My Yamaha CA-1000 Restoration / Modifications Thread

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You could of just used these and the old OEM connections allowing the ability to have bigger cables.

I have used those cheap plastic banana connectors shown back a few posts. They work OK with plugs, not so much with bare wire ends.
 

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You could of just used these and the old OEM connections allowing the ability to have bigger cables.

I have used those cheap plastic banana connectors shown back a few posts. They work OK with plugs, not so much with bare wire ends.

Yeah, I saw those along my searches on amazon. As a temporary solution that would have worked out but I wanted a more permanent solution. Plus, my cables are quite heavy with the big shaft of aluminum at each ends; I am afraid it would have pulled those connectors and do some damage.
 
39 Euros for both sets. That is similar to what the BP-3 costs, and you will spare yourself the drilliing and fitting. It's drop in. And no, I am not affiliated in any way ;-)
49 € for me. The vampire's look better. IMO. And I have the tools to knock them out pretty quickly.
 
Some more updates onto two other projects for my CA-1000. Today, I went to my tech Planabox to install all 8 new audiophile grade fuses to replace to old ones. Right off the bat, he told me that the difference would not be subtle. Well, to say the least I was surprised while at the same time, I was not. I wasn't so sure about what to expect or I didn't want to expect too much from simple fuses swap, right? Quite frankly, the difference was pretty much according to its claim. the sound was more open with more presence, as if I had removed my hands off of my ears. Felt like the amplifier with the stock fuses was veiled and boxy in comparison. The difference in sound was greater than a power cable swap on the amplifier. What we did to compare apples to apples, we started by plugging the amplifier and listened a known tune of mine, Marco Polo from Loreena McKennitt from a CD player. Then, all fuses were swap by the Audio Link ones. Before that, the tech took extra care to DeoxIT all the receptacles. Finally, we plugged the amplifier back in and listened to the same tune. The difference was immediately obvious. I felt like, how could I've been listening and enjoying my amplifier before?! Some may doubt about this thinking it's kind of voodoo and I respect that, but after what I experienced, I am a believer. Fuses, as strange as it sounds, have each their own sound signature and I believe it has to be considered like any audio tweak (felt more like an upgrade for me). Some fuses may sound better than other for a given piece of gear.

Put it roughly and for those asking, the list price was averaging about 30$CA per fuse but I got several discount and ended up paying a bit more than 100$CA. Only for one single Synergistic Blue Fuse, the price is 150$US... And honestly, I don't know what the difference is between those high end fuses versus the ones I have had installed. But for sure in a price to performance ratio, I win.

You can see below some pictures of the fuses, before and after. Also, all the pedigree of what was installed. The last picture is showing the old ones that were replaced each relative to the small tags from the previous picture.
 

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The other reason I went to Laval was for my other project to have the modification performed to accept banana binding posts. In these days and age, I cannot conceive having to deal with those spring clips any further. In order to do this, my tech will have to sub-supply the machining of a custom plate specifically designed around the delimited area of the actual speaker posts. The plate will be something similar to the yellow lines in the picture attached. I am picky and asked to not cover the actual white lines. You can also see the banana binding posts that will be installed. This modification all in would be about 400$CA. Hopefully, everything will be completed by next Saturday.
 

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Some news. The modification is underway now that the machining of the backing plate is done. You can see the back plate and how it fits at the back in the speaker connectors area. I will ask for the exact material but this is not aluminium or other metal. Hopefully, I will be able to get the amplifier back this weekend.
 

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Nice. Have you cleaned that coupler switch yet?

Is it the same swith you are talking about in post no. 3? I would believe it has been cleaned when the amplifier was under restoration as the tech did the whole shebang along the recap. Where is this switch located exactly? Sorry about the noob question but I have no idea. While my tech is at it, I think I could ask him to have a look if it is not too complicated to do (I mean, without disassembling everything).
 
(I mean, without disassembling everything).
Only way to get it 100% clean. Disassembly.. Its the small slide switch on the rear panel. COUPLER on/off . The dusty one.;)
Notorious for causing channel drop outs. Easiest switch in the unit to disassemble and clean.
 
Only way to get it 100% clean. Disassembly.. Its the small slide switch on the rear panel. COUPLER on/off . The dusty one.;)
Notorious for causing channel drop outs.

Doh! Now I see the "COUPLER" in bright white caps on the picture... I will ask the tech how long it could take him to do.
 
