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and welcome back to another review from
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the audiophile man and this particular
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week i'm looking
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at a venerable old japanese company
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i'm looking at yamaha now a few years
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ago
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three or four or so i did a whole host
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of yamaha reviews they seemed to come
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one after another there was a variety of
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different amplifiers there was a host
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of different speakers and there was even
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a blu-ray player
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reviewed from an audio perspective
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and then life happened and i moved on to
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other brands other manufacturers and i
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kind of lost
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touch with yamaha well now it's time to
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re-establish
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a connection because i've got back in
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touch with yamaha
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and the good people over at that fine
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company has sent me
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a large and i mean large i mean i had to
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scale the north face of this particular
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amplifier
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a large integrated amplifier it costs
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one pound short of 2 000
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pounds so we're not talking about what
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might commonly be seen as more normal
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budget yamaha fur here this is
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2 000 pounds or so and it's called the a
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s 1200 as i say this integrated
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amplifier
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is pretty large it's also pretty heavy
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it offers a retro styling and most of
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all
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it features vu meters so on that note of
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ecstasy
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there's no better time than to do a
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closer
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look
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and welcome to the closer look section
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and as you can see
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in front of you there's a sheer face of
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aluminium with those two
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rather nifty vu meters this amplifier
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offers 90 watts that's nine zero watts
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into
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eight ohms and it certainly fills a
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space
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i'm talking 435 millimeters
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by 157 by four six three millimeters
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and it weighs in at 22 kilograms
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so don't forget to bend those knees oh
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and this
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amplifier tends to say look at me
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a lot now on this wall of aluminium
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there's
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a host of switches round knobs
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cheese slice knobs and we'll get to
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those in a second
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and more holes on the rear than lennon's
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blackburn lancashire
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inside is a meaty toroidal transformer
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film capacitors and internal shielding
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while the company says that the design
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utilizes a
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and i quote mechanical ground concept
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which begins with the both of the feet
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welded
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directly to the main chassis followed by
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the large
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heatsink power transformer and block
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capacitors
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directly bolted to that self same
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chassis through this design unwanted
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vibration
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is avoided achieving expressive groove
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in the music
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unquote now this box may dominate your
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hi-fi
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your room and quite possibly the streets
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you live in
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so bear that in mind if aesthetics
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are important the layout of this
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amplifier
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front and back is classic traditional
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and ever so slightly nostalgic the
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front fascia has a large volume knob
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as you can see here there's also a
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smaller source selector
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bass treble and tone controls
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are also included and as i say if you
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look at them
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at a slight angle they do resemble
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slices of cheese
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or am i just hungry now if all these
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tone controls
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are set to zero the audio will actually
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automatically bypass the tone
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control circuit there's also a
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speakers switch because you can hook up
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two sets of speakers to this one you'll
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also find
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a headphone socket for the built-in
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headphone amplifier
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this one is a full size model thank
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goodness
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at 6.35 millimeters next to the
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headphone socket is a meaty power switch
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this is definite certain and
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lovely and bulky on the far side and
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in a similar styling is a mute
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switch when you click this on you'll see
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the little light saying your amplifier
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is muted
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press it again and the light and the
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muse disappears
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to me because i have this vu fetish
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the one intriguing control is the meter
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option
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and that allows you to turn off the vu
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meters
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entirely you can also select
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a peak level monitoring option
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or you can go into classic
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vu mode there's also a dimmer
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to automatically change the brightness
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of the meter display
