Should I buy a Yamaha R-N301 to replace my CA-810?

smadasam

New Member
I have been running a Yamaha Natural Sound CA-810 with an Anthem AVM 20 preamp driving some large vintage Sansui full range speakers for a while now for my living room stereo setup. It sounds great to my ears.

I am actually really happy with the way it sounds and what not, and I love the vintage brushed aluminum look of the equipment. It just feels like it is overly complicated, and I am basically using the Antem as a DAC for my Google Chromecast device. The CA-810 is fine for playing records. The Anthem is overkill.

A solution could be to get the Yamaha R-N301 or R-N402. Honestly, I mostly use spotify these days, so either one would be fine.

Since I am used to and like the way the CA-810 sounds, will these modern Yamaha "Natural Sound" amps hold up to and sound similar to the class "Natural Sound" amps?

Why don't they come in silver and why do they have plastic knobs?

Are there other suggestions?
 

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Why don't they come in silver and why do they have plastic knobs?

Because the R-N301 is an entry level product (about $400 in Canada) that happens to take design cues from the 1970s stuff. If you want aluminum, you need to move up around the A-S1000 - a unit costing several thousand dollars.

I would keep the CA-810 - have it serviced and brought back to spec. You can simplify your DAC situation by replacing the Anthem with a standalone DAC.
 
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