Just acquired a nice CA-1000, need advices for future project..

Parabellum27

Active Member
Hey there,

After a few months of monitoring my local Kijiji for a nice CA-1000 to show up has finally arrived. I just arrived from Montréal (3 hours round trip) with it and it looks splendid. The condition is what I was looking for, as mint as possible. Wood casing is undamaged, all sharp corners, face plate is nick less. Only things I can see from initial testing is that the power light is burnt and the controls could use some Deoxit.

I have a project of restoration for this baby as I want it to be a one of a kind CA-1000. I do not plan to modify it extensively but I want to bring the best out of it. I am looking for ideas or suggestions that I could do to bring that baby up to date.

I am planning most likely a full recap done by a professional. I just do not have the skills to undertake it myself.

As said previously, a good clean up on all controls is mandatory from what I can see.

Next, I would like to have some nice binding posts, some Carada or WBT. But only for the A and maybe B speakers outputs. I want to keep one original in order to hook up some vintage speakers for future testings.

Wood casing, although very nice, shows some faint discoloration due to exposed sunlight at some time. Restor-a-finish will be used with a cloth (no steel wool) to give it a fresh look.

Another idea that I had was to swap the power cord for something in the line of furutech, Shunyata, Kimber, etc. Something decent but not too extravagant.

Is there anything else that could be done to bring more life out of it? Maybe a performance fuse (if there is one inside)..

Thanks for your input.
 
Next, I would like to have some nice binding posts, some Carada or WBT. But only for the A and maybe B speakers outputs. I want to keep one original in order to hook up some vintage speakers for future testings. Another idea that I had was to swap the power cord for something in the line of furutech, Shunyata, Kimber, etc. Something decent but not too extravagant.

Is there anything else that could be done to bring more life out of it? Maybe a performance fuse (if there is one inside)..

Upgrading the binding posts perhaps..The rest is a waste . IMHO.
:lurk:
 
Upgrading the binding posts perhaps..The rest is a waste . IMHO.
:lurk:

Agreed.

But I’m not a big fan of binding post mods.
They never look right.
I recapped one that had big posts installed.
It just didn’t seem vintage.

Whichever tech you choose, make sure they are good at it. The traces in that are a tad delicate in places and you want a very skilled hand doing the recap.

I’ve got mine waiting until I have the time to take time doing it.

They are special when redone.
 
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yamaha-ca-1010-speaker-terminal
Agreed.

But I’m not a big fan of binding post mods.
They never look right.
I recapped one that had big posts installed.
It just didn’t seem vintage.

Whichever tech you choose, make sure they are good at it. The traces in that are a tad delicate in places and you want a very skilled hand doing the recap.

I’ve got mine waiting until I have the time to take time doing it.

They are special when redone.

Thank you for your input. For the binding posts, I have found this online though it is stated for the CA-1010. I wonder if it fits the CA-1000..

https://speaker-terminal.com/en/produkt/yamaha-ca-1010-speaker-terminal/
 
Huh! Look at that. After market parts for vintage electronics.

Unfortunately my CA-1000 is here and my CA-1010 is in another house. So I’ll don’t know if they match.

I don’t think the service manuals give enough info to check if they use the same original parts.
 
Huh! Look at that. After market parts for vintage electronics.

Unfortunately my CA-1000 is here and my CA-1010 is in another house. So I’ll don’t know if they match.

I don’t think the service manuals give enough info to check if they use the same original parts.

I will contact this company and see what they think. Based on this it would be easy to design and make a backplate out of ABS using a 3D printer.
 
Thank you for your input. For the binding posts, I have found this online though it is stated for the CA-1010. I wonder if it fits the CA-1000..

https://speaker-terminal.com/en/produkt/yamaha-ca-1010-speaker-terminal/

Ouch! $$$'s.
I went el-cheapo, used the bay,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/8Pcs-4mm-A...nding-Post-Banana-Plug-Jack-A1S3/253343446576

Fitted to CA-1000, 1010, 2010. Required to simply enlarge/redrill some holes. They are a little wide, some people grind/file
some of the clear plastic to make them fit. Unnecessary, they will fit if you get the hole position right.
 
The few retrofits I’ve done showed me that the fancy large posts are a royal pain in the ass to tuck into the space. Carving out the panel is just wrong so getting big posts in a small space it the issue.

If the goal is to go banana plug, then small nut binding posts are the ticket. All you need is the post hole anyway.

