Stupid question? Yamaha R-500

[benindavis]

Sooooooooooo.. I picked up a Yamaha Natural Sound R-500 receiver for $55 at a thrift shop. A shot of WD40 into the output selector switch and .... yeah baby! SOUND! Now to the question. There is a knob marked LOUDNESS and the choices from FLAT to 10 on the dial. On the Flat setting.. the volume is much louder.. then on 10 its a good deal quieter.. What exactly is going on.. ??? My old am just had a button. "loudness" and if it was in the on position then there was a bass boost at low volumes. IE compression of sound I guess.. I want the best dynamic range I can get from my cd's and vinyl. Is the FLAT setting what I want or the opposite?

Ben

 

[59volvo]

Sooooooooooo.. I picked up a Yamaha Natural Sound R-500 receiver for $55 at a thrift shop. A shot of WD40 into the output selector switch and .... yeah baby! SOUND! Now to the question. There is a knob marked LOUDNESS and the choices from FLAT to 10 on the dial. On the Flat setting.. the volume is much louder.. then on 10 its a good deal quieter.. What exactly is going on.. ??? My old am just had a button. "loudness" and if it was in the on position then there was a bass boost at low volumes. IE compression of sound I guess.. I want the best dynamic range I can get from my cd's and vinyl. Is the FLAT setting what I want or the opposite?

Ben

no clue, but the WD 40 - screws electronics. at least you did not use tri-flow

 

[benindavis]

I stand humbled and corrected. :stupid:so.. anyone got any thoughts on the overall of the Yamaha R-500? I really dig it..aside from the crackle in that one pot that I am eventually going to tire of and try and repair...

 

[mhardy6647]

Flat is flat; the "loudness" control is a continuously variable loudness compensation, based on the Fletcher-Munson equal intensity (perception) loudness curves. Its use is well described in Yamaha manuals. Basically, the idea is to set the Volume control to the loudest level you'll (ever) wish to listen to, and then use the Loudness control to reduce the sound output to the desired loudness level for your listening pleasure at any given time

Yamaha doesn't have the R-500 manual online, but they do have the next model down (R-300) at http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/av/english/AFR/R300.pdf You can read all about it

(and, BTW and FWIW, I do have an R-500; very decent and attractive little receiver)

EDIT: To clean the function switches, use a good electronics contact cleaner. My own personal fave is CAIG DeOxit; there are others, though. If you cannot get CAIG products locally, many distributors have them; e.g., www.partsexpress.com

 

[srinath]

What he said. But the R500 is a surprising peppy little bugger aint it.
To get an even littler and even peppier (by comparison) bugger try an R300.

Seriously I think the R series - the small ones especially are the sleepers of the yamaha world. The R700 is my absolute favorite amp I have seen. The CR's yea yea I like em, especially the X40, but the CR series wont dethrone my R700 any time soon.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[Portkula]

There is a knob marked LOUDNESS and the choices from FLAT to 10 on the dial. On the Flat setting.. the volume is much louder.. then on 10 its a good deal quieter.. What exactly is going on.. ?

Only “quieter”? And no bass boost in comparison with the mediums? Then your knob marked LOUDNESS is out of order.

My old am just had a button "loudness" and if it was in the on position then there was a bass boost at low volumes.

The "loudness" button of your “old am” (as millions of others of this type) was not a real “loudness compensator” allowing to choose the compensation degree proper to the difference between the “natural” SPL of a natural sound source and its electro-acoustically made “quiet” SPL. And the Yamaha’s is (as several older models by, if my memory serves me right, Denon, Kenwood etc. of THIS TYPE).

IE compression of sound I guess.

None done by the R-500. But the DR compression done by the ambient noise of your room at low listening levels, regardless of an amp and its controls.

I want the best dynamic range I can get from my cd's and vinyl.

Nobody can get the best dynamic range from his cd's and vinyl at LOW volumes. The “LOUDNESS” is by no means here.

Is the FLAT setting what I want or the opposite?

That’s made for you: FLAT at the volume “natural” for of a natural sound source (made with the “VOLUME” knob of your R-500), and progressively deeper from FLAT to “10” with lowering the listening level by means of your knob marked LOUDNESS.

 

[Alton Rex]

Sooooooooooo.. I picked up a Yamaha Natural Sound R-500 receiver for $55 at a thrift shop. A shot of WD40 into the output selector switch and .... yeah baby! SOUND! Now to the question. There is a knob marked LOUDNESS and the choices from FLAT to 10 on the dial. On the Flat setting.. the volume is much louder.. then on 10 its a good deal quieter.. What exactly is going on.. ??? My old am just had a button. "loudness" and if it was in the on position then there was a bass boost at low volumes. IE compression of sound I guess.. I want the best dynamic range I can get from my cd's and vinyl. Is the FLAT setting what I want or the opposite?

Ben

Hi Ben:
The Yamaha loudness control works backwards to normal push button loudness switches. The 'normal' ones you are familiar with boosts low and high freqs when selected. The Yamaha has everything to max volume across all freqs in the 0 position and when you rotate it counter clockwise, it suppresses the mids without adding any amplification to the source audio. As they are taking the mids away rather than boosting the low and highs, it is a fundamentally quieter means to an end.