Yamaha brings the style with A-S700 / CD-S700 audio components

About this time last year, Yamaha treated us to its CD-S2000 SACD player and A-S2000 amplifier, both of which sported that timeless look that was just too dazzling to hide away in some AV cabinet. This year, the outfit is keeping with the trend by introducing the equally stunning (and even more silver) A-S700 amplifier and CD-S700 CD player (pictured after the break). The former features 90-watts x 2 of RMS power and gold-plated RCA inputs, while the latter includes a Burr Brown 192kHz/24bit DAC and a USB port for playing back MP3 / WMA files. Both units are destined to hit Japanese audio shops next month for ¥73,500 ($730) and ¥60,900 ($605), respectively.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

[solarbuddy @ Oct 9th 2008 2:07AM]

Judging from the brushed aluminum/stainless styling it's 1969 again somewhere . . .

[happy_penguin @ Oct 9th 2008 2:50AM]

Ain't it great? :)

[Peter @ Oct 9th 2008 7:34AM]

I've got one that looks exactly like it; but its also got a cassette deck as well, so I'm guessing that its late 70s to early 80s styling.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 9th 2008 1:14PM]

Yes, that styling was in through the 70's and 80's. Black was introduced in the early 80's and started taking firm hold in the mid to late 80's.

I'm glad this is back. I think it's classic and it has always looked good with a very solid high end feel. Find some of those old components and pick them up. You don't get that build quality these days unless you go with the very high end stuff.

[Carl M @ Oct 9th 2008 4:57PM]

I'm still waiting for the return of the solid wood cabinet frame.

Of course, I also liked the black-background tuning dial with the "fluorescent" numbers & indicator.

[allislost @ Oct 9th 2008 2:16AM]

If this device was able to at the same price as i would buy it, but for now I'll get the, there's no doubt about it!

[w00ty @ Oct 9th 2008 2:31AM]

wuh?

[allislost @ Oct 9th 2008 3:19AM]

Let me explain myself...

It's just that I would with, because that's what any reasonable person would do!

[Glenn @ Oct 9th 2008 9:02AM]

Sometimes you get bad weed...

[VeganFreak @ Oct 9th 2008 9:23AM]

make that REALLY bad weed.

[bebop @ Oct 9th 2008 2:17AM]

I was pulling these out of Japanese dumpsters back in '95...

[--------- @ Oct 9th 2008 2:36AM]

So was I... and then selling them to local audiophiles for a tidy profit.

[--------- @ Oct 9th 2008 2:40AM]

American dunpsters that is...

This setup is almost perfect, all that's needed is a pair of multifunction analog meters on the left.

[bebop @ Oct 9th 2008 5:59AM]

Another tidbit from the dumpster years:

Do you know the inordinate lengths Yamaha and others went to make the volume control feel solid? Since people judged an amplifier by the feel of the volume knob, and to a lesser degree, the thickness of the faceplate, it was a necessity to make the volume control as big and bad-ass as possible. The thing is the cheap potentiometer that the volume knob actually controlled had no tactile feedback, so it all had to be done with weights and pulleys, flywheels and so forth behind the faceplate.

[Information Central @ Oct 9th 2008 2:38AM]

Note the common sense in this receiver that's so lacking in others: a switch to pick the input directly. No turning a dial to go through an entire list of inputs on a display, one at a time until you hit the one you want.

Sadly, there's no reason to buy high-quality audio components anymore, except perhaps to watch movies. Why? Dynamic compression. All music mastered (and, even more insidiously, remastered) after the mid-'90s is crushed into a wall of noise that assaults your ear with maximum volume every millisecond. The result is that people just aren't into their favorite music anymore. It's simple fatigue.

The most infuriating part is that record companies are doing this FOR NO REASON, and they're destroying their entire back catalogs an album at a time. The destruction has only accelerated with the increasing popularity of purchased downloads.

The record companies have worked overtime to destroy their customer base, and now they are literally destroying every recording they possess.

So really, there are no recordings being sold today (with the possible exception of some classical) that warrant anything better than a cheap Best Buy stereo.

[finchbeaks @ Oct 12th 2008 4:43PM]

What you seem to be saying is that you've never heard music played back on anything significantly better than a cheap Best Buy stereo.