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and you can lock the desired dimmed
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lighting too
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the dimming option is very interesting
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and quite
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innovative and as you can see here when
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i enter
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into dimming mode the lights
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cycle they cycle in terms of intensity
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they will begin at their brightest and
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then they will progressively dim
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when they get to the bottom of that
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dimming cycle they'll click
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back into very bright mode and then
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it will start all over again what you
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need to do
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is you need to keep your fingers on
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that meter switch when the vu meters hit
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a level of brightness you're happy with
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you click off the dimming and that will
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lock in the intensity of the
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illumination so to repeat
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hit that dimming option wait for the
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intensity you're happy with
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and then move away from the dimming
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option and the illumination you've
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selected
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will stay in place an intriguing way of
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doing things i must say
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the rear of the chassis provides
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two sets of speaker binding posts
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situated on the far left and the far
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right as you can see here they offer
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multiple
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options for spades and banana fittings
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and they're very chunky made out of
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brass and a very high quality
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indeed you'll also find a set of
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pre-outs and these sockets will allow
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you to hook up
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a subwoofer if you care to attach one
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you'll also find an auto power standby
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switch
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this kicks in after eight hours there's
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also
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a selection of trigger sockets there are
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three sets of
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inputs and just below that there is the
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phono amplifier and you have the option
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to select moving magnets
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or moving coil next to that there's a
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grounding
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grub screw adjacent to that lot
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there's two pairs of line outputs where
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you can connect
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for example an old cassette deck and
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there's the
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so-called main inputs too
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now these force the volume to operate
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in fixed mode and this allows you to
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hook the sockets to
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a preamplifier for example or an av
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amp you also get an iec
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power socket you also get a slim
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multi-function remote multi-function
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because this particular remote
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works with other yamaha products in the
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range
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the remote has a 60 degree arc of fire
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and a six meter range and you can see
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the remote in action here just check out
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the
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sleek moves from this volume knob
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pretty sexy hey so how does the yamaha
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as-1200 sound let's move over to the
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sound quality tests
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and we'll find out
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and welcome back to the sound quality
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tests and before we talk about
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sound i just want to talk about one
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feature we
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didn't get in the closer look section a
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feature which is
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important for not being there there is
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no
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internal dac in this amplifier
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none at all or bluetooth or anything
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like that
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this is just a straight integrated
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amplifier
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so let's focus on the dac because that's
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normally a fixture
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in integrated amplifiers these days
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what's going on
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and i asked this because some of you may
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be rather
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disappointed that there's not a dac
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involved
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in this box and let's not forget this is
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yamaha we're talking about here one of
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the most
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enthusiastic bundlers in existence
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yamaha normally loves just to stuff as
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many items and features a can
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into any one available chassis you want
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an amp
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sure have a dark in there too why don't
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you
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and bluetooth and streaming
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and a cd player and dab radio
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and multi-room options and well
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so it goes on and on now i understand
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why
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people like to see dax included in
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amplifiers there's this
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perceived value it's seen as a freebie
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there's also no setup involved
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the dac is inside the case it's ready to
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go and that also means you're saving
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money
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on not having to buy extra cabling
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there's also the fact that footprint is
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a lot smaller
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that is you don't have to cater for an
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external
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dax chassis and if your hi-fi has to
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cope
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with a small area footprints can be an
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important
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issue so the case for an internal dac
