Yamaha R100

[Pycroft]

Is the Yamaha R100 considered a good vintage unit. It would be used for a small work/office system. The guy wanted 125 - I offered 50 bucks. Am waiting to hear back. Anyone know the bluebook on this? Thanks much, and have a great day Polkies!

James

[Pycroft]

I heard back from the owner - 80 bucks - worth it?

:)

James

[Joe08867]

I have heard they don't sound bad. They have that classic Yamaha sound.

[mhardy6647]

R-100? I am drawing a blank :-(
I know the R-200 and R-300, and the R-1000.
Gotta look up the R-100. I am guessing it's reasonable for fiddy smackers.

EDIT: got it; here's the manual from Yamaha (FWIW):
http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/...h/AFR/R100.pdf

Not what I'd consider "classic" Yamaha but should be decent. That "X" power circuit was Yamaha's version of one of Bob Carver's proprietary power amp or power supply designs - Carver ultimately effected a "cease and desist" order, if memory serves. Memory is foggy.
The main concern with this Rx would be the potential of proprietary (read: unobtanium) ICs or other components and/or design flaws (e.g., inadequate heat sinking) that may render it as naught but a doorstop. The R-1000, e.g., had both of these problems. I do NOT know about the (later) R-100 in question, though.

[Pycroft]

I couldn't find much about it online either. if this helps: http://allentown.craigslist.org/ele/2655262061.html

Again, 80 bucks ??? We'll see.

James

[Joe08867]

Don't know much either. I know it's 100 watts per channel and this one has the remote.

[mhardy6647]

A remote?!!? :-)

Looks nice if it has the wooden cabinet... eighty smackers; yeah, why the heck not? Cut back on pet food for a few weeks; the family critters can probably stand to lose a pound or two ;-)

[cnh]

I doubt this unit has a wood cabinet based on the Manual mhardy posted above. Looks like '90s or later, maybe late 80's, who knows. Anyway it doesn't seem that different from a more modern Yamaha Receiver (Black metal face, that is), and frankly, they're OK! Certainly on a par with the newer Harman Kardon stereo receivers. As for 80 bucks. That 'really' depends on just how 'old' the unit is. The newer, the more reasonable the price, the older the less so!

Mike (Keiko) has a newer Yamaha two channel, you should PM him on performance! I have a relatively new RX-497 integrated I used with some Energy RC-10s for a while. And it was fine for that purpose! Nothing extraordinary but OK!

If you need something a bit more 'vintage', I have a number of decent sounding '70s receivers on hand, might be willing to let go of one at a good price! But I'd negotiate 'locally' first because I probably won't be down your way for a few months and I'd think that 'delivery' would save us on shipping? There's also the problem of possible failure with a unit that old, I have a repair guy up here that I use, and I'm slowly having my old receivers inspected by him.

Take care!

cnh

[mhardy6647]

yeah, but did you see the photo in that CL link? That R-100 did indeed have a ... sleeve.
Maybe "aftermarket" (e.g., borrowed from a "CR" era Yamaha) -I dunno...

one of the CL photos preserved for posterity here:

[cnh]

My bad, I assumed from the manual diagram that this was a BPC. But the CL photo demonstrates that this has to be, at least, early '80s, slightly post CR era? So, 80 bucks might not be unreasonable!

I got my CR-800 for about 50 and it IS a keeper! Of course the 800 weighs a bit more at about 31 lbs. for only a 50 watt x 2 receiver. Sounds pretty darned good with a pair of ADS L520s!

cnh

[Joe08867]

I think these came out just before Yamaha went all digital for there tuner faces and such.

They are definitely post CR but I don't know by how much.

There was a moment when everyone made some real poop in the very late 80's into the 90's.

[Pycroft]

Some good information from everyone. Thanks. Any idea if this is one of the units that was 'real poop' from the late 80's? Has anyone actually heard or owned this unit before? :)

James

[Joe08867]

No personal experience but have read a few comments looking around on Google. One guy enjoyed it for his bedroom another was giving his to his daughter with some ADS speakers for her first real system.

[cnh]

Don't know this unit. But I'd check to see where it is 'manufactured' as a rule of thumb. I can't quite make that out on the CL photos. Japan is preferred! Is there any info on Yamaha's site? Probably not, on a unit this old!

There is a guy over at Audiokarma who might know? (merrylander)! He used to repair old Yamaha units! And owns some TOTL vintage Yammies.

I suspect, from the 'appearance' alone, that you're probably OK here!