RCA jacks look great BTW.

These are Cardas Signature RCA caps. I don't expect a immediate improvement in sound quality as they are there more to prevent dust from entering the RCA jacks, and to look nice too. Every little thing helps I guess.
 
The modification of the amplifier is now completed! :jump:

I am thrilled at the results of this modification and the level of craftmanship involved in this work is beyond my expectations. It looks pretty much like stock, which is what I wanted in the first place. Not shown, but the wires are soldered directly to the binding posts, instead of using a connector tongue (shown in pic 6682) for optimal connection. I forgot to say but the plate dimensions are 3 in × 3 5/16 in. The final cost was about 260$CA. Now one last trip to Laval this weekend to pick it up and bring it back home. I will first plug the speaker wires I was using recently to have a taste of the upgraded fuses. I want to isolate the sound signature without my Kimber Kables. Once after being used to it, I will then plug my cables to ear the difference. I like to do incremental steps to enjoy each upgrade.

So there you have it. I do not have more plans for now to make some more modifications. Maybe some tweaks down the road but nothing major. I hope this will serve to anyone who wishes to make some modifications and bring more life to their CA-1000.
 

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After two long weeks of waiting, I finally have my amplifier back home. Yesterday night, I hooked it to the speakers with the 16 ga speaker wires I was using previously only to pick up the difference of the audiophile fuses. At first, I was kind of disapointed. It is true that it is more clear and sounds maybe more hi-fi, but I felt it was kind of lean to my taste. Before there was meat on the bones with loads of bass but with the fuses, it was like meh. Okay, I told myself. Why not finally install those speaker cable to see if this can improve things a bit. Humm. A bit you say? World of difference!! With my cables, I got all the impact I had before but everything is more defined with loads of sparkles. This little amplifier really impresses me and I don't think I will ever sell it. It is unique even more with all the restoration and modifications that went into it. And I am not even finished with updating this system. This week I will receive my Bryston BDP-2 digital player to match my BDA-3 DAC. Still now, I stream AIFF files with my PC thru the CCA with Roon trial and it sound amazing. Not bad for a 40$ device. It's a shame Google terminated it.

Back 3 years ago, I had a McIntosh based system with MC252 amplifier, C46 preamp and a MCD301 CD player and I believe I am not too far away of the sound of my previous setup as far as I can recall. For sure the Mc setup had more power and slam but the CA-1000 still impresses me at how well it controls the difficult 4 ohms load of my speakers. It performs way above my expectations. Can't wait to see the addition of the BDP-2.
 

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It's been more than two months since I last posted here but it felt a bit longer as I have made some other changes in my system. The Bryston BDP-2 is now partnering the BDA-3 to feed the music to the CA-1000. I have been ripping my modest collection of CD (152 albums) and now almost only use Roon for streaming. There are two significant changes that are worth reporting. The first one is the USB cable between the BDP-2 and BDA-3. I am currently using the Curious USB and it's a world of difference compared to my previous USB cable, which was the BIS Audio USB. The BIS was already an improvement compared to my generic XLR. I could not believe how dramatic the difference could be just by changing the digital cable. Everything is more "there", like real instruments. So much more details. The only thing compared to the BIS, there was just a bit less weight on the bass, probably due to the fact that the base material is silver. Here comes improvement no. 2. Yesterday, I received my Synergistic Quantum Blue fuse. I only ordered the main fuse to see what changes it would bring (or not)... And changes it brought. Compared to my Audio Link fuses which affected to tonality of the amplifier and made it more lean sounding, the blue fuse did not change the tonality of the CA-1000 at all. It still is a sweet and warm sounding amplifier. There is an increase in bass weight and instruments are even more life like. I could also perceive a decrease in noise during silent passages. There is more fullness to the music reminding me of my past Mc setup. Essentially, it does not remove anything of the good from the amplifier, but only add up some even better qualities. Those fuses are not cheap though. Now the question is do I go full swing and change all the 7 remaining fuses with the Blue? Humm..

Regarding the amplifier itself, I noted some hissing more pronounced during busy passages in the music (I never go above volume 4 on the wheel). It happens more in the tweeter. It's an old amplifier so after 45 years, it is to be expected that some components are worn out despite all the restoration/modifications/upgrade that went into it. Probably down the road I may find the amplifier to be the weak link. Once there I will probably swing for a more modern iteration of the CA-1000 in the A-S2100. I really love the Yamaha natural sound.
 

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