This review is for the M-80 and MX-1000. I've had a couple of both models.. Both offer great bang for the buck. Terrific power and nice clean sound. Nothing else can touch them at this price point. They do run extremely hot and proper ventilation is a must. After reading some of the comments here though, I must add this. People,please don't fool yourselves. They do not sound as good as Mark Levinson, McIntosh,Krell, or the other high end amps.Nor should they at this price. They simply do not have the sound stage,detail, or clarity(hence the much lower price). That said, they're an excellent value and blow the Onkyo's, Panasonics,etc. away.

Strengths:
Terrific power. Clean sound. Low price.

Weaknesses:
Run extremely hot.

Bought this amp on ebay from somebody who refurbishes them, not from just a person selling an old one. This amp sounds amazing, and came looking brand new, even though it is 30 years old. I paid $800 and it was worth every penny. I also own a McIntosh amp, and believe it or not, they can't compare. I'm replacing the McI with another Yamaha. The sonics this amps produces is just absolutely life like. I bought it a year ago and waited a while to post to see if I would be satisfied...I am, in EVERY aspect. Would highly recommend this amp to any enthusiast. Found some good info at legendaryamps.com. Finally talked the wife into a couple more. These amps have an incredible reputation and live up to it. ebay seller was zcar280z. Great work on refurbish, and would recommend.

Great sound, very clean at all volumes. Beat a dozen other top-end amps in side by side listening comparison for clarity & separation. On the down side, seems to need repair every few years. One tech told me he called them "M-80" because they keep blowing up.

Despite the maintenance, I still recommend highly as the sound can't be beat.

You after lifting multiple times! Clean crisp power with the lowest THD to offer me at the time. Two display levels.

Unavailable seperate A-B-C level controls.

Pure sound exhilleration!!! I was so enthralled by this baby I had to let everyone in the barracks know. Coupled with a pair of Cerwin Vega PD-9s and two pair Bose 901's....the barracks were never the same. They could hear me half way across the base as per the complaints! Most in the barracks, especially myself enjoyed the clarity and sheer power this amp could produce. In fact I also used the setup, but with just the PD-9s for DJing at the base club. Now years later and after being in storage due to no DJ job and use of a surround reciever in my apartment....I pulled it out the other day to test out some new speakers.....Poof!!! All the salt air from Hawaii took its toll on the components. I'm now in denial like a smoker without any cigarettes!!!! All the more I can say is as Tim Allen would put it...UGHHH Power! Enjoy the clean raw power!!!!

Sound..sound..sound. Meter control buttons. Dual mono block design.

Black facplate (shows fingerprints, marks too easily).

I had owned a CA-810 integrated amp since new in 1977. I loved it until some of the controls started to have issues. The CA-810 is a beautiful piece of equipment. Brushed aluminum faceplate with teak cabinetry. Anyhow back to my newly acquired M-85…I didn’t buy it for the 250+ watts of power but for it’s a dual mono block amp design with Class A operation option. The M-85 has great specs and weights in at over 50 lbs (beefy). The weight is due to the twin transformers/power supplies and the heavyweight heat sinks for the sixteen Sanken output transistors. I also like the meter range control button and switching for three pairs of speaker found on this model. But best of all is the sound. Isn’t that what it’s all about. I very rarely blast music anymore. This unit has full, rich, beautiful sound at any volume. Coupled with my JBL Century L100s and I think I have the best of what rock-n-roll has to offer for the bucks.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha CA-810

PLENTY of power

Goofy speaker hook-ups

I've got a lot of stereo equipment. I've always just bought what I wanted. I had been stuck on an old crown DC-300a that I got in 1988 or so. My friend bought the yamaha used. He used it with a pair of Phase Tech PC 8.5s. I was using the DC-300A with 1 pair of Dalhquist dc-10s. He had a financial problem, I got the yamaha. Then I got a second pair of DQ-10s. When I got married I set up the yami with both pair of DQ-10s wired in series for 16 ohms. The preamp was a Phase Linear model 2000 series two. I wired the dalhquists in series because DQ-10 speakers arn't all the friendly to start with and I thought the yami wouldn't go for the 4 ohm load as easily as the crown did. I had no idea what I was in for. At 11 o'clock gain on the Phase, I was at concert hall volume in a Van Halen concert and very clear. My wife prefers classical. Sometimes I do too. Tchiakovsky's Romeo and Juliet suite comes thru with as much force and presence as does the Van Halen. The Dalhquists are vey spacious open speakers. My wife and I have gone separate ways, but I still have the Yamaha and the DQ-10s. As experience is my witness, I wouldn't sell either for love or money. The Crown has since blown a channel, but with the Yamaha, I think I'm going to be just fine.

Neutral sound, with great frequency response. Soundstaging is quite good. Can be used with ANY speaker.

None for the price. Its sins are of slight omissions, no warts are added.

