TEMPTATIONS
£5k will buy you Yamaha’s new retro-styled flagship integrated amp
FOR
• Clean and detailed presentation
• Impressive levels of resolution
• Excellent build and finish
AGAINST
• Midrange is a little lean
• Presentation lacks verve
• Phono stage could do with adjustable loading
VERDICT Yamaha’s flagship A-S3200 integrated amp is a solid, nononsense choice for the analogue enthusiast
Yamaha’s A-S3200 isn’t quite what we expected. The retro-styled flagship integrated amplifier isn’t a fashion item to be chosen by potential buyers for its nostalgia value. Nor is it a cutting-edge technology statement where Yamaha throws down the gauntlet to rival manufacturers by flexing its undoubted engineering might.
What we have here is a rather straight-laced, all-analogue integrated that’s been designed with considerable care. It has a sensible features list and, most importantly, a performance that justifies its hefty price tag.
The A-S3200 is a beautifully built product, as expected at this level. Every panel lines up perfectly, and each control and switch works with crisp precision. A large part of the amp’s retro vibe comes from those twin signal meters. We love the way they look, but in practical terms, they are not of much use. It’s nice to have them, anyway.
This amp is an impressively solid beast thanks to its chunky casework and back-straining 25kg weight, so make sure your support is sturdy enough. It runs a little warm, too, so it’s a good idea to leave plenty of ventilation space.
Take a look inside that immaculate casework and it’s obvious that Yamaha has refused to cut corners. The overall electronic circuit is a fully balanced design in order to minimise noise and improve resolution. There’s a substantial 623VA toroidal mains transformer and a generous 88,000uf of smoothing capacitance. The result is that this integrated delivers a solid 100W per channel power output.
The engineers have obsessed over the details, such as the quality of the internal connecting cables and the mechanical integrity of the casework. Even the bolts on the feet are welded into place to provide greater rigidity. Those silver-plated brass feet are height-adjustable to compensate for any unevenness in the supporting surface, too.
Accepting that this is an all-analogue product, there’s little to complain about when it comes to connectivity. There are
“The A-S3200 renders the leading edges of notes with crispness without ever veering towards sounding hard or edgy”
six line-level inputs, including two balanced XLR options. The XLR inputs have small toggle switches positioned underneath and these can attenuate the signal (so there’s not a big jump in level between the single-ended and balanced sources) or swap its phase. These aren’t common features, and we’re glad that Yamaha has gone to the trouble of including them.
SUITABLY LUXURIOUS
Those with record players can rest easy. Yamaha’s A-S3200 has a switchable moving magnet/moving coil phono stage, though it’s a shame there’s no electrical loading adjustability to optimise the results for any specific cartridge.
While the phono stage’s 47ohm moving magnet input impedance will work well with pretty much any cartridge of that type, it’s a little odd that Yamaha has chosen to go with a 50ohm value for the moving coil option. While moving coils vary in terms of their loading requirements, a 100ohm value would have suited many more cartridges. It’s not a make or break situation, but