C-50, C-60, C-80. All terrible. Did I miss any?I owned a Yamaha C-50, which appeared a little after this one circa 1981. It performed well, but was a reliability nightmare because of those little orange Matsushita relays in the signal path. I had it paired with an Adcom GFA-535 -- but not for long.
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Yamaha C-2 Review (Vintage Preamplifier)
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VientoB
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C-70, C-45, C-85
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Props for consistency, right?
I'm still using two Yamaha units from later on in the '80s that are doing yeoman service four decades later, so apparently the Yamaha folks eventually pulled their reliability act together, at least to some extent.
On the other hand, one of the better audio techs on U-Toob was stymied by one of their most eccentric designs from early in that era, the Yamaha B-6 power amp. His travails are documented in these two videos:
Yamaha B 6 Amp Part1 and Yamaha B 6 Part 2: Frustrated By The Frustum - Tony Meets his Match
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Audioagnostic
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Oeh. That B6 looks cool, now I want one....Props for consistency, right?
I still have two Yamaha units from later on in the '80s that are still doing yeoman service four decades later, so apparently the Yamaha folks eventually pulled their act together, at least to some extent.
On the other hand, one of the better audio techs on U-Toob was stymied by one their most eccentric designs from early in that era, the Yamaha B-6 power amp. His travails are documented in these two videos:
Yamaha B 6 Amp Part1 and Yamaha B 6 Part 2: Frustrated By The Frustum - Tony Meets his Match
Not
Not back then.GMAB: the Yamaha has no balanced In/Outs, not to mention no remote control
AudioSceptic
Major Contributor
I also preferred Yamaha's clean styling compared to the glitzy look of most other Japanese amps, which I think were made to appeal more to the US market than the UK one.
VientoB
Addicted to Fun and Learning
This would be great if you have a turntable. I feel that separate pre-amps are a bit of an outdated concept though for most people nowadays.
I have the C 4 - my phono inputs went bad, so it's on the bench. Love it. Since prices are rising on these, I have to discourage people, same with Perreaux, and the likes. I do take them, if you want to get rid of such...
Awesome review, NTTY
Cheers
Awesome review, NTTY
Cheers
DSJR
Master Contributor
The thing is back then, vinyl was regarded by most 'audio people' as being the best source we had, decent FM live-broadcasts being very much a minority interest I remember. i suspect this means that some VERY DECENT products went unnoticed over these parts as more 'characterful products' came along, playing up to vinyl (of the period) productions. What I'm trying to suggest is that the C2 would have been seen as very 'ordinary' as it's full potential was never really exploited in a typical domestic sound rig.
DSJR
Master Contributor
Yamaha did get more 'jazzy' as the 70s went on, the switches seemed chunkier and clunkier and rather useless meters became a feature, albeit discretely. The original CA 600/800/1000 models of the mid 70s were rather lovely though I remember.
dcolak
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Why would you need balanced in and outs? Are you doing gigs?GMAB: the Yamaha has no balanced In/Outs, not to mention no remote control
Why not?
solderdude
Grand Contributor
Well... a possible issue with today's audio that wasn't a thing in those days is the fact that today a lot of people use computers as music sources combined with external DACs. An issue that can occur (because of leakage currents in PC power supplies) is a ground loop resulting in weird sounds/noises and hum.
This also can occur with active speakers b.t.w.
This can be avoided when using balanced interconnects.
The best hifi has been made in the 70s and 80s. It was the time where there was a ton of research on circuits and materials and semiconductors and companies were willing to spend a fortune on R&D while taking risks.
Just look at the Sansui's for example, the bigger ones are still state of the art: https://audio-database.com/SANSUI/amp/au-x1-e.html
DC-500KHz in 1979 and there were many, many models they never exported outside Japan, X11, X1111, AU-Alpha and the likes.
Sony also had their line of extreme quality gear with the first ESPRIT - VFET transistors, SMPS and the likes, all in the 70s.
I still find all that gear unmatched when it comes to technology used and I don't think we will ever surpass it.
Now it's often just grey matter made to push money. More of the same, low-effort repackaged simple circuitry with the chip MFG's textbook example applications, few boutique caps and that's it.
It's just sad seeing a €2k DAC or CD player with a sad single op-amp in the output stage.
Show me current gear that has a fully DC coupled signal path, high speed non-NFB etc. these days...
Just look at the Sansui's for example, the bigger ones are still state of the art: https://audio-database.com/SANSUI/amp/au-x1-e.html
DC-500KHz in 1979 and there were many, many models they never exported outside Japan, X11, X1111, AU-Alpha and the likes.
Sony also had their line of extreme quality gear with the first ESPRIT - VFET transistors, SMPS and the likes, all in the 70s.
I still find all that gear unmatched when it comes to technology used and I don't think we will ever surpass it.
Now it's often just grey matter made to push money. More of the same, low-effort repackaged simple circuitry with the chip MFG's textbook example applications, few boutique caps and that's it.
It's just sad seeing a €2k DAC or CD player with a sad single op-amp in the output stage.
Show me current gear that has a fully DC coupled signal path, high speed non-NFB etc. these days...
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Didn't transistors improve quite significantly in the early '80s?
DSJR
Master Contributor
I believe they did, along with easier and better intrinsic matching of a given pair I believe.
They did but the semiconductors on their own don't tell the whole story.
This one popped up for sale today: https://www.hifido.co.jp/26-49166-05426-00.html?LNG=E
Just look at the overall build quality and even the selectors and potentiometers, 10 DC stages with FETs:
This one popped up for sale today: https://www.hifido.co.jp/26-49166-05426-00.html?LNG=E
Just look at the overall build quality and even the selectors and potentiometers, 10 DC stages with FETs:
In science, low effort does not mean low result. It is often better to follow exactly what a chip manufacturer has specified in its data sheet, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel. Importantly, audio companies are NOT chip/semi-conductor designers, and they should NOT be. Leave the circuit design to the pros who specialize in it, and those pros do not work at audio companies. The audio companies' job is to carry out the design through efficient management of the supply chain and logisitcs, which is what the Chinese excels.
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