missed out (again) on a Yamaha CR 3020

pglbook

I missed a great chance to get my dream receiver - the extremely rare Yamaha CR 3020.

One showed up yesterday morning on my local CL (Albany, NY, CL). I could not believe it. And it was only 15 minutes away from me. The unit was in mint condition, both functionally and cosmetically. Wow.

The asking price was $950. It is a lot of money but, actually, it is a pretty good price for one of these. They usually sell for between $1000-$1200 on the auction sites and you never see one in mint condition like this one. My problem (a big one, to be sure, ha) was not having the 950 spare ducats to get it, haaa.

Although I did not have the cash to get it, I texted the seller immediately after seeing the ad around 9:30am (which was 2 hours after seller posted the ad) to see if he would entertain a partial trade or negotiate on the price. The seller texted me back a half hour later to inform me that the receiver sold. He also told me he had 2 others ahead of me also wanting to buy it. Such is the scarcity and demand for the Yamaha CR 3020.

I know almost everyone on this site favors separates over vintage receivers but I still have dreams of getting the Yamaha CR 3020 some day. I will keep on saving and dreaming. And, meanwhile, I will keep on enjoying my Yamaha CR 2020 and CR 2040 receivers.

WagnerRC

Keep the faith. I have my Marantz 2385 that I bought new back in the 70's. Cant beat the quality.

ZLTFUL

I too keep looking for that golden egg CR 3020.
It is honestly the only vintage receiver I want and there are some great ones out there.
But to me, the 3020 is sort of the pinnacle. Not the most powerful...not the "best"...but exceedingly rare and one of the best looking IMHO.

Unfortunately, they are becoming harder and harder to find.

boston1450

What a receiver to have. Yes yes yes..i look all the time for that one and the cr1000. When they do pop up ill probably be broke or miss out.....CR3020 what a BEAST

dunnz

I have a CR3020
Bought it in the late 80s with two 200w Technic speakers.
It's been unused for virtually 15 yrs stored in climate controlled comfort of my home.
I was painting a room where it is stored and hooked it back up to test.
It's a beast! Sounds amazing still.

Nightfall

Wouldn't the CA-2010 be a better sounding piece of equipment with it's class A amplifier just minus the radio?

mhardy6647

Possibly -- though, of course the output power in Class A on the CA-2010 is low by most folks' standards.

Gotta say, I wouldn't mind stumbling across a CR-3020, given that I have examples of all of the rest of the CR-**20 series. The 3020 was a bit of an odd beast, though; an interim product - I think - between the CR-**20 and CR-**40 series (model years).

I don't remember ever hearing anything about the CR-3020 back when they would have been new, and I've never seen - much less heard - one.

codycatalist

I do have a Yamaha Cr1020 local to me that's been on craigslist for a while. Don't know much about the older Yammys. Thought about snagging it up once but dropped it to search for newer gear although I do love some of the old vintage stuff.

mhardy6647

I think they sound better, on the average, than (almost) any of the other Japanese massmarket brands of the 1970s.

But I am exceptionally biased.

Unless the CR-1020 is a good deal, if one's serious about Yamaha mid-level components (as opposed to separates, that is) of that era -- hold out for a CA-1000, CA-1010 or CA-2010 (i.e., an integrated amplifier).

The CR-1000, CR-1020 and CR-2020 are nice but one sort of overpays for their being receivers and end up with less for one's money (unless one really, really wants decent but unremarkable FM stereo radio in the box with the amp and preamp).

Again, I'm really biased, tho'.

CR1020 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

(paid $5 for my CR-1020 at a garage sale in our old neighborhood in Harvard)

mhardy6647

I questioned the woman who was selling it if she really wanted only $5 for it and she said, "Why, do you want to pay more?"

It was (and is) in excellent cosmetic & working condition, too.

Kind of lucked out.

That said, I'll admit that I paid real money for my CR-2020 -- but it was restored by a Yamaha specialist.

mhardy6647

The CR-2020, of course, is better since it has many more buttons.



DSC_0576 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

That was pretty much the logic of the 1970s.

Jimbo18

Not as many knobs, but there's a nice looking Yamaha integrated here for $125.

https://columbia.craigslist.org/ele/d/yamaha-ca-610-ii/6620686874.html

mhardy6647

I've had one of those since... 1978.
I will never speak ill of the CA-610II; I love mine.

kevhed72

Interesting timing on mention of the CA 610 II, since there is one of Ebay right now. I recently starting looking for an old school integrated for my living room and this made the short list.

mhardy6647

At 45 wpc and of that era, I don't think you'll find much better -- although the Onkyo A5 was also on my short list when I bought the Yamaha (FYI & FWIW).

kevhed72

There is also this which looks super clean in and out:

mhardy6647

Not in the same league, IMO... in any respect.

kevhed72

OK....after consulting with mhardy via PM, I went ahead and bought a CA 610 II via Ebay from a seller who let it go for a good price. Keeping fingers crossed but I asked guy a bunch of questions since I hate having to return ship stuff and get refunded. I'll take pics when it shows up here.

mhardy6647

Thanks -- now I have lost my plausible deniability.



In seriousness, good luck! I think they've generally held up pretty well but stuff happens after, you know, four decades

FWIW, I find issues with control scratchiness to be somewhat worse than average with the Yamaha stuff compared many of the other massmarket Japanese brands of the same era. Not a huge deal, but I find I have to clean controls and switches on the ones here every five years or so -- or they get unacceptably touchy (e.g., the function selector switches).