Early to mid-90s gear

[Bratwurst7s]

...And the more I look at the Euro models.....damn. James that AX-1090 is one sexy beast. If I ever find myself in Germany I'm coming back with a whole stack of these....vollverstarkers

I didn't notice this last sentence earlier.

I bought my AX-1090 in early '98. Since then it has been used nearly every single day. It only goes on vacation when I do. The only problem it has ever given me is with the rotary input selector and that cleaned up nicely and hasn't given any more problems for over 2 years now.

The only limit to the sound quality is basicly what goes in and where it comes out. When I rebuilt/upgraded my speakers over the last 3 years the sound quality just got better and better. Same thing with my CD player. As I upgraded the input the good old Yami just kept rewarding me by cleanly passing the better quality sound through. The amp has never been the limiting factor concerning sound quality.

If you ever do come over to Munich let me know. We can arrange some tunes, beer and some of Wife's fine cooking. With enough notice I can help look for something heavy to put in a box to bring home with you.

Cheers,
James

 

[frahengeo]

I had a DSP-A1 integrated Amp/Processor that I bought brand new in the late 90's. It was great for both HT surround sound, and 2-ch audio, and was really well built. After 20 years, the only issue it gave me was a flaky display, which was resolved after re-soldering some of the connections. I sold it earlier this year due to non-use.

 

[Roboturner91]

And because I'm an absolute lunatic I brought this piece home from a flea market today

The RX-350, the apparent predecessor to the RX-360 I've had for almost 25 years now. I passed it twice, then curiosity won out.

Because, this thing's got not only the bass knob, for when you want some more bass; it's also got the variable loudness, for when you want even moar bass; it's also got BASS EXTENSION, for when you thought it was an earthquake BUT THEN YOU REALIZED IT WAS BASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (see explanatory video below):

So essentially it's got variable loudness and a binary on/off loudness. For I guess, for when your favorite band is Spinal Tap?

Honestly it sounds pretty good with the bass at +2 and the loudness 3 notches from flat. I cannot tell any difference when both bass extension and loudness are engaged. Perhaps one defeats the other.

Regardless, it's a cool piece that sounds pretty nice and adds to my totally unnecessary collection of black Yamahas from the early 90s. I'll probably clean it up and give it to a friend at work who's been sniffing around about me helping him with a vinyl setup for a couple weeks.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I picked up a silver face RX-500 a while back knowing that it was blowing fuses, but what the heck, it was only €10. Lookas like it sat somewhere damp for a long time and the foam spacer glued to the bottom of the main board absorbed enough water that when someone turned it on it blew the psu. That one is sitting on the back burner waiting for time.

One thing about these lower end RX's. They don't have a removable bottom plate that lets one easily get to the bottom of the pcb. You have to completely disassemble the unit to re-cap it etc and that is a pity because of the position and mounting of the power switch makes it really hard to get things apart.



Cheers,
James

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I had better luck with a RX-530. It had a burned out display back light bulb so I got it for €35. I bought this one to donate to the break room at work. After recapping it we worked in an LED for the display. The amp sounds really good with a pair of Canton Karat 100's and a recapped/modded Denon DCD-725 CD player (Not the one in the pics, that's an old Phillips CD781 that I use for bench testing). Or should I more properly say, the Cantons sound really good with this amp.



Cheers,
James

 

[sfox52]

I have a mid-nineties RX-495 stereo receiver I bought new that is working well. I have the remote and I plan on hanging on to it for my daughters use when she gets her own place. Do these units suffer from the corrosive glue problem that older Yamaha's did?

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I have a mid-nineties RX-495 stereo receiver I bought new that is working well. I have the remote and I plan on hanging on to it for my daughters use when she gets her own place. Do these units suffer from the corrosive glue problem that older Yamaha's did?

No corrosive glue after about ''90. However the white glue that they do use can be a pita to remove. Should only be necessary if you replace the main filter caps.

Cheers,
James

 

[sfox52]

Thanks James!

 

[devnull]

I had a DSP-A1 integrated Amp/Processor that I bought brand new in the late 90's. It was great for both HT surround sound, and 2-ch audio, and was really well built. After 20 years, the only issue it gave me was a flaky display, which was resolved after re-soldering some of the connections. I sold it earlier this year due to non-use.

I'll bet that was a pretty expensive purchase.

I picked up a used DSP-A1000 somewhere around ten years ago and found it had a pretty decent amp section, so I used it every so often, and then as an amp for my center speaker. Let it go when I moved four years ago. Those AV oriented integrated amps from Yamaha are a solid choice even today if someone is looking for an amp for secondary speakers in an AV setup. Shipping might be expensive, but they can be had fairly inexpensively overall.

I had a MX-1 as well prior to my move. I got rid of everything and ended up giving it to my neighbor. I thought very highly of it. When I saw a MX-2 a few years ago available in BT, I picked that up. Its power is plenty enough for my setup considering I can't really crank music where I live now. I have very efficient Tektons, so it's really overkill for my needs, but I'm a fan and really enjoy using it.

Every so often I look for one of the matching preamps, those being the CX-1 or CX-2, but it's not so often they come up on eBay. There was one a few days ago, but the price was $1K, which I thought was several times its actual value, so I'll keep looking.

