My Audio Systems: The Yamaha Era

You could call the late 90's of my audio history; the Yamaha Era. By that time, I had gone through several epochs (which you're aware of, if you've had the patience to following along). The previous one with the a/d/s/ gear and cobbled together A/V parts as my "collecting years". You could say that I was getting tired of the hassle of various external processors, several amps, and a table covered with remotes! By this point, I had figured out that I liked Yamaha's approach to surround. Let me go off in that direction for a little while just to reminisce if nothing else.

 

In 1986, Yamaha brought Soundfield DSP to market in the United States in the form DSP-1. It was an add-on processor like everyone else at that time. However, their technology was different. Everyone had a chip that simulated different venues by adding delay into the channels for the effects (surround/rear) channels, plus some level of attenuation, you get what could be called an "echo". Every room, unless intentionally treated has some sort of an echo signature. We tend not to notice unless it's pronounced such as the case of a cavern or other large space. Which is why the building of concert halls was/is part science and part art. Virtually all manufactures programmed the "echo" or delay into their chip based on the math of sound reflection/refraction of venues large (concert halls, stadiums) and small (jazz clubs, studios) and called it good. They pretty much sounded alike and really, not that great to my ear. What Yamaha did wasn't like anyone else. They went to specific venues all over the world and recorded the sound characteristics using an array of microphones, then programmed the specific digital signature into a chip to be called up by the name of the venue. I liked theirs much better. In those early years, I couldn't come close to affording their processors, but as with anything digital, the technology got cheaper and more powerful very quickly. So, when I got ready to pare down the number of components I was using in my system. Their new flagship product, the DSP-A1 was high on my list. It is to this day, one of the few components that I've ever bought new and at the 1998 MSRP of $2600, the most expensive by a fairly wide margin.

One of my weirdnesses, is that I generally like the majority of my component to match (if the sonic differences aren't significant). I like for things like the operational designs to be similar, such as the power button being on the same side and type, the markings to be alike, etc. So, I chased down Yamaha's top-of-the-line turntable, the PF-800 (which was very, very good), and other components of that era, such as a CD Changer, Cassette Deck..... 

and one of the very best Minidisc Decks of the time, the Yamaha MDX-793. I was into Minidiscs for my portable media in those days. 

 

On the video side of things, along with a procession of their TVs, I liked (still do) Sony products. Those were the Laserdisc years, so I progress through a few of the Sony models of those as well. At that time, I had also finally given up on SuperBeta and moved to SVHS as well, ultimately owning a SLV-R1000 which was an amazing product, along with a really nice SLV-585HF for regular VHS as well.

I was still using the a/d/s/ L1290 as my mains but added a Snell KIIv as the center channel after finding it to have the closest sonic characteristics to my mains. I was using a pair of Paradigm ADP-350s as the surrounds which were very good as well. The "front effects" (a concept that Yamaha was using at the time with their "Soundfield" system was a pair of a/d/s/ L200s. These had a very similar driver compliment to the upper range of the L1290s, so did a great job of not calling attention to themselves.

So, this was the state of my system from the late 90's till we moved to the Dallas area around 2003. That gear went from Lubbock, Texas to Chicago, Illinois, back to Lubbock! It was really nice equipment and sounded great! Those were happy years.... until I dismantled it and sold of fthe major pieces to help fund our move to Dallas....... but that's a different story.

When Audio System Building Meets Collecting

If you're of a certain age, you'll probably recognize these audio components. It was the 80's and in the audio world, everything was big..... even when it wasn't. These guys were the Porsche of the audio marketplace. Refined, stylish, and expensive (virtually all the components were within shouting distance of $1000, 1980's dollars). By the time, I came across a mint R4 receiver in the mid-90s, they were in the last years of producing home audio, having put their eggs into the car audio basket. I know, it's bit of a sad tale. But this isn't a requiem about Analog and Digital Systems (otherwise known as a/d/s/), but of how my audio path led through this iconic company and their unique equipment. 

In my previous post, I had discussed how I went down the primrose path of sonic detail and ended up with a rather harsh sounding system. In order to correct that mistake, I sold off the Bowers and Wilkins DM550s and bought another darling of that era; a pair of NHT 1.3 speakers.

..... No; those aren't NHT 1.3s, they are Acoustic Research AR-3a speakers (of which I would own a pair). ??? Let me wax historically, in an audio sense anyway. Back in the 60s and 70s when American companies dominated the market, there emerged two camps; East Coast and West Coast (the "Bird" vs. "Magic" of audio). To pare it down to the essentials, it was more bass (West Coast), vs. accurate bass (East Coast). On one side, you had JBL, Cerwin Vega, etc and on the other, you had Advent, Acoustic Research (AR), KLH which eventually begat Boston Acoustics, a/d/s/, NHT..... you get the idea. And based on what I've just told you, you can see that I was an East Coast guy. East Coast speakers tended to use "sealed" enclosures, otherwise know as acoustic suspension, generally using soft-dome tweeters. To my ear (note that emphasis, since I'm not into telling anyone else what they should be hearing), they sounded faster and tighter, whereas the West Coast designs sounded brash and in-your-face. And after my experience of the high-end in-your-face with the badly match Adcom amp and DM550s, I didn't want any of that. Thus started my "dark" time. I don't mean dark as in "Dark Ages" or anything like that. In the audio world, "dark" means the opposite of "bright". If you've ever experienced that end of the spectrum with overly detailed highs, you know what I'm talking about. Certain models of certain brands (seamed to be predominantly British) such as Celestian, lower-end B&W and KEF tended in that direction. 

