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The amplifier is, of course, the heart of this unit. You can hear the Yamaha sound through the entire unit. There is always one word with which to describe a piece of hi-fi, and this time we choose drive. There is a kind of naturalness emanating from the Yamaha R-N1000A that we don’t often encounter. You turn the thing on and it just keeps going. It’s a very dynamic and lively amplifier, aided by an energetic d/a converter.
The stereo image is remarkably wide with very precise dispersion. Low-end control is also impressive and the R-N1000A also has a lot of headroom so it won’t run out of breath easily. The built-in dac is above average with the main feature being a high degree of transparency .
Listen!
We are streaming the new album “Letters to Yu” by Bolis Pupul. This personal album opens with the menacing title track, and the R-N1000A immediately sets the tone for the entire album. This amp manages to capture the mood of the music very well. Beats sound pointed and crisp, and while the built-in streamer obviously doesn’t offer the ultimate refinement, you’re having way too much fun to worry about that. Meanwhile, the second track “Completely Half” is almost on and we marvel at how well everything is balanced. You just keep listening. An excellent start.
How good the dac is we hear when we connect it to our CD transport. We slide “My favorite picture of You” by Guy Clark into the loader and are immediately impressed. The strumming of the strings on the guitar comes through crystal clear. We listen to the entire album and decide that the implementation is very well done. The combination of the potent amplifier with the fresh dac is very successful. The dac does not sound cold or distant, as evidenced by the song “Rain in Durango,” which grabs us by the throat.
Time for some radio. Wonderland on Radio 1(Flanders) is a program with a lot of variety that also regularly provides live sessions. This time it is the turn of Nigerian Obongjayar who gives a modern twist to traditional African music. The trumpet that accompanies some of the songs cuts through the marrow. When the pace of the songs picks up, the percussion stands out. It sounds very precise and very rhythmic. We had almost forgotten how nice radio listening can be.
We also really enjoyed the Bluetooth function. The quality is surprisingly good and there is nothing more fun than going through several hours of YouTube. Some guilty pleasures like Boston, Whitesnake and Chris Isaak pass by. Delicious.