I picked up a Yamaha CA-800 today.....

Uncle Bambi

Funky Tut
For free. :)

I was having a conversation with a friend who repairs WWII communications gear. I mentioned that I had a similar interest in that I liked to overhaul 70's era discreet component amps. A fellow within earshot heard me, and came over. He said he had a CA-800 in his closet that had malfunctioned many years ago, but could not bear to throw it out. He wanted to know if I wanted it.

Long story short, I stopped by his house later in the day and picked up a cosmetically near-perfect unit with owners manual. He said it died from "hooking up too many speakers or something".

I haven't put it up on the bench yet, but as soon as I get a break in my other higher priority projects, I'm going to take a stab at sorting this one out.

Sure is a pretty looking unit - I presume it is worth saving?
 
Thanks for the comments..... I presumed it was a better than average amp just by looking at it. the "fit and finish" is nice.

I pulled a SM down from the AK archive but haven't had a chance to look it over yet. Hopefully is has what I need to start poking around.

I just last year spent about $350 and 2 weeks buying and rebuilding a tired Sansui AU-717. That Sansui is my main unit, and I like it a lot. I'm gonna be pissed if this Yamaha is a better sounding amp. :) Sometimes I think I should just sit on my hands and wait for stuff to drift downstream.

When I finally tear of the cover and dig into it, I'll start a thread here.
 
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Just a few pics to show you the condition of this beast:

yamahaCA-803_zpsa982bce4.jpg


yamahaCA-801_zpsb765515b.jpg


yamahaCA-802_zps7e4411e6.jpg
 
Of course you should hang onto it! Looks like a keeper to me!
 
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OK - I had a minute to put it on the DBT today.

Initial symptom, no power at all. No front panel LED lit, no reaction from the DBT. Cracked the case, and found both 3A fuses blown on the left channel. With these fuses pulled, I get a red power LED on the front panel and absolutely no reaction from the DBT - it stays totally dark.
 
Thanks for the thread link! I read through it. Dave rebuilt my ca-800 and did a wonderful job! I wish I had the knowledge and skills you guys have. What a satisfying project that must have been:thmbsp:
 
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