Vintage HiFi: Yamaha CA-810
I own and use various hi-fi amplifiers from Yamaha, Pioneer, NAD and Revox. I had forgotten about my CA-810 for a while. I’ve been enjoying the sound of this gem again for six months now and have fallen in love with the vintage sound of the seventies.
Intro
Today HiFi and stereo equipment is a niche and many brands disappeared, e.g. Braun, Sansui, Philips, Kenwood. Yamaha is still in business with a large offering of HiFi products.
Yamaha is dedicated to music and does hi-fi differently from the technology-oriented manufacturers. They call it Natural Sound.
I like the Yamaha sound!
In the late 70s and early 80s, they even produced their own transistors (VFET). These amplifiers are highly honored for their sound, they are expensive and hard to find.
Specs
- Manufactured from 1977 – 1979.
- Output power 65W into 8 Ohm.
- Two moving magnet phono inputs, one moving coil, total 3 phono inputs.
- Loudness control.
- Connections for two pair of speakers.
- Preamp output.
Why vintage HiFi?
Hi-Fi from the sixties and seventies looks great! My Yamaha has meters, you can watch the music. There are a lot of switches and knobs which are very appealing to me. A hardcore audiophile will be very disappointed, but it looks good.
And the knob feel! It’s a joy to press the power switch and to hear a convincing click, to turn the volume knob feel the smoothness. You feel quality.
Loudness Control and multiple speaker connections is a feature you find rarely on modern components.
The frequency sensitivity of the human ear is audio level dependent. At low listening levels low and high frequencies needs a boost. Loudness control is a very useful feature for late night listening! For speaker comparison speaker switching is very handy. I use it not so often, for speaker evaluation only.
How does it sound?
I mostly listening Jazz from sixties, small combos, at moderate listening levels, e.g. Miles Davis, Grant Green, Bill Evans, Stan Getz ….
Connected to my Rowen T4 speakers my Yamaha CA-810 sound lively, clean, detailed with a tendency to the the bright side. My Revox at the same speaker does not sound as clear but has more low end.
My smallest speaker is a Cambridge Audio SX-60. I bought this speaker because it’s front ported and I got it for a special price. It’s a warm sounding speaker with strong bass but not detailed. Good for background music (that was also my intention) but not for a music lover. With the Yamaha the sound is more enjoyable.
The Warfdale Linton and CA-810 is a very smooth and pleasant combo. Highs are smooth, nice details and nice bass but not boomy. Voices sounds very good and natural!
The Yamaha CA-810 / Warfdale Linton is my best sounding system. At least at the moment.
I collect vintage hi-fi because I like analog sound and the look of the seventies. In total I own four stereos, two of them are in use.
Is vintage HiFi for you?
There are some cons too:
- Vintage gear is old stuff and can break. Capacitors don’t live for ever and must be replaced. You need a good technician and it can get expensive. But in general vintage gear is well serviceable because of the discrete components.
- Vintage gear can get warm. If not used for a long time they can smell.
- Vintage hi-fi can get expensive! The VFET amps from Yamaha and Sony sell for thousands.
- No digital inputs, no bluetooth.
- No remote control.
Vintage audio is may be not for you!
My recommendations
The Yamaha A-S701 has the main features of the CA-810 (loudness control, multiple speaker connection, moving magnet phono input) and is a pure class A/B analog design. It lacks the level display and has less switches and knobs but looks very vintage. All for USD 700.
My next recommendation is the Yamaha A-S1200. You get meters but you have to pay USD 3000 for this beauty.
My ultimate high end recommendation is the Yamaha A-S3200. Even larger meters! This is my dream amp. Still a dream because it’s USD 8000.
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