Yamaha HX-10000 phonostage, any views?

Some of them older discrete designs can keep up with modern stuff.

I don't know if I'd spend a ton of cash on it unless you were a Yammie collector or trying to complete a set.

Think about a recap and some of the older transistors could have become noisy.

Solid state from 1987 is getting a bit old and challenging to find replacement parts.  It is not like old tube gear where replacement parts are easy to find and the core parts that are not easily replaced can be expected to last a very long time.  Still, if it is a matter of replacing capacitors, it will be serviceable.  

Audio Equipment of this type, comes from the Good Olden Days era, at the time when the Bean Counters stepped aside, leaving those who knew a thing or two about Structures and Electronic Circuits to show off their Plumages, especially where they were not expected to express any concern for what their choices were to promote and the negative impact of such choices. The idea of exploiting Raw Earth with abandonment of showing any concern was the Zeitgeist for this era.

These Brands won their admirers, even though all involved were clearly showing showing they were I'll informed of what such excesses can create.

As seen from all the Mainstay Japanese Brands offering Audio Devices from this era, the devices produced as their exclusive TOTR Sale Items were typically coming with materials that were selected for their Mass and Volume. 

Fortunately, It was soon to be learnt in the World of Audio Equipment, betterment was able to be attained using a lot lot less Volume and as time evolved Mass was also seen to be a betterment if substantially reduced.

In the modern world, if a Japanese Vintage design can be taken on and repurposed where it finds a much extended usage life, then why not make this the objective.

Adopting the usage of the Olden Day Items and giving them new purpose is taking part in the Circular Economy and the individual supporting this, is participating at the the best that can be put in place. 

Such an adoption certainly makes amends for the naivety seen from the creations from past periods of commercial production.

I very recently lost out on a Pre Amp from another Japanese Brands TOTR offerings from the 90's. The Casing will have been used and repurposed for an up to date Pre Amp Circuit to be housed on.

To have a casing produced today of the same bulk and quality of finish, will have cost approx' £/$K+ as a Bespoke Design. I was more than happy to part with a third of this value, to own the case belonging to the Pre' and have it used with the odd modification for the rest of my using audio equipment days to come, no reason why the casing should not have a option to be in use for the best part of a 50ish year life and hopefully more id the Circular Economy grows with its following of supporters.    .       

In my experience with other high end Japanese gear from that era, I perceived a kind of syrupy coloration in their SS designs.While the quality of construction is very high, the sound was usually lacking.  I believe, without having proved it to myself, that the parts quality and function of that era might have been holding back the sound quality.  Since 1987, there has been a marked improvement in discrete transistor technology such that the Yamaha might be hugely improved by judicious substitution of the OEM transistors for new upgraded versions that perform the same function, only better due to faster switching rates, lower noise, etc. It is also possible that performance was negatively affected by the use of electrolytic capacitors here and there in the signal path. If so, it would be beneficial to replace any such electrolytics with film capacitors where possible. So, speaking for myself only, I would view the Yamaha preamplifier as an interesting project, probably not something that I could pop into a system and immediately fall in love with.  Then too, there is the matter of identifying and replacing any electrolytics that may have become leaky over the 40 years since the unit was built. Modern electrolytics are also much better now than they were then.

There are more than one GT 2000 owners at AudioKarma who own the HX phono stage. Go to the GT 2000 Social Group thread. Ask the same question in the thread. Get the information from someone who owns the unit rather than someone who has never laid eyes upon it let alone used, let alone owned it.

Hats off to the individuals giving extend life to the GT 2000 and the HX 10000, hopefully the TT is adorned with a Tonearm from a similar Vintage.

Hats off to the others who have adopted other Brand TT's and Supporting Ancillaries from this period of Japanese Production, it takes balls to get on board. Many run for cover, when close to the subject, as the latest offering in the Market and Newer the Upgrade added can only be better. "Can't It" ?

