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Review: Yamaha S1500 universal disc player CD Player

Category: Digital

I was attracted to this reasonably priced "universal" player on static display in the Yamaha room at the Stereophile show in NYC in May 2004. Impressed I was with its rather good build standard. It had an all metal cabinet with a real aluminum front panel. The rear apron sported a detachable power cord and all gold pins. Clearly, Yamaha was looking for the audiophile crowd with this one.

The unit was promised to be available in June but didn't appear until September 2004. My retailer told me I had one of the first built units.

I wish I could tell you that this is the answer to your affordable hi-rez dreams. It isn't. But it could be -- if the thing only worked right!

First up, allow me to extoll the absolutely terrific picture quality this player posseses. I expected a slightly improved image over my five year old Panasonic. What I got was immensely better color accuracy, edge sharpness, and shadow detail. What I didn't get was ergonomics. To fast forward you must press down on the chapter advance button for two seconds. Although Yamaha says in the owner's manual you can access slow motion by pressing on the directional arrow buttons, it did not work with my unit. The only way to go slo-mo is to go through the on-screen display mode. Not acceptable! Clearly, there is something amiss with my unit.

Now, on to the sound.
Another selling point is cd upsampling. I could detect no difference playing redbook cds with or without upsampling. There may be an improvement but I just did not listen at length. Perhaps long term comparitive tests would show a benefit. Still, a good feature to have.

Overall, cd sound is nice. Bass has good weight, treble is clean and extended, midrange is smooth and clear. It's quite OK but, in no way, does it beat my Denon DCD-1650AR cd player. In comparison, the Denon outperforms it handily in soundstaging, depth of field, with lots more air.

OK, on to hi-rez.
The unit I'm distressed to say does not work properly. On DVD-A, the S1500 makes huge popping sounds when normally advancing from track to track.. Any pause, stop, track advance will put some serious noise into your woofers. On SACD, there is no popping from track to track but it'll happen when you pause, track advance, or stop. Bummer!Sound quality in hi-rez formats is quite good but I think I still prefer my Denon. Playing the Rolling Stones hybrid sacds appealed more to me in Denon redbook than in S1500 hi-rez. Overall, I'm not convinced that DVD-A and SACD are better than a newly remastered "redbook" cd in a topnotch cd player. A minor irritant is automatic commencement of playback. As soon as a disc is read, it begins playback. I hate that!
So, soon to Yamaha this will go back. If they can get the glitches out, the S1500 offers superb video performance, credible (good enough for many) cd sound, and good hi-rez for a very reasonable price. My advice is to check it out. If you buy, check to see if these glitches plague your unit. Yamaha needs to ramp up their quality control, or get a Mk.II on the market pronto.
So, friends, I'll post a follow-up when Yamaha fixes it.



Associated gear
Denon DCD-1650AR cd player
Audible Illusions L1 linestage
Music Reference RM9 amp
Acoustat 1+1 speakers
Onyko T-9090 MkII tuner

Similar products
Old Panasonic A120U dvd player.
theduke
mr_hosehead
207 posts
 
You know, I just stumbled across this exact same review over in AudioReviews.com - and we do mean the exact same text, don't we? I also have to agree w/ Herman & Prpixel that it would seem that the individual unit you purchased is defective (even from your own text you point out that some obvious stuff does not work as documented in the manual). Now I'd be the absolute last person to say that any manufacturer gets it right 100% of the time, but in my semi-limited experience with Yamaha gear so far they seem to do as well as or even better than most others on this.

It seems a little harsh to review a defective unit this way. It's accurate to point out that you got a defective sample, but to review this model in a number of venues based on such a likely defective unit does seem unfair to me, too. Was there a display unit available that you could have used to compare your findings to and to see if you had a singular bad sample or if these problems are more common to the DVD-S1500? If these are universal problems w/ S1500s then you've provided a valuable service and we all thank you. If you were unlucky to get a bad sample then in fairness (and if possible) a balanced follow-up should follow (again, if & when possible). I look forward to your further reporting on the 1500.
theduke OP
372 posts
 
Yes, the same review is over at audioreview.com. Hopefully, I'll get it over to audioasylum.com soon. Anything wrong with that?

I did state in the review the problems with the unit and that I believe it is defective. Doesn't the consumer have a right to know that a particuliar company or item has potential quality control issues before they plunk down their hard earned cash ? I believe Stereophile mentions defective items received for review.

I did state that the unit is going back to Yamaha and that a follow-up will be posted.

I did state that I want to keep this machine; that my feelings for it are not all negative, and I recommended that others check it out.

Look, it's a buyers market. No one's perfect. Yamaha is a company that has a good track record. But, you, the consumer have a right to know.
prpixel
876 posts
 
Every manufacturer misses the occasional defective unit. You should not have reviewed a defective unit. However, in yur review of a good unit, you should have mentioned that the first sample was defective. In addition, recommending a defective unit brings into question your credibility as a reviewer.
theduke OP
372 posts
 
I am not a reviewer; I am a consumer. What I am doing is telling my fellow consumers my experience.

You see, I can't call the manufacturer to tell them of my problem and ask for another free sample, like Stereophile reviewers.

Luckily we have the internet to share our findings and help each other.
theduke OP
372 posts
 
I was about to call Yamaha and make arrangements to send the S1500 back when I decided to do a by-pass test. I ran the S1500 directly into my power amp and, lo and behold, no more popping sounds!

Clearly, the problem is not the Yamaha, but it is my pre-amp. I plugged my Denon cd player into the same pre-amp input and it made those popping sounds. Interestingly, the Yamaha is in the tape input (where the Denon used to be) and there is no popping. My guess is that the input selector switch and its signal path is suspect.

So, fellow Audiogoners, I am red-faced with shame and embarrassment. I should have exhausted all possibilities before posting a negative review.

I hereby apologise to the Yamaha Corp. and to all Audiogoners. I am finished with amateur reviewing. Let the professionals do it.

I've had this same review deleted from audioreview.com. I request that the site managers do the same here.

I'm actually enjoying the S1500 now. It deserves your attention if you're shopping in this price range.

Sorry, I screwed up, big time!
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