Yamaha CX-1 Thread

Just talked to the wife...she's going to talk to my mother in law about shipping the CX-1 over here from Japan very soon...can't wait to try it out with both my M-85 and B-2x!

Super! I'm looking forward to reading your impressions. I'm using this thing Every. Day. Now. Loving it.

But at the same time it's a bit depressing to know that it will be at least the end of the year before I can get started on repairing/restoring my M-70 so that I can hear this pre with a real dedicated power amp.

Sometime in the next week or so I'll re-open the CX and record the dia and spacing of the elcos as I should have done before.

Cheers,
James
 
Super! I'm looking forward to reading your impressions. I'm using this thing Every. Day. Now. Loving it.

But at the same time it's a bit depressing to know that it will be at least the end of the year before I can get started on repairing/restoring my M-70 so that I can hear this pre with a real dedicated power amp.

Sometime in the next week or so I'll re-open the CX and record the dia and spacing of the elcos as I should have done before.

Cheers,
James

Thanks so much for this thread!

I'm really curious to see which amp it likes best, the B-5 (oldy but a goody), M-85 (like NOS when I got it) or B-2x (redone by hifido). They're all in great shape and worthy candidates. I'll also then have enough preamps for three dedicated setups of solid components. I've gotten my old CDX-410u cd player going (it's so good with the C-2x/B-2x!) and it will allow me to really test the line-in's (i've yet to buy a DAC). I'm guessing the CX-1 sounds superb with an M-70 running on all cylinders. I can't wait to try the lomc loading!
 
I'm sure this thread will be a great resource to future restorers.

However, I can't help but wonder if you're putting the cart before the horse; the preamp is working fine and you may find no improvement in performance at this time. Why not restore the amp first? I may have missed your writing about this.
 
I'm sure this thread will be a great resource to future restorers.

However, I can't help but wonder if you're putting the cart before the horse; the preamp is working fine and you may find no improvement in performance at this time. Why not restore the amp first? I may have missed your writing about this.

These are very reasonable questions. from both you and Jygesq. You deserve a reasonable answer.

I won't be re-capping the pre-amp in a rush. I'm doing my research and working in the background looking at what caps might fit, costs etc. But when I have my ducks lined up I will be recapping. The pre sounds good now, yes. And of course we know that aside from an outright failure degrading SQ is something that happens slowly and in all likelyhood I won't even notice, because our ears get used to it. And I'm aware that I probably won't be realizing any amazing improvements in SQ by re-capping now.

But I'm not waiting until it starts to sound worse. It's something that will need to be done at some time and when I'm ready it's getting put behind me. For me it's maintenance in the same way that I never waited for tires to wear to the warning stripes before replacing them.

Doing the pre isn't what's delaying working on the M-70. It's the pair of Canton L 600 speakers that have been waiting for almost 2 years to be restored. The work that I still need to do to get my daughter's new apartment usable. The Denon DCD-1290 cd player that I need to repair/restore/mod in time to send it to my nephew before Christmas. The pair of Canton Quinto 520's for my other daughter that still aren't quite finished. And more. :(

Doing the pre-amp recap won't use anything like the time I'll need to dig into the M-70. To be honest I'm still a bit intimidated by it (the M-70). I need to spend more time learning it's layout and there will be some troubleshooting involved. The seller stated that it had sat in an attic for 20 years and that one channel has a problem. I've taken a short look inside and can see that someone has been in there before me, some of the caps, resistors etc in the right channel aren't original. So it will be an adventure. And I want to get all of these other things out of the way first so that I can concentrate on it alone.

Cheers,
James
 
Hah! Bratwurst7s, I came here to post about the CX-1 I just bought on eBay. Seems you've written all I'll ever want to know about doing some resto work if it comes to that, which it probably will at one point or another. I appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Thank you!

My preamp should be here on Monday, Oct 23rd.

I saw a remote for the CX-1 on Amazon a few weeks ago and bought it. It's new, still in the plastic. I was thinking that the unit I buy probably won't have a remote. For whatever reason the remotes don't seem to be included with these preamps very often from what I have seen. An no, my CX-1 isn't coming with a remote, so this worked out just as I had hoped.

I was checking eBay regularly and saw a CX-1 in decent shape pop up today. I'm looking forward to it.

My current preamp is a Parasound AVC-2500, which is fairly average in my estimation. It has all the A/V items that at one point I thought I'd need, but I ended up getting a Oppo BDP-105D which handles all the A/V related functions. I'll be glad to pull the Parasound out of the system.

