YAMAHA CD-1 (1982) | Pure CD Sound

 

Yamaha released its first CD Player, the CD-1 in 1982, just after the birth of the CD. Designed with Yamaha's own aesthetics of sound and appearance. Its groundbreaking features included a slide-out disc loading drive mechanism rather than tray-loading, component-style front controls, a mirror that let you see the recorded side of the spinning disc, and an LED bar graph that showed the approximate position of the pickup. For an era familiar only with the analog record, it was probably a natural assumption that the disc and pickup were meant to be seen during play. The choices for a main device were still limited, but this unit straightforwardly emphasized the "sonic difference" with linear 16-bit twin D/A converters and separate power supplies for the digital and analog elements, and laid claim to technical uniqueness with a custom IC developed in-house at the heart of its control system.

Is it true that all digital sounds are the same? Even if you're not a music enthusiast, you know how important a high level balance between the music source and the playback device is to the sound. In other words, it's a very obvious conclusion that the best music source is the best playback device. If that's the case, while fully acknowledging the potential of CDs as music sources (or rather, because of that!), I would like to overturn the trivial rumor about CD players that all digital sounds are the same! The Yamaha CD-1. A black beauty that fully traces the extraordinary amount of music information of CDs. It conquers the sound of CDs with the very Yamaha style. The first condition for being as CD-like Hi-Fi as possible: Just 0.8 microns, each countless pit is a fountain of new music! Since it is the lifeblood of the CD sound, ultra-precise tracing capabilities were first necessary. The CD-1 employs a double error correction circuit that strictly returns the signal to its original state even if a large number of errors occur in the detection signal. Combined with the adoption of a servo system with excellent tracking performance, this is a thorough pickup section for sound. In order to accurately demodulate digital to analog stereo signals, the CD-1 uses a 16-bit linear conversion method for the D/A converter and a unique twin configuration. This means that the distribution of L and R is digitally processed, and there is no need to switch analog signals, so music unique to CDs is reproduced to the fullest.

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DIATONE DS-10000 (1985) | 10000 Classic Magic

 

The DS-10000 was released by DIATONE in 1985 as the 40th anniversary model of the brand, a Mitsubishi brand. The DS-10000 is actually based on the DS-1000 released in 1983. This model was considered to have the highest potential in terms of overall performance. The arrangement of the drive units has been determined based on the results of the study of the acoustic radiation pattern by computer analysis in a laboratory, thus their position being considered optimal. The woofer unit used is a 27 cm diameter aramid honeycomb curved cone. This uses an aluminum honeycomb structure core and aramid, a high-strength, high-elasticity, low-density long fiber material, as the skin material. This is a Diatone unique diaphragm. The midrange unit and tweeter unit use a 50mm and a 23mm reinforced diffusion boronized dome diaphragm. All wiring in the system was done with extra-thick linear crystal oxygen-free conductors, and the wiring was done by crimping with gold-plated sleeves (metal fittings) without soldering. The capacitors used in the network were also specially made with high-quality parts, such as large MP capacitors. The DK-10000 was an optional loudspeaker stand. 

Technical Data:

Type: 3-way speaker, sealed bookshelf type

Bass: 27cm aramid honeycomb curved cone type

Midrange: 50mm boron D.U.D dome type

Treble: 23mm boron D.U.D dome type

Nominal impedance: 6Ω

Frequency range: 35-60,000Hz

Output sound pressure level: 90dB/W/m

Maximum allowable input: 180W (EIAJ)

Rated input: 60W (EIAJ)

Crossover frequency: 600Hz, 5000Hz

External dimensions: Width 360 x Height 625 x Depth 290mm

Weight: 27kg

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ROTEL RX-1603 (1976) | Quality Uncompromised

 

The Rotel RX-1603 from 1976 is the biggest receiver they ever made. It is a High-performance receiver with outstanding reception characteristics and a sinus DIN power of 2 x 250 W at 4 ohms (180 watts per channel, min. RMS, both channels driven into 8 ohms, from 20-20KHz with no more than 0.1% total harmonic distortion). It features connectors for 3 pairs of loudspeakers, two turnover frequencies for bass and treble, subsonic, low and high filters, 2 phono input, 2 tape input with copy function...and many more. The RX-1603 is actually a two-box construction that allows the power amplifier section to be separated allowing the two parts to be stacked thus reducing the depht of the unit. Size (WxHxD) 600x180x535mm | Weight: 33kg  

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