. I begun leaning towards the wisdom of "all speakers can benefit from subwoofers".

I'm not against Subwoofer, but I make a distinction between a Stereo Subwoofer and a Movie Subwoofer. A Movie Subwoofer is about impact, however, in a pure Music system, I want a Subwoofer that is smooth tight balanced and seamlessly integrated. If I can hear the Subwoofer, then I have the wrong Subwoofer, and of course by 'hear the sub' I mean that if it stands out as a distinct entity. For me, it has to be seamlessly integrated.

I have a slightly odd system, but with no Sub, for movies I get enough bass to literally ruffle my hair and cause my pant legs to flap. I think I might be good. But in my ultimate win the Lottery system, I do envision Subwoofer with Floorstanding, but I feel it will be a long hard search to fined tight controlled balanced smooth seamlessly integrated Subs.

This being a crucial thought:
At least sufficient bass management to meet my needs.

I'd like to get a solid full range sound for my music, deepest to highest.

The thing is, most people confuse loud bass with deep bass, and by that I mean, they confuse impact for depth. There just is not that much content below 30hz in music. Though even if we disagree on that point, I will concede that simply having larger more powerful Sub drivers is enough to enhance the perception of the music, ...assuming... you want and can get smooth tight seamless integration.

Room EQ I see as very handy.

One thing I like to remind people about relative to Room EQ ... it is not magic. It can make a good room better, but it simply can not make a bad room good. When used in conjunction with common sense, and acoustic treatment or at least acoustic consideration, under some circumstances it can help. But based on discussion in this an other forums, I know many people who turn Room EQ OFF when they play music. They just like the sound better, though for movies, absolutely Room EQ is ON.

I see the advantage of Surround Sound, just as I see the advantage of Subwoofer, but in my current situation, I just don't see the economic sense of it. That's why that make Amp like the AS801, for people like me, in situations where a powerful Stereo amp with good pair Floorstanding speakers best serves my needs for both Music and Movies.

I would never, short of death, part with my Stereo System, even in win the lottery circumstance, my Stereo would come first, and my admittedly very considerable Home Theater would come second.

Like I said, for Movies I get significant physical impact, and have hit +110dB peaks (measured) during film, I think I'm good. True I don't get Surround Sound, but I don't miss it.

As to Bass Management, I don't think a Stereo system needs as much management as a AVR, and assuming the goal is to keep the price reasonable, a simple switchable 80hz High Pass filter on the Front speakers would be enough. 80hz would cover all Floorstanding and virtually all Bookshelf speakers on the market. No need for the Amp to control the Sub, because the Sub controls the Sub.

I think Outlaw Audio has a switchable High Pass with three setting.

But the Yamaha AS801 is a Stereo Amp at a particular price point, and at that price point, I think it hits a pretty solid standard. And any criticism I might have had would also apply to about 90% of the Stereo Amp/Receivers out there.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[PENG]

One thing I like to remind people about relative to Room EQ ... it is not magic.

It is obviously not magic, it is science/engineering.

I know many people who turn Room EQ OFF when they play music. They just like the sound better, though for movies, absolutely Room EQ is ON.

I think for those who believe in the graphs they plot for their subs in their rooms, they would leave the sub on when playing music as well, there is the option to bypass the L/R speakers too. If not, then it is probably more about personal taste, not necessarily about accuracy.

my Stereo would come first, and my admittedly very considerable Home Theater would come second.

Me too, but I know for a fact my 7.1 AVR-3805 sounds just as good as my more expensive separate preamps and power amps as well when compared AB. I was somewhat surprised when I found that out though I really shouldn't be, because like what you said about room EQ, preamp/amps are “no magic” either. Their job is to amplify the signal as accurately as possible. The room and the speakers have much more to do with the final outcome.

Like I said, for Movies I get significant physical impact, and have hit +110dB peaks (measured) during film, I think I'm good. True I don't get Surround Sound, but I don't miss it.

Point well taken, but I guess others could just make the point that multi channel amps prepro/amps and AVRs can sound good too in both HT and music only systems when there happened to be good reasons to do so. I use my 7.1 AVR in my two channel systems because it would otherwise be doing nothing, and I have two separate systems in that room, one (LS50) is paired with a sub. So it really depends on one's situation. Another good example is, if right now one has a budget of $800 for a two channel integrated amp, he may be better off buying the AVR-X4300H instead of a Yamaha A-S801.

