My Vintage Yamaha Experience & Why I Recommend The Brand

Gary D Olson

Skilled Tightwad
I'd always considered myself a Marantz guy. Why? Because I drooled more heavily at their stuff when I was a kid in the 70's. I didn't own any Marantz gear until the past few years. I do like it, but it's mostly nostalgia. Looking back, I should have taken the "Yamaha Guy" moniker.

My first new dirt bike came Christmas 1974 (I was 13). It was a 1975 Yamaha MX125. I loved that bike.

In late 1985, after recording my second record as a professional musician, I bought my third and final drum kit - Yamaha's top-of-the-line Custom Recording Series with a true piano-finish (red). It destroyed any kit unfortunate enough to share a stage. Soundmen adored it and I loved playing it. I've since purchased other various Yamaha products as a musician, but never as an audiophile.

Then something happened a few years ago that got me turned on to vintage audio.

I stumbled across a CL ad for an early 80's Yamaha preamp with matching power amp and tuner. I don't recall the price but the seller was about 19 and wanted to meet at Starbuck's. I told him nobody will buy it without hearing it first. We met at his parent's house an hour later. Turns out his late uncle left it to him. He was in iPod guy and couldn't have cared less about the heavy gear. I had to connect the components myself because he didn't know how. Long story less long, I paid $190 for all three pieces because the tuner wouldn't power on and the left channel of the pre/poweramp didn't work. Btw, we're talking about the M70, C70, and T70.

I got home & pulled the top the tuner off. Four fuse holders inside were missing the fuses. His uncle must have taken them out and forgot to replace them. $1.50 later, the tuner was working beautifully. An oz of Deoxit later and the pre and power amps were working like new. This entire story happened in less than 2 hours, and my fire was lit!

I bought a new pair of Bowers & Wilkins 685 S2 speakers about a year ago. They're terrific speakers and I love them. A few days ago on a whim, I brought them to my office and placed them on my desk for near field listening. The next day, I brought the Yamaha M70 & C70 to the office and connected it to the speakers. It sounded great. About 3PM I decided to turn up the volume. Of all records to have this moment... It was Duran Duran's Rio playing (I don't recall the track). I'd just gotten back to business when I was startled by loud noises coming from another room. Then I realized it was coming from the stereo. This REALLY scared me because I'd heard this record 1000 times and these noises weren't part of the recorded music. But they were. I was floored. I'd "noticed" other things through superior audio gear before, but never anything like this. The sounds were loud and as clear as day, and it wasn't long before the musicality of these parts began seeping into me. I still can't believe this was the first time I'm hearing this.

An audiophile recently told me components older than 10 years don't have the resolution to justify a DAC costing more than $100. I guess he's never heard vintage Yamaha.
 
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Ah that Stereo Store Lust really got you at first then the quality of the separate components shine through. Although a different company, still great gear. There is lots of great gear and some sonic differences. Glad you like the Yamaha sound, goes with all your Yamaha musical gear. Thanks for the post
 
My first Yamaha gear was also a hand-me-down from my uncle (still alive thankfully!). Never even thought about selling it.

I also used to prefer brands like Marantz that had more of a colored sound compared to Yamaha. I am not a purest in that regard and I do very much love a colored sound. Kind of seems silly that I would love one of the most neutral and accurate brands out there. What I found is that even though I love a colored sound, things get messy quick when you have every component in the chain all trying to add it's own color to the sound. It's better to have mostly neutral sounding components, so that you have more control over exactly what kind of coloration you actually want to add (in my case via speakers and EQ).
 
Btw, we're talking about the M70, C70, and T70.
I bought a new pair of Bowers & Wilkins 685 S2 speakers about a year ago. They're terrific speakers and I love them.

Such a beautiful pairing.
B&Ws with vintage Yamaha is a match made in heaven. The 685 S2 is excellent, with the same nautilus tube tweeters used all the way through the CM lineup.

If you haven't already, it's probably not a bad idea to look into the minimum maintenance tasks recommended for the C-70 and M-70, to make sure they'll last another 30 years. The solder joints tend to crack from heat over time, and the M-70 has a Rifa oil cap that needs to be replaced before it blows (if it hasn't already been replaced, may have). Some useful threads here and here. Enjoy!
 
First came a B-2 I found locally in Craigslist... the first time I could not only hear but "see" the music...
Then came an M-4 to listen to while i recapped it and replaced a cracked PCB in the B-2...
Then came a second B-2 so I could biamp my main speakers...
Finally an M-2 because it was just so nice and I needed a backup and eventually a sub amp

The B-2's are both shelved until the undergo a full restoration that's in progress
The M-2 is powering my JBL XPL-200A's - wonderous, but can't wait until the B-2's are back in action
The M-4 is in my office currently making my JBL 18Ti's sound so much bigger than they are - they truly play any genre of music to perfection

With the exception of AV duty, all my other non Yamaha amps are going up for sale

The JBL XPL series got me to stop looking for different speakers
Yamaha amplifiers got me to stop trying out different amps
Now it's mostly just listening to the music
 
Such a beautiful pairing.
B&Ws with vintage Yamaha is a match made in heaven. The 685 S2 is excellent, with the same nautilus tube tweeters used all the way through the CM lineup.

Thanks for the maintenance advice. My latest experience has me more convinced than ever how valuable these pieces are to me. These speakers were originally purchased to pair with a superb Luxman R-117, and they were a sublime kit. But... in the words of inspecter Clouseau upon being told the grand piano he had just destroyed was a priceless Steinway: "Not anymore".
 
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