I purchased a pair of Magnepan MG IIIa''s and my old reciever could not cut it. At the time I was in college and could not afford to spend a lot of money, but needed a lot of watts to drive the Magnepans. I found a Yamaha M-80 for sale online a purchased it. It did a great job of driving the very inefficient Magnepans for about a year and the Hales Revelation 3''s that replaced them. The Hales are slightly more efficient, but not by much. Once again, the M 80 drove them very high levels without strain even as the power meters on front were bouncing around the 200-400 watt range on very bass heavy music. Inside there are 8 Sanken output transistors on each side, thats 16 total. The amplifier also has twin (yes 2) power transformers and power supplies. The amplifier operates in pure class A mode up to 25 watts and then in class A/B up to around 230 watts into 8 ohms at the flick of a switch. Otherwise the amp runs class A/B through most of its range and runs quite cool. In the Class A mode, the amp generates quite a bit of heat and the sound improves for about 30 minutes as the amp warms up. The amp does a really good job at just letting the sound of everything upstream through. If your preamp and CD player are bright or dark, then the Yamaha will let that through. Overall, I would say the amp itself sounds slightly warm, but its very slight. It may just be that it does not have that typical solid state harshness in the treble. It sounds very good with all sorts of speakers, even very small monitors that would never need the power the amp is capable of. Just let the M 80 sit in class A mode and provide a dynamic and detailed image. If you can find one for less than $400, then buy it. The only problem you may ever run into are leaky power supply capacitors if the unit was abused or run in a confined space and overheated for a long period of time. In normal use, the amp should be bulletproof. It has overload protection, startup and shutdown auto muting, and every other system to make the unti as user friendly as possible. Even though the amp is now in my office system and has been replaced by a $3000 Conrad Johnson amplifier in the main room, I would still recommend it to anyone who either needs a lot of watts for a little money, or just wants to find out what the world of high end is all about.

Similar Products Used:

Associated products: CD - Nakamichi MB-10, Rega Planet Preamps - Nakamichi CA 5, Sansui c2101, yamaha C-80, Conrad Johnson PV10A Interconnects - Audioquest quartz, goertz silver micro purls,

Awesome power.

None untill now.

I just replaced a pair of antique Technics 8 ohms speakers with a new pair of Magnepan's 4 ohm speakers. I found it necessary to crank up the gain for the 4 ohm speakers. Why? All common logic tells me that 4 ohm speakers have less resistence then 8 ohm speakers therefore I should have to turn down the gain not up. All though using a sound level meter I can balance all the speakers to the same -db level. I feel I am cutting myself short. Why? Is there any one out there using the M-85 as a main amp powering Maggies or another 4 ohm loud speaker? If so can you help me with some kind of setup?

This is a 260wpc stereo power amp from the mid 80's. I bought one of these used from someone for $400. You can probably find one cheaper but I think they are in pretty high demand. I had never heard this amp before but I had read lots good things about them. I was not dissapointed. It is extremely warm and full sounding with lots of punch in the low, without sacrificing the clarity of the highs or mids. It sounds far more natural then most of anything you can find in the sub $2000 range today. It adds absolutely no hum or hiss to the signal which is surprising considering how old it is. It does not get very hot even after listening for 3 hours straight at high volumes (which should also be a testament to how non-fatigueing the sound is)even with the auto-class A circuitry engaged. It has very nifty huge red LED power graphs, and all of the lights are a very soothing red. It can handle down to 2ohms, and has three sets of outputs (A, B, C). The only problems I can see are the binding posts which do not accept spades, and the independent level adjustment dials for each channel, which make it hard to get the balance centered if you use them.
Definetly pick one up if you can find one.

Tons of power

Doesn't have a 20yr warranty

I have owned this amp for over 10 years now, without a hitch. What powerhouse!! It has been used in a DJ setup for 5 or 6 years, powering 4 fullrange cabinets, and I got raves about the sound quality all the time. The only negative comment was that sometimes it was too loud !!! Guess I got a little carried away occasionally. You owe it to yourself to hear what this baby can do with some efficient speakers... 100db @1w/1m or more. You better be in a big room, or outdoors. I have a Bryston 4B as well, an amp I had experience with , but didn't own, before I got the Yamaha. Always wondered how the Yami would stack up next to this audiophile lengend. Well I got the chance a couple years ago, bought the Bryston well used from a pro audio shop, and the first thing I did was a head to head comparo. The result... difficult to tell the difference. The Yami may even have more headroom than the Bryston. Equaled it in every other way. It's 4 ohm rating is less than the Brystons, 330w/c vs 400w/c ..but you'ld never know it . Yamaha's pro version of this amp, P2602, was rated at 400w/c @ 4ohms!! I think the home version was spec'ed for lower thd numbers, thus the lower power rating. It's hospital room clean, flat and un-colored, just as it should be. My only complaint is the binding posts which don't accept banana plugs, bare wire only. This may have changed with later models... not sure. Overall it's a big thumbs up from me, Yamaha is all I will buy from the Japanese.. the rest is just fast food electronics.

Similar Products Used:

Yahama mx-630, Yamaha cx-630, Bryston 4B