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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Yamaha tuners

Post Subject: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.Posted by rowuk on: 12/2/2012

I had one for about a week and was not happy. Switched to a Kenwood KT1100.
Here an honest review that matches my experience. Bottom line is that on stuff this old, the individual buyer will determine the price, not the market.

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/tuners/76-tuner-reviews/194-radio-times.html

Here an excerpt:

The CT-7000 isn’t the best equipped tuner ever made, but it includes a useful variable rate switchable FM muting control and a signal meter that doubles as a multipath meter. As is compulsory on Japanese high end, there’s a 6.3mm headphone jack with volume control. Round the back, there are fixed and variable level audio outputs and multipath outputs for an oscilloscope. At nearly 15kg, this is one of the most solidly made Japanese tuners ever.

Inside, it’s textbook high end tuner – in fact, it probably wrote the textbook. Beautifully laid out with separate boards, shielding and cabling, plus high quality discrete componentry, it’s designed to keep interference between sections to a minimum and signal integrity as high as possible. It boasts a 7-gang tuning capacitor with 7 IF filters (mixed ceramic and LC types) and a discrete MPX decoder.

In use I have to say that the CT-7000 shows its age in its (lack of) ability to pick up stations and stay tuned in to them. Its front end is middling by today’s standards, and the likes of Hitachi’s 1983 FT-5500 mk II (see p38-39) would embarrass it the selectivity stakes. It works okay with ‘wet string’ antennas, but don’t expect it to work wonders.

Given a serious signal however, and the Yamaha flies. In 2005, it spends most of its life telling you just how awful most analogue radio broadcasts are. You can hear all the compression, digitisation and various other signal-ruining activities going on by the broadcasters. Hit it with a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast, and suddenly things change however. The Yamaha displays incredible detail, with amazing incision in the treble, a tight, taut bass and wonderful dimensionality. Twiddle the knob to Radio 2 and things are still pretty impressive; full and warm and musically engaging.

I loved it, but I think I would have loved it more if I hadn’t heard so much hype – an old NAD 4020 with a serious aerial wouldn’t be too far behind, at about one hundredth of the price. Methinks the myth and legends surrounding this tuner are partly from its stunning build, ergonomics and aesthetics, but it sure does sound great too...

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