This led to quite a few years with speakers such as the NHT 1.3a and back to my original thought a few different a/d/s/ models culminating in a pair of L1290s that I bought in bad cosmetic condition. I spent well over a week taking them apart and refinishing the veneer while waiting for my job with Tulane University to come through, then they went with me to New Orleans and all through the various jobs during my 10 year odyssey in higher education administration. 

During those 10 years, I went through a rather interesting phase of my audio life. I call it the "Atelier Period". So, we've come full circle back to where I started today. It might be a little weird, but I have a bit of interior designer in me, and when you're unmarried and able to indulge your audio as well as design whims, it can "become a thing". It was completely impractical and really didn't sound as great as it should have given the cost, but hey..... it was cool.

Let me start with a quick primer on a/d/s/ from what I know about it. They were the speaker design arm (based in New England) of German electronics giant Braun (yes, the coffee maker brand) which by the 80s had bought themselves loose. During those years, they had an agreement with Braun to collaboratively design and sell the electronic components of the line in the U.S. under their own brand while it was sold in Europe as Braun. These were extremely high-end pieces, but in the "go-go" era of the mid-to-late 80s they sold well enough. Think of it was the German alternative to (and better sounding IMHO) B&O gear. It all started with a random R4 receiver that I came across at the store I hung out at. So I bought it. Now; it's kind of dumb to just have one piece of a/d/s/ gear. They aren't shaped or sized like anything else and as you might have noticed, they are made to work together electronically as well as design-wise. Before I knew it, I had the CD3 (CD Player), C2/3 (Cassette Deck), P4 (Turntable) and PA4 (Amp). Ultimately, I would have another set of the gear in my bedroom as well. It was cool looking and sounded pretty good, but let me tell ya.... it was a giant pain in the behind to tote around as I move from university job to university job all over the country. On top of that, in order to adapt it to A/V which was becoming a thing at that time, I had to add surround processor(s), additional amps, subwoofers, racks.... the list goes on. Sometimes I felt like I moved more A/V gear than other stuff!

..... and right around that time..... this happened! It's really not what you think. My new bride didn't put her foot down. I simply got tired of the pain in the neck my cobbled together A/V system was getting to be as it progressively become more "V" and less "A". It simply wasn't worth it. Plus, it wasn't as if it was audio nirvana anyway. So, my days as an a/d/s/ collector-user came to an end as the various pieces got sold off to be replaced by a system built around the Yamaha DSP-A1. I still kept my L1290s as well as some other a/d/s/ speakers such as some L200s and L300s for some time, but the days of beings more collector than user was coming to an end. Thus end'th my "Teutonic Era". I'm sure you can guess what the next post is going to be about.  

Which Receivers Would I Buy?

Do it even matter!?!

The year is 1997 and a war's on. I don't mean the war in Afghanistan..... I mean the one in Japan! This is known as the war of the super-receivers. By this time in audio history, the Japanese owned the market. Not that there aren't others. Americans and British are still a factor in the speaker world as well as mid to high-end. However, as far the the bulk....and by that, I mean the "BULK" of the market was concerned, the major Japanese manufacturers completely held it in a death-grip. At this point, they were out to prove a point. And that point was that they could build equipment that was  comparable to the high-end in sonic capability. 

Oh, it gets better..... Not only did they decide they could create comparable sonics, but they could do it all in one piece..... leading to the creation of the Super-Receiver! If you'll ignore the connectors on the back of this Denon AVR-5803, the inside pretty much looks like it's from a high-end amp. It's not a Denon thing; they all pretty much looked like this..... Yamaha DSP-A1, Pioneer Elite VSX-49 Tx/Txi, Integra DTR-9.1/9.1U and of course Sony ES....

There's perhaps no more obsessive company than Sony, but they were/are pretty much all like this... focused, and purpose driven. They sold for between $3500 and 5000, but I'm not certain that any of them made money on these models, but that wasn't the point. This went on for a number of years but by the middle of the next decade, it was over (maybe I'll write about what came after some time). So, what does this mean to "frugal" among us (like me), for which $3500-5000 in year 1997 dollars is a LOT of money.

......well, like I said last time: electronics hold no value. That's versus not having value. These devices in a functioning state hold a lot of value. Most of them had 7 (or more) channels of power conservatively spec'd at between 135 and 170 watts RMS. Plus they all have pre-outs if you don't think that's enough power, or if some of those channels fail. They all have a bewildering array of features ranging from multi-room control to automatic microphone adjusted surround set up. Wi-Fi? Bluetooth? USB? Smartphone App? Uhhh....no, none of those things. Probably not HDMI switching either. But the sound of them!!! And the build quality!!!

And quite often, they originally came with remotes like these that can be programmed to control virtually anything. They can all be purchased on eBay for between $100 and $300 on any day. If you're a patient sort, I'd wait for one that's sold "for local pickup only" that's close to your location. Why? It'll save you $50 or more in shipping, the wear and tear of shipping, and most importantly, limit your competition. 

Why do this? The sound for one. These things sound amazing (make sure it's in good condition). And if you've ever owned anything that's "top-of-the-line" (even used), it's a bit of a revelation. I've owned, sold or used a number of these devices. The only thing I can compare it to was the years that I owned a 1988 BMW M5. It was the only series of these that were hand-built at the Motorsport facility on Preussenstrasse in Munich. There's no good way to describe it. Does the fact that there were NO options for that car tell you anything? When I sold it, a guy flew to Lubbock, Texas from Seattle for it.....