Which one?

[Sarmat]

Hello to every1
I need your advice. Which of receivers listed (and shown) below would attract your attention? Their prices and visual conditions are comparable. Simply looking for warm nonartificial sound for my office-room. Thanks in advance for any help.

1) YAMAHA CR-450

2) NIKKO 7075

3) AKAI AA - 1115

4)AKAI AA-1030

5) Marantz SR 810

(visually the most attractive as for me )

the "winner" will work with 20y.o. monitors (120 W per channel)

 

[bigaltx24]

I'd go for the Yamaha

 

[Sarmat]

Thanks bigaltx24. It looks (and presumably sounds) great despite not original black power switch at left

And any other opinions?

 

[aileenamegan]

I wouldn't take the Marantz. Poor quality overall.
The AKAI 1115 is nice little receiver - but has no chance against the Yamaha, Nikko or his brother 1030.
The AKAI 1030 is an underdog. Looks quite unattractive but has power and a nice sound. Even better are Nikko and Yamaha. Also the Nikko is underrated. If you have the chance to hear them both - do it. The Nikko also has the more attractive (at least for me) scale illumination. And its tuner section is a bit better...

 

[Robisme]

I would take the Nikko. The Yamaha variable loudness control is not to my liking.

Rob

 

[Sarmat]

Thanks a lot, bigaltx24's, aileenamegan and Robisme as well as chat participants. The winner is... YAMAHA. I'll share first impressions soon

 

[glen65]

Thanks a lot, bigaltx24's, aileenamegan and Robisme as well as chat participants. The winner is... YAMAHA. I'll share first impressions soon

Good choice, let us know.
I have to agree with the other member concerning
the Marantz. It sucks the way they made the early SR series
so attractive on the front, only to discover some of the
materials they used to build them with.

 

[RobRoy]

In the photo, the Nikko looks a little beat up. Otherwise it would be my choice, hands down.

 

[gearhound]

I'd grab the Nikko too....IF....you can get it cheap enough.
I owned the smaller Nikko 5055 for awhile.....nice receiver.

Steve

 

[Sarmat]

I'd grab the Nikko too....IF....you can get it cheap enough.
I owned the smaller Nikko 5055 for awhile.....nice receiver.

Steve

Prices have fluctuated around 60$ +- 7 (including shipping charges). As far as I can judge, that model of nikko is cheaper in comparison with the others, within our second hand market it's price is almost the same.

 

[Sarmat]

I'm under impression of Yamahas sound... This is exactly what I expected from such receiver :thmbsp:
What worth considering is replacement of power cable, the current one doesn't look good.

 

[DualRef]

Those earlier Yamaha Natural Sound components really did sound nice. I had a Yamaha Integrated Amp for awhile that I liked. It was replaced with a Phase Linear DRS-250 IA.
Bad choice. The Phase Linear was pretty unreliable in the phono sections.
I put the Yamaha on the 'bay for sale. A guy in Seattle bought it but several weeks later complained that "the standing waves off of Mt. Rainer is causing distortional displacement in the bass on the left channel." I told him to ship it back and I'll refund his money. I never heard another word from him and he never sent the IA back, either.

 

[nickv41]

I own that Nikko. about 40WPC. The Yamaha is about 30 WPC. Go with the Nikko. They are a very underated brand.

 

[Sarmat]

I own that Nikko. about 40WPC. The Yamaha is about 30 WPC. Go with the Nikko. They are a very underated brand.

30 WPC (37 more specificaly) is OK as for me. I'm looking for something like GOODMANS MEZZO II (40W), Celestion Ditton 11 or ELAC 4000 as final speakers for the yamaha. In this state of affairs it's wattage don't seem to be a adisadvantage. It sounds sweet now, but I guess the effect would be even better with speakers of 30-50 W.

 

[dragonhead00]

I have to call it for the Nikko!! Nice!

 

[SoCal Sam]

Go for the most powerful of the bunch or save your coin and get the TOTL. From my informal surveys of folks getting into the hobby, most MOTL and BOTL receivers are set aside in the search for the TOTL models. They end up taking up space and take just as much time to sell as a TOTL.