Yamaha RN-800A

A neat, just-add-speakers streaming system

- 

If you were to see Yamaha’s R-N800A on a hi-fi rack it would be easy to assume that it was simply another one of the company’s slightly retro-looking but ever-so-classy stereo amplifiers. At first glance, there isn’t anything to suggest otherwise. Power it up, though, and the small but crisp display hidden in the black band along the base of the front panel reveals there is more.

The R-N800A is a just-add-speakers streaming system, or a streaming amplifier, if you prefer. It packs a UPnP streaming module that works with Yamaha’s long-running MusicCast app and does pretty much what you would expect from such a product. It will play music from a NAS unit and includes the expected streaming services (Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer and Qobuz). Bluetooth (4.2), Apple AirPlay 2 and Roon compatibility are also on the menu. However, Chromecast is a notable absentee. Elsewhere there is a moving-magnet phono stage, a DAB/FM radio tuner and a 6.3mm headphone output.

Connectivity is good, with three analogue line-level inputs and the usual trio of digital options (USB type B, two coaxial and two optical). While the USB will accept signals up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256, as is usual, the coaxial and optical inputs top out at 192kHz PCM, with DSD not on the menu. Take a look inside the Yamaha and you will find ESS Sabre’s well-regarded ES9080Q DAC chip at the heart of the R-N800A’s digital circuitry.

This unit is pretty powerful too, producing a claimed 100 watts per channel in an 8-ohm load. We try a range of speakers from the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 and KEF’s LS50 Meta to the Epos ES-14N and manage to get decent volume levels from all of them in our 3 x 7 x 5m test room.

Fuss-free experience