Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Yamaha R-N803 Adeqaute for M80HPs?

Cork is running M5s with M2 surrounds.

My buddy is running the M100s he stole from me with a bottom of the barrel 90W Denon that is only good to 70W both channels driven. Sounds real nice!

I'm negotiating with myself as we type Kodiak. I like both the Hegel and the Cambridge Audio that TrevorM mentioned. Unfortunately, the Hegel was $4k, not $3k and the Cambridge is a two-piece system that I'm trying to avoid for my wife's sake. I'm going to try and dig up more network integrated amps. (And I'd gladly take more suggestions!)

Mojo is correct, I have an M5/M2/VP100 home theater setup and another M5/Advent-mini setup for music. Also a repurposed M22 pair on the deck. (Which is much nicer than I ever expected. Though my neighbors might disagree ...) All the setups are driven by Yamaha's; so I know I like the Yamaha sound. This'll be the first setup in the living room; I'm excited about it because I think the living room will have enough space for good acoustics (the other rooms are more cramped).

Hey Cork,
Those are some sweet setups man! All slightly different for a specific purpose. I have to agree on the Yamaha sound matching up with Axioms. I like how my sounds too.
It must be really tempting to get another Yamaha for sure!

Check out the Musical Fidelity m6i. It’s 220 watts per channel at 8 ohms. It doesn’t list a spec for 4 ohms but the rest of their integrated amps have a 4 ohm spec. They are expensive but they spec out great and get great reviews. I beautiful piece for a legacy system and a high quality one box solution.

Edit: M5i comes in at 150 watts into 2 channels at 8 ohms. Again no 4 ohms spec, not sure why as these are high quality integrateds.

Cork, another interesting option is a Yamaha AS1200 or 2200 if you want balanced inputs. This a purely analog affair but you could add an Axiom Transformer to it for all your network and streaming needs. These look really nice.

They both do 150watts into 4 ohms. 625va toroidal transformer. The 1200 is cheaper for sure but not balanced.

Lots of good reviews on these units on line and you tube.

Complete the the Yamaha / Axiom collection. And you get VU meters too.

Those Yammies are so over-priced. Cork, e-mail Ian and have him cook you up a 2-channel ADA-1000 with a built-in Axiom Air Transformer. Far better value and performance.

When you call Ian, ask him about the 54,000uF that the za1000 specs out at vs the 60,000 of the Ada-1000.

Just saying.

I think that za-1000 would be a great one box well powered solution! Nice one.

You’re in a good position cork. No hurry to purchase and lots of options.

Happy New Year!

Or just keep the Yammie that you like the function of and strap external amps to it later if you feel the need.

It has line outs on it. Saved!

>> You’re in a good position cork. No hurry to purchase and lots of options.
Ha! You'd think; but it took me 4 months to decide on 'Cherry Chestnut'!

If the R-N803 had line out I'd definitely go that route. As it stands (and this is by no means my last word on it, not by a long-shot), I'm thinking a Yamaha WXC-50 with an ADA-1000. I'll mostly be using this to play CDs (and some HDTracks digital files) ripped to my NAS, and my wife will hit the internet radio now and again; so the WXC should be sufficient. I wanted to talk myself into one of those upgraded options, but I like taking a vacation this year too.

Thanks again everyone for all the advice. I won't be pulling the trigger until mid- to late-March; so if anythings strikes you until then, please post.

That Yammie streamer looks pretty cool!

Hello, I just wanted to inject my 2c , though I realize I am coming late.
One more note, which I added at the very end of writing this post: my intention of commenting on paring Yamaha R-N803 with Axiom's M5HP transpired into something more. My apology if I went off-topic.

After 1 full year of research and hesitations, I have finally ordered a pair of M5HP and got it delivered shortly before last Christmas. The speakers have now close to 80h on the gauge and, by now, I have a very good understanding of what it takes to drive them properly and what one can expect from them. I listen to them with 3 different amplifiers: Marantz NR1403-50Wpc, Arcam A75-75Wpc and Denon AVR3805/120Wpc.

M5HP love power, however, they also love articulation. While Denon's 120Wpc delivers right amount of juice, it does not have the vocal eloquence to make M5HP fully happy (mind, I know Denons that could do that but they are outside my reach). Arcam A75 is a beautiful piece of audio master craft but its age (made in UK in 2001) shows off. The sound is too colored for the level of details M5HP projects. So, surprisingly, Marantz won the competition, even though it only pushes 50Wpc down the wire. Yes, the volume knob must be cranked up reasonably high but, after all, that is what the volume knobs are for. When I hooked my M4HP to Marantz, the quality of sound literally blew my head away. If you like fusion-Jazz , play Chick Corea's "City of brass" and... you will see it, not just hear it. And if you like Dire Straits, listen to "Ride across the river" and you will immediately understand why M5HP might indeed be the end-game pair of speakers you ever spent money on. The level of details that comes out in absolutely undistorted manner and dispensed with perfect level of power are the killer-feature and the secret-sauce of M5HP. It makes you wonder how is it possible. To round this part up, I will just say that I own 2 pairs of other well-regarded speakers (both are floor-stands) but none can deliver the magic of M5HP.

I can tell for sure that M5HP need an amplifier that is robust, confident and musically refined. Marantz and Yamaha are for sure in that category. Interestingly, I had Yamaha in my plans too, although it was one of the surround receivers. The plans changed, at least for a while. As long as we are talking about reasonable budget, Yamaha and Marantz may arguably represent the best possible choices to power M5HP. The ultimate dream setting for M5HP would be something like Yamaha A-S2200. Anyway, R-N803 seems to be great piece and it has excellent reviews. With 100Wpc (@ 4Ohm) it should deliver fantastic experience, when pairing it with M5HP, especially for jazz and classical.

Last but not least, M5HP not only bring extraordinary sound but also high-end "look & touch". The quality of make is implacable. I ordered mine in cherry/cinnamon and they look gorgeous, even better than in pictures. Although my family is not overly HiFi oriented, everyone loved them so much that they forced me to leave them in the living room for good (they were originally purchased for my basement system).

M5HP is the first pair of Axiom speakers I ever purchased but, ironically, I am afraid might not be the last one... LOL!