opinion on yamaha receivers/amps

For what you will pay for one of these Yamaha's you can get a good integrated amplifier from Arcam,Rotel or NAD that will provide better performance & will support upgrades to your speakers,TT & power cable at a later date..If your budget is absolutely rock bottom, the AS301 is a solid buy but you'll be locked in to it with no path for upgrades later on..IMO better to wait & save just a little more $ & get something that will grow with you..

@foggyus91 OMG,OP is looking at a $300.00 integrated & you recommend a $1500.00 & $2100.00 used & multi thousand $ new alternate,real helpful...Oh & I'M NOT A FAN of ANY of YOUR recommendations..

buy it from Crutchfield for $15 for 60 days, no questions asked return and you will find out. I did too, and I did not like the Yamaha R-N 600A, it was not musical, and fluid at all. But that was my ear, you might like them. 

actually for the same price, you can get a used Creek integrated. Fantastic value. 

@joshgreene77 try the 301 from any of the big online retailers. like it has been said above, if you don't like it, return it.   i have 2 of its bigger brothers, the 501 and 701 and have about 5 or 6 pairs of stand mount speakers (roughly the same size as your elacs) on rotation.  for the money, the 301 is awesome (i bought that one first, then sold it to a stubborn friend, who is very happy with it).   you won't be disappointed.   good luck!

I had a Yammie a few years ago. Never again.

@freediver Sure okay and I bet you have not even heard any of them.

What's a Yammie?

I listened to an entry/lower level Yamaha amps as a backup for my office. The 801/701 which differ only by the DAC in it. I really wanted to like it because I am tired of looking for a replacement but I found it kind of bright and boring. I was happy that I did not buy it. It is owned by a friend who got it off Amazon and frankly is not really happy with it either. He is looking at getting a Marantz Model 50 off a site called accessories4less.com where this $1800 amp is sold as a refurb for $1k from the manufacturer with a 1 year warranty. I expect he will be much happier. I am waiting to see his feedback on that model. I already have a prior model Marantz unit as a 2nd system and kind of want a different sound but who knows. But, I am happy with the Marantz sound overall. You might want to check out that site. Other good amps are available at the entry level from NAD, ROTEL especially or the new  Rega Brio which is around $1100 US. I would also do some searches on Amazon and online for reburb units or late model gently used. Yamaha is a big name and I was disappointed in the unit I heard. If you absolutely have to try it I would make sure to get it from a source where you can return it....AMZN, Crutchfield, are good online sources.