First 10 Watts Class A in a Yamaha CR-2020 Receiver?

Besides it being one amazing receiver - that claim is pointless...

You can't say it runs in class A up to 10w, either it's a class A amp, or not - this is not a class A amp.
 
Now that you mention it, I seem to remember reading that claim in some Yamaha advertisements I read while thumbing through my old Stereo Review and High Fidelity magazines. Seems Yamaha featured switchable Class A operation in the higher end CA amps and CR receivers of that era. As I recall that is one of the reasons I wanted to pick up a CA-1010 a few years ago.

Not sure how it’s done because I never really looked into it. I know that older Crown amplifiers with AB+B circuit topology actually run Class A at very low output before switching to a different class depending on the power requirement.

I will look through my old audio magazine for a Yamaha ad with that claim and post it if I find it.
 
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This was done in some later M series amps, I think the MX600U does this but as far as I know it was only done in some CA series amps and not in the CR series receivers. Frex the CR-1000 uses the same power amp PC board as the CA-1000 but the Class A bits are omitted because the power supply does not support Class A.
 
"Serviced CR 2020's fetch around $600" I wonder how he figures... I don't even think a restored one would fetch this much let alone one that was broken and then fixed. Then again, if they name-dropped "Merrylander" in the auction description $600 would probably be doable :)
 
The A series Integrated amps - A1000, A1020 etc were also Class A/Class AB switchable as well.
Regards,
Jim
 
Marantz did some class A/AB amps that operated in class A for the first quarter of their rated power - of which I have three examples - one PM-94 and two PM-74s.

Technics also had a quasi-class-A series of amps and receivers, though most will admit that while they did sound good, they really couldn't be considered class A.
 
Rob is right, no CR series ran in class A for any part of the range. Ones that did, CA: 800/1000/1010/2010. Some A: 1000/1020 and as far as I can find, only one receiver of any era, the R-9. And of course there were power amps in the M series.

I might have missed some but the claim about the CR-2020 is totally bogus.
 
No CR series receiver ever ran in Class A.

Only some of the CA amps did like what Raynald and Rob listed.
 
Agreed. If someone wanted to get crazy, MAYBE with a CR-1000 and a dead CA-1000 for donor parts it could be done as they are based on the same amp. There is no CR-2020 equivalent integrated that ran in class A. The CA-1010/2010 are quite different.
 
It's easy to make most class AB amps run in class A up to some arbitrary level. Just advance the bias control. Of course the amp idles hotter, which sharply limits how far you can go in this endeavor. Class AB amps that are switchable to class A are operated with greatly reduced power supply voltage in that mode.
 
To add to the semi-class A list, my A-700 has a switch for it. First 5 watts I think I remember reading. Had to put an 8" fan on it to keep it cool, but the mids turned to liquid. Bass got a bit tighter, but barely, could have been my cart or anything else...first thrift score ever, got me started on vintage audio :)
 
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