Well, I just got the Yamaha M80 back from my friend who replaced the weird plastic binding posts with Cardas 5 ways, moved things around a bit inside and replaced the lamp cord power cord with a Donkey D*ck cord terminated with a Hospital grade plug. So, that makes 3 gorgeous Yamaha M80s stacked atop each other but separated by spacers - little brass slices from a marine drive shaft which I polished and covered in felt because I had nothing to do ...



So, when I fire the 3 Yammie Beasties up, the lights flicker and dim in my little Pacific coastal community.

I'm using the magnificent Sony TA E9000ES processor (with VER 2.50 firmware upgrade) and friends, I can tell you the music is rolling, beautiful and pure. My little room sounds huge and I believe that amps make a difference. The M80 replaced the last of my wonderful Onkyo M282s, one of the great deals in amps out there.

When winter returns (it's spring here) I'll set the 3 Yammies to Pure Class A operation (30 watt per channel output instead of 270 into 8 ohms continuous) and they'll warm my room.

Enjoy the music folks - it is one of mankind's great accomplishments. Make sure you keep the volume down if you live in any Taliban controlled areas or you may hear the heavenly music after they separate your head from the rest.

sounds interesting 2x6.

i would love to come hear it, just so i could see all the other audio toys that you have. from the sheer amount of equip you have mentioned, i get this mental image of tubes and wires just laying all over the place.

bigjohn

Dammit 2x6, you jinxed us with that "it's spring here" comment. Surprise rainfall today in soCal - I'm wearing shorts at work today.
Nice work, dude.

What did you pay for the 2 new M80s?

Hello BigWill and BigJohn

I paid $100 for the first of the Yamaha M80s and about $300 each for the other 2. They are superb, gentle brutes. I picked up the Sony TA E9000ES processor, new B stock, from ebay for about $400. That's the wonderful thing about buying used and close-outs - you end up with a system which you simply cannot come close to matching with a Harman Kardon or Denon receiver, for comparable or less money. When you want to try again and mix things up, you can sell the pieces for about what you paid for them and try something else.

Components by the pound. The Yamaha M80 weighs a bit more than 50 lbs. So, three of them weigh in at about 160 lbs. the Sony processor weighs in at about 29 lbs. It may not be weight efficient, but I figure there must be some things that 200 lbs of amps and processors can do which a 50 lb box combining processor functions and 6-7 channel amplification cannot match.

Yes, BigWill, we got some rain - and the world smells young.

I'm assuming these amps went into your office system? Those dinky speakers are gonna burst.

Apparently the science club (myself excluded) is going to ignore your negative comments about receiver-based systems. If this set-up is superior to a receiver based system, why not switch it with your receiver-based HT?

When I have the money and the space to start experimenting with separate amps, I just might do so. But first I need to do the following, which science tells me will definitely make a difference: new TV, new surround speakers, new HT receiver with DPLII and component video switching (and maybe HDMI for future-proofness), new CDs/SACDs/DVDs.

Maybe after all that I'll consider trying separates vs. integrated.

Hello BigWill and the disciples of Mr. Wizard ...

The HT system uses an Integra DTC 9.4 processor, a huge Onkyo M504 2 channel amp and an Anthem PVA5 (5 channel) amp for the center, side and back surround speakers.

Yup, pmb, that's a nice list of great stuff to get!

2x6, I just want to thank you for sharing your experience and your enthusiasm. It's fun to share other people's joy.