Yamaha has enjoyed a resurgence in two-channel stereo over the last decade, giving it full respect and full resources ever since a new flagship 5000 Series rolled out in 2016. Back then we reviewed the NS-5000 loudspeakers, large beryllium-toting boxes referencing the glory days, as did the turntable which followed, ‘Giant and Tremendous’ like Yamaha’s turntables of old, along with the 5000 Series high-end power and preamps in classic Yamaha style.
Today, as we hopefully begin to exit the trading trials of the pandemic period, we find Yamaha’s stereo range impressively stocked from affordable midrange hi-fi up to the 2000 Series of which this R-N2000A is part, and above to the 3000 Series which includes Yamaha’s flagship integrated amplifier (the $9,999 A-S3200), topped only by the separate amps of that flagship 5000 Series.
FULLY ANALOGUE
It is notable that all of those are fully analogue amplifiers; indeed the 5000 Series is a fully analogue system from end to end, while the 3000 and 2000 Series have CD players that can also add digital inputs to the system.
When the 5000 Series was launched we had the opportunity to ask Mr Susumu Kumuzawa, Yamaha’s Head of Hi-Fi Development, about this all-analogue focus. Partly, he explained, it was based on circuit design, not wishing to compromise the symmetrical ‘folding book’ design of the 5000 Series preamp. The addition of a digital circuit would have prevented this ideal from being achieved, Mr Kumuzaya told us, so these functions were better left to an external source device.
“We have confidence in our other systems — of course we have the technology of MusicCast and many DSP technologies,” he told us. “But what we wish to express in our flagship hi-fi is the focus on dynamics and energy, ‘True Sound’ musicality. We’ve focused on this concept, and the turntable has a very smooth and emotional sound.”
Note ‘True Sound’ — Yamaha has since adopted this as a motto across its audio ranges, defining it as “sound as