This preamp will match my MX-2 very well indeed. I still kick around the idea of buying a MX-1, but there is no way I'll be able to use the extra power in this apartment. My speakers are the Tekton Lore S which are very sensitive so the 150 watt/channel MX-2 is fine.

I hope you get your amplifier in proper working order soon.
 
These are very reasonable questions. from both you and Jygesq.
I'm glad you found it as such. it's all a matter of priorities. Looks like it's easy to get to all the preamp's caps, even though there seem to be quite a few.

I have a predecessor, the CX-1000 (and MX-1000) which I'm currently using, unrestored. I was going to recap at some point, but got tired of waiting while other projects got in the way, so into the main system they went. Someday!

My CX-1000 was also missing the remote, the previous (and original) owner bought a third party replacement which I see is still available for purchase. it's not as nice as having the Yamaha remote, but at least it works.

OK, sorry for the digression, good luck with you restore, I look forward to reading about it.
 
Hah! Bratwurst7s, I came here to post about the CX-1 I just bought on eBay. Seems you've written all I'll ever want to know about doing some resto work if it comes to that, which it probably will at one point or another. I appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Thank you!

My preamp should be here on Monday, Oct 23rd.

I saw a remote for the CX-1 on Amazon a few weeks ago and bought it. It's new, still in the plastic. I was thinking that the unit I buy probably won't have a remote. For whatever reason the remotes don't seem to be included with these preamps very often from what I have seen. An no, my CX-1 isn't coming with a remote, so this worked out just as I had hoped.

I was checking eBay regularly and saw a CX-1 in decent shape pop up today. I'm looking forward to it.

My current preamp is a Parasound AVC-2500, which is fairly average in my estimation. It has all the A/V items that at one point I thought I'd need, but I ended up getting a Oppo BDP-105D which handles all the A/V related functions. I'll be glad to pull the Parasound out of the system.

This preamp will match my MX-2 very well indeed. I still kick around the idea of buying a MX-1, but there is no way I'll be able to use the extra power in this apartment. My speakers are the Tekton Lore S which are very sensitive so the 150 watt/channel MX-2 is fine.

I hope you get your amplifier in proper working order soon.

This is great! And I'm happy to be helpful.

Funny thing is that I've been keeping my eye on CX-1's coming up on ebay just to get a feel for availability and going prices. The last couple of years one pops up every few months. Now that I bought one I see that in the last few weeks all of a sudden there is a wave of them showing up, along with MX-1's. 5 in the last week alone. Strange.

Nonetheless, great that you also found one.

For me, one of the attractions of the CX-1 is the lack of all of the A/V inputs and switching. I have a good Yamaha 7.1 A/V amp/system so all of that stuff is for my purposes just schnick-schnack that I don't need or want. Even not having a Loudness or Mono function is a plus for me.

There's something that you and 808_state can do that would be a large help to me. When you get your pre's you could open them up and check the values of C206 and C211 in the 0db-Amp. They should be the ones that I've crudely marked in the below photo.

DSC04560a.jpg

It would be helpful to see what the various production years have for caps here. The difference between the 2.2µF shown in both the schematic and parts list, and the 2.2µF/22µF that are in my unit is greatly puzzling to me. I'd like to see if other units are the same.

Cheers,
James
 
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I'm glad you found it as such. it's all a matter of priorities. Looks like it's easy to get to all the preamp's caps, even though there seem to be quite a few.

I have a predecessor, the CX-1000 (and MX-1000) which I'm currently using, unrestored. I was going to recap at some point, but got tired of waiting while other projects got in the way, so into the main system they went. Someday!

My CX-1000 was also missing the remote, the previous (and original) owner bought a third party replacement which I see is still available for purchase. it's not as nice as having the Yamaha remote, but at least it works.

OK, sorry for the digression, good luck with you restore, I look forward to reading about it.

No digression, Questions are good. :)

It seems like units of all types being sold without their remotes happens more often than not. Hmn. They either got lost or are being sold separately. And when I see the prices that people are asking for on ebay for original remotes for various equipment it sure makes me wonder which.

But the nice thing is that so far as I've seen Yamaha remotes work fairly universally with Yamaha gear. Same with Denon. Perhaps not every needed function will have a button (only 2 tape inputs rather than 3 for example) but those that are there will work. The remote for my big RX-V3900 A/V amp is super. It's a learning remote with macro functions. Can do pretty much everything.

Cheers,
James
 
This is great! And I'm happy to be helpful.

Funny thing is that I've been keeping my eye on CX-1's coming up on ebay just to get a feel for availability and going prices. The last couple of years one pops up every few months. Now that I bought one I see that in the last few weeks all of a sudden there is a wave of them showing up, along with MX-1's. 5 in the last week alone. Strange.