As to Bass Management, I don't think a Stereo system needs as much management as a AVR, and assuming the goal is to keep the price reasonable, a simple switchable 80hz High Pass filter on the Front speakers would be enough. 80hz would cover all Floorstanding and virtually all Bookshelf speakers on the market. No need for the Amp to control the Sub, because the Sub controls the Sub.

You could be right in some cases, but I think it is highly unlikely in most cases, because most people don't have acoustically perfect or near perfect rooms. Take a look of some frequency response graphs people posted on this forum and you may change your mind.

But the Yamaha AS801 is a Stereo Amp at a particular price point, and at that price point, I think it hits a pretty solid standard. And any criticism I might have had would also apply to about 90% of the Stereo Amp/Receivers out there.

I think you are right, except when some very capable AVRs are on clearance sale, such as the frequently mentioned AVR-X4300H. Economy of scale on its own typically won’t make an AVR competitive for 2 channel stereo, but they do, when on clearance sale.

 

[killdozzer]

I have a slightly odd system, but with no Sub, for movies I get enough bass to literally ruffle my hair and cause my pant legs to flap. I think I might be good. But in my ultimate win the Lottery system, I do envision Subwoofer with Floorstanding, but I feel it will be a long hard search to fined tight controlled balanced smooth seamlessly integrated Subs.


The thing is, most people confuse loud bass with deep bass, and by that I mean, they confuse impact for depth. There just is not that much content below 30hz in music. Though even if we disagree on that point, I will concede that simply having larger more powerful Sub drivers is enough to enhance the perception of the music, ...assuming... you want and can get smooth tight seamless integration.

In a more defused fashion, I hope you can agree how certain topics get a certain treatment in this hobby that is not consistent. No one ever said "I get enough highs". With highs it's mostly - if it's there, I want to hear it. With lows it's very often this; not much happening so might as well cut it off. I don't understand this. Even lower than 256 mp3 gets frowned upon because masking gets noticeable. Why do stereo people mind all audible loses except loses in depth?

I don't like to add bass, I just don't want it lost. If it's recorded, it should get reproduced. What is this "enough" of bass? How you decide on this? Everyone becomes ascetic when sub gets mentioned.

 

[trl]

Hello, I totally love AudioHolics tests, I've also read how these tests were done and all the things related to mains power and I'm impressed with the accuracy and the objectivity of these tests. However, I'm a bit concerned about using this amp with 4Ohms speakers and high impedance selector ON for a long time (>1-2 hours), so...my 2 cents below:

A-S701 & A-S801 are using transformers with output voltages of 2 x 40VAC for high-impedance and 2 x 33VAC for low-impedance speakers, S5VB60 3.5/6A bridge rectifiers (3.5A without heatsink/6A with heatsink) with a small heatsink on top and a temperature sensor attached above, two big smoothing caps of 12.000uF/71V each. Given all of the above, I would say that running any of the above amps on 4Ohms speakers with high impedance switch ON and with high power output (>160W/channel) might affect the bridge rectifier in a long run (2 hours continuous or more), perhaps the power transformer too; also, not sure PCB traces from the PSU and from the output transistors were designed to sustain 200W (28V @ 7A) load.

For 8Ohms speakers 28V @ 3.5A will give us about 100W, instead the same output voltage at 4Ohms will give us 200W RMS, that means about 28V RMS at about 7 Amp pumping onto each speaker. That means lot of stress for the PSU, so transformer's thermal fuse might get activated, rectifier's and output transistors thermal protections might get activated as well. I would say that a much safer output power for 4Ohms load would be 2x130W RMS, and at this output power the impedance switch may not matter anymore.

Also, PSU's caps might not sustain the higher ripple involved when using more than 130W@4Ohms per channel, so it would be interesting to measure the AC ripple with a scope when both output loads will get over the 130W/channel in 4Ohms load.

I own an A-S701 and I might try doing some measurements in the near future, especially the amperage drawn from the bridge rectifier with 4Ohms load and pure sines. I'm pairing it with CANTON GLE 496 and I get a very clean and powerful output sound. However, on low output volume I do engage the loudness, but otherwise I love the benefits of PURE and CD-DIRECT features.

Regards,
Raul.

