new toy, first impressions

woofmytweets

Super Member
so i picked up this Yamaha R-700 receiver today at a garage sale and thought i would share some impressions and ask a couple questions.

first off, i'm very impressed. It sounds amazing.....and that was before i realized i was running in mono. It has a spacial expander circuit that works a lot better than i thought it would, it's hard to explain. anyway, i have a couple questions before i tell you what speakers i've hooked it up to and you stop reading.

first off, the tuner seems to stay on when i change source to aux, is that normal?

secondly, i'm attaching a pic of the inside with this lead attached to the am antenna terminal....it seems just to be floating there, anyone know what's up with that?

and also, the tuner seems to be a bit funny, it seems to be permanently stuck in auto-tune mode, and won't stop moving until it pulls in a channel at it's maximum signal quality....not really planning to use the tuner much, but still....the jumping around is irritating...guess i'll have to get it a really nice antenna

and now the speakers. I wanted something super efficient, and so i'm using these plastic computer speakers. they're fairly high-grade as far as plastic PC speakers go, and they're 8ohm and have neodymium magnets....not a lot of base, but the sound at my desk has improved vastly. I had to solder up some adapters for the speaker terminals to the RCA's the speakers come with that connect them to the sub/amp module they came with (i plan to sell or use them after i find some nice bookshelf speakers to compliment my new toy.)
 
thanks for the manual, i actually have the original...and i found a repair video of someone repairing an identical model on youtube...so my questions are answered.....all except for what bookshelf speakers am i going to get?
 
I have the smaller cousin to your R-700, the R-300 and set it up for a friend of mine running a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR and am really impressed with the sound.

For the Marantz you'll have to go to Dollars and Sense to ask a "what's it worth" question. I think you might have to subscribe but it's worth it because it also gets you Bartertown.
 
thanks Cat - was just looking at the specs for the Marantz....i think i'm gonna stick with my yamaha for my $....the only thing i don't like about it is the crazy digital tuner, it doesn't have a manual mode....and it stays on all the time, so if it's not "locked" into a channel, it's constantly trying to adjust the tuning which is a little distracting. but it's just for my desk, i have it connected to my computer, so with some bookshelf speakers, it'll do fine. plus now i have the power of "spatial expansion".
 
Spatial expanders are interesting, but ultimately, IMHO, they just introduce distortion into the sound and you're better off without them.

If you have a good source, good amp, and good speakers, you will hear the sound the way it was intended and there is little benefit to artificial manipulation.

I used such a setting on a Realistic receiver for years until I later realized how bad it made the music sound.
 
That's strange there is no way to turn off the auto seek. Are there any tuning buttons you can hold for a few seconds to change modes or something?
 
Do you have your FM muting switch on or off. If on, try your tuner with it off. Could be the signal strength is falling below the muting circuit threshold causing the tuner to change to the next station with a strong signal. Just a theory here!!!
 
I would assume that that's actually a good receiver, I'm using two CR-640s now and am happy with both. (wasn't intentional, that's what I found for good prices.) Yamaha "Natural Sound" receivers do tend to do exactly what the name implies; it's a nice neutral mostly uncolored sound.

Don't know the answers to your other questions, mine still has old school turn the knob and move the pointer/tuning capacitor tuning. But the tuner does stay on, because Yamaha gives you the ability to record a radio broadcast while listening to a different source.
 
indeed - i think i will re-read the manual, but i'm pretty sure i'm stuck with my borg-assimilated tuner, and the solution may be to just get/rearrange the fm antenna so that i get better reception...i'm running with FM muting off, so i'll just have to manage. (resistance is futile). I did already spend some time playing with a few different antennas (the T-shaped one that comes with it, a terk?, and my HDTV antenna....none worked, could my tuner be out? perhaps the spatial expander has altered space-time around the tuner circuitry and the quartz crystals are phasing in and out of our universe?


i'll be off tonight looking at some scratch & dent B&W bookshelfs, if they pan out, i'll report back
 
well, so far so good. this thing sounds excellent. I cleaned up these B&W DM 600's, which needed a little love and hot glue (not sure exact proportion) and cleaned the contacts, cut some fresh lamp cord, er, i mean, audiophile-grade speaker interconnects, and didn't test it because it was after midnight.

this morning, i had a listen to a 320Kbps sample of "the Beatles - LOVE" and boy am i smiling like an idiot.

now i have to get these speakers mounted.
 

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Congrats on your new receiver. Although I was way into Sansui and still have some nice examples, I prefer my Yamaha gear that's usually serving duty as main system.

I do find that I'm spending more time with Weihrauch though, whoops, wrong forum :)

So many toys, so little time.

Cheers,
John
 
indeed - I've been hunting for bargains and such, trying to keep all this crap relatively neat....the past few days I've been working on my desk - mounting bookshelf speakers and finding a suitable home for the receiver. I've heard they have output IC's that are prone to meltdown and difficult to replace, so i decided that the shelf it's in is too narrow and therefore requires ventilation....so i mounted 2 6" antec silent blue led fans in the back and connected them to a 1A transformer, which I've plugged into the switched output of the receiver....sadly the blue LEDs don't wash the face of the unit but at least it's well ventilated.

not to mention building a bookshelf for the bookshelf speakers....which i've now learned i have to replace...the bass output of one is noticeably more than the other...i've swapped sides, it's definitely the speaker(s).

also i learned (and so did my neighbors) that just because you plug headphones into your vintage receiver, does not mean that sound no longer comes out of the speakers. felt like such an asshole this morning.

guess i'll take a pic, everyone loves pictures. comments, questions, internet-rage all welcome...also speaker and headphone recommendations. these old sony's have got to go
 

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Although a lot larger than perhaps you are willing to use, I'd recommend NS690 or NS-1000(M). I've not heard the 690's but folks here seem to say great things about them. The 1000's I have heard and they are, to me, the best match for any quality gear.

Cheers,
John
 
actually i was looking at the NS-BP300....i'm going to be mostly using my headphones, i think...plus i have to get headphones.

was looking into some AKG Q701's, demo'd some focals today, but the shroud came off the headphone plug when i removed it from my phone, so i thought, "maybe i'll go with something else"
 
"plus i have to get headphones"

I A/Bd new ones this week: Grado SR80e and Koss Pro4AAAT.

The Koss are discontinued and there's not much info online; the Grado's are highly rated. However, I was somewhat surprised at how strong a performance the Koss put in. Stronger and better defined at the top and bottom, whereas the Grados were slightly better in the mids, but were disappointing in the bass department.

The ebay seller had the Koss at a very good price, and there may be some around for a similar deal. Sound wise and construction wise they are definitely in the $100 class, but I got mine for about half that much.
 
it's hard to choose - l really would wanna try a set before buying, although for $50, it might be worth a gamble. I'm just looking at speaker specs, and those NS-690s have a very high sensitivity, my reciever might like them a lot more than the 300s.

i think i'm just gonna hang back on speakers though, and watch for a slick deal on something real nice...the headphones though, i really wanna get moving on.
 
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