Vintage Yamaha CR1020 Receiver Review
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2023
- My review of the vintage Yamaha CR-1020 receiver.
I am a long time collector of vintage stereo gear like receivers, speakers, amps, turntables and cassette decks from brands like McIntosh, Sansui, Pioneer, Yamaha, Klipsch, JBL, Marantz and many others. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss future videos.
Email: stereoniche@gmail.com
Channel: / @stereoniche
Video: • Vintage Yamaha CR1020 ...
#bestvintageaudio #vintageaudio #classicrock #records #vintagecassette #audiogear #cassette #audiocollections #audiophile #stereo #klipschorn #klipsch #vintagespeakers #vintagestereoequipment #vintagestereo
I had one of those and I LOVED it. Gave it back to my best friend, who gave it to me.
Well, hopefully he will pass it back to you if he ever decides he no longer enjoys it.
I just picked up my Yamaha CR-2020 yesterday from being recapped, LED light upgrade, cleaned, inspected and checked/set to factory specs by Just Audio in Maryland. I'm the original owner purchasing it back in 1978. I have all the boxes and manuals too. I may keep it for a bit then sell it down the road.
Had it all these years and now selling it? What memories...
Loved, loved, loved Yamaha receivers back in high school. We would drool over their sound at the stereo store (LaSalle Electronics). Could never afford one back then. My neighbor sold me her 1020 right before her backyard sale started….$25, 25 years ago. I still have it and love it!
They are timeless.
Beautiful classy looking electronics. In 1977 I bought a Yamaha CA-810 with a pair of ADS 710 speakers. Wonderful combo. My Brother also had a pair of ADS 700 speakers. We would often combine both pairs through the 810 & never had any problems at all (except for blowing a few tweeters... lol)
Original owner of a '77 CR1020, complete with box, packing materials, and manuals. I had to "reach" to buy it at the time, but it's the first and last "premium" receiver I ever purchased (but not the only one I've owned). I had DJ friends routinely stop by to sample new LPs on the system. Still going strong.
Thanks for adding to the conversation. They are classics that will always be appreciated.
The CR-2020 has all the features you miss, and the CR-3020 (all 92# of it) has all the features you didn't know existed. I have both...they're awesome!!!
You have the Big Boys, they are amazing units, thanks for commenting!
I have the 1020 and absolutely love it.Never had a moment's trouble out of it.Thanks for the video.
Thank you for doing this video. I have a CA-810 / CT-810 system, purchased new in '79, that were used daily for about 10 years until life took over and they spent the next 30 years in storage. Then about 5 years ago I came across my late father's JVC turntable while dealing with his estate, and it got me thinking out those old Yamaha components. So, after pulling them out of storage and a thorough inspection, the system was resurrected, along with the turntable, and has been up and running trouble free for the last 4 years. Regarding the design and feel of the Yamaha components, I find the aesthetics and functionality give me as much pleasure as when they were new, maybe more.
Thanks for adding your experience here. Keep them going, just a fantastic series and timeframe for audio.
Vintage Yamaha looks great. I have always been a fan of them. I love these videos and your collections rock.
Glad you like them!
I have CR2020 and CR2040, these vintage Yamaha CR Series receivers are sweet sounding, natural sound
Sweet in both sound and LOOKS! :-)
I had (have) a friend to this day who has a CR 620 that he bought new in about 1978. Still in use constantly since then. It looks like the day he took it out of the box. It was an upgrade to the Pioneer sx-450 he got from me when I bought a Sansui G4500.
Most often they are very well kept units. Amazing in many cases.
My First vintage receiver when i got into Hi-Fi, ~2013, Had it for year(s). I always liked the looks, listened a lot on it for a couple years.
They are definitely lookers. I think I've seen cardboard cutouts that look very similar in furniture stores in their displays.
I have a couple of newer black Yamaha receivers. One from the 90s that was my dad's and one I bought a few years ago. They sound great and they look like new but they don't have the "soul" of the silver 70s units. Yours is a real beauty!
They are quite stunning and, oddly, they seem to sell, on average, for much less than other brands.
Great video. I have the CR-2020 paired with Vandersteen original model 2 speakers and a Denon DP1200 turntable. Nothing fancy but it sounds great and all components in pristine condition.
Thanks for sharing!
My Yamaha CR400 from 1976 is still going strong. If I remember correctly, at the time, there was also a CR200, CR600 and CR800, maybe others. One of the main features that I've not seen in other brands is the variable loudness control. The pitch was to set the unit at maximum listening volume and then roll the loudness control back to desired listening level. I always liked that feature, or how it seemingly maintained the same eq curve as volume was lowered.
