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

Indeed, Sinclair. I drive mine with the Pioneer A9. Not the latest one but the good one. Dual mono construction with loads of power supply capacitance and headroom.

Thanks Sinclair, it was an interesting receiver comparison and I appreciate the feed back on the N803.

I have to confess, I've been home with nothing to do (recuperating from a hip replacement), so I had time to poke around the manual for my current receiver (Yamaha RX-V673) and it has a zone-2 that is both amplified and has pre-outs. In addition, I can stream music directly from my NAS using my phone or tablet. So I don't think I'm even going to need any additional hardware to start with.

BTW, I really like the Cherry Cinnamon finish!

Hey Cork, I'm late to this discussion but wanted to share what i've learned recently. I upgraded my receiver twice over the last few months, I can attest that power is not everything, just because it can push the speakers doesn't mean it will sound as advertised. My Yamaha RX-A860 pushed the M100 fine, no distortion but I had lots of EQ to dial them in and I hated the high end. Ian was quick to send out the older tweeters that I liked and it solved the problem. I then got my hands on a Yamaha RX-A1080 which was a big upgrade, cut the EQ adjustments in half and I started to like the M80 on walls. I now have the CX-A5200 with external amplification and it's miles better in sound. Very little EQ adjustment and the V4 tweeters are much better now! I had no idea just how much a difference a receiver could make on the sound. From what i've heard a good DAC makes all the difference. If you don't want to go pre/pro I've heard that the DAC on the RX-A3080 is the same as the 5200. The 3080 is the smarter purchase, you can use the internal amps and always add external later with the pre amp outs. Neither units are truly balanced though.

Hi Cork, I smiled when I read your last post ("I don't think I'm even going to need any additional hardware to start with"). I am exactly in the same spot. My plan was to go for M5HP and add Yamaha receiver to start my long belated upgrade of sound & vision system in the basement. But the speakers ended up in the living room, where I have Oppo BDP-103 player with before mentioned Marantz. The Oppo machine can decode pretty much everything I own in digital format, including small collection of SACDs. So now I am less motivated, though Ymaha is surely on my dream-list. Yours and Rebulx enthusiasm for Yamaha is very reassuring and only makes me wanted it more.

Thank you for the compliment on cherry/cinnamon. The color works great in pretty much any room, it is lively enough to not be boring but does not burn your eyes out. Perfect harmony with the sound speakers generate . Axiom workshop is doing amazing job putting those things together.

What colors are yours and have you already received them or not yet ?

Thanks Rebulx, that's good info as I hadn't really looked deeply at those models and it led me to review them all more thoroughly and note the differences. (I really miss the comparison across all models Yamaha used to provide.) They do look nice! That said, I'm reluctant to shell out for a multi-channel system for a stereo application.

If I go with the LFR660's I'll get amplification with them; and if I go with the M80s I can see how ig goes and then add an amp in later. I know I like the Yamaha DAC, because up til now I've been decoding through Plex (I know, but they make it *so* easy), and when I tried out the direct streaming from the NAS to the Yamaha (RX-V681) it sounded better.

Sinclair, I do like the Yamaha sound, I've been using them for a while now (gone through 2 and have 2 now). I tried a couple Onkyo's and one of the slim-line Marantz line and Yamaha sounded better to me. (So you may not like Yamaha as much if the 1403 suits your taste.) I also have Anthem on my wish list; but they're expensive and I'm not a fan of their recent external design change. Superficial, I know; but I have to like looking at the equipment, I just can't help myself.

I have black M5's in my theater set-up (so they're "invisible"), and I have Cherry-Nutmeg in my music set-up. Truth be told I wanted the Cherry-Cinnamon, but it was no longer available when I went to order and I was too impatient to ask if it was coming back. I think the nutmeg is very close to the cinnamon, but with a slight tint of yellow (I'd still prefer the cinnamon, oh well). For my living room I think I'm going with Cherry-Chestnut. Although the current picture doesn't look like the snap I grabbed a few months back, so I'll have to ask about that.

Hi Cork, I just had a look at Cherry-Chestnut and I really like it. The combination somehow escaped my eyes and I was not aware of it until you mentioned it. It is obviously dark in tone and very different than Cinnamon but very handsome I must say!

I do not think that you can blame yourself for being "superficial" when it comes to the design of audio equipment. For hi-fi enthusiast, the look of audio gear is as important as the look of a car for who have passion for cars. I personally admire Yamaha classic design, the one they continue for their upper-level stereo amplifiers and consider that a true high-end.

It is true I am am happy with my Marantz, but I love to experiment and have lots of curiosity and now, with M5HP at my home I need something with higher punch that can also deliver proper detail and depth. My reverence for clean, not cheap-looking design and consistently high reviews drive my desire toward Yamaha. If I ever had opportunity to indulge, I'd go for the silver-face/wooden-sides amp, such as A-S2200. Though, I be happy to settle at something less luxurious. I must say that you brought my attention to R-N803 and I even started thinking if that could be the way to go.

It is nice chatting with you - I hope your recovery goes smooth !

My 125v4s and Freedom are dressed in cherry chestnut natural satin. Timeless!

Sinclair, yeah, the cinnamon and chestnut are very different; I tend to like the lighter wood stains more, but my wife wanted to match the other furniture in the living room, which made perfect sense. But once I started looking at it closely I really came to like the chestnut. My only problem is that the snap I made of it a few months back doesn't look anything like the sample that comes up on the web site now; so I order some sample from Axiom.

I keep bouncing back and forth on whether I like the solver finish receivers more, or the black. I think push com to shove, if the model I wanted had silver I'd go with that. If only to come full circle with the gear I had back in the 70s after years and years of black.

And yes, it's definitely been fun sharing info and even better thoughts and opinions. I'm going to have to poke my head in here more often. I noticed that there's an Axiom Facebook page. I almost sighed up, but I like to stay off of Facebook so I didn't in the end. Anyone know if that is more active than the forum?

If the cherry cinnamon is so nice, I really ought to plan for more subs. Nine are not enough.

You're finally getting it.