YAMAHA’S NEW AMPLIFIERS A CLASS ABOVE!
What’s in a name? In the Hi-Fi industry a brand name can automatically dictate the expectation of quality and performance. Mention Marantz and most people visualise a good quality, well priced, middleof-the-road product. Mention Krell and immediately the ultimate in what this industry has to offer springs to mind. However, occasionally a brand challenges the norm – and Yamaha has just done that.
Yamaha has earned a solid reputation as an above average, well priced and reliable brand. A few years ago they released a range of high-end integrated amplifiers and matching CD players ranging in price from $2,600 through to $9,000. They quickly established themselves as the equivalent of any product at those price points, irrespective of the brand name. Beautifully sounding, and meticulously built.
Yamaha have now thrown down the gauntlet to the heavy hitters in our industry. The new C-5000 pre-amplifier and matching M-5000 power amplifier are priced at $12,995 each, audiophile territory. The good news is that they can justify the asking price – sonically they hold their own with others at this price, and the build quality is better than most.
Yamaha has earned an enviable name in the Home Theatre market. Every generation of their Aventage AV receivers (now in its 10th generation) has won a Sound+Image AV Receiver of the Year award. However the C/M-5000 release is pure Hi-Fi. No HDMI inputs, no on-board DACs, and no in-built streamer. Just high performance 2-channel audio.
Yamaha has been making musical instruments for over 125 years, and built their first Hi-Fi component in 1954. They know what good sound is. They also have the resources to design and build what they consider to be the finest components on the market – the C/M5000 combination is the result.
There is a lot of established high-level competition at this price point, so this is a brave move by Yamaha. They are going head-to-head with iconic companies such as Krell, and have positioned the product above high-performance companies such as Musical Fidelity. In the few weeks we have had this amplifier we have formed the opinion that Yamaha have achieved what they set out to do – produce an amplifier which can hold its head up in the company of the best the world can offer. The fact that the construction quality puts much of its opposition to shame is a bonus.
It is going to be interesting to see what influence a ‘name’ will have with the acceptance of this product. Will the buying public accept a $26,000 amplifier manufactured in Japan, even if it is designed and manufactured by the largest (and one of the oldest) musical company in the world? If they trust their ears they should, but history has proven that sometimes choices are based on more than the obvious. In preparing this I scrolled though a few forums and was intrigued by comments along the lines that Yamaha could not compete against the established ‘audiophile’ brands, and that they could not justify asking ‘audiophile’ prices. I am aware that few, if any, of the people passing comment have actually heard the product! It’s a tough gig breaking new ground. We currently have the C-5000/ M-5000 combination playing through their very underrated NS-5000 speakers (described by Edgar Kramer from on-line review publication Soundstage Australia as ‘a new icon worthy of veneration’) in our showroom. Bring your favourite piece of music and have a listen – you will be impressed.