I just picked up a CR-2040 today. From the original owner. Needs a little bit of cleaning and polishing but no scratches or dents. Can’t wait to have it nice and shiny soon
You will be very happy when it is up and running. Congrats on the score!
Loved this receiver. Powered the Heil AMT 1 speakers. WOW! Also Yamaha table--- I do not remember model number, but it was a sweet set up. Thank you for the review. I don't think I appreciated what this receiver had to offer in comparison to many others. So many ways to tweak the sound.
Thanks for the comments. This is why I take the approach for the review, to inform others what features are most relevant and how they compare to others from the same era.
I have a CR-1040 bought in 81 for 399 at Stereo World. I'm the second owner and have the original box and book, receipt. Love it! And yes it's mint!
You are one of those owners that enjoys listening to it, but also enjoys taking care of it! :-)
Was this in Ft. Myers by any chance?
The thing that makes these (and really, ALL) Yamaha audio pieces stand out stylistically from their competitors, was the graphic design. Look closely at your 1020 and you will not that aside from the Yamaha logo, there is only one typeface used on the entire machine. Yamaha used different sizes and fonts of Eurostile, a typeface designed by Aldo Novarese in 1962. Compare this to the four or five typefaces used on each Marantz piece in the same era. Graphically, Marantz was all over the place-the worst, as far as graphic design goes (Phase Linear gets a mention here as well).
Most people don't notice this aspect in their gear, but it subliminally sets Yamaha apart from its competition, before you even listen.
I forgot to mention, I have a CR-820, which I consider the sweet spot in the line (45 watts, three tone controls, two speaker outputs, etc.), and of course, it has the game changer-the variable Loudness control.
I had an 820 and gifted it to my nephew. All around great performer and equally stunning.
I was trained in graphic design and have always appreciated good font choices and a European aesthetic, which I’m sure attributes to my love of the CR series Yamahas.
One of my favorite features on the CR-1020, apart from the presence control, is the channel selector. Being able to select L,R, LR, RL or mono is very useful for diagnosing speaker or source faults.
Very true! Macs tend to often have these features as well.
I have a 2020 and love it. It's best feature is the Phono section which is as good as any I've heard.
Great video! Beautiful looking component.Yamaha wass one of my favorite brands. Like Sony and a few others, they tried to go the extra mile to give us sound that was a cut above. They came out with speakers with Berrylium drivers, their orthodynamic headphones were unique and above average. Their integrated amplifiers sometimes had a class A switch option for class A operation. Class A has the transistors switched on all the time regardless of the musical peaks. It reduces switching distortion or notch distortion from transistors turning on and off in response to musical peaks and demands. The difference between class A and class A/B is clearly audible. The improvement isn't huge but important. The sound is a little purer sounding with noticeably less grain, and Transient Intermodular Distortion, which is way more nasty than harmonic distortion. It is interesting that Yamaha offered the Class A option on some of its integrateds, but not its receivers. Probably thinking that receiver users weren't as critical a listener as people who got into integrated amps and seperates. A lot of people don't know, but Yamaha is the biggest manufacturer of musical instruments in the world.
One of the Yamaha integrated amps I had posessed a transformer inside that was the biggest I ever seen in an integrated. It was taller than usual and it was as big as your hand, if you outstretched the fingers of your hand as far as they'll go. As always with amps with big transformers the instruments sounded noticeably bigger; bass and transient response always seem to be excellent too with amps having big beefy transformers.Also their integrated amps often had provisions for moving coil cartridges which have tiny light coils at the opposite end of the cantilever, instead of a heavier magnet. They have an easier run through the obstacle course of a record groove. Like wearing running shoes vs. the moving magnet cartridges "Boots" with more mass at the far end of the cantilever from the magnet. Moving coils are more fleet and nimble in the groove, usually able to dig out more detail. Once again Yamaha knew their audience, and knew that receiver people weren't as likely to be buying more expensive moving coil cartridges. There could have been a Yamaha receiver or 2 with class A and moving coil capability, but not to my knowledge. I know that was usually not the case. Yamaha along with Luxman were not watts per dollar champs, but tried to give you higher quality watts, which was more important. People who paid the extra often knew that from the grapevine.
They are quite stunning.
@@stereoniche I really do like the look of those old Yamahas like the one you showed. They have such a clean and classy look, with a combination of buttons and other types of switches.. From the outside, they just look like a quality piece of equipment, and they are. Even though they didn't have an input for moving coil cartridges, that doesn't mean you couldn't use a moving coil cartridge with them; there are medium and high output moving coil cartridges. Some moving magnet cartridges were no slouch, and there were cartridges with enough output of the moving iron type and moving flux type. Sonus and AKG made wonderful high output moving iron cartridges, and Astatic made great moving flux cartridges. They had many of the qualities of the moving coils, the best of them could compete with moving coils in most ways. Yamaha also made good tuners and some say they made good turntables. Some people liked the titanium driver Yamaha NS500M better than the berrylium driver NS 1000. The 3 way 500M should not be confused with the Yamaha NS 500, which was the 2 way little brother to the NS 1000. It was a bright showy little speaker, that my local audio store often demonstrated with. They'd put on rock music with horns and violins in the mix, like the album Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs to show off the berrylium tweeter.
