Pros:9 inputs (totally awesome - enough to hook up 8 track, minidisc, cassette/DCC, DAT, CD/DVD Audio/SACD, Turntable, Tuner and USB and maybe even reel to reel tape or some other obscure format)Built in

My 45 year old 25 watt Sansui receiver outperforms it in every respect save a lack of modern digital inputs

I love the digital inputs, and the DAC they use seems to do an excellent job

Everything works as expected but for one small (but important) detail: the digital inputs only work with mundane PCM 2 channel signals

Very rich and warm sound, and the optical input (from my existing old Yamaha CD player) sounds great.

Has an effortless range and easily produces colcated orchestral soundstages

Compared to it the Yamaha has better separation more power and dynamic range

Also I burned my tunes at the higher but rat e (320).Would highly recommend.

What the Yamaha A-S801 does is bring out the highs and keeps the warm mid-range that I really love

I've noticed the amp with the subs pretty well covers the range, but I a am going to bi-amp with the Yamaha as the low end and a 30 watt tube for the highs just for the heloo of it

"A/B"ing between Pure Direct and normal, resetting the controls to compensate for room acoustics/speaker reproduction (tonal imbalances heard while on PD) until the imbalances were gone and the program material even sounding

Pure direct is slightly better, but there is still little warmth and too much high end

The convenience of the full set of controls is nice although 95% of the time I only use the "pure direct" and the volume setting

The pure- direct & the loudness features were useless for me

Also I burned my tunes at the higher but rat e (320).Would highly recommend.

I used this amplifier in place of the Yamaha receiver for the past 3 days and am blown away by the clarity at low listening levels

: Enjoy this amplifier more and more the past two months

This is an outstanding integrated amplifier for its price

i started looking for the best amplifier in the $400-$600 price range that could drive my speakers.

Excellent Amplifier, easy to set up and quite versatile.

the kitchen set up has Pioneer SP-FS52-LR Andrew Jones tower speakers (another great value).

This USB/DAC feature found on the A-S801; what I would call, "the greatest gift to consumer audio components in the last 10 years"; alone bumps up the value of this Yamaha A-S801, today, what would have cost $10,000 10 years ago, to hear what I heard

And I got the amp for 50% off on an Amazon warehouse deal, which is fantastic value for money spent!Update on March 23 2015

Amazing clarity and soundstage, very accurate and great value for money for this 2.0 set up that includes the best of digital and analog

Considering some of these can get way up into the triple digits, it's certainly seems to be a good value.

If you are looking for something a few hundred less, then I would recommend checking out the RR2150 which is the closest comparable for identical features with a lower quality DAC.UPDATE April 2015: Now that the amp has broken in there are some additional things to note

That's too bad because it's wonderfully built and is very good looking

It's sleek, minimalist look isn't overpowering in our entertainment center unit and, while I'm certainly not as experienced an audiophile as he is, we both agree that it works as good, if not better, better than we were expecting.

It is decent quality nice looking and vintage style amplifier

I liked that clean 70's / 80's look, I liked heavy pieces that were built like tanks, and, of course, the older pieces usually sound pretty nice too

Turns out my laptop has some pretty dirty usb power

The amount of clean power that this operates at compared to a 5.1 receiver setup is night and day.

It has enough power to drive my q acoustics 3050 very loud

; it's actually a pretty cool amp for music with decent power and clear sound.

Receiver is top tier, very beautiful with amazing, clean, power.

The onboard DAC didn't like it at all

I have a high end Sony cd player with a good DAC and connected to this via optical or analog you can't tell the difference

I have a Pioneer SX-650 that also sounds great but this apmplifier sounds just as good, plus it has a remote, subwoofer pre-out, and a nice DAC and way more source inputs.

Analog and digital connectivity is superb, including a very good integrated DAC.

With good DAC chips being a commodity these days, I think it

Also I burned my tunes at the higher but rat e (320).Would highly recommend.

Four and a half decades ago one if the first things I learned is that your stereo is as good as your worse piece of equipment.

I liked that clean 70's / 80's look, I liked heavy pieces that were built like tanks, and, of course, the older pieces usually sound pretty nice too

I liked that clean 70's / 80's look, I liked heavy pieces that were built like tanks, and, of course, the older pieces usually sound pretty nice too

Also I burned my tunes at the higher but rat e (320).Would highly recommend.

I was just looking for a high quality pure amplifier and I have found it.

The quality of the sound is phenomenal even while playing music off of Youtube

I'll also note that the quality of the sound at lower volumes is lacking - to my ears it's very muddy, especially in the vocals

It is decent quality nice looking and vintage style amplifier

The audio quality on Yamaha's integrated amps blows the socks off any of their comparably priced receivers

Natural Sound Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Black).I placed this unit in my Amazon Wish List when the model was first introduced in

(And I wouldn't even consider buying such an expensive unit any place other than Amazon.

The unit is really, really good on 'normal' mode, but truly shines when the 'Pure Direct' mode is on (assuming you have a quality source).

If you are building a sound system that will be left alone, you will love this little unit.

They sync up and remain connected, and the sound, while some may say is not as good as a standalone unit, sounds very good to my ears, smooth and warm sounding

The Yamaha just sounds a bit warmer and inviting, especially when pushed

For $300 you can buy very decent Yamaha A-S301, just add $50.My conclusions:1.

Excellent job Yamaha...you have restored my faith in your products!!!

great Yamaha added a DAC into this unit despite going for a "classic" feel

This probably means Yamaha is overstating its ratings