Yamaha CR-420 Receiver

I stumbled upon this mint, mint, mint, did I say mint? Yamaha CR-420 receiver yesterday.

I like early Yamaha solid state receivers, they are up there with early Sherwoods. This silver faced unit from circa 1977 is rated at 22WPC in 8 ohms and is in spectacular condition. I paid a bit of a premium for it in the thrift shop terms but a unit of this condition had to purchased and the dollar value was worth it.

Although I generally do not use solid state units anymore I do like to have at least one unit on hand for certain speakers. Currently I have a NAD 7130 that matches really well with the NAD Model 20's, this pairing is for sale for $300 and is simply stunning. The NAD receiver I will only sell as a complete set leaving me with just this Yamaha.

Inside the unit was cleaned out and I was surprised to see two nice big Elna 6800uf caps and universal joints that connect the input circuit to the switches on the front, one does not see this type of workmanship in today's disposable audio era, very cool.

 Another little attention to detail is the twin headphone jack and the Yamaha headphone jack plug, still intact after 40 years, pretty cool to see that.

I will try this unit out with the Speakerlab Super 7's and I am expecting an incredible sweet sound.

Foster Open Baffle Speakers

The latest open baffle speakers I have put together is a 3 way Foster driver speakers. The donor driver came from a pair of Noresco NEC-571  plus a horn tweeter that I picked up from a set of Zenith Allegro speakers.

This project turned out to be spectacular with the push/pull tube amp, almost in the league of openness and fullness as the Speakerlab Super 7's, almost. The Super 7's are really an amazing loudspeaker.

 The original Noresco speakers used a 10" Foster 25E33 alnico woofer with a massive magnet assembly crossed over to the Foster 8F3 three inch full range speaker. The original crossover was used as the crossover point between the woofer and the full range driver is around 650hz.

A foster horn tweeter was included to handle the high end as I found the 8F3 seemed to roll off in the highs.
A 2.2uf cap was used with a crossover point at 9000hz, it seems to have added the high end depth and sizzle that I like.

This combination came out way better than expected. Bass is full and clear, the mid range from the 8F3 is luscious and smooth, very deep and wide. the horn tweeter takes care of the highs in spectacular fashion.

Before I started this project I had an idea as to how this set up would sound, but it came out way better than I expected.

If this is what open baffles are supposed to sound like, then I am a believer now.

Aesthetics came out beautifully with the dark mahogany veneer.

Koss Pro4S Headphones

For Christmas I got a wonderful pair of Koss Pro4S headphones. A headphone set that I wanted for some time.

I have been a huge Koss headphone fan since my first pair of Koss Porta Pro, which sound amazing but the Pro4S is definitely a step up in the audiophile sphere.

The Pro4S are super comfortable and have a noise cancelling tendency as the cups cover your ears completely. The Pro4S is well built and like all Koss headphones they carry a lifetime warranty of which I have capitalized in the past with the Porta Pros and will have to do again with the Porta Pros.

Back to the sound of the Pro4S, these headphones are like strapping the Speakerlab Super 7's to your head.
Bass is full and smooth, not boomy like you would get with Skull Candy or Beats. Mid range imaging is fantastic, female voices sound spot on and no chestiness with male vocals. The highs are crisp and clean.

One thing about Koss headphones is the money goes into the headphones and not marketing, one has to seek out the Koss product as Koss mostly sell direct to consumer online. I have seen a smattering of Koss headphones in stores but nothing like their website.

If you are in the market for a great set of headphone I would recommend these for a great bang for the buck.

The Koss site can be found here.



 

Speakerlab Super 7 and a Push Pull Tube Amp

This has been the cause of the lack of postings for the past month.

Audio nirvana has hit with the combination of the Speakerlab Super 7's and the push pull tube amp.

It has evoked a minimum of 2 hours an evening of listening with a few solid 12-14 hour days of non stop music thrown in.

At this point in the journey, not to much can touch this combo.

Speakerlab Super 7

Just picked up today is this audiophile rarity, Speakerlab Super 7. Wow! On a Single Ended tube amp Audio Nirvana.

Pretty nice line up, Speakerlab Super 7, EMI 630 and Speakerlab Model 3.

More on these later, I have music to escape into.