 

[KEW]

Hello, I totally love AudioHolics tests, I've also read how these tests were done and all the things related to mains power and I'm impressed with the accuracy and the objectivity of these tests. However, I'm a bit concerned about using this amp with 4Ohms speakers and high impedance selector ON for a long time (>1-2 hours),so...my 2 cents below:

A-S701 & A-S801 are using transformers with output voltages of 2 x 40VAC for high-impedance and 2 x 33VAC for low-impedance speakers, S5VB60 3.5/6A bridge rectifiers (3.5A without heatsink/6A with heatsink) with a small heatsink on top and a temperature sensor attached above, two big smoothing caps of 12.000uF/71V each. Given all of the above, I would say that running any of the above amps on 4Ohms speakers with high impedance switch ON and with high power output (>160W/channel) might affect the bridge rectifier in a long run (2 hours continuous or more),perhaps the power transformer too; also, not sure PCB traces from the PSU and from the output transistors were designed to sustain 200W (28V @ 7A) load.

For 8Ohms speakers 28V @ 3.5A will give us about 100W, instead the same output voltage at 4Ohms will give us 200W RMS, that means about 28V RMS at about 7 Amp pumping onto each speaker. That means lot of stress for the PSU, so transformer's thermal fuse might get activated, rectifier's and output transistors thermal protections might get activated as well. I would say that a much safer output power for 4Ohms load would be 2x130W RMS, and at this output power the impedance switch may not matter anymore.

Also, PSU's caps might not sustain the higher ripple involved when using more than 130W@4Ohms per channel, so it would be interesting to measure the AC ripple with a scope when both output loads will get over the 130W/channel in 4Ohms load.

I own an A-S701 and I might try doing some measurements in the near future, especially the amperage drawn from the bridge rectifier with 4Ohms load and pure sines. I'm pairing it with CANTON GLE 496 and I get a very clean and powerful output sound. However, on low output volume I do engage the loudness, but otherwise I love the benefits of PURE and CD-DIRECT features.

Regards,
Raul.

Generally, the "best practices" on the Yamaha Impedance selector is to leave it in the high position. Gene has addressed this in several reviews of Yamaha AVR's and I think even as a stand alone article.
This review of the A-S700 is a little difficult to find on-line, but also has thorough measurements to evaluate the behavior of the impedance switch! Go to page 3, and just before the conclusion section is an image/link to a 5 page pdf of "Test Results"!
Their conclusion on the Impedance Switch was:

After experimenting every which way with the Yamaha A-S700’s impedance selector and a variety of different loudspeakers, every one of which I knew the exact impedance of (thanks to graphs of the impedance moduluses, and lists of the actual measured ‘nominal’ overall impedance supplied by Newport Test Labs),I eventually concluded that if you are using just a single pair of speakers with the A-S700, you should set the impedance selector to the ‘high’ position, even if the label on the rear of the speaker says ‘4Ω’. It is only if you have connected TWO pairs of speakers to the A-S700, and will be using the A+B mode regularly that I would recommend using the ‘Low’ position. (I know this is somewhat at odds with Yamaha’s recommendation, but I think Yamaha is playing it super-safe.) As a result of my investigations, all my listening sessions were conducted with the A-S700’s impedance switch set to the ‘High’ position.

 

[PENG]

Hello, I totally love AudioHolics tests, I've also read how these tests were done and all the things related to mains power and I'm impressed with the accuracy and the objectivity of these tests. However, I'm a bit concerned about using this amp with 4Ohms speakers and high impedance selector ON for a long time (>1-2 hours), so...my 2 cents below:

A-S701 & A-S801 are using transformers with output voltages of 2 x 40VAC for high-impedance and 2 x 33VAC for low-impedance speakers, S5VB60 3.5/6A bridge rectifiers (3.5A without heatsink/6A with heatsink) with a small heatsink on top and a temperature sensor attached above, two big smoothing caps of 12.000uF/71V each. Given all of the above, I would say that running any of the above amps on 4Ohms speakers with high impedance switch ON and with high power output (>160W/channel) might affect the bridge rectifier in a long run (2 hours continuous or more), perhaps the power transformer too; also, not sure PCB traces from the PSU and from the output transistors were designed to sustain 200W (28V @ 7A) load.