The Circular Economy is steadily becoming the Trend, for those participating both knowingly or unknowingly, selecting the GT 2000 for such a purpose is one to aspire to, if having a readily available access to an analogue Source is the goal. Add to this the purchasing of Vinyl produced from the Hey Day for Vinyl and this will be a wonderful combination, it will keep the joy's of experiencing recorded music alive.

There are also the added bonuses, where Pollution produced is less, from the not  buying into modern production and avoiding the need for managing of Scrap, both being avoided will be keeping the Landfills in a better condition.       

Theophile, can you refer me/us to actual opinions of the HX10000 phono offered by owners of the unit, to be found on Audiokarma? I can only find one thread in which one guy says he owns one which causes some others to drool with envy. Thanks for any help. Meantime I found one comment on WBF to the effect it sounded “dark” to that listener. I unearthed no formal reviews of it. “Dark” fits with my general impression of vintage SS Japanese gear that the sound is “syrupy”. Of course, my experience is limited, and I’ve never heard the HX10000, although I have heard the Yamaha C1 (I think that’s the model designation for their second best ever phono), and it sounded dark. I remember thinking that I would like to get inside that chassis and upgrade some capacitors and maybe resistors and maybe transistors to see what the C1 could actually do. I think certain pieces of Audio gear, both tube and solid state, both Japanese and American in origin, have become "legendary". And that fact alone artificially enhances our opinion of those items in particular that we've never actually seen or heard and causes us to spend large sums of money in the marketplace, to recapture some magic that maybe isn’t there and maybe in some cases never was. I am certainly not immune to that form of audiophilia, as I own four vintage Japanese direct drive turntables. And I own a pair of Beveridge 2SW speakers from 1980-ish. And the list goes on from there. What I’m saying is that there may be great potential to be developed in the HX10000, but a new owner of an original untampered with example should be aware that there may be work to be done to develop that potential or even to bring the unit up to its OEM peak capabilities.

Correction. The vintage Yamaha phono stage I did hear extensively is the C2, not the C1.  Apparently the C1 is an integrated amplifier in their same high end product line.

The Pioneer Exclusive C7 I was thinking could be won for approx' £300 was sold in auction for £1600.  Hey Ho, back to the Nicely Figured Walnut Side Panels with Polished Brass Top Face for the Pre Amp's casing. 

Yamaha C1 and C2 (and C2x) are complete preamplifiers. Yamaha hardly released any separate phono stages.

The Exclusive C-7 would have been a bargain buy at 1600 UK pounds.

Lew the names of three who had/have HX-10000 I can recall are 808 State and imfree and Mark B.  Correction Mark B has the rest of the Centennial collection but not the HX. There could be a couple more. You’ll need to join AudioKarma and ask them yourself. I was just pointing out where the information can be found from the horse’s mouth. Not relaying from the horse.

Also 'Dark' is relative to what one is comparing it to/ running it with.

Since my 845 Mono's have been converted to Balanced and the impression made being more than anticipated for the better, I took on a new interest in what the Pre' Amp Design should be able to do for my purposes.

I now have all the Parts for a earlier Pre Amp Design that is to be a Dual Mono Balanced Design and have added to the options to experience an alternate take on a Pre Amp' Design as a Dual Mono Design to be both Single Ended and work with the Balanced Power Amp's.

The alternate design for a Pre Amp' is my conception given to an individual with over 40 years experience of a career being a designer / builder of Valve and Solid State Devices. The shaping of my conceptual thoughts by this individual has been extremely interesting.

As a Tease I already have in use a Prototype Single Box version of the SS Section for the Pre, which is becoming quite addictive to experience. Other Pre's both SS and Valve that have been used in comparison to the prototype, off which all have been quite attractive in use, have not been able to maintain the role as the Pre' that most impresses. They have been swapped out to return to use of the Prototype,  .

The BOM for both Amps is close to £1500 +/- £250 - £500 for Valves and +/- £400 - £500 for the Chassis. Design Charge and Labour Charges are yet to be added. 

I would have had one built as a Single Box using the C7 Chassis with modifications, if I won it at close to £300.