I stashed some small high quality posts away that I salvaged in case someone has to have a conversion done or if I need them to make repairs.

Laying out a replacement board and drilling all the holes so things line up and look nice is another trick. It seems damn near worth the price just to get precision location holes.
 
Not a very good idea in my opinion. Having exposed metal binding posts so close to each other.
+1

I am looking for ideas or suggestions that I could do to bring that baby up to date.
I was given a hint to replace the greencaps on the tone board, went for Wima MKP, sounded significantly better however
somewhat harsh. Have ordered some Vishay MKP416, a little expensive but worth a try. Extremely puzzled how these greencaps
could affect the SQ when the tone controls are in the defeat position.
 
I installed banana sockets to my first CR-1000 and CA-1010 thinking I would use them alternately with a modern amp. I can't see any other reason for this. But if you have only vintage why not use pin plugs for speaker cable instead?

CA-1000 is hard to restore. Replace the 2 Omron microswitches. They cost nothing.
 
I installed banana sockets to my first CR-1000 and CA-1010 thinking I would use them alternately with a modern amp. I can't see any other reason for this. But if you have only vintage why not use pin plugs for speaker cable instead?

CA-1000 is hard to restore. Replace the 2 Omron microswitches. They cost nothing.

Thanks for the tip. I will forward your suggestion to my tech. I wish to use my CA-1000 in a contemporary setup, using probably a Bryston BDA-3 DAC for integration with a projector (it has HDMI inputs for 2 channel sound). And I much prefer those banana types of connector so that I can use my existing speaker cables; I have Kimber KS-3033. I also wish to use more modern speakers and those speakers that do not have the bananas plug, I plan to modify them. Right now, I have some Totem Mani-2 Signature, Pioneer HPM-60 and Klipsch KG4. It may seems odd to some to make such modifications but for me, those tiny wires with spring clips are a PITA to work with.
 
+1


I was given a hint to replace the greencaps on the tone board, went for Wima MKP, sounded significantly better however
somewhat harsh. Have ordered some Vishay MKP416, a little expensive but worth a try. Extremely puzzled how these greencaps
could affect the SQ when the tone controls are in the defeat position.

How did the 2nd new caps sound ?
 
Thanks for the tip. I will forward your suggestion to my tech. I wish to use my CA-1000 in a contemporary setup, using probably a Bryston BDA-3 DAC for integration with a projector (it has HDMI inputs for 2 channel sound). And I much prefer those banana types of connector so that I can use my existing speaker cables; I have Kimber KS-3033. I also wish to use more modern speakers and those speakers that do not have the bananas plug, I plan to modify them. Right now, I have some Totem Mani-2 Signature, Pioneer HPM-60 and Klipsch KG4. It may seems odd to some to make such modifications but for me, those tiny wires with spring clips are a PITA to work with.

So how has it all worked out ? ... I've just bought not received yet a CA1000 and are keen to know
 
How did the 2nd new caps sound ?
This is what I did on the tone board. During this work I found a faulty bass turnover switch that clouded the results.
I've set this aside for the time being, I would say that replacing the green caps on the tone board as being optional.
The MKP replacements are a bit expensive.
upload_2020-4-28_7-34-38.png
 
So how has it all worked out ? ... I've just bought not received yet a CA1000 and are keen to know

Pretty good I would say. This amplifier really surprises me. Actually, I had started another thread about the whole restoration/modification of my CA-1000 which you can find here:

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...1000-restoration-modifications-thread.856352/

Probably not your typical restoration I would say as I went quite overboard with this project. My end goal was to know how far I could push this amplifier and how well it would sound when paired with modern equipment. The answer is that the CA-1000 even by today's standard is no slouch. It does not sound sterile and has that warmth that I like. And for me, the aesthetics is killer. My current setup is :

Yamaha CA-1000 with Synergistic Blue Fuses all over.
Bryston BDA-3
Bryston BDP-2 with internal SSD
Kimber Select KS-2436 USB cable
Kimber KS-1016 RCA IC
Kimber KS-3033 speaker cables
Totem Mani-2 Signature
Shunyata Black Mamba HC/CX to power the CA-1000.

My system serves two functions, one as for listening music, and the other one as a 2.0 home cinema. Regardless of what I have all done, I am sure I can easily improve the sound even more. This amplifier is a keeper.

Serge
 
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