Yamaha CR-820 Natural Sound Receiver - A Star is Born!

Yamaha coined its "Natural Sound" branding in the 1970s, a monicker that has survived to today.  The reason for this is the smooth, clean, and effortless way Yamaha components deliver music.  Yamaha amps have long had excellent drive, capable of commanding and controlling many types of challenging speakers, but doing so in a way that reduces fatigue and makes for lengthy musical enjoyment.

Offered here is Yamaha's classic upper mid-range receiver from the late 1970’s. It is the CR-820 and was on the market from around 1977 to 1979. It produced 50 watts per channel into 8 ohms and had low distortion ratings. In fact, while most manufacturers measured distortion at the rated output of the unit, Yamaha measured the distortion over a wide range of power output. They called this the Noise Distortion Clearance Range (NDCR). They trademarked the phrase "Real Life Rated" because they measured noise and distortion at -20dB from the inputs all the way through to the speaker output as opposed to just measuring the amp section. They believed this would give a better indication of performance in a true listening environment. The Yamaha CR-820 retailed for around $500 and had that classic Yamaha styling of the time with monochrome face plate, clean knobs and over sized rectangular switches. Yamaha receivers from this series all have a clean, almost sterile, machined look to them. They also came with a special plug for the headphone jack output that said Reserved For Yamaha Orthodynamic Headphones -  Sounds impressive!

The CR-820 offers an extremely wide range of output powers for which both noise and distortion are below the rated value, for wide dynamic range in actual use.

Both signal strength and centre-zero meters are provided, with the signal strength meter doubling as a signal quality meter on FM0

The CR-820 does look nice when it’s illuminated. The back lighting is a light amber accented with a few red LED indicators. The low profile case is wood with a vinyl veneer. It’s decent sized receiver as well measuring 20W x 6.6H x 15.5D in inches and weighing almost 29 pounds. Kinda really lobe this piece for its simplicity and ultra clean aesthetic. A wolf in sheep clothing being a really powerful 50 watts capable of driving some pretty tough speaker loads. Been on our techs bench for some minor cleaning and light service/calibration but this piece is a winner and is now cleared to go on to it's next owner. Some really light superficial case blemishes but all and all a wonderful example of the model. This CR-820 was VERY well taken care of its entire working life and it shows. FM pulls hard and tuner works perfectly. Checks ALL the boxes for cool vibe and powerful clean sonic presentation.

Demos are always welcome here at the Andover shop.

Yamaha CR-820 Receiver: $899.00 plus shipping and sales tax when required