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Yamaha C-4 and M-4 amps

radine

radine

Active Member
My regular amp, a Kenwood Model 500, has let me down and is with a tech for repair. As I consequence, I have managed to source a pair of very clean Yamaha amps to keep me going. I found a very nice recently serviced and recapped C-4 and a matching M-4 that was checked over by the tech at the same time and pronounced healthy.

I will be getting the amps on Sunday but, in the meantime, I'm curious as to what folks think generally about these Yamaha amps as there isn't much info on the web. Are they pretty decent sounding? Is the phono stage good? I'm thinking it's a long shot but I wonder if anyone has heard both the Kenwood 500 and Yamaha C4/M4 and can give an opinion on their relative merits.

Also what Yamaha tuner(s) were made to match these amps?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.

BTW, here's a photo I found on the web. Will replace later with pics of my amps when they get here.

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My favorite Yamaha combo C4-M4. Separately they seem to do everything right and when they're paired up together it's even better..........like Avionic says "your not going to want to go back to Kenwood"
 
You will be amazed at the sound of these two components. With a few mods they go even further. Pick up a nice TT as that pre has more than a decent phono stage. Both a T-1 or T-2 tuner will look right but the T-2 is the one to get.
 
Thanks for all your replies. You guys have got me pretty excited. If the Yamahas can relegate the Kenwood to the sub's bench then I will be over the moon as the Kenwood is a sublime integrated with a fantastic phono stage. Really looking forward to hearing the Yammies tomorrow.

stoutblock said:
You will be amazed at the sound of these two components. With a few mods they go even further. Pick up a nice TT as that pre has more than a decent phono stage. Both a T-1 or T-2 tuner will look right but the T-2 is the one to get.
Click to expand...

I have decent tt and cart so I'm glad to hear that the phono stage in the C-4 is decent. The T-2 seems to go for about three times the price of the T-1 so I guess it's much more sought after. The T-1 and T-2 are pretty rare here in the UK but do crop up in Europe from time to time. I may just pick up a T-1 whilst keeping a lookout for a T-2.
 
Well, well, well. :) You guys were not wrong. First impressions after a few hours are that these are really very good amps. I'm more than happy. I will need to make a final judgement when the Kenwood is back from the tech but my initial thoughts are that the Yamahas may well have the edge. More to follow on that in the weeks to come.

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