 

[Roboturner91]

Spent a good hour doing A-B comparos with my RX-770 and RX-V850 and came to a surprising, but inescapable conclusion - the big HT receiver just sounds plain old better for two-channel listening. I was not expecting that. The RX-770 it's 85 wpc compared to the 850's 80 wpc, and a damping factor of 240 compared to 55. Dynamic power for the 770 is listed at 130 wpc compared to the 850s 110. It's also got none of the DSP bells and whistles circuitry to muck up the works. On paper, the 770 should be better, and yet.....

Only thing I can figure is the 850 has a 300 watt power consumption figure as opposed to the 770's 190 watts and that at least some of that extra power is making its way into the amplifier. I'd love to have this thing measured, I bet it waaaay exceeds its specs in two-channel mode. The original owner told me he had it measured at 114 wpc but I don't know what the criteria for his tests were.

Either way it's a straight-up beast. I suspect when I start paring stuff down it's going to end up in the keep stack.

 

[Mark B]

Some of my favorite Yamaha gear is from the '90's.

MX-1
CX-1

 

[Raynald]

Spent a good hour doing A-B comparos with my RX-770 and RX-V850 and came to a surprising, but inescapable conclusion - the big HT receiver just sounds plain old better for two-channel listening. I was not expecting that. The RX-770 it's 85 wpc compared to the 850's 80 wpc, and a damping factor of 240 compared to 55. Dynamic power for the 770 is listed at 130 wpc compared to the 850s 110. It's also got none of the DSP bells and whistles circuitry to muck up the works. On paper, the 770 should be better, and yet.....

Only thing I can figure is the 850 has a 300 watt power consumption figure as opposed to the 770's 190 watts and that at least some of that extra power is making its way into the amplifier. I'd love to have this thing measured, I bet it waaaay exceeds its specs in two-channel mode. The original owner told me he had it measured at 114 wpc but I don't know what the criteria for his tests were.

Either way it's a straight-up beast. I suspect when I start paring stuff down it's going to end up in the keep stack.

Forget the measured specs, here is the most likely reason for your findings:

RX-770: 10 kg

RX-V850: 14.7 kg

More iron in the 850, when just driving two channels it should do better.

 

[Roboturner91]

Picked up a lovely little KX-232 dual cassette deck today at a thrift store for 20 bucks. So nice. I've got a whole matching stack now, receiver, EQ, cassette and CD changer and at under $100, and it all works perfectly and looks practically brand-new. I haven't come across a turntable yet.

 

[souljay3]

my rx-v660 bought 2nd hand about 10 years ago it's been moved around a bit even filling in as power amp when my m40 needed repair, currently doing the tv audio,fm radio and internet radio duties from the mac,it's never missed a beat.
this photo was taken months back when i put it on gumtree to sell,it didn't and won't be going anywhere soon.although i have been eyeing one of those new yammie network receivers mainly the r-n602 their 2 channel and no hdmi but i'm not a full on HT guy,it would be nice to have all the streaming,wifi stuff along side the main system,best of both worlds so to speak https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/hifi_components/r-n602/index.html

 

[jpciii]

I picked up this RX-595 (80W, 0.019% THD) for cheap. Switches and pots needed cleaned, but now it's playing perfectly. Sounds nice and the tuner is really good.

 

[absolve2525]

What do you guys think of the RX 750 or CDC 735 cd changer? There's a guy that has them both with remotes for pretty cheap. I like the looks of the 90s stuff too.

 

[Roboturner91]

I have the CDC-805, which is very similar to the 735, the only apparent difference being that the 805 has some built-in equalizer settings. It is a very nice sounding CD player, although mine is a little sensitive when it comes to playing a less-than-pristine disc. But again, it sounds very good, and like it the 735 has a dedicated headphone jack and volume control so you can listen directly to the player, which I do quite a bit especially at night.

As far as the RX-750, see my posts earlier in this thread regarding the RX-770. They are exactly the same thing except for one minor cosmetic difference. Quite a nice receiver with a lot of cool features and very well-built.

 

[absolve2525]

Thanks, I'm going to check them out tomorrow!

 

[Raynald]

Good luck, those are worth grabbing if cheap. The CDC has the ability to switch discs which playing and direct access buttons for both disc and track which makes programming or just playing a particular song much easier. The digital out, not so common on multi disc players, is a nice touch that allows you to experiment with external DACs though it should sound pretty good as is. If the drawer is a little slow or sticky it is usually just an easily changed and very cheap belt.

 

[restorer-john]

Raynald. PlayXchange- remember? It was a really cool function when it first came out- helped me sell a ton of them.

The little RX-350 pictured in earlier posts was the baby in the range, but it was a sweet little unit. The RX-450 gave you remote volume and a touch more power, the RX-550 and 750 gave you a ultra cool motorized volume and motorized input selector, which, 25 years later has rendered a lot of those units and many integrateds onto the scrapheap sadly.

The RXV-2090 was a beast, I have one floating around here someplace.

Actually, I've got brochures for a lot of that era I was selling right here, I'll see what I can dig up for this thread. edit: found them. Let me know what models guys. WHat was lovely back then, was Yamaha made a brochure for every individual piece as well as full lineup brochures.