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is a pretty strong one on the other side
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of the coin the case for
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not having an internal dac well that's
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pretty strong as well i would say
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an internal dac sits cheek by jowl
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with all the other parts within an
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integrated amplifier which means that it
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sends out and receives
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high frequency noise and vibration from
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all those
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nearby components which doesn't do much
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good for sound quality it actually
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veils some of the delicate and fragile
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elements
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of your sound because it sits in that
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cramped
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space don't forget also when you have an
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internal dac
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the dac is subservient to the build
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budget
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so if you're building an amplifier which
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is the star of the show
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you've got a pot of cash it's finite
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there ain't no more
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you're given this money and that's it so
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you've got to build yourself an amp and
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if there's any money left over well that
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can go to the dash
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the dac is a lower priority so it
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suffers
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in terms of parts quality which means
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sound quality will suffer as well
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because the dark is really just a
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guest star in this particular movie it's
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not the star of the show the amplifier
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is the star of the show and then there's
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those cramped conditions i mentioned
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earlier
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you've only got so much space in any one
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amplifier so you've got to squeeze in as
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many bits of the dark
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as you possibly can now this might mean
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that a more superior set of components
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are just too bulky and can't fit in
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there so you might have to have
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smaller components which don't sound as
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good smaller
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cheaper maybe and again sound quality
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may very well suffer so the fact that
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there is no
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dark in this chassis or bluetooth or
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dab radio or fm or any of those things
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tells me one thing yamaha is
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single-minded in this product
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it's got its eye on the prize and it's
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trying to do one thing
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and one thing well so how does this
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amplifier
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sound i began with vinyl and span the ed
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gourmet
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spanish language album and excuse my
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pronunciation
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i think it's called cuatro vidas it's on
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cbs
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backed by the el trio los pantos again i
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hope that i've said that correctly
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apologies if not
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and i chose the track verae de tropical
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full of romance yearning understated
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backing vocals
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lowkey percussion and acoustic guitars
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meanwhile gourmet herself
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had a purity in the high registers but a
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sort of
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husky delivery around the lower
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frequencies
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frankly this song is absolutely gorgeous
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it's also full of fragility
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so needs careful handling and using this
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vinyl i did a brief
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test of the internal phono amplifier
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using the moving
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magnets option it's okay it's
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it's fine not amazing i wouldn't say the
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mid-range insight was anything to have a
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party about
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but it's it's good as a starter it's
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good to get you going
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and it's good if your budget has been
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spent on this amplifier
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and you've got nothing left it's your
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first upgrade though so instead i
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plugged in my
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reference phone amplifier just so i can
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get to the
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meat and review the yamaha amplifier on
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its own
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and my first impressions of this
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amplifier
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intriguing there's a definite
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plan here you can feel there's a
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direction
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from yamaha yamaha have certainly got a
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theme
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in mind with this amplifier it's almost
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as if yamaha is saying we're going to do
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it
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this way as opposed to that way so what
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you don't get
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or let me put it another way what there
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is less of
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in this presentation is air and
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space saying that the sound stage
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is not claustrophobic but there are
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plenty of amplifiers
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out there at this price point that
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infuse the sound stage
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with more air for detail to move around
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within
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and the yamaha has less of that i would
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say now some of you might
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right now say that's not for me but i
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think that could be a mistake
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that's because the as1200 offers a
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trade-off instead of the air and the
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space that some amplifiers might give
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you in buckets
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the yamaha provides a host of focus
