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.

End of An Era

I've dabbled in Minidiscs for a long time, almost for as long as they've been in the country. At first, they were too expensive, but then I was able to buy a used Sony MZ-R30 and I fell in love with it. Back in those days, you could even walk into a Sears (SEARS!!!) and buy blank discs, which might explain why I have 45 recordable MDs sitting around. 

I even took my R30 out and recorded with it in "the field". No; I didn't "bootleg" any concerts (although Minidiscs were a favorite of that crew): I just did our church choir's performances. I would even title the discs and tracks using the scroll wheel! This was essentially the perfect medium to replace the cassette for me. ....Yes, I was a "mix tape" maker. I even lusted after the very rare versions that attached to a computer which allowed a PC to do the editing and titling although I never could afford one.

I could and did afford this though: the Yamaha MDX-793, one of the top MD decks of the time. It recorded and played beautifully, AND fit perfectly in my extensive A/V system. We were so minidisc-centric in those days that my wife even had me buy her one so she could have music while working out. Things percolated along pretty well for some time, till we moved about 9 years ago. They got packed up and over the course of the next few years, we just stopped using them. 

There was a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the arrival of the iPod. Although, I'll defend the sound quality of the minidisc to my grave, you just can't deny the convenience of the hard drive devices after all the music has been ripped to it. We might have been some of the last hold-outs, as we didn't get one till the 5th Generation (video) version. I bought a 30Gb one for my wife and as they say; the rest is history. We now have 3 working iPods, plus some dead parts units. For me, the ability to do all the organization on the computer and the ability to stream one set of files throughout our network was the ultimate "killer" feature. In fact, my 80Gb "Classic" also doubles as my portable mass storage.

 

Actually, for me, the last few years have seen a renaissance of sorts. First there was a pair of Sony professional decks (one record, one play) that was picked up from a college radio station for $20. Then I came across the Sony MXD-D40 combo, CD/MD deck at a local Goodwill for $8!

At one point, I almost went whole-hog and got the last (and greatest) recorder/player that Sony brought out about 6 years ago in the MZ-NH1. But I decided that north of $300 was too much for a rarely used "hanger queen". Which brings us to the cross-roads I was at about a week ago. While doing one of my periodic readings on the state of minidiscs, I came across an article discussing the end Sony production, which if you didn't already know it, effectively means the end of all minidisc production period. Of course, this brought on the usual bout of nostalgia, so I looked around on eBay to see what prices were doing. Apparently, they are now "up" some, so I was left with a dilemma. Hold on to it as a "collector" format, or sell off?

....And after careful consideration, which included weighing my various other hobbies, space restrictions, pricing etc., I've decided to "List It". Thus the end of an era.