For 8Ohms speakers 28V @ 3.5A will give us about 100W, instead the same output voltage at 4Ohms will give us 200W RMS, that means about 28V RMS at about 7 Amp pumping onto each speaker. That means lot of stress for the PSU, so transformer's thermal fuse might get activated, rectifier's and output transistors thermal protections might get activated as well. I would say that a much safer output power for 4Ohms load would be 2x130W RMS, and at this output power the impedance switch may not matter anymore.

Also, PSU's caps might not sustain the higher ripple involved when using more than 130W@4Ohms per channel, so it would be interesting to measure the AC ripple with a scope when both output loads will get over the 130W/channel in 4Ohms load.

I own an A-S701 and I might try doing some measurements in the near future, especially the amperage drawn from the bridge rectifier with 4Ohms load and pure sines. I'm pairing it with CANTON GLE 496 and I get a very clean and powerful output sound. However, on low output volume I do engage the loudness, but otherwise I love the benefits of PURE and CD-DIRECT features.

Regards,
Raul.

You do realize when listening to music sitting 10 ft from a pair of 4ohm speakers with sensitivity of 88 dB/2.83V/1m, you only need about 2 watts to listen to reference level (cinema loud). Most people can't stand such high spl in their home and I bet most listen to two channel music at no more than 80 dB and a little less than one watt will do it. Surely there a many peaks in music but 20 dB peaks are rare in most music, even classical. Still, 128W will cover those 20 dB higher peaks and any well design amps should have no trouble delivering. Your math is right but is not applicable to use for music/movie enjoyments.

 

[trl]

Generally, the "best practices" on the Yamaha Impedance selector is to leave it in the high position. Gene has addressed this in several reviews of Yamaha AVR's and I think even as a stand alone article.
A-S700 review is a little difficult to find on-line, but also has thorough measurements to evaluate the behavior of the impedance switch! Go to page 3, and just before the conclusion section is an image/link to a 5 page pdf of "Test Results"!
Their conclusion on the Impedance Switch was:

It’s actually easy to find the A-S700 review, I’ve read that PDF for several times, impressive work indeed.

Thank you,
Raul.

 

[trl]

You do realize when listening to music sitting 10 ft from a pair of 4ohm speakers with sensitivity of 88 dB/2.83V/1m, you only need about 2 watts to listen to reference level (cinema loud). Most people can't stand such high spl in their home and I bet most listen to two channel music at no more than 80 dB and a little less than one watt will do it. Surely there a many peaks in music but 20 dB peaks are rare in most music, even classical. Still, 128W will cover those 20 dB higher peaks and any well design amps should have no trouble delivering. Your math is right but is not applicable to use for music/movie enjoyments.

I do trust you, ofc, my 4-Ohms Canton GLE 496 are over 90dB/W/1m.

However, I pushed my A-S701 to about 100W/ch. (music only) for few minutes, just to see what my furniture has to say and I did about 110dB SPL inside my living room. It started to get warm a bit, but after playing 2h of music @40-50W/ch. amplifier it’s just warm on top...<40C. Even my DAC gets hotter.

 

[everettT]

I do trust you, ofc, my 4-Ohms Canton GLE 496 are over 90dB/W/1m.

However, I pushed my A-S701 to about 100W/ch. (music only) for few minutes, just to see what my furniture has to say and I did about 110dB SPL inside my living room. It started to get warm a bit, but after playing 2h of music @40-50W/ch. amplifier it’s just warm on top...<40C. Even my DAC gets hotter.

Your speakers are not designed to receive 100w continuous material. If you were testing with music and not a test tone, it wouldn't be continuous. Like @PENG stated, it dosent take a lot of power to get loud.

 

[PENG]

I do trust you, ofc, my 4-Ohms Canton GLE 496 are over 90dB/W/1m.

However, I pushed my A-S701 to about 100W/ch. (music only) for few minutes, just to see what my furniture has to say and I did about 110dB SPL inside my living room. It started to get warm a bit,

Thanks for the trust, and I also trust you, but how do you know it was about 100W/ch? Again, my point was not that you wouldn't hit 100W, in fact you could have hit 200W, but those were the short peak moments. If you were listening to 110 dB spl average, I doubt your speakers and amp could survive for much more than a few minutes, even if your ears could. As long as the average power (or the common erroneous term "RMS") output is only a few watts, and that's mostly likely the case, heat should be be an issue. Warm is a relative term, 35 to 50 deg C at the top of the chassis is not unusual for a class AB amp.

but after playing 2h of music @40-50W/ch. amplifier it’s just warm on top...<40C. Even my DAC gets hotter.