[WhyFi @ Oct 9th 2008 8:43AM]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but this - "So really, there are no recordings being sold today (with the possible exception of some classical) that warrant anything better than a cheap Best Buy stereo." shows that you're also a bit out of touch. Check out http://store.acousticsounds.com/

[Steve-O @ Oct 9th 2008 2:41AM]

so i herd you liek mudkipz...

[--------- @ Oct 9th 2008 2:48AM]

My bargain Onkyo 5.1 reciver (TX SR304) has buttons to select each individual input.

[--------- @ Oct 9th 2008 2:51AM]

Intended as a reply to Information Central...

My hovercraft is full of eels.

[Kizul Emeraldfire @ Oct 9th 2008 4:50AM]

Qui a coupé le fromaaaaaaage.

[MAgicsly @ Oct 9th 2008 3:48AM]

Woooowwww ! My parents have exactly the same design from Yamaha in the 70's !! And when i say exactly, it's really the same.

[Samboini @ Oct 9th 2008 8:15AM]

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Jaws @ Oct 9th 2008 3:56AM]

From the look of a lot of the TVs showed at CEATAC, and now this... I'm guessing black has run its course, and we're back to silver again... damn 5-7 yr colour run switch... I was just warming to black again. *sigh*

[RickyR @ Oct 9th 2008 4:09AM]

cool BSG inspired remote

[Plothole @ Oct 9th 2008 4:17AM]

That amplifier reminds me of something straight out of a '60s sci-fi.

[MeagreBeaver @ Oct 9th 2008 5:58AM]

The amplifier looks exactly like my 20 year-old Hitachi box.

[Wayne @ Oct 9th 2008 6:19AM]

This looks similiar to my CA410II, which I bought used in 1980 for next to nothing. It has the analog meters :-) I'd never get rid of this because it is rock solid and produces a great sound. I think this look is classic and never goes out of style. I'm happy to see Yamaha bring this look back.

[Bjsfreaked @ Oct 9th 2008 7:42AM]

it goes 0 to 50 watts in 4.1 seconds :P

[tanooki2003 @ Oct 9th 2008 8:19AM]

It's the late 70's, early to mid 80's all over again, not that I have a problem at all with this style. In fact I still prefer this style over the current plasticy black cheap look of components today.

long live the classic high-end looks!

[Brucie B @ Oct 9th 2008 8:36AM]

FUGLY

[letstakeawalk @ Oct 9th 2008 12:13PM]

Kudos Yamaha! I love the classic look. I've got several Yammies, including an M-4 and a beastly B-2, so I love that the newer seperates line will blend harmoniously into my collection. I need a new control amp...

http://www.thevintageknob.org/VFET/B2/B2.html#

[bandigolo @ Oct 9th 2008 12:19PM]

My rule is brushed aluminum for "background devices" like surge pros, filters, power amps, and matte black for user-interactive devices like DVD/SAT/Dolby Amps and other things with doors and/or LCD screens. I don't see the need to color match all my devices, in fact I like it mixed.

But really, 2.1 is such a niche' market these days. Most mid-to-high-end Dolby amps can pull this off just fine (although I admit my Sony 7.1 kinda sucks in stereo, but that may also be my lackluster main speakers. I wonder what it would sound like with B&W's...).

[Rowdy @ Oct 9th 2008 8:57PM]

bandigolo, I have a Sony 5.1 with B&W speakers, and sounds GREAT!

The money must be put on speakers first, the rest isn't as important...

[Information Central @ Oct 9th 2008 11:18PM]

"What you seem to be saying is that you've never heard music played back on anything significantly better than a cheap Best Buy stereo."

What you're revealing is a serious reading-comprehension deficit.

"..that warrant anything better than a cheap Best Buy stereo." shows that you're also a bit out of touch."

Overly broad, perhaps, but essentially true and becoming more so by the day. Yes, there are specialist vendors, but they can offer only a tiny fraction of popular music. And the one you linked to offers (amongst smaller-label issues) pressings from major labels, which are often wrecked even if they're sold in "audiophile" formats like DVD-Audio or SACD. Have you checked out the remaster of Brothers in Arms? Incredibly, this digital recording (which was once included with Sony CD players as a demonstration of digital dynamic range) was dynamically COMPRESSED for "audiophile" reissue.

That's how out of touch the record industry is, and the worst part is that there's no way we'll ever get the record companies or the consumers to recognize this widespread but esoteric-sounding scourge.