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more focus that you might normally
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expect to hear in fact
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it can produce a slightly tense
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mid-range
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but that's never a major issue it's a
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subtle
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effect as opposed to a hurdle to cross
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the focus is the thing here and because
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it has so much focus
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that focus can create space all on its
00:15:10
own
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now what do i mean by that well imagine
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you're standing in a small room
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standing in that small room you
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inherently lose
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space to move around it's a physical
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fact you could feel a little cramped
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but look again at the interior design of
00:15:31
this room the choice of furniture
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how that's been arranged the furnishings
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the use of colour and the sympathetic
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way
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the room operates so so it's possible to
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stand
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in a small room but never really feel
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cramped or restricted comfortable
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but not confined that's what the yamaha
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does with sound
00:15:56
the upshot is the lack of air in space
00:15:58
is not as important as it possibly
00:16:00
should be
00:16:01
now there are several consequences to
00:16:03
this effect
00:16:05
to make sure that space is maximized the
00:16:08
placement of
00:16:09
instruments and vocals across the sound
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stage
00:16:12
has to be exact so it almost felt like
00:16:15
some of the producers were saying well
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bass guitarist you stand there uh
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drummer
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you sit exactly there and lead
00:16:23
guitarists
00:16:25
there no no not two inches to the left
00:16:29
there so each element of the sound stage
00:16:31
was arranged almost to a plan
00:16:33
the spin-off is at the base for example
00:16:36
never sounded pleasantly fuzzy
00:16:38
or irritatingly bloomy there was a
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strict
00:16:42
discipline to the base presentation that
00:16:45
goes for upper frequencies
00:16:47
as well so when an acoustic guitar
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string was plucked
00:16:50
there was a real ting effect for example
00:16:54
this enhanced the accuracy of the
00:16:56
instrument
00:16:57
similarly vocals increased the quality
00:17:01
of the addiction now this does mean that
00:17:03
music from the yamaha
00:17:05
tends to sing at a tension because space
00:17:09
is not that abundant as i say
00:17:10
the sense of relaxation and ease
00:17:14
isn't really there via the yamaha the
00:17:16
yamaha expresses this track with a
00:17:18
flourish
00:17:19
and a precision like playing a set of
00:17:22
castanets
00:17:23
instead of a lazy guitar strum upper
00:17:26
mids and treble
00:17:27
are never bright or forward yet they are
00:17:30
direct and controlled although there may
00:17:33
be a slight reduction in the motion and
00:17:35
heart
00:17:36
you can't fault the 1200 for its sense
00:17:39
of
00:17:40
accuracy and i'm sure this effect will
00:17:42
be appreciated
00:17:43
by fans of classical and also jazz
00:17:46
at this point i decided to change
00:17:48
formats and went to cd
00:17:50
i chose the 2008 edsel cd boxes
00:17:54
enjoying the block heads the stiff
00:17:56
singles the promo videos
00:17:58
and peel session and i selected that
00:18:00
venerable hit single
00:18:02
hit me with your rhythm stick again
00:18:04
there was the reduction
00:18:05
in sound stage space but also
00:18:08
again the yamaha created its own space
00:18:12
and lessened the effect in general
00:18:14
mastering terms
00:18:16
this particular recording was inherently
00:18:19
a little forward around the upper mids
00:18:21
the yamaha
00:18:22
1200 made sure you knew about it as well
00:18:25
it wasn't going to sugarcoast
00:18:26
anything it never tried to hide the fact
00:18:29
hence for example if you played a piece
00:18:31
of music and that music itself in
00:18:33
mastering terms
00:18:34
was quite forward say it was getting
00:18:36
towards being bright
00:18:37
this is the music itself okay if you
00:18:40
played that piece of music
00:18:42
the yamaha would give it a push
00:18:45
just to tip it over the edge so it would
00:18:47
sound even more bright what i mean by
00:18:49
that is
00:18:50
it's not forgiving never walk along a
00:18:53
cliff edge with a yamaha amplifier and
00:18:55
if you do
00:18:56
walk on the inside just a tip there yes
00:18:59
there was plenty of detail on
00:19:01
offer here bass was a little lean but
00:19:04
full
00:19:04
of impact while the sound moved at quite
00:19:08
a pace the sound itself never dragged or
00:19:11
felt
00:19:12
sluggish what i really liked about the
00:19:14
overall presentation of the 1200 was its
00:19:17
ability
00:19:18
to dig out even the most subtle of
00:19:20
detail
00:19:21
for example i never realized just how
00:19:24
amazing the bass line on this track was
00:19:27
it was quite a revelation the bass
00:19:30
guitar was
00:19:31
very easy to follow via the yamaha and i
00:19:34
could say the same about just about
00:19:36
every other instruments on the
00:19:37
soundstage the piano
00:19:39
was another highlight that was wholly
00:19:42
accessible by the ear
00:19:44
through the yamaha i then tried a little
00:19:46
bit of vocal jazz by
00:19:48
carol kidd this is the dreamsville
00:19:51
album on lin records on this cd you
00:19:54
could hear the
00:19:55
exacting nature of the presentation from
00:19:57
the yamaha
00:19:59
but at the same time no detail was
00:20:02
excluded here
00:20:04
that included the delicate symbol taps
00:20:07
a cool air surrounded this album but
00:20:10
all of the sonic ingredients were
00:20:12
featured within
00:20:14
nothing was excluded nothing
00:20:17
was ever left out now listening to the
00:20:20
same
00:20:20
album with the built-in headphone
00:20:23
amplifier
00:20:24
i used a pair of sennheiser hd
00:20:27
660s on this particular test i noted
00:20:30
that the sonic personality
00:20:32
didn't change now this is fairly rare
00:20:35
for headphone amplifiers
00:20:37
of this price point and lower normally
00:20:39
when i test
00:20:40
built-in headphone amplifiers the sonic
00:20:43
personality alters the touch
00:20:45
you're hearing the headphone amplifier
00:20:48
you're not hearing
00:20:49
the host main amplifier not so in this
00:20:53
case
00:20:53
the headphone amp sounded exactly like
00:20:57
the main amplifier so you had lean yet
00:21:00
strong bass focused mids and accurate
00:21:03
vocal delivery so how do i conclude the
00:21:06
review
00:21:07
for the yamaha as 1200 well
00:21:10
this amplifier is probably the most
00:21:13
intriguing yamaha amplifier
00:21:16
i've ever reviewed it's also the first
00:21:19
that really tries to come to grips with
00:21:21
sound in an audio file manner how it
00:21:24
approaches
00:21:25
sound is incredibly intriguing
00:21:28
mainly because of these sonic decisions
00:21:30
the company has made for it
00:21:32
it might not be for everyone but this
00:21:34
amplifier will
00:21:36
i'm sure gain many friends more than
00:21:38
anything
00:21:39
what i like about this amplifier is that
00:21:42
it offers a
00:21:43
sonic choice yamaha recognizes that
00:21:46
we're all looking for different things
00:21:48
in our music we're all looking for
00:21:50
different things
00:21:51
in our hi-fi there is room for all the
00:21:54
music
00:21:55
and room for all in hi-fi and this
00:21:58
yamaha
00:21:58
amplifier thoroughly supports that you
00:22:01
know i can imagine that this particular
00:22:03
yamaha
00:22:04
amplifier will generate a passionist
00:22:06
following
00:22:07
i actually wonder if this will become a
00:22:09
sort of cult
00:22:11
favorite in the future this is an
00:22:13
amplifier to definitely keep an eye on
00:22:15
i want to demo and that's me done thank
00:22:17
you very much
00:22:18
for sticking with me to the end of this
00:22:20
review i appreciate your support and
00:22:22
thank you also for
00:22:24
clicking on the like and also the
00:22:26
subscribe buttons and if you haven't
00:22:27
done that before
00:22:28
please do so now if you don't mind if
00:22:30
that's all right with you if you have
00:22:31
the time
00:22:32
what i'm going to do below is put a host
00:22:34
of other links other reviews
00:22:36
of yamaha kit that i've done on my
00:22:38
website you might
00:22:40
want to check those out if you're in a
00:22:42
yamaha mood
00:22:43
also look below for my patreon link it
00:22:45
features some
00:22:46
exclusive editorial on there there's
00:22:49
also links to other social media
00:22:50
platforms i'm on and if you want to join
00:22:52
my facebook group you're very welcome
00:22:54
it's heavily moderated so there's no
00:22:56
trolls
00:22:57
it's a safe place to ask questions ideal
00:23:00
for beginners there are a lot of group
00:23:01
members who will
00:23:02
more than gladly offer their help and
00:23:04
expertise now i'll be back
00:23:06
next week with another video and i hope
00:23:09
to have your company at that time until
00:23:12
that time
00:23:14
bye bye for now
00:23:23
[Music]
00:23:34
my