Again, how did you know it was 40-50W/ch, did you go by measured spl? With due respect, I am just asking questions out of curiosity..

If your amp was in fact outputting 40-50W/ch average, you amp would be boiling unless the GLE 496 has very benign phase angles. So I have to assume you are referring to peaks again, that would mean the average output was probably between 2-4 watts. Remember music signal has very high crest factor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crest_factor

 

[trl]

O actually pushed the volume to the max. for few seconds @1KHz -1dB sinewave; I had isolated cans on my head. All good after that, speakers are 150W RMS/300W program music.

My living is combined with kitched, so around 40sq meters @2.65m height, without 40-50W per channel I can’t do critical listening (+ the SV-1000 being ON).

However, really powerful and clean sounding amp.

 

[PENG]

Your speakers are not designed to receive 100w continuous material. If you were testing with music and not a test tone, it wouldn't be continuous. Like @PENG stated, it dosent take a lot of power to get loud.

He said he was going to take some measurements and mentioned sine waves and amperage drawn. It would be self explanatory of what he's actually referring to, if he would share in detail his methods and procedures, and the instrument used.

 

[PENG]

O actually pushed the volume to the max. for few seconds @1KHz -1dB sinewave; I had isolated cans on my head. All good after that, speakers are 150W RMS/300W program music.

My living is combined with kitched, so around 40sq meters @2.65m height, without 40-50W per channel I can’t do critical listening (+ the SV-1000 being ON).

However, really powerful and clean sounding amp.

According to their website it is:
Nom. /Music power handling
150 / 320 watts

Nom. most likely mean nominal, that does not mean it is "RMS" that really is "AVERAGE". That spec is very vague, coming from Canton, that's disappointing.

There is no way those speakers can handle 150 W average for long, but for a few seconds, probably fine though you probably should avoid doing it.

Now that I know you were doing critical listening in a 40 sq.m room, the 40-50W per channel you are talking about is definitely now continuous average power output, but peaks, or very short duration (fractions of a second) albeit could be frequent depending on the music contents.

 

[trl]

Thanks for the trust, and I also trust you, but how do you know it was about 100W/ch? Again, my point was not that you wouldn't hit 100W, in fact you could have hit 200W, but those were the short peak moments. If you were listening to 110 dB spl average, I doubt your speakers and amp could survive for much more than a few minutes, even if your ears could. As long as the average power (or the common erroneous term "RMS") output is only a few watts, and that's mostly likely the case, heat should be be an issue. Warm is a relative term, 35 to 50 deg C at the top of the chassis is not unusual for a class AB amp.



Again, how did you know it was 40-50W/ch, did you go by measured spl? With due respect, I am just asking questions out of curiosity..

If your amp was in fact outputting 40-50W/ch average, you amp would be boiling unless the GLE 496 has very benign phase angles. So I have to assume you are referring to peaks again, that would mean the average output was probably between 2-4 watts. Remember music signal has very high crest factor.

Yes, I did measured the outputs with Picoscope (V RMS, V peaks and FFT) and the loudness with SPLm when listening to very compressed music, so peaks were hiting 110dB indeed. That’s probably an avg. of 90dB...don’t know, but I usually don’t listen so loud, it was more for testing purposes (well, maybe on headphones).

 

[KEW]

It’s actually easy to find the A-S700 review, I’ve read that PDF for several times, impressive work indeed.

Thank you,
Raul.

Yeah, I guess the difficulty was I was trying to go straight to the Test Results which is a pdf file.

However, my point was that I'm not sure what it is that you intend to measure/establish that was not already covered by those tests.
Do you think your A-S701 has a different amp section than the A-S700?

 

[trl]

I was just sharing my thoughts about running these amps under 4Ohms loads with high impedance selector and with over 130W RMS per channel. I was thinking to find some high-power resistors (don’t want to use my speakers) to check the amperage the diode bridge is eating up and the heatsinks temps after 10-20 minutes of pushing high power sines. Although, after what you’re all saying here...I’m not sure it worth doing any power-related tests.

The only tests I’ve done till now were RMAA and FFT with 1KHz sines and seems that my amp is on pair with the ones from the above measurements.