My Yamaha CA-1000
 

Hey there,

I got into vintage recently and for my first piece I found an almost (9.8/10) pristine vintage Yamaha CA-1000. I fell in love with the Yamaha gear 2 years ago when I went to the Montreal Audio Show where I saw the NS-5000 speakers with the A-SXXXX line of amplifiers. I was both hooked to their sound and their look. Before that, I always believed that Yamaha was just doing home cinema stuff. Then I discovered an all "new" world for me with the vintage Yamaha.

I found the Yamaha CA-1000 I own now locally. Cosmetically speaking, almost perfect. Technically however, it was bad. One channel was out, all pots scratching badly, etc. I knew it was probably going to need a good restoration. So I found a excellent tech who took care of the cleaning, full recap, fix the right channel and some other transistors along the way.

But I wanted more than that. After careful research, I had the lamp cord removed by an excellent tech (Planabox) and a AC/IEC socket installed so that I could use whatever power cable I want. Another step was to remove the old binding clip posts and install some real banana posts. I was thrilled at the quality of the work. He even drilled the center of the binding posts to solder each wires instead of using the tabs that come with them. I also had the stock fuses changes for audiophile grade fuses.


https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1552790325







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It was a fun project for me as I curious how far these old amplifers could go when properly restored and also when fed with the same tweaks the newer gear enjoys. I have matched my amplifer with a Bryston BDA-3 and a BDP-2. Nothing sounds vintage at all! In fact, the news fuses brought more clarity than I am comfortable with as I find it removes that natural sound of the Yamaha.

For all the repair works, I believe I drove about 1500 KM for back and forth trips to the techs. With all the efforts put into this, and knowing I will never get my money back, I will probably never sell this amplifier. I know I have one unique CA-1000. When the upgrade bug will hit again, I will move it to an upcoming system in the living room. And when I will get tired at some point, I will put it in storage waiting for my son to be a teenager and give to him for his first system (he is only 3 now but enjoys listening to music with me).

Enjoy!

Very nice!

I love the vintage Yamaha amplifiers and congrats for bringing a classic back to life for many many years of listening

Nicely done. I really like the IEC and bonding post mods. Excellent execution.
These vintage pieces have a lot of class. Enjoy!

Serge,

That's a great looking Yamaha!

I've done similar mods and repairs to my CR-1020. I have plugged in a Moon Mind 180 streamer, a Yulong DAC, a Denon DVD-2910 CD/SACD player and a pair of Vienna Acoustic Bach speakers. System protection is provided by a Panamax power center.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...psd40d7a98.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...psaxsnryk9.jpg

The mix of "Old" and "New" works very nicely.

Very nice, Serge!

I have always admired Yamaha receivers when they were on the market back in the day.

Your repair tech did an amazing job with the power socket and binding post upgrades.

Very cool.

best, Stephen aka Puma Cat aka PC

Excellent, that’s a great looking amp with cool mods. I have a CA-1010 which I love, but haven’t made the cable mods, what a great idea.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-9Qmdp7q-M.jpg

That is a nice looking vintage unit. Great job.

Thank you guys for the great comments. Much credits to my tech, Jean from Planabox in Laval, Qc. I at first just wanted to upgrade the power cord but he suggested me the AC socket modification instead. I wasn't sure at first but I am glad I let his expert hands do the work. For me, these modifications represent a "no compromise" type of solution to bring this amplifier back in the 21st century. It could have been done many other ways but I wanted the best and I think I got it. There is about 350$US in these 2 modifications but I really think it's worthing it. It's no high end per today's standard but sounds really, really good regardless.

Au contraire, mon ami........... if built to the same standards today with the wood case it would definitely be a "high end" integrated amp. Would have to add in the cost of a remote. What is the MSRP of Yamaha's top integrated today? It's only fault is being made off-shore (not Japan).

I checked the price of a CA-1000 when introduced in 1973 and the cost was 600$. A quick look with an inflation calculator and that would translate in a 3500$ amplifier today. And considering the complexity of the wooden case as you said, and made in Japan, would bring the cost significantly higher. The quality of the woodworking is really impressive by the way. "High end" can be subjective but my CA-1000 modified as it is sure matches more contemporary siblings. The CA-2010 for example when put against A-S2100 matches it and even bests it (and this not even restored).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jjAZz7NOK0