I periodically would search for a CX-1 (as well as MX-1) but not too seriously, more or less to keep an eye on prices. There are periods where these units just don't show up at all. Then again, it's in the range of 20 years now since these units have been sold.

Nonetheless, great that you also found one.

For me, one of the attractions of the CX-1 is the lack of all of the A/V inputs and switching. I have a good Yamaha 7.1 A/V amp/system so all of that stuff is for my purposes just schnick-schnack that I don't need or want. Even not having a Loudness or Mono function is a plus for me.

I absolutely agree with you on eliminating the unneeded features, such as what I have with my Parasound AVC-2500. I use one source, that being the Oppo, so my preamp only needs to do two things. Act as a bypass from the Oppo directly to my main speakers when watching video whatever as well as performing as a preamp for the other line out the Oppo has for CD/SACD. It uses a different set of DACs thus the other output.

That's what I like about my Oppo so much. It handles the peramp functions for the A/V side of my system, such as the line out for the rear speakers. My rear speakers are Yamaha HS8 studio monitors, which are active. I guess it wouldn't really matter if they were passive or active, the line out from the Oppo would still be independent of my preamp. I can't say enough good things about the Oppo. For me, it goes way beyond just being able to act as a source for playing multiple types of media.

It's still a two channel system. When I need to go A/V, the Oppo handles expanding to the requirements needed.

There's something that you and 808_state can do that would be a large help to me. When you get your pre's you could open them up and check the values of C206 and C211 in the 0db-Amp. They should be the ones that I've crudely marked in the below photo.


It would be helpful to see what the various production years have for caps here. The difference between the 2.2µF shown in both the schematic and parts list, and the 2.2µF/22µF that are in my unit is greatly puzzling to me. I'd like to see if other units are the same.

Sure, I'll open it up as soon as it gets here. I'll let you know.

John
 
This is great! And I'm happy to be helpful.

Funny thing is that I've been keeping my eye on CX-1's coming up on ebay just to get a feel for availability and going prices. The last couple of years one pops up every few months. Now that I bought one I see that in the last few weeks all of a sudden there is a wave of them showing up, along with MX-1's. 5 in the last week alone. Strange.

Nonetheless, great that you also found one.

For me, one of the attractions of the CX-1 is the lack of all of the A/V inputs and switching. I have a good Yamaha 7.1 A/V amp/system so all of that stuff is for my purposes just schnick-schnack that I don't need or want. Even not having a Loudness or Mono function is a plus for me.

There's something that you and 808_state can do that would be a large help to me. When you get your pre's you could open them up and check the values of C206 and C211 in the 0db-Amp. They should be the ones that I've crudely marked in the below photo.

View attachment 1023792

It would be helpful to see what the various production years have for caps here. The difference between the 2.2µF shown in both the schematic and parts list, and the 2.2µF/22µF that are in my unit is greatly puzzling to me. I'd like to see if other units are the same.

Cheers,
James

Yeah man, it should get here no later than Friday so I'll crack it open and snap a pic. Mine is a Japan domestic 100v unit so it could very well have different values.
 
So the CX-1 came early...

1017171715.jpg

1017171716.jpg

1017171857-1.jpg

It's in great shape and despite some light scratches on the top it looks barely used (no finger marks anywhere). Just running the phono for now with the 1k setting for lomc and there's lots of detail and serious mid-range punch/attack...it's fast! Initially it sounded a little congested with the pure direct on and I heard a few random top end distortions but it seems to be getting cleaner the more I run it (for all I know the phono was never used). I am guessing that if it was fully restored like my C-2x, it might actually do some things better (wow!). The build quality is far more substantial than I expected and the power cord is actually thicker than any of my US domestic pre's. For now I am powering both it and my B-2x with my 3000 watt step down but I may look into getting the CX-1 it's own step down. I did start to take it apart but noticed adhesive holding the side panels on and couldn't bring myself to "break the seal". I'm going to run it for a month or whenever my tech gets my C-2 back to me and then let him go through it, I'll be sure to have him note the requested values. The next step will be to run it with my B-5 and M-85 and get a remote!
 
808_state -- I'm glad you received your CX-1 and there aren't any issues/damage. And it arrived early! Good deal.

There are NOS CX-1 remotes on Amazon. I bought mine from that seller. I thought the price ($50, including shipping) was reasonable for a new original remote.

I should receive mine today, it's on the Fedex truck heading here for delivery.
 
It would be helpful to see what the various production years have for caps here. The difference between the 2.2µF shown in both the schematic and parts list, and the 2.2µF/22µF that are in my unit is greatly puzzling to me. I'd like to see if other units are the same.

