Range, musicality, depth, definition, clarity, affordability, reliability (bullet proof, unlike its cousin preamp).

Other than physical size, absolutely none.

This is for an M-40, bought new in 1984. It's been in use for 18 of the past 20 years (went dormant for two years when the C-60 preamp passed away in a cloud of smoke due to undetermined causes). It was beautiful with the blood-related C-60 driving B&W DM-17s boosted by an AudioPro powered sub, but now really shines, oddly enough, pushed by an AudioSource Preamp/Tuner2 driving B&W DM 600 S3s helped out by a Boston Acoustics PV600 powered sub. The detail, neutrality and range are even more out-of-this-world than in the previous arrangement. The only reason I am considering retiring it for now is space constraints - the thing is pretty big, at 6.5" tall and I need the space. I plan a trial of AudioSource AmpOne/A to see if I can live without the big Yam. If so I will have entered audio Nirvana. If space permits, the M-40 represents (especially now that it can be had for a song on eBay)an outrageous bargain. Oh, prior to the bookshelf/sub setup this bear drove ADS L1230s to equal levels of sonic performance, but of course those gave way to space constraints years ago. The M-40 series has to be one of the best-kept secrets in the business. (Optional Class-A operation at 30 w/ch. does nothing for me unless I need to heat the room in cool weather).

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha CR 1020,series of Denon integrated amps, Yam C-60 preamp, AudioSource Preamp/Tuner2, Yam T-700 tuner (awful).

detail, bass, very neutral and accurate

Auto Class A is disappointing (lack of dynamics and punch), could use better speaker binding posts.

Review is of the M-40. What can I say - this is the best amp I''ve had in my system! Upgraded the power cord, and bass is fantastic. Excellent detail. Top end isn''t "tizzy", so, works great with metal-type tweeters. Wasn''t impressed with the sound of the Auto Class A - reduced punch and dynamics. Grab a Yamaha M-series if you can - they''re great!

Similar Products Used:

B&K ST140, Hafler DH-220, Parasound HCA, Alesis RA-100, Samson Servo

Heavy, Clean Natural Sound, Simplicity

None

This review is for the Yamaha M-40...I also purchased this Amplifier in the Mid 80's and it has been going strong since...I have the Amp hooked up to the Yamaha C-40 preamp, B&O Turntable and a set of DCM Time Frame 500's hooked to a Canton Passive subwoofer (1990's Subwoofer) . This 1980's system sounds great with plenty of soundstage and great bass...The system has not been tweaked yet (ie good interconnect cable, speaker cable and better speaker room placement)...The only thing I might upgrade would be the preamp just to see what the results in this kind of upgrade would bring...I have a parsound PSP 1000 preamp that would could be used in the bypass mode and the sound could be adjusted through the amp...I can't wait to upgrade my home theater system in order to test this setup...Anyway this amp sounds great!!! Nothing but 5 stars for quality and durability

Anyone out there have any experience with interconnect cables between the preamp and the amp of this system and
a good brand of speaker cables for my setup...Thanks

Randy

Great Dynamic (peak) Power. Quality Naural Sound.

I bought the M-45 with the C-45(pre-amp) a few years back for $600 2nd hand and although its an old model it is absolutly brilliant. I use it with a pait of TDL Studio 3 speakers and although the speakers are very high power consumpting they play beautifuly. Natural sound and the BASS really makes you shiver. I have already ordered the Yamaha DSP A1 but there is no chance that I will use its own amplifier for the main speaker.

very neutral sound

(loud) difficult loads cause thermal tripping

I love the neutral sound of this amp, which is effectively class A till 5W/channel. Have used it for over 10 years with a variety of speakers including Martin-Logan, Magnepan, Stax, Kef and Yamaha. Have at some point thought it was bright, dull, transparent, veiled, bass heavy, bass light, etc.. Then realized it was so neutral that it was letting me hear the characteristics of the other components in my system. It's certainly as neutral as my Accuphase P102, at just an eighth of the price of the Accuphase. But it does thermally trip more readily than my 65w/channel Hafler when driving my ML Sequel 2's, so maybe the thermal protection is set too conservertively. Has great power LED "meters", which can fortunately be turned off when you get tired of the lightshow.

Similar Products Used:

accuphase, hafler

The M-45 was one of the finer amplifiers produced by Yamaha in the mid 1980's.
It offered great sound and a conservative power rating of 125wpc. The front LED meters are good and the front located gain controls offer fine tuning.

The rear binding posts are poor at best and I modified mine with direct
wire connections and banana plugs/jacks.

They are aging now and producing more hiss but it is corrected by a
10k-ohm/ 1k-ohm L-pad on the input(metal film resistors).

Wouldn't trade it for a B&K or Bryston.

Can't drive Martin Logan speakers

This was my 2nd amp that I own, & I bought it in the mid to late 1980's to replace a 1970ish Harmon Kardon integraded amp. As I look back, I don't know why I replaced the Harmon Kardon, maybe I wanted something new, or I saw that my then girl friend needed an audio system & gave her the Harmon Kardon. I thought it was a great amp back then running Polk Audio SDS-2's & Bose 301's speakers. Then one day I went to an audio media friends house, where I put in Holy Cole CD "Temptation" into his audio system & heard things I never heard before on an Adcom amp via Martin Logan Aerius speakers. I was hooked on hearing the bass players fingers hit the side of the bass, what realism. Went to the local Martin Logan dealer in southern CA & bought a floor model SL-3. When I got home, my Yamaha M-45 could not drive them. The reviewer before me must be mistaken, never own Martin Logan's, or his Martin Logan's must sound as bad as when I match them to this amp. Later I bought an Aragon 8008BB amp & there it was the bass, the purity, & sound that the Yamaha M-45 could not touch. I don't know what to write, my hearing has changed & now Polk, Bose, & Yamaha don't do it for me. Yamaha products are in a better class than Bose or Polk, but still not in the real high end audio market where detail & purity are king.