It's hard for me to believe mass production audio with printed circuit boards, no point to point wiring etc. would beat "small batch" hand crafted items....of course there's an exception to most things. BTW, I remember how I lusted after those burnished case Yamahas way back when I was not sophisticated enough to look beyond the marketing "specs" published in the trade mags.
Yamaha Audio products from the past? vs. more current.
There was a time when Yamaha high end audio gear was well thought of....items like the B-1 and B-2 amps, the NS-1000 speakers, the CT-1000 tuner and more. My questions are: Are any of you on this forum/site still using any of that gear? I know there have been some well thought of tuners, like the 85, but how has Yamaha audio gear been in the recent past? Is any of it in the league of the best from the U.S., England, etc.?
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I still own an M80 power amp that I bought new in 1984 along with a matching pre amp (C80) and tuner. About 3 years ago I had the amp completely restored and it came back as new. I used it for 6 months and came across a deal on a Pass 250.8 which I purchased but to be honest there is little difference in the sound of these two amps driving my Aerial 7T's at the volume I listen at most of the time. I think the Yamaha gear was really good back in the day and you can still find these amps for cheap dough on ebay. Unfortunately these are not without issues. The speaker connections, bonding glue used on the circuit boards and of course the age of internal components will almost surely degrade what once was a very decent sounding component. In my rig there is a difference between the two amps but it is not easy to distinguish at low to moderate volume. Perhaps a more demanding pair of speakers might make the difference more obvious? I still have a review for both the preamp and amp that was published in Stereo Review, November 1984 and the commentary and measurements are impressive. Some years back I met a fellow that bought the same components while he was stationed in Japan and was in the middle of moving his house. He got tired of lugging the stuff around so he gave them to me. Just a couple months ago a fellow A'goner was looking for a Tuner so I gave away the T80 tuner to him and last I heard he was loving it which makes me smile. As @mjcmt mentioned, I think their newer gear is still very good, but not sure how it compares to the other brands. If you are interested in staying on the fattest part of the diminishing returns curve, the Yamaha is probably still a strong contender. |
Wow, just read a quick review online and they sound impressive. Yamaha is not the first company I think of when talking about loudspeakers but it is great to see that they are getting back in with renewed commitment. Will be interested in your experience once you take delivery and get them broken in. Best of luck! |
I use a Yamaha R-N803 receiver. I’ve had lots of high end gear over the years. It’s very, very good. I’ve recommended it to a number of people. Check out my system page. Here is is an info link: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-7Mw4aUSrU1u/p_022RN803/Yamaha-R-N803.html |
Here’s a few blasts from the past.... main system..... new stuff not worth mentioning,,, very tweaky though. Think Yamaha 5000 Constellation & Wilson The answer to this forums question..... see bottom of post.... “Other” main system Yamaha C1pre, (2) B1amps.. Audio Research Crossover Magnepan T4 Nakamichi TX1000 turntable Nakamichi 1000P AD/DA 1000MB disc 1000DAT tape SUPEX MC cartridge Technics 1500 Tape (with J-Corder upgrades) OPPO 205 disc Pioneer DVL919e Laser Disc various Straightwire & MIT Shotgun cables i must say however, that it is not always a complete system working all of the time. 2nd system GAS Thaedra pre.. (2) GAS Grandson amps.. GAS “The Bridge”transformer.. Charlie The Tuner.. (all reference upgrade by Mike B, originally “GAS WORKS”) Magnepan MG3r.. 3 M&K MX70b subwoofers Nakamichi Dragon CT table Revox B77 Denon 5900 disc I have a GAS Godzilla that’s dead, just haven’t got around to getting it fixed. Several (working and dead for parts) Yamaha B2 amps, with a C2x pre, As well as a pair of B&W Matrix 800s. For those of you screaming BS (I would too), let me say, I owned a hi-fi store from 1980 until 1996, when my business partner embezzled almost everything. We were dealers at one time or another for all the brands above. When most of these pieces were on the floor for quite a while, I made the executive decision to take them home. ( I did reimburse the store for cost+shipping) with all this Sh##.... in various rooms taking up A LOT of space. My Yamaha C1/B1 may or may not “sound” the best but.... that’s the system I find myself listening to the most and “feeling” the best when I turn it off. Believe me when I say, you can spend as much as a house for audio, and still come back home. I’ve done it. |
In 1983 I bought a Yamaha A-1060 Integrated along with a pair of Cornwalls. I jammed this setup for most of the 80s, 90s, 2000s and was very pleased and proud of the quality of sound it produced. Since then, over 40 years now, I have ran across other used yamaha integrateds from the early 1980s era and snagged them up for very cheap prices. First used one was the A-1000. Then the A-1020 that has three channels. I still own all of them and still use all of them. Yea, the caps could probably stand to be upgraded and so on. But all of them still sound great and work great. I think the A-1060 though is by far much greater than the A-1000 or the A-1020. The A-1060 is a work of art compared to the others. So much so, that I bought another one that was used and up for sale. Just incase I might need to replace parts or incase my original one croaks. And like all of us eventually do, It died a couple of years ago. I took it to a local stereo hospital in hopes of saving my old friend. But the doctor told me that most of the people who worked on these old timers was long gone and took the secrets with them? He did although give it a try, but finally gave up. Admitting that he did not even know where to start when it came to what he called "this beast". I loved this "beast" so much that I believe that I will find a doctor frankenstein that can and will bring my beast back to me. If anyone knows such a doctor that has this ability, Please let me know of him so I can bring my beast back to life. |
I have a Yamaha AV receiver for the livingroom theater set up. Bought a pair of vandesteen 5’s and thought I could just plug them in like any normal speaker. Nope. Needs a pre in and out for the separate external bypass. So I’m looking at a local Yamaha MX1000 power amp to keep the same brand. Apparently they have a following. http://legendaryamps.com/latest.html and http://legendaryamps.com/WhyYamaha.html |
I've been selectively buying high end Yamaha for the last 15 odd years and I'd say being well built using money no option parts selection, made for very respectable then as well as now performance ! The amps. in my main system are from their pro series, pc2002m, pc4002m, and pc5002m. Their powering large inefficient speakers dropping to a 11/2-2 ohm load with no clipping just clean powerful sound.The cost to achieve that today ? We're happy. Cheers |
@copalenik Ok, it might have sounded like BS until your last paragraph :) ".... with all this Sh##.... in various rooms taking up A LOT of space. My Yamaha C1/B1 may or may not “sound” the best but.... that’s the system I find myself listening to the most and “feeling” the best when I turn it off. Believe me when I say, you can spend as much as a house for audio, and still come back home. I’ve done it." I will second that it is hard...very hard to find something old or new that sounds like a set of B-1, C-1 with a set of BE drivers at the other end :) Have your units been given a rejuvenation treatment since new? |
