Yamaha CA-1000 Report After Restoration

[Parabellum27]

Hey there,

It's been a while since I last posted.. Well, that's because I am now enjoying my fully restored CA-1000
I didn't do the work myself, way beyond my skills and capabilities.

Despite the very basic source I am using, I am quite surprised by how good it sounds. Right now, I have a chromecast audio hooked directly with a 3.5 mm to RCA cable straight to AUX1. I stream some ALAC files that are rips from my original CD with my computer. Quite frankly, I was expecting something much worse in term of sound quality. I am in the market for a good and reasonably priced DAC; something like Bryston BDA-1 or PS Audio PerfectWave DAC II so off course things will only improve. I plan to keep the CCA for source but I want to use the 3.5 mm to Toslink cable I purchased from Google. Down the road I will probably upgrade to a Bryston BDP-1 or the bridge option with the PS Audio. I have to finish the basement renovation (almost finished) which you can see on the picture before plunking too much money on exensive upgrades.

I have tried 3 pairs of speakers. My trusty Totem Mani-2 Signature, Pioneer HPM-60 and Klipsch KG4. The Mani-2 Sig being 4 ohms, they are off course taxing the CA-1000 by a significant amount. I have to crank up the volume quite a bit to get decent sound. But, what comes out of them is very sweet sounding. Off the 3 sets, they are the ones I prefer but the Pioneers are quite decent sounding for 42 years old speakers. The Klipschs, well, I find they sound bright to my ears, they are literally screaming at me. That is probably because of the horn. I am more used with the more polite and polished sound of my Mani-2. On the vintage sets, they are all originals so the sound could improve if I have them restored. To be honest, I could be happy with any of all three if they were the only set I had. The nice thing about the CA-1000 is that it has the ability to hook 3 set of speakers so it's easy to do A B C comparison, which I did with a friend last week.

If you ask me why there is a shelf on top of the amplifier, well, my cat Sally *loves* to lay down on top of the amp!... So, in order to keep everything clean I decided to put a shelf on top of it. The rack is open and I don't run in class A so the heat is not too bad.

Serge

 

[Parabellum27]

My actual unit before restoration..

 

[SuperLead100]

Nice listening space...

 

[OMGCat!]

Nice listening space...

I'll second that! Totally dig the kitty warming area.

Great to hear that it is meeting your expectations after the restore. How much of a difference, if any, did you notice pre and post restoration?
I finally found one locally this afternoon and am excited to do a little informal A/B against some other Yamaha gear. It will eventually get restored but I'm hoping it's healthy enough for a bit of listening first.

 

[SuperLead100]

I'll second that! Totally dig the kitty warming area.

Great to hear that it is meeting your expectations after the restore. How much of a difference, if any, did you notice pre and post restoration?
I finally found one locally this afternoon and am excited to do a little informal A/B against some other Yamaha gear. It will eventually get restored but I'm hoping it's healthy enough for a bit of listening first.

I know you weren't asking me but I thought I'd chime in. @avionic wonderfully restored my CA-800 and CA-1010 and they sound fantastic. I wouldn't go so far as to say they sound better than before because they were great. However, I now trust them to perform much longer into the future because of his work. When I initially got the CA-800 it worked for a relatively short time before it needed the overhaul. I have a newer Yamaha A-S501 and I can say all three amps retain the Yamaha natural sound. The differences really seem to me relative to power output. The 1010 is really a powerhouse and moves sound with such ease. The 800 really shines in class A, more so than the 1010 in my estimation. I find it to be a little under powered but fantastic sounding nonetheless. As good as the A-S501 sounds, I'd think at 80 wpc into 8 ohms it would be closer in feel power wise to the 1010 but not so much. The 1010 is really in a league of its own. That being said the 501 is a keeper for sure.
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts after you compare your gear.

 

[Parabellum27]

I'll second that! Totally dig the kitty warming area.

Great to hear that it is meeting your expectations after the restore. How much of a difference, if any, did you notice pre and post restoration?
I finally found one locally this afternoon and am excited to do a little informal A/B against some other Yamaha gear. It will eventually get restored but I'm hoping it's healthy enough for a bit of listening first.

The CA-1000 I purchased off of Kijiji was my first vintage buy for an amplifier. I somewhat listened to it but both speakers were on the floor and they were just sitting next to eachothers under a table.. Long story short, I didn't notice that the right channel was dead (guess I was too excited to look at it rather than listening..). Plus, all pots were screachy and full of static noise. Definately needed a good clean up. So I cannot say for sure at how it sounded before because the parameters were not the same. When I listened at the seller's home, I felt is sounded bad but everything was in a poor environment not doing any justice to the amp (bad setup, bad source, bad working condition, etc.). This didn't let me down because so much has been said about this amp that it convinced me anyway. Plus, the physical condition of the amplifier was/is close to mint so I knew I could have a gem once restored. I am still using a CCA for source so again I am sure that once I connect a modern DAC and source, this is going to be even better. But so far, after a few weeks of listening, I can say the amp has a kind of warm tubey sound, very natural. I am driving my Mani-2 Sig with it and these are known to be power hungry. I find the bass to lack a bit of authority (if I compare to my last setup which consisted of McIntosh MC-252 and C46), just a little loose. That may be due to the 4ohm load of the speakers but again, I will know more when I finally hook a good DAC to it. I have been rethinking my setup and I believe that I will swing for a BDA-3 straight as it has 4 HDMI inputs which in my case is the thing I need since I both use my sound system for 2 channels listening and also for watching movies. I knew right from the start that I didn't want a HT receiver so this is my ticket. It's a shame that still too few DACs have HDMI inputs.

 

[Parabellum27]

Nice listening space...

Thanks! I am not totally finished with this multipurpose room yet, but close. I did all the demo on July 9, 2016! (yes, that's 2 years and a half of my life put into this). I do pretty much all the work myself.

The room before renovation was dingy and '80s style, kitsch bar and stucco walls... It was unappealing to come chill out in the basement but now I spent most of my time downstairs. Pictures were taken in the same angle/position for comparison.

 

[avionic]

Looks like your amplifiers power plug is to heavy in the photo. Impressive system.

 

[Parabellum27]

Looks like your amplifiers power plug is to heavy in the photo. Impressive system.

Ahah, yes, the electical box was loose since there was no insulation 2 feet above the floor. That totally changed now since I applied spray foam R18 from floor to ceiling on the walls. I sold all my McIntosh gear to finance the renovation of the basement telling myself I would try something else later. So here we are.

 

[Parabellum27]

Tomorrow my CA-1000 will undergo another bit of surgery; the speaker terminals will be upgraded to banana plugs. These are going to be insulated unlike the set I ordered from Germany. I will finally be able to use my Kimber KS-3033 (we can see them hooked to my McIntosh gear). I will post pictures and report once completed.

 

[Defcon3]

It’s a long shot after this post started.
i just want to ask, the unit that i just bought has a weak right channel. Any idea where i need to start checking? Already sprayed contact cleaner. Still the same issue.

I have basic knowledge re electronics.

thanks

 

[avionic]

Defcon3...Start a new thread about your CA-1000 and lets get it fixed..