Vintage receivers: which one should I buy?

Sauternes

Sauternes

Vintage HI-FI newbie
hi,
I would like to buy a vintage Yamaha receiver and Here in Italy the choice is not very wide.
Here is what I found:
- CR-620 (approx. $185)
- CR-800 (approx. $215)
- CR-1000 (approx. $325)

My dream is the CR-1020/2020 but I couldn't find one in Italy, so while I keep looking I want to have one at home soon: which one would you buy?

The CR-620 is the one the looks more similar to the 1020, the CR-800 probably has a very good value for money and the 1000 is the one that should gain more value over time.
I could even consider buying the 620 and the 1000 and then selling the 620 once a 1020 comes available.
All three of them look in good shape (1000 being the best), but I will have to buy without the chance to see and listen to them.

Thank you for your help.
Ciao
Andrea
 
I'm a "20" series guy so I'd grab the 620 and if a 1020 or 2020 becomes available I'd grab one and then sell the 620, just my 2 cents...
 
Thank you very much.
Here is what I'll (probably) do:
I'll buy the 1000 and wait for a 1020 to emerge.
The 1000 is sold by someone who lives close to my town so I have the chance to see and listen to it and to avoid shipping.
The 1000 is pretty weird with all those cursors and even if is very different from the other receivers looks I like it!
 
They do sell the brand new Yamaha A-S201 in Europe. The model they should have sent to the US instead of the R-S201 receiver. Not sure how this prices out in euros but I just looked up that it averages about £150 in the UK.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
cr-620 !!!!!

the cr 800 -cr 1000 have great phono sections but i am not a big fan of all the sliders on them so go with the 620 and someday you eill be blessed with one of these
 

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yamahammer said:
the cr 800 -cr 1000 have great phono sections but i am not a big fan of all the sliders on them so go with the 620 and someday you eill be blessed with one of these
Click to expand...

Did you rebuild the wooden cabinet on your 1020?
Anyway I think I will buy the 1000 first, then probably the 620, 2 is a collection, isn't it?
 
RamblinE said:
I can see why! All of the right features and controls. Sorry about my earlier post then, I was just working within what appears to be your budget. I'd want R-N500 too if I were in the market!
Click to expand...

Don't worry!
Now my desire is for a vintage Yamaha receiver, and since in Italy 1020s are difficile to find I think I will settle for the CR-1000.
Then... who knows?
Maybe I will buy other vintage Yamahas, patrolling the forum I drooled over picture of amassed amplis, receivers, tuners...
Let's see what my wallet and wife will allow me to do!
 
Last edited:
I very much like my CR-1000. The tuner is very good too. The sliders look a little strange compared to the standard look but not too bad. I ended up removing the microphone board because I could not get the switch completely off, and it was noisy. This is easy to do, the board lifts out like a computer card.
 
THe CR-1000 is a nice piece of hardware -- but the disco-era cosmetics are (at best) an acquired taste.

The CR-800 is beautiful (no sliders), well made and (as noted) perhaps the best value of the three options. If it's in good physical and operating condition, that's likely the one I'd go with.

PS -- the only receiver of that series that I have is the 1000... but that's not really by choice! :)

DSC_0241 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

EDIT: borrowed photo of a CR-800

Yamaha_CR-800_Stereo_Receiver_web.jpg
 
mhardy6647 said:
THe CR-1000 is a nice piece of hardware -- but the disco-era cosmetics are (at best) an acquired taste.
Click to expand...

you're absolutely right but... looking at the 1000 a couple (millions) time I changed my mind on the design and now I like it just because is weird!


mhardy6647 said:
The CR-800 is beautiful (no sliders), well made and (as noted) perhaps the best value of the three options. If it's in good physical and operating condition, that's likely the one I'd go with.
Click to expand...

yes, I read that the 00 series has a better construction than the 20, especially for the smaller ones, but the design is uhm... too slick.
the bottom button bar of the 20s makes the front more "well designed" (it's difficult for me to explain what I mean in italian, go figure in english!)

mhardy6647 said:
DSC_0241 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
Click to expand...

this picture is I-L-L-E-G-A-L!
:D:D:D
 
Mark, what is the unit, 2nd from the bottom on the left stack. It is a nice stack but, maybe you should consider a glass display with some uniform spot soft lighting to really show off your treasures. The Sherwoods look like orphans and totally out of place so, just send them to me and I will add them my Sherwood family. I have 3 Yamaha orphans I am getting ready to seriously consider moving out. I am getting used to the sound; they are mating well with The Smaller Advent Loudspeakers I just got back off loan but they sadly failed when doing a shootout against my Sherwood S9500c and the Wharfedale W70s. I tried both CA610II with the same result. I am forcing myself to listen more ro the W70s on the set of Yamahas in an effort to learn to like them but, to date it has been a failure. I just keep sitting there; my mind begging to switch back to the Sherwood. My SEL200 is ready at the shop and picking it up on Saturday. Cannot wait to mate it with the W70s for a checkout and then back to the Yamaha in my efforts.
 
In the US. the consumer-level Yamaha 1970s components are not terribly sought after nor expensive... more's the pity, because as far as I am concerned they're both aesthetically & sonically superior to almost all of the other Japanese massmarket equipment of the same era. (There are a few individual exceptions from, e.g., Sony & Sansui). That little collection was assembled fairly inexpensively (in some cases, gratis).

PS. I've owned a CA-610II (US model -- similar to the rest of the world's CA-610 and CA-710) since it was new in 1978.

P1020541 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
 
mhardy6647 said:
In the US. the consumer-level Yamaha 1970s components are not terribly sought after nor expensive...
Click to expand...

unfortunately in Italy they are quite expensive and above all not that easy to find.
especially receivers were not very well accepted by audiophiles, so the "monsters" are almost absent and the ones that are on the market are very expensive.

mhardy6647 said:
more's the pity, because as far as I am concerned they're both aesthetically & sonically superior to almost all of the other Japanese massmarket equipment of the same era. (There are a few individual exceptions from, e.g., Sony & Sansui).
Click to expand...

totally agree: I don't know how they sound (I hope I will discover it very soon) but for sure they are still way ahead of the competition in terms of design.
and Yamaha is aware of this since their current line-up shows a strong bond with the 70s aesthetics.

mhardy6647 said:
That little collection was assembled fairly inexpensively (in some cases, gratis).
Click to expand...

do you call it a "little collection"???
the only flaw I see is the way they are displayed: I would take the non-Yamahas out and rearrange the Yamahas putting the recievers together, the ampli-tuner couples together etc.
but this is just a suggestion: you can put in any (dis)order and they will always make a terrific impression!
 
SuperLead100 said:
Buy em' all:D
Click to expand...

That would be definitely the solution!

Getting back to reality:
next week I should buy the CR-1000.
It will be my first step into vintage audio and I hope it will be the right one.
Then... who knows? I hope that other purchases will follow, As I said my goal is to get a CR-1020 so I will keep looking until one pops up here in Italy (or at least in Europe) at a reasonable price.
I'll keep you posted of my journey!
 
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