Yamaha R-S300 vs A-S501

[qba]

I wasn't planning to but I ended up buying two Integrated Amplifiers the R-S300 and the A-S501, I bought them both second-hand but in almost new condition at a very reasonable price, I right now only have one of them, the second one will arrive in 10 days. I want to keep only one and sell the other, the price difference I paid is only $160, so money shouldn't be a big factor in this decision. I'm running the A-S501 right now with a pair of inexpensive but spectacularly sounding (To me) sets of speakers, the Sony SSCS5, and a subwoofer.

The main factors are:

1: Would it be noticeable differences in the quality?
2: Would the A-S501 be more future-proof in case I want to upgrade my speakers in the future?
3: Overall is the A-S501 a better build 2 channel amp?

Thanks

Alex

 

[lovinthehd]

1. Doubtful
2. Doubtful
3. Doubtful

 

[lovinthehd]

Your thoughts in the background of the reason for buying two fairly similar devices might help.....

 

[its phillip]

Out of the two I’d keep the a-s501

 

[Verdinut]

The A-S501 is a more powerful and a better designed amplifier than the ones in the R-S300. It has better specs and IMO, it's definitely the one to keep between the two.

 

[qba]

1. Doubtful
2. Doubtful
3. Doubtful

Why can things be easier? lol

 

[lovinthehd]

Why can things be easier? lol

Well hard to know what's useful or not to you....for example one is an integrated amp, the other is a receiver. The 501 does have a slightly more powerful amp section and some digital capabilities. Neither has bass management, but slightly different attenuation on the sub pre-out. What do you want to do with it particularly?

 

[qba]

Your thoughts in the background of the reason for buying two fairly similar devices might help.....

Here you go, let me come clean with this whole situation so you have a better understanding of my train of thought behind this decision. I said let me come clean because, for the sake of not going into an unnecessarily long and insignificant story, when I was asking the question in the other post I left some details out and changed others.

Here is the whole story: I purchased the R-S300 from a local private seller around two weeks ago, as I mentioned before both amps are in like-new condition but second-hand. I brought it home, After I installed the new speakers in the wall it sounded nice, but it wasn't blowing me away because of what we found out from the Chromecast Audio setting being off. At that time I kept looking for the best next amp just in case I find something a bit better and I found some good reviews about the A-S301, plus my ignorance on the subject made me think that since the A-S301 was way more expensive than the CCA, clearly the DAC most be so much better and it could improve the music quality. I couldn't find anything in my budget for the A-S301, but I happened to find the A-S501 way cheaper in Montreal than the price for the A-S301 in Toronto, so I talked to my brother he went tested it and bought it for me. The amp will be at my house on Dec the 18th, this is why I wrote in the other post as if I already had it because it was a done deal.

So now that I know that the internal DAC on the amp won't make any difference, the R-S300 is super loud for the distance I'm sitting from the speakers, and the quality is amazing (for me), all these questions come to mind, what if when I test it I can't tell the difference? Did I just buy an amp that is so similar to what I already have that is not worth keeping? my space is tight because there is an arm holding my work Mac laptop that is almost touching the R-S300 and I think the A-S501 is even taller.

Any way ignorance of the CCA settings and ignorance of what the A-S501 is made it buy the second amp, but as I said money is a none issue for me at this point because we are talking about $160 bucks, the issue is do I keep an amp that is a bit taller and could cramp my desk space more, just for the sake of being more expensive?

 

[qba]

Well hard to know what's useful or not to you....for example one is an integrated amp, the other is a receiver.

They are both 2 channel integrated amp if I'm not mistaken, one has a radio and less power without an internal DAC

Neither has bass management, but slightly different attenuation on the sub pre-out. What do you want to do with it particularly?

No sure what bass management is but they both have Bass and a Trebble button, I'm very happy with the sound coming out of the R-S300 right now. The only thing is that I wish I had is more control over the base, as right now I don't find it is clean enough for some songs, but I thought this wasn't bass management but subwoofer price point, so I guess there is more about bass management that just that bass button at the front of the amp.

 

[qba]

The A-S501 is a more powerful and a better designed amplifier than the ones in the R-S300. It has better specs and IMO, it's definitely the one to keep between the two.

Thanks Verdinut for your input, let's hope it sounds better too once it gets here in less than 10 days

 

[qba]

Out of the two I’d keep the a-s501

Thanks Phillip.

