Yamaha CT-800/Keeper?

tankdonovan

Senior AK Member
Picked up a Yamaha CT-800 tuner at a yard sale Saturday. Got it for a REAL good price. I do not need it so I figured I would sell it on eBay.

I hooked it up to my Pioneer SA-6700 amp and Yamaha NS-670 speakers to test before listing it. It works very well. The tuning meter light did not work. The others did. The tuning meter itself does not seem to work. The variable level muting works. It has variable and fixed output. All in all I am very pleased with the tuner. Pulls in stations with ease. A very good looker too. :yes:

There seems to be very little info about this little tuner here on AK or the net.

Now I have a problem. I like it! I think it may be a keeper. But I don`t need it! What should I do?

TankDonovan
 
I have a CT-800 in my shop. I bought it from a very nice fellow on ebay who had just relamped and aligned it (a couple of years ago). Is sounds wonderful and I just love the variable muting. I wish that it didn't have a vinyl veneer, but heck...it's in my shop. It's a great tuner--a keeper, definitely!

See also here: http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/yamaha.html
 
The CT-800 is a nice tuner, and (for better or worse) was highly-regarded by www.fmtunerinfo.com

Yes, the CA-800 is a nice amp. Not quite as sexy looking as the CA-810, but the 800 boasts selectable Class A operation (at 15 wpc, IIRC)... under which conditions it sounds really fine.

CA-800.jpg
 
I really like it for the variable muting. I use it with a CA-1000 and the only tuner I can see replacing it with is a CT-7000 but that is a whole different ballpark. My biggest complaint for the CT-800 is the terrible vinyl case.
 
Well, I found this thread while browsing around AK. If anyone reading it is wondering about the CT-800: As stated here, www.fmtunerinfo.com likes the 800, and has some pretty interesting information. However, I had the same general view with one that I purchased a few years back, and the same minor problems. All of that changed after Rob (Merrylander) aligned it and cleaned up its innards (I am guessing the tuning capacitor in particular). These little rascals, once aligned, sound magnificent in my opinion, and the AFC drift was cured as well. This tuner has a standard 75 ohm connector (not the special hard to find later Yammie type), so no external adaptor is needed for coax cable.
For those who don't like the vinyl cab (pretty good for vinyl) the CT-800 has a "flush mounted to the face with no vent on top" plywood cabinet, so it is a candidate for easy veneering, but I am too lazy and would rather just listen. It really is a remarkably nice tuner and can still be had on the cheap. Compared to a Kenwood KT-7500 (aligned by the amazing Terry DeWick), I find the CT-800 to be fuller sounding in the mids and low end, about the same in the high end (the Yamaha is a little more "real" sounding on brushes though) and the Yamaha pulls reasonably distant stations (a little) better than the 7500 with less noise. The KT-7500 has narrow and wide filter switchability, so DX'ers would definitely prefer the Kenwood...especially modded (see fmtunerinfo for tons of great info). For most of us, the CT800 is a great choice. If I have time in 2011, I plan to recap this puppy and see what the changes are. The boards appear to be easy to access.
 
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LOL, well here it is almost 2013 and I haven't had time to touch the CT800. On the other hand, it hasn't needed any attention, has stayed in my main system, and still sounds sweet. I guess it has outlasted at least four tuners that have come and gone. It is a very nice match with the CA1010 (although the 800 is physically smaller, they stack nicely). The variable muting is a really useful feature. This is one of those tuners that really gets the subtle "atmospherics" of the music when the broadcast source is of high quality. It pulls WVTF from Blacksburg Va to our location in central NC without a hitch...and our antenna is a simple Fanfare Fm2G. Anyway, these things continue to sell for chump change on That Auction Site, and are an outstanding value IMHO. Plus the blue meters look cool :D
 
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LOL, well here it is almost 2013 and I haven't had time to touch the CT800. On the other hand, it hasn't needed any attention, has stayed in my main system, and still sounds sweet. I guess it has outlasted at least four tuners that have come and gone. It is a very nice match with the CA1010. The variable muting is a really useful feature. This is one of those tuners that really gets the subtle "atmospherics" of the music when the broadcast source is of high quality. It pulls WVTF from Blacksburg Va to our location in central NC without a hitch...and our antenna is a simple Fanfare Fm2G. Anyway, these things continue to sell for chump change on That Auction Site, and are an outstanding value IMHO. Plus the blue meters look cool :D
I saw your update after I posted an update on my finished recap project. Must be the time of year. Too bad about the vinyl wrap on the case, but I agree it's not worth it at this point to make something nicer. I think my CA-810 has the same vinyl so at least they match. My meters look greenish though not blue.

I don't quite get how the variable muting is useful yet, if you had a minute to explain it that would be great.

I also have a KT-7500, untouched, and it seems pretty comparable, although I have done any a/b'ing.
 
Well, sorry I didn't see this post over a year ago LOL!
My wife says the meters on ours are definitely blue. Perhaps some variation due to heat and wear over the years? As to variable muting: I know that for some it is an important feature. If you are in a high density FM region, like anywhere in the Megalopolis, or Chicago, LA, etc. you probably have lots of stations that you really don't care to hear from as you tune. On most tuners, you can activate Muting, and have silence between stations as you tune, with a preset signal strength threshold: strong signals are pass through, weak ones are muted) . Variable Muting simply allows you to increase or decrease the level at which your tuner allows the lower strength signals (and usually , quality) to pass into audible reception. Again, nice if you need it. Still, just a frill. We live in an area that is not covered with FM stations, so the variable muting is more an interesting feature than it is a particularly useful one. For those in an FM dense area, I'll bet it would be very nice. FM was a major listening source for a lot more people when the CT series was new. *** 2018 Note: I am finding VM more useful than I expected. ***
(and you could record FM broadcast concerts / albums on your cassette deck ; )
 
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That is a very good explanation. I did eventually figure it out, and use it for that purpose on occasion. But as I only have a few stations I listen too, it's more of a curiosity.

Funny thing about the meters being different colors, mine are a little faded I think, maybe that has an effect too.
 
The CT-800 continues to work fine and sound great. I did go in and use electronics cleaner on the tuning cap, and lubed the bearings. There are some excellent threads about how to do that here. Blueglow Electronics also has a "How To" video (maybe on a Marantz 2275?) that demonstrates this very well. The main things: the spray cleaner should be just that, with zero lubricant. It needs to completely evaporate. The tuning capacitor is one place that you don't want to spray anything like Deoxit, because it will effectively short the metal fins, and your tuner won't tune. After cleaning, and allowing the spray cleaner to evaporate, you can...very carefully apply a little FaderLube to just the bearings. This seemed to slightly increase sensitivity (pulling a couple of distant stations that weren't there before), and reduce some noise that had crept in since I first got it. Still haven't touched the caps...one day!
 
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