You showed a Billy Joel lp in the background. His double lp, Best of Billy Joel was a $10 record 10 years ago. Now a good clean copy can get $80. Some records are going up more in value than others. One last thing, speaking of value, some of Yamaha's upper model cassette decks can get more hundreds of dollars than you could imagine, on the used market. Some of them were supposed to be really good. I don't know if Yamaha ever made a reel to reel tape deck.
I just picked up one on eBay and it needs service. Hopefully the service will be complete within a few days. Can't wait to crank it up!
You are in for a treat!
Just picked one up at an estate sale in mint condition for $400!
Nice pickup!
I’ve had one for a while now. It was fully professional service in 2014 and still sounds wonderful. They really did the xx20 series right.
The industrial design is quite stunning.
a mono switch should be on your list, i'ts on mine 🙂. You can check the phase of the input signals very easy. Checking the phase of the speakers is also much easier.
Very true! I may not add it to the points, but will try to mention it in future reviews.
I would like to see you review EPI 201b. EPI 's inverted dome tweeter was one of the most natural sounding tweeter of its day, same as Genesics Physics line of speakers.
I would LOVE to! I just need a pair. EPI and Genesis Physics have been on my list for a LONG time, I've just not been able to obtain a pair. Been close though.
Please tell us more about the sound of this amplifier, about what kind of speakers sounds well with it, what audio sources match well with it, how it compares with other amplifiers in sound?
If I would want pictures and specs of this amplifier, I would find them all over the internet, I wouldn't need a 15 minutes video for this.
Sorry for being so direct and bland!
Thank you for your videos and the time you put into this!
Thanks for chiming in and asking some questions. When it comes to sound, there is a lot to consider with their age/condition, but in general, Yamaha of this era is mostly described as having an "Uncolored" sound as compared to other gear like Pioneer and Sansui, for example. You can certainly add more color by using the tone controls, an external EQ, etc. As for speakers, at 70w/8 ohm, it is just enough to power the vast majority of speakers and at 80w/4 ohm, you can add those models to your list of speakers. There are FAR too many speakers that will pair nicely, your ears are the ONLY decisive point to consider and what you can find locally to hear. What I will say is to stay clear of known speakers that can dip to a very low impedance like many Infinity and Magnepan models. Any of the speaker reviews I have posted to my channel up to now will pair just fine with it.
@@stereoniche It’s true, the sound of these vintage electronics depends so much of the age, condition, repairs etc. Also, the ears, the personal taste and the experience of the listener/reviewer plays an important role in judging the sound.
Even so, the most important thing that we want to hear from an owner of these audio vintage equipment it is how they sound. The fact that it’s a personal impression, taste and experience it’s already acknowledged.
Thank you for your answer!
One thing you didn’t touch on. It had the ability in tuner to adjust and find the strongest signal on a station. I don’t know of another stereo at the time that had that plus their variable loudness was amazing.
Bought my CR 1020 in 76 and still have it
Love the “natural sound”
Only down side is finding someone to work on it if you need it serviced
Yes, it is becoming more of an issue. Would certainly be a nice career for those willing to start learning.
Stereo Rehab in Chicago is great. Please research.
This unit got me into vintage Hi-Fi gear. I found it at a Goodwill for 19.99 in great condition; all I had to do was replace some bulbs and give it a nice cleaning. I will never find a better deal...
Well, that was certainly an awesome deal, great way to get into vintage gear.
What's your review on the sound compared to Marantz and Sansui?
I have the CR-1020 and absolutely love it. I recently bought a Cartable-7000 8 track tape player. The player has 3 out inputs, 1 each labeled High, Med, Low. Can you recommend which I should use and should I hook it up to tape 2 input? Thanks for your help, appreciate the informative video.
Hi there. I would recommend doing a search for the user manual to understand the function of each of those outputs so they are best matched to your receiver. Try : www.manualslib.com/
Hi just purchased the Yamaha CR-1020 inspired by your Video....what is the tune accompanied with the Video..
If you look at the description under the video (easier on a computer), it will show you all of the tracks used in the video, but the song track used in the close up shots of the receiver is called "Raindrops" by TrackTribe. Hope you enjoy your "new" receiver!
