Network Audio Players/Servers

Tested in 'Pure Direct' mode the R-N2000A offers a full +42.5dB gain and more than meets its 2x90W/8ohm specification at 2x115W/8ohm and 2x185W/4ohm. Moreover there's sufficient capacity in Yamaha's familiar PSU design to sustain 130W, 241W and 407W into 8, 4 and 2ohm under dynamic conditions, with output held to 340W (or 18.4A) into very low 1ohm loads by its swift-acting protection circuit [see Graph 1, below]. Familiar? Yes, because there are many performance parallels with this new R-N2000A and the earlier A-S2000 [HFN Mar '08] and A-S3200 [HFN May '21], not least in its wide response flat to –1dB/100kHz and in its very low-noise balanced architecture that realises a wide 92.0dB A-wtd S/N (re. 0dBW). Distortion is low too, and impressively consistent with power output, from 0.0038%/1W to 0.0052%/10W and 0.0055%/100W (all re. 1kHz/8ohm). Versus frequency, distortion reaches a minimum of 0.002%/200Hz rising only slightly to 0.006%/20kHz (all re. 0dBW).

The digital performance is in large part determined by Yamaha's choice of ES9026PRO DAC, implemented here with its slow roll-off linear phase filter option, offering a mere 14dB of stopband rejection in lieu of much reduced ringing and a response (via the preamp outputs) that reaches out to –1.3dB/20kHz, –5.5dB/45kHz and –6.8dB/90kHz with 48kHz, 96kHz and 192kHz media, respectively. The A-wtd S/N ratio is a very respectable 113dB and low-level linearity is good to within ±0.1dB over a 100dB dynamic range while THD falls to as low as 0.0007-0.003% (20Hz-20kHz) over the top 30dB of its dynamic range. Correlated jitter is a low ~10psec at all sample rates (a feature of all properly implemented ESS Sabre DACs). PM