Yamaha CT-1010?

[bolly]

any opinions? I have one in my sights for $100CDN, about $85US. I know she has a 5-gang FM tuner similar to my KT-7550. Should I?

[bolly]

or shouldn't I?

[yamahammer]

believe it or not had one for almost twenty years never had a problem price a little high maybe but i give it two thumbs up :thmbsp: :thmbsp:

[OvenMaster]

Yes. Buy. From www.fmtunerinfo.com:

"Yamaha CT-1010 (1977, $385, photo, schematic) - The CT-1010 has 5 FM gangs and 3 AM gangs and is reportedly a pretty good tuner for both bands. It's a big, solid-looking tuner like the CT-7000. The CT-1010 has 3 strange green ceramic filters which should be easy to replace with narrower standard 3-pin filters for improved selectivity. Our contributors Tim and Ann “upgraded the [Marantz] 125 to a Yamaha CT-1010 and this was a mistake: We learned to hate the auto-tune-lock feature of the Yamaha and our particular unit was a lemon and was constantly being repaired under warranty by the dealer. We did think it sounded a bit better than the 125, but owning it left us with a negative impression of Yamaha quality control. We finally found a used 125, bought it and dumped the Yamaha.” But our contributor Glenn replies, “As I switch back and forth between my stock Yamaha CT-1010 and Denon TU-750S, I can't help but notice the difference in soundstage depth and better bass with the CT-1010. Over the past twelve months I've done the same with a Sony ST-S730ES and Denon TU-1500RD. I wanted the ability to have a remote so was hoping that the Denon was better. It wasn't and is gone. Same with the Sony, although it was better than the TU-1500RD. So I got a Luxman T-117 and tried the same thing. After a month of comparing the Luxman is gone. While the CT-1010 review in the TIC isn't that glowing, that has certainly not been my listening experience. And mine has never given me a single hiccup. I am not a DXer and am only interested in the quality of the sound. So far, the CT-1010 is tops.” The CT-1010 historically sold for $100 to as much as $225 on eBay, but during the period 11/03 to 11/04 the typical sale price plummeted to $45-80, possibly due in part to the one negative comment from Tim and Ann. After that, reason prevailed, as the next six CT-1010s sold for $123-159 in 12/04-1/05."

Tom

[bolly]

TIC say this,

"76: Kenwood KT-7500 - Flat soundstage, better sound can be found. One-note bass. More boring than unpleasant in a long listening session."

I like my Kenny... decisions, decisions :scratch2:

[Sandy G]

I had one from '77 til it got zapped by Lightning in 2001-did well in a city environment w/a ribbon antenna, but mediocre out here in the Tuiles. Outside antenna a MUST. Stereo demodulation quite noisy, OTS kinda neat, but not as good as std AFC. AM section a disappointment-but then I'm used to my beloved boatanchors. AM section not very sensitive, plus narrow bandpass filter cut off high frequencies more than it should. Other than you just gotta have one, to fill out a vintage Yammy system, I'd say pass. Definately NOT in the league as their integrated amps. My .04 cents worth.-Sandy G.

[hpsenicka]

Kenwood KT-7500 (1978, $310, photo1, photo2, service manual, schematic, PC board) search eBay
The KT-7500 has 5 gangs and 5 filters, with one filter being used for the wide IF bandwidth setting and 4 for narrow mode. It is a very DIY-friendly tuner and will sound terrific when its audio section is updated. It will also blow away most unmodified tuners (at any price) for DXing with a few narrow filters installed. The KT-7500 has a variable output level knob on the front panel, plus an FM MPX filter and separate muting and auto/mono switches. On the back panel are jacks for an oscilloscope and a 75 uS/25 uS de-emphasis switch. The KT-7500 usually sells for $75-125 on eBay without a wooden cabinet, or $100-180 with a cabinet, but there are always exceptions when people do dumb things: in 5/03, in frenzied last-minute bidding, two guys drove up the price of one KT-7500 from $123 to $255, and one of those same people and two others ran another one up from $111 to $206. A couple of days later, when the stupidity was over, a nice KT-7500 with a cabinet sold for just $87 (moral: don't overpay for common tuners!). Two KT-7500s with DIY audio section and power supply mods as described on our DIY Mods page each sold for $350 in 2-3/02, and one was resold in 6/02 for $338. A KT-7500 modded by Antenna Performance Systems sold for $325 in 10/03, and two others with audiophile mods sold for $187 in 2/04 and $170 in 11/04. See how one stock KT-7500 sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page. Our Kenwood Group on Yahoo has a Kenwood brochure page describing the KT-7500. The service manual and schematic can be found in our FMTuners Archive. [BF][EF][JR]