C211 is a 2.2µF/25v Nichicon Muse as listed/shown but C206 is a 22µF/25v Elna Duorex.

Mine are the same values, but C206 is a Elna Muse (green) C211 is a Elna Duorex (II?) (purple). C211 is very difficult to get to in order to read it, but it's definitely those values and I did see Duro on the side where it's closest to the larger cap next to it.

I can easily read Muse on the side of C206.

John
 
808_state -- I'm glad you received your CX-1 and there aren't any issues/damage. And it arrived early! Good deal.

There are NOS CX-1 remotes on Amazon. I bought mine from that seller. I thought the price ($50, including shipping) was reasonable for a new original remote.

I should receive mine today, it's on the Fedex truck heading here for delivery.

Cool, let me know how it works for you and I may pull the trigger on one. Certainly better than paying $40 for a beat up/shredded one on eBay.
 
Pulled the Parasound and replaced it with the CX-1. It's working fine. Won't really give it a going over from an audio standpoint probably until tomorrow. Watching a movie presently.

The pictures that were on the eBay listing actually amplify what few tiny little flaws this thing has aesthetically speaking. I really need to credit the seller -- he/she did a great job on the listing (and with double boxing it). At a glance they're not even noticeable. There is a very minor mark in the rear of the unit, something I didn't notice until I pulled the cover. Overall, this preamp looks great! Hitting the few areas there are with a sharpie (as I mentioned previously) will cancel even that out. You'd seriously have to be looking to notice them without it. Just glanced at it. Eh, don't even need to bother.

I'll clean the fingerprints from installing it tomorrow and get a few pictures. Heh. Looking at it, I need to do some wire management too.

It's less than half the height of the Parasound AVC-2500 I pulled. I like the design overall of the CX/MX series. Understated, plain. Personally I don't care about a lot of LEDs or meters. I see four LEDs lit between the CX-1 and the MX-2. That's fine by me.

John
 
Cool, let me know how it works for you and I may pull the trigger on one. Certainly better than paying $40 for a beat up/shredded one on eBay.

The remote works fine. Operates just like it should. Has that early '90s dated remote look, but that's when this stuff was released, something of the charm I suppose. It's very basic. It does the selection of the source, mute, volume, but beyond that from what I can tell the rest of it was dedicated to operating a CD player. A very basic generic remote or something intended for another unit very well could work, as I believe it was Bratwurst7s pointed out. If you want bypass mode, or adjust balance/treble/bass, you're going to have to do that manually.

You get on/loff, mute, volume, source selection. That's it. There isn't a remote that can provide more than that, but there are probably a ton of them that can do those features. Dunno, didn't look myself. You might have a universal that can handle that now.

Hmmnn...there's a remote feature for the amp (or I imagine that is what it is for) where I could probably turn it on/off with the preamp. Just need to figure what what that cable is about and I wouldn't need an inline power adapter on/off for the amplifier. It's operated by remote. Works great but removing it would be a plus.

John
 
3.5 MM mono audio cable ordered. Apparently less than 3' lengths aren't common. Nonetheless, that should remove the need for a remote I use, so that's a good thing.
 
The remote works fine. Operates just like it should. Has that early '90s dated remote look, but that's when this stuff was released, something of the charm I suppose. It's very basic. It does the selection of the source, mute, volume, but beyond that from what I can tell the rest of it was dedicated to operating a CD player. A very basic generic remote or something intended for another unit very well could work, as I believe it was Bratwurst7s pointed out. If you want bypass mode, or adjust balance/treble/bass, you're going to have to do that manually.

You get on/loff, mute, volume, source selection. That's it. There isn't a remote that can provide more than that, but there are probably a ton of them that can do those features. Dunno, didn't look myself. You might have a universal that can handle that now.

Hmmnn...there's a remote feature for the amp (or I imagine that is what it is for) where I could probably turn it on/off with the preamp. Just need to figure what what that cable is about and I wouldn't need an inline power adapter on/off for the amplifier. It's operated by remote. Works great but removing it would be a plus.

John

Thanks for the update...honestly volume control is enough for me but source changing is a major bonus, especially for a/b'ing vinyl and cd's. My main cd player is so old (88') that there is no built-in remote capability. Just for fun I hooked up my Panny portable DVD player to the CD input and tested some discs I was practicing with to learn resurfacing and they sounded great. I really think the mc phono portion just needs a good run-in of 15-20 lp's to reveal what it's capable of. I gotta say, if I had a dream it would be switchable lomc loading via remote :biggrin:
 
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