I'd been thinking about going from an amp/pre to an integrated for quite a while. Funds and fear of f'ing things had up kept me from making the move.
Then a buddy of mine here on AA emailed me to say he would buy my pre (rebuilt and modded Yamaha C2a) if it were ever for sale.
Food for thought.
I called an old pal who's family has worked for Yamaha since they first were offered in the States, and asked for a BIG favor.
He obliged, so I sold my amp
The good news was I was out-of-pocket zero dollars. Nice !
The bad news was, the gear I really liked was gone. Yikes !
I've had the Yamaha A-S1100 for about 3 weeks now and would estimate I have roughly 40 to 50 increasingly encouraging hours on it.
It was wobbly at first. Some of that may have been the amp needing break-in and some of it may have been me hearing shit I'd not heard before... or in a long time.
Long story short, the phono stage (discrete) is as good as I could have hoped for... and it is what I was most worried about, as it is where my C2a excelled (the new owner reports the same).
The big surprise is the line section. I've always considered my Micromega Stage 3 CD player to be fairly average, at best. But, through a modern line stage, it is thoroughly enjoyable.
Go figure.
So, now I have one box that I like as much (if not more, time will tell) as my two old boxes and have added remote (!!!) and a headphone jack... and its like I upgraded my ceedee player.
Very cool.
Here's a crappy picture I took with my phone ...
And here's the stock photo from Yamaha ...
I have to admit to being a long time fan of Yamaha. I like the way their better stuff looks, feels (tactically) and sounds.
My first new (sealed box) piece of gear in probably more than 20 years.
Man, I've missed that new-gear smell !
...and the meters are way cool. Reminds me of my old CA-2010.
One feature that I really like is the way the mute works. It is not an electronic mute. When you hit "mute" the volume knob rotates left. Not sure there is an advantage there, but I like it.
...gotta go now. I've got records to enjoy.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