Kenwood KT-7550 (1978, photo, service manual, schematic, PC board) search eBay
This rare tuner is the same as the KT-7500, but with a bronze face. They are seen occasionally on eBay and usually sell for $135-155, just slightly more than the average KT-7500. Our contributor Ken M., who owns several top tuners, had a chance to listen to Jim's modded KT-7550 (see the DIY Mods page for details of the mods): “I listened to the Kenwood and it's VERY impressive. Stereo separation, soundstage, highs and mids are outstanding. Especially impressive is the lack of grain in the mids and highs. The highs were very natural-sounding compared to my Sansui TU-X1, which I find to be artificial (I'd love to know whether that is just my sample or true of all the TU-X1s). Bass was there, but not with the definition, punch and dynamics of the Accuphase T-109V. My guess is, this is power supply-related. I was getting quite a bit of background noise and the KT-7550 did not have the DX capability of the Accuphase, but I think both of these were antenna-related and not tuner-related, although I used the same dipole as I used with the Accuphase.” [JR]

[hpsenicka]

Bolly.... Your Kenny 7550 is a respectable tuner... no question.

Rather than thinking about replacing it, you may want to consider recapping it, and possibly considering some of the mods discussed at www.fmtunerinfo.com.


http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/DIY.html#KT-7500

[bolly]

thanks hp, I was thinking about some mods on the ol' 7550 once before...decisions, decisions

[pbda]

A beautiful unit (I've got two) and with impressive performance. The price is slightly below the eBay average. I picked up my second unit for C$30.00 off a buyer on a Canadian website.

[bolly]

well fellas, gonna grab her...I'll see, or rather hear what's up. :smoke:

[pbda]

Yep, Canuck Audio Mart is where I got mine, too.

[Urizen]

beautiful tuner! :thmbsp:

I hope she sounds as good as she looks! Nice price too!

[Yamaha B-2]

Have two of them and will be recapping and doing the filter mods this fall. Think they are great tuners. That's my review in the TIC that Tom posted. I think they are very musical and really enjoy listening to them. Have gone through about 15 tuners over the past several years and the CT-1010 and Sony ST-J75 are clearly the best of the lot to my ears. I am not a DXer, but a listener and the best music comes from these two stock units.

[bolly]

here she is, and she's a beaut too!

Haven't listened to her yet, but she seems to power on, and receive FM signals without a hitch! :yes:

[redcoates7]

It doesn' get much prettier than the old Yamaha gear...

Now you need a matching intergrated amp ;)

[rstsgsas]

Hope she sounds as good as she looks.Maybe I need to look into recapping my ct-1010 also/Hmmmm .

[bolly]

thanks rstsgsas, right off the bat I notice she picks up more stations. It's hard to tell overall sound quality on my Minimus 7's, although she does sound a little more detailed than the kenny...tough to say. :scratch2:

[packrat]

Bolly, very nice! I always wanted a CT-1010 to go with my CA-1010 when I had it. Given the NS-1000 speakers you have....you need a CA-1010 or 2010. :) Any internal pics available?

(here are pics of a Ca-1010 - that's a normal crayola crayon there :yes: )

[bolly]

During my brief listening tests between the two it is immediately apparent that the Yamaha seems to be more musical, maybe she's just bright . :scratch2: I'll get a nude of her shortly... although there's one of the sellers' attached to my second post. :yes: BTW, I need tweeters for my NS-1000M's. :worried:

[jaybird]

Since you discussing CA's and CT's , what about the CA-610 and CT-610???

[Yamaha B-2]

Don't believe there is a CA-610. Same with the CT-610. They went from the CA/CT-600 to the CA/CT-610 II. Not sure why they skipped the non-II version, but probably because they updated to the same output module design as on the CR-xx40 receiver series, while the CA-x10 series used descrete, free standing components rather than the modules. Other than that they are excellent pieces but are not, obviously, up to their more powerful and higher grade siblings (810, 1010, 2010). I recently gave a CA-610-II to EW. He checked it out and said it didn't need much. You could check with him to see what he would take for it after repairs (I think he is doing some basement cleaning).

[Brian]

I have the 610 II pair and for the most part nice sounding but nothing great except with my A/D/S and they do a nice job with the Klipsch Heresy. Still trying to get the volume and balance control quiet. Detail is not great but makes for nice Saturday listening at the opera system. Will admit the tuning is SO SMOOTH, everyone could have taken a lesson from the company. Not sure what the difference is between the 2 other than the II haveing the loudness control that I still can not figure out the why for or use of. Also, these are really nice looking pair worthy of a front place. 2 thunbs up in my book for a nice easy to live with pair.

[bob adams]

I always loved the clean austere looks of the 1010 and the 7000. Nice catch Bolly.