Yamaha DSP-A2

...in stereo. People buy Yamaha for the home cinema performance.

Firstly though, as with any home cinema kit, you need to go through a lengthy installation routine. This is not by any means easy on the A2. Granted, the on-screen display (on both the front of the amp and on the TV) helps, but it doesn't make up for the fact that buttons seem to have different functions at different times with no obvious logic behind this. Still, most people ...
...Tuner buttons are pre-programmed for Yamaha kit, and there's no way to reprogram it. I've also had difficulty controlling my Ferguson video with it, which seems to result in the video sitting there doing nothing until I can find the correct remote.

All in all, a good amp with a couple of let downs.  ... more

First thing I will say about the A2 is don't buy it if you're taking the bus home. This beast weighs 20kg, a fact which is confirmed by the construction of the amp. The door covering the front is heavy enough to withstand, say, the Battle of Pearl Harbour whilst still leaving the controls behind it in full working order. The door adds to Yamaha's design philosophy, which leans towards the post-industrial, apart from the door, the amp only having two buttons, two knobs and an orange display. The two knobs on the front ooze build quality too. The only let down is the remote control, which I will come to later.

Setting the amp up can be tricky, especially considering Yamaha's pandering to the nanny European state and not putting banana plugs on the back of their kit. As a result, wiring up a fully specced system, you have to wire no less than seven speakers into a confined space. This can be especially tricky if you choose to bi-wire (which makes a whole load of difference). I ran into another problem upon plugging everything in. No sound from the front, only the rear and centre. A quick bit of manual reading confirmed this to be down to some small metal bars that were supposed to link the pre and power stages. Having gone back to the shop and snatched them off a demo model, I was ready to rock.

Turn the A2 on and a satisfying "clunk" greats you, letting you know that the beast is ready to do something, possibly extending as far as brain damage if you don't turn the volume knob down. Put a CD on in straight stereo, and you get accurate reproduction with crisp bass. At this point you will, no doubt, reach for the multitude of effects buttons allowing you to perform every feat possible, from Moloko at Royaumont Cathedral (eech!) to Anne-Sophie Mutter in the Bottom Line Jazz Club (hmmm...), buttons which will only be pressed again by friends who have determined that "how loud will it go?" is a dangerous passtime with a 5x100wRMS amp and have grabbed the humungous remote control instead.

Anyway, enough of the music. If you had this much money to spend on an amp and wanted it just for music, you wouldn't have gone near Yamaha, would you? No, because it's only "pretty good" in stereo. People buy Yamaha for the home cinema performance.

Firstly though, as with any home cinema kit, you need to go through a lengthy installation routine. This is not by any means easy on the A2. Granted, the on-screen display (on both the front of the amp and on the TV) helps, but it doesn't make up for the fact that buttons seem to have different functions at different times with no obvious logic behind this. Still, most people only have to do this once. You get all the things you'd expect in here, including controls to define the size of your speakers so you can define just where you want your bass. Handy in my case, as I've got a rather unusual system with a smallish centre, tiny rears and no sub. In this case, the A2 can extend the range of the bass going through the main speakers to add a bit of extra grunt. No substitute for a sub, but it's a start.

Anyway, we've got it plugged in, setup and now we're ready for one of the DVD thingies. First DVD I played with it was Seven. Great film, only problem was I spent most of it checking connections wondering why I wasn't getting Dolby Digital, only Pro-logic. A quick check of the case revealed that Seven doesn't have a Pro-logic soundtrack. Oh well. Still, the A2 steers Pro-logic wonderfully, putting everything where you'd want it without losing the bassline as some lesser Pro-logic amps I could name do.

OK then, time to get serious. I dig out Lost in Space. Put this on, and you can't help but notice the way in which the Earth fighters seem to come from exactly where they were intended, and nearly scare the living daylights out of anybody not expecting it. Fortunately, after a while you get used to this, and settle into the experience, which with a large enough
telly soon starts to feel like your local flea-pit.

Now then, we come to my one real bugbear about this amp. The remote control. This has the outward appearance of oozing quality, until you pick it up. The outside has relatively few buttons, the buttons which are present having their functions dependant on which piece of kit you are currently playing from. Open the front cover, and illusions of build quality are shattered. You are greated with a multitude of buttons, many of which seem to have no logical function, needing a lengthy manual reading session. With the cover open, you can start having fun programming it. The main problem with this is that the Tape/MD, CD and Tuner buttons are pre-programmed for Yamaha kit, and there's no way to reprogram it. I've also had difficulty controlling my Ferguson video with it, which seems to result in the video sitting there doing nothing until I can find the correct remote.

All in all, a good amp with a couple of let downs. 

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