Those silver faces didn't disappear for a number of manufacturers till the mid-80s. And some of that equipment is still OK: Yamaha, Pioneer, JVC, Technics, etc. all produced some early 80s gear that was still pretty good!

cnh

[Joe08867]

From what I can find on the internet it looks like it was built in the early 80's, like 82-84 thereabouts.

Might be worth a listen in that case.

[Pycroft]

A link to the manual is attached. I was told by the man who is selling it that he purchased it in 1984. Not sure if this helps the decision.

DAMN...the file is 2.16 mb so I cannot dowload it. What do you need to know from the manual to confirm the model etc? It's spec sheet shows at 8 ohms it pushes 100watts.

The front cover reads: Yamaha R-100
Natural Sound AM/FM stereo Synthesizer Receiver
Computer Controlled Sound System
Zero Distortion Rule and "X" Power Amplifier Circuit
New Computer Servo Lock Synthesizer Tuning System
Full Function Remote Control
Spatial Expander and Dynamic Noise Canceller
Auto-Phono, 10 Station Random-Access Programmable Station Memory, RX Mode Selector

Not sure what 3/4 of that means, but maybe that will shed some light. Let me know fi there's anything else you need to know from the manual.

I also found on there thta it says made in Hammasato, Japan. This is good, right?

James

[George Grand]

Spatial expander is going to be a half-ass Sonic Hologram Generator or SDA type affair.

[mhardy6647]

Spatial expander is going to be a half-ass Sonic Hologram Generator or SDA type affair.

all of these gizmos (including tone controls/equalizers) are distortion generators by definition (my working definition of distortion being "any deviation from the original input signal").

[cnh]

I have an old mid-80s Realistic with the spatial expander....just about 'everybody' was doing that in the early to mid-'80s. Technics was big on it, Realistics had it, Yamahas, AIWAS, and most transitional receivers. They were ubiquitous on the Boombox...perhaps with some 'reason' since the speakers are so close together there.

The sound on my Realistic is fairly 'artificial' but not horrible. Certainly not SDA quality! lol

Yeah, made in Japan is good, because it means that they haven't transitioned to manufacturing those units in Malaysia, etc. Pioneer started to manufacture its 'lower' end in Korea some time in the later '70s but still made its 'best' units at home!

'84 could still mean it was manufactured in '82 or even '83. I think there is still some 'reasonable quality in some units during those years. The build is not quite as robust as the '70s but still better than most of what happened in the latter '80s as things got pretty 'thin' sounding, lighter and cheaper!

I think the most important thing now, is a 'good' old audition of the piece!

Have fun! There are a lot of 'old' audiophiles in your area. I picked up a few pieces while I was down there, including some HH Scott S-11 speakers from an Engineer somewhere in Allentown. He had a number of vintage speakers in his 'office' which is where we auditioned them.

cnh

[Joe08867]

Reported Spam^^^^^^^^^^

[heiney9]

distortion generators by definition (my working definition of distortion being "any deviation from the original input signal").

Hmmm....where have I heard that exact quote before?


















Nelson Pass

[mhardy6647]

innerestin' - I thought that I thought up the verbiage myself while I was (transiently) semi-ignoring an all-day meeting at work (that, interestingly, enough, I was co-chairing).

[George Grand]

innerestin' - I thought that I thought up the verbiage myself while I was (transiently) semi-ignoring an all-day meeting at work (that, interestingly, enough, I was co-chairing).

How about you keep your mind out of the gutter while you're working?

[mhardy6647]

It was an excellent, day-and-a-half meeting, as it turned out (just had a slow moment there yesterday).
Nothing else is going very well, but the meeting was (ahem) grand.

[Pycroft]

FYI - I picked this up for 50 bucks. As suggested by CNH (Thanks) I contacted someone at AK that worked and fixed Yamahas. he said he'd be worried cause it can't be fixed - some technical jargon, but that it sounds great. I told him 80 bucks, eh said he'd do it. I ended up getting it for 50 through some good negotiation (patience really). I'll hook it up tomorrow.

It looks very cool. It actually has a digital tuner, which I didn't expect from a 1984 receiver. Original remote, original box/paperwork (no longer under warranty...damnit) and it's in great shape! Think it may be a solid buy :)

James

[cnh]

Sounds like a great price! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. The more I listen to my CR-800, the more it grows on me. Some of those vintage Yammies are nice receivers. Your unit reminds me a bit of the Pioneer Fluroscans (first Pioneers with Digital readouts)...they were made in the early '80s. Also pretty nice. I have one of those in the basement with a set of Large Advents. I go down there and pretend I'm back in my college years. lol

Enjoy (glad we could help).

cnh