I think that because of it’s classy design it may have appealed to a somewhat more mature clientele hence they were taken better care of.
Quite possible.
Thabk you for the video. Can you tell us the title/artist of the song you played?
If you open up the information section under each video, it will show you all of the tracks/artists, FYI, but this one is from TrackTribe and called "Rain Drops". May be easier to find on a computer vs a phone/tablet.
appart from the output power does it sound different from a CR820 ?
Not to my ears, no. The sound signatures for the line are all similar.
So if it was the late 1970s and you wanted the best sound quality in amplification possible, what could you have bought? Yamaha receivers would be one to consider. If you were not concerned at all about quantity of watts per dollar, but "quality" of watts per dollar you would look at a Luxman receiver or a Tandberg receiver. They both had a sweet non electronicy sound (accurate); the total opposite of the Sansui G Series of DC (direct coupled) receivers which sounded full of life and detail, but which had a brittle sounding high end. The Sansui receivers of that era actually sounded good with tape, whose mellow duller high end often needed that excess of crispness and vividness up there. I had Carver seperates which sounded much better than Sansui on phono, but playing cassettes, the Sansui G Series receiver matched up beautifully. The top of the Tandberg range of receivers was the TR 2075. An audio store in town often A/B'd Tandberg amps vs. Kenwood. The Tandberg always made the Kenwood sound muddy in the bass and edgy and electronicy. Kenwood LO-7 power amps were very good though. Luxman at the time had their V series integrated amps out, namely the L80V and the more expensive and powerful L85V. It wasn't that much more expensive to buy an integrated and a seperate tuner. The Luxman tuners were exceptionally good sounding. Something that went beyond specs. Their integrated amps had beautiful rosewood cabinets, tone controls with selectable turnover frequencies and instead of a dot on the volume control, there was a little orange light which showed you from across the room, just how high your volume setting was. The Luxman's were not showy amps soundwise, but were accurate with true timbres. They wouldn't add pizazz or electric sounds to the mix. Very musical. The two best cassette decks ever made was a Luxman and a Tandberg. The Luxman deck pullled the tape way way out of the cassette shell so the cassette shell itself coundn't degrade the sound quality. Some question whether they actually made it available to consumers. The Tandberg 3014 cassette deck is a holy grail for sound quality, and sometimes gets thousands of dollars on the used market. Tandberg also made one of the best sounding open reel tape decks. Anything Tandberg sounded like a cut above, with a very sweet, clear and well controlled sound.
I've only run across a small number of Luxman models over the years and I purchased most of them. Unfortunately, they were mostly in only fair physical shape so I passed them on with the exception of a small integrated L5 with the original box and matching tuner. Tandberg is a brand I would very much like to find some examples, but thus far, I am still searching.
@@stereoniche The Luxman L5 I have also. I also have the bottom of the line L3. It was the line of models right after the rosewood cabinet L80 series..
It has more of a sharp electronicy Sansui G series kind of sound than the previous series. It does have better clarity though. The L80 series was more about tonal beauty. The only sounds coming out of your speakers from those amps were sounds that the actual instruments would make. I realized that one time playing a solo piano recording. The L5 for how little height it has, was the top of the line amp of the L series. If you type in Luxman L5 hiberlink, it will show you a page with many comments, including their opinion that it is one of Luxman's best amps (of the day). Lux is now an ultra high end brand. The L5 has seperate tone controls for the left and right channel. Great for guys who have absorptive drapes on one side. A turn of the treble on that side not only brings back the sparkle but the image impressively snaps into focus. Focus must depend on equal tonal balance on each side. There are jumpers on the bottom where the inputs are, and the amp can be used as a power amp only ideally going through less circuitry, or as a preamp only. U shaped jumpers always degrade the sound. A quality interconnect used in place of the jumpers improves the sound. I've experimented with speaker cables and interconnects galore. So many brands from $20 to thousands of dollars. I always buy cables used; for economy.
Tandbergs are pricey on the used market. They have warmth like tubes and are smooth sounding and natural sounding, but clear. Their tape decks are tops but can be problematic. The Tandberg 3014 easily beats the Nakamichi Dragon for sound quality. A cassette played through a Tandberg is a whole new experience. An elevated one which surprises many people how good factory prerecorded cassettes can sound.
i have a cr-620 its in great shape, but i think it has a few flaws inside unfortunately
Hopefully you can get those issues worked out and get it back into play.
May I ask you what chair you are sitting in?
Thanks for joining the channel! The chair was a gift from my wife a few years ago. It is an Eames style replica, but I do not know the exact manufacturer.
I regret selling my CR1000
What I don't understand is how the people who made these beauties, some years later created those ugly black plastic toys!