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.

NAD 7130 Receiver

Another NAD receiver arrived yesterday, this 7130 model runs at 30WPC and has both a MM (Moving Marnet) and a MC (Moving Coil) phono input, something you rarely see in a model of this power level.

I did clean out the inside and all the pots and switches.

I have yet to mate this with either the NAD Model 20's or the NAD Model 30's but will do so in the near future.

Most reviews seem pretty positive on this unit and  have always liked  NAD's stuff. Clean and simple.

Technics SU-7300 Integrated Amplifier

This nice little 41WPC Technics amplifier found its way to me today, a beautiful silver faced unit with a veneer wood case. A nice feature is the VU meters that have a low level and a high level. got to love the old analogue VU meters

A phono pre amp with a 78db signal to noise ratio make it very sensitive to the pick up on the phono cartridges.

These were built in the Golden Era of HiFi between 1976 and 1978.

More info can be found on the Stereonomono site.

This unit matches up nicely with the Mission 717 speakers.

Open Baffle Electro Voice SP12 B speakers

This is the open baffle system that I have been listening to as of late. These beautiful condition Electro Voice SP12B 12 inch full range speakers.

Extremely efficient and without a crossover connected to a single ended tube amp, these speakers project a huge sound stage that has got me hooked.

I would like to get two more of these and make a new baffle for them, so two speakers in each baffle.



 

Dynaco A25 Speakers

My second set of Dynaco's after the A35's is the smaller brother the A25.

I enjoyed the A35's when I had them and found them best suited to a Solid State amplifier, these A25's I feel are the same. They do  not pair up well with tube gear.

There is plenty of information on these speakers and they were proven to be wildly popular in the 70's for good reason.

These have wonderful SEAS drivers in them and are extremely well built with a mid century modern wood finish.

Klipsch Tangent 30 Speakers

I came across my first pair of Klipsch speakers today, the Tangent 30.

The Tangents were Klipsch's mass market speakers for those who could not afford the Heritage line.

This speaker uses two 8" woofers in a sealed box and a horn compression tweeter. Super efficient at 96db these will work well with my tube amps. The cabinets are well built with real wood veneer and weigh in at 45lbs each.

So far I have had a few songs on these and I like what I hear. Granted I am a fan of horn tweeters mow. The dual 8" woofers have pretty good, tight bass response.

The Tangents were built between 1989 and 1991 and the focus was on clear sound, which when paired with a tube amp, these are very clear.

Mission 717 Speakers

Always a soft spot for early Farad Azima and brother Henry Azima Mission speakers.

This pair of white faced Mission 717 came up locally and I could not resist buying these beauties. The white faced with the Mission logo are my favorite generation of Missions.

This matched pair was in exceptionally good condition and just needed a light sanding to the cabinet and a coating of really nice wood oil.

The drivers for this pair are made with Franch Saire woofers and Audex tweeters. The woofers will never need to be re foamed.

There is a great article at audio4maniacs on the history of these white baffled Missions and it is worth reading to see what Henry and Farad where shooting for in the development of this speaker line.

I have had two other pairs of the white baffled Mission 700 speakers and I like these much better due to the French drivers.

Here is the original brochure form the 80's on these speakers.

At 92db sensitivity these are good for the tube amp.

I like early Mission loudspeakers and have had many over the years. They are very alive and musical with great dynamic range.

I have had a lot of speakers over the years and Missions are one of my favorites, there is something about them and I love having them.