 

[lovinthehd]

They are both 2 channel integrated amp if I'm not mistaken, one has a radio and less power without an internal DAC



No sure what bass management is but they both have Bass and a Trebble button, I'm very happy with the sound coming out of the R-S300 right now. The only thing is that I wish I had is more control over the base, as right now I don't find it is clean enough for some songs, but I thought this wasn't bass management but subwoofer price point, so I guess there is more about bass management that just that bass button at the front of the amp.

R-300 is a receiver, which is an integrated amp with a tuner (or the other is a receiver without a tuner, depends how you look at it )....a dac can be more useful than no dac....bass management in a 2ch unit would mostly be about having an adjustable crossover (i.e. a high pass filter for the speakers along with a low pass filter for the sub, i.e. a crossover), maybe delay control. Have you used the variable loudness control on the R-S300 for some more control over the bass?

 

[qba]

bass management in a 2ch unit would mostly be about having an adjustable crossover (i.e. a high pass filter for the speakers along with a low pass filter for the sub, i.e. a crossover), maybe delay control.

lovinthehd you are speaking a lingo I need to learn to understand lol

Have you used the variable loudness control on the R-S300 for some more control over the bass?

Never touch it before, not even sure what it does lol, looks to me like a second volume but why?

 

[lovinthehd]

This article explains some of the basics https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-calibration/a-v-receiver-setup-crossover-distance-level-eq

The loudness control (also called a loudness contour) is a way to enhance frequencies at lower volumes to somewhat make them aligned with the way we hear things at different volumes. Try this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

 

[qba]

Actually, I thought the perfect solution was going to be the bellow item, where I could just attach it to the bottom of my desktop and it will be laying on its side out of the way, but I read some old post about laying the amp sideway and how it would shorten the life of the amp because the way the heat rises, the heat rather than scape it would be like keeping it within the amp. So now I will be returning this to Amazon, but I really wanted to work and the A-S501 would have fit perfectly on it, I know that subconsciously I'm prolonging the return to see if I can think of something with that arm, that would let me hide the amp under the table.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B082FNNX49/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[qba]

This article explains some of the basics https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-calibration/a-v-receiver-setup-crossover-distance-level-eq

The loudness control (also called a loudness contour) is a way to enhance frequencies at lower volumes to somewhat make them aligned with the way we hear things at different volumes. Try this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Thanks lovinthehd, I read those!! See my above reply about laying the amp on its side and, what is your take on it.

 

[lovinthehd]

Actually, I thought the perfect solution was going to be the bellow item, where I could just attach it to the bottom of my desktop and it will be laying on its side out of the way, but I read some old post about laying the amp sideway and how it would shorten the life of the amp because the way the heat rises, the heat rather than scape it would be like keeping it within the amp. So now I will be returning this to Amazon, but I really wanted to work and the A-S501 would have fit perfectly on it, I know that subconsciously I'm prolonging the return to see if I can think of something with that arm, that would let me hide the amp under the table.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B082FNNX49/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As long as it gets sufficient ventilation I'd think it's not likely to be a problem. An alternate might to be building a shelf for it or on a stand near your desk or something. Some of us use a fan to aid in ventilation for receivers in tighter places....somewhat depends how warm the unit runs, altho yours lacking video and hdmi boards probably doesn't run as warm as a typical avr either...

 

[qba]

As long as it gets sufficient ventilation I'd think it's not likely to be a problem. An alternate might to be building a shelf for it or on a stand near your desk or something. Some of us use a fan to aid in ventilation for receivers in tighter places....somewhat depends how warm the unit runs, altho yours lacking video and hdmi boards probably doesn't run as warm as a typical avr either...

Maybe two small USB fans around the back sucking the hot air out? Wouldn't having a fan add ambient noise to the music?

 

[lovinthehd]

Maybe two small USB fans around the back sucking the hot air out? Wouldn't having a fan add ambient noise to the music?

There's a variety of fan units of varying noise levels in various configurations. Nicer ones from someone like AC Infinity to some less expensive ones; I use some from coolerguys.com, some models are noisier than others.

 

[qba]

There's a variety of fan units of varying noise levels in various configurations. Nicer ones from someone like AC Infinity to some less expensive ones; I use some from coolerguys.com, some models are noisier than others.

lovinthehd I'm so excited about the possibility of using that arm to hide the amp! That is way past my bedtime and I'm still up, but after this, I'm out. Can you please be so kind and post the fans you use from coolerguys? I don't know a lot about fans, when they break on my home server I just buy a new one and replace it, that's about it. I'm just trying to avoid spending days learning about fans before purchasing two for the receiver. Two should be enough right? Maybe one extracting and one blowing air?