Yamaha A-S801 for Dynaudio Evoke 20


Hello. I’m in love with the Dynaudio Evoke 20. They borrow some of the best stuff from Contours but at a much smaller price. Heaven.


I’ve heard them with Hegel H190 and they sounded stellar. But I don’t want to spend on the Hegels right now as this is for a second room. Our local dealer has some deals on Yamaha A-S801 and Yamaha A-S2100, both in stunning silver and both a fraction of the Hegel price. 

My question — will Dynaudios work well with the 801? That seems to have enough power, and gets rave reviews for its musicality.


Most of my music will be practical — spotify premium or tidal pro. And 60% music, 40% movies content from Netflix etc.
Thanks
julie_priest

Showing 4 responses by fredcdobbs

Update. 
I hooked the Oppo 93 analog outs into my 801.
I also used a digital coax to hook the digital out from the 93 into the digital input on the 801. AB testing via the remote ensued.
The only cable I had was a cheap Blue Jeans Coax. It wasn't cutting it compared to the 93 output. Lacking air, spacial clues and imaging. 
THEN. I put a new Blue Jeans Silver Digital Coax (gray jacket) in and it was a whole new ball game. Lots of detail spacial clues, lively without any fatigue or harshness. It moved the sound closer to the listener while the 93 moved it back near the speaker plane.  These preliminary thoughts formed with only ten minutes on the BJ Silver cable. I'll let it cook overnight and recheck tomorrow. Two immediate conclusions: The BJ Silver just might be a great sleeper digital cable, and the Yamaha built in DAC is pretty darn good. 
I also have a Canare digital found on Ebay coming tomorrow. AB testing will ensue. 


Late to the ball here but I thought I’d chip in. I have been listening to my S801 for a couple months and have grown very fond of it. Great sound, I like the silver retro look and it is just very consistently pleasing. I’ve compared it to the Denon PMA800, Parasound 200/275 amp and pre combo and their new Class D integrated. I prefer the Yamaha. The remote is good quality.
I am pairing it with Elac DBR 62 speakers with two small 8 inch Outlaw subswoofers (Not room for tower speakers). The cables are an important part of the picture for me. Audience Ohono interconnect and Ohono III speaker cable. Oppo 93 for a source. The sound is pleasing, and satisfying. I can listen all day long without fatigue or feeling I’m missing something. Not to say it’s boring. I love the sound, detail and musicality.
I do listen to some poor CDs as we all do so I adde a Schiit Loki equalizer into the system between the Dvd player and S801. When it is switched out of the system, I can’t hear it. If I put in some sixties ear splitter, I just flip the switch and some sonic correction goes in. More or less treble, midrange or bass with the four Loki controls. The one downside of the Yamaha is I don’t think the treble adjustment is that effective. The Loki is a fantastic tool for customizing sound. ($100 plus an additional cable)
I’ve compared the Elacs to Klspsch M600, PSB XB and Burchardt S300 speakers. I keep coming back to this Elacs. By the way, the Cable Company offers specials on the Audience Ohno cables now. Worth it to me.
For what it’s worth.
You’re welcome. Just a couple more observations. Minor issues. The knobs are plastic. I’d have preferred metal. On the good side it has two music modes like "pure settings" that you can kick in with the remote. Handy for fine tuning what’s playing.
I think they could have invested more money in the speaker outlets but with a light weight cable like the Ohono and banana plugs, its not an issue. One subwoofer out set at about 80hz. I just added an RCA splitter to fire the two subwoofers.
The Outlaw M8 woofs are good for $329. but you might also look at Emotivea’s 8 inch sub that is supposed to be good bang for the buck at about $300. You only really need one.
Good Luck.
Unfortunately, the Yamaha sub output is set at around 80 at the factory with no adjustability. The 801 doesn't have preouts so you can't use the variable crossovers in the self powered Subs. Seems to work fine for me.
I change speakers and cables fairly often so I am liking the new hollow bananas like Audience uses. Good tight contact but may not be quite as solid as spades. I don’t seem to notice degradation. Unfortunately, some manufacturers like Cambridge are forgoing spade connections.
The DAC in my Oppo 93 is going on fifteen years old in spite of sounding good. The 801 has a Coax directly in from your transport using Yamahas own DAC. Right now Im looking into whether the 801 has a better Dac than the 93. I have a Coax from the 93 digital out into the Yamaha and also the audio out on the 93 hooked into the CD input via RCA cables. Kind of cool to be able to choose sources from COAX to Analog with the remote for instant comparisons.
So I’m using a cheap Blue Jeans Digital Coax and so far the Oppo sounds better, That could be break-in, the cable or the quality of the 801 Dac vs the 93. I’m going to get some other coax cables and play with that. Yes, I’m bored.