[Vintage-Audio] Re Yamaha CR-1020

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Hello All,

I have here a very nice Yamaha Natural Sound model CR-1020 receiver. 
SCREECH! (applying brakes and skidding to a full stop)

Where the rodent's rump hairs did this term "receiver" come from? Like we 
had an integrated amplifier and a tuner that received AM/FM. They combine 
the two and we get a "receiver"? Why? I hate the term!

Alright, back to the original train of thought.

I especially like the CR-1020. It is spacious, well planned for features, 
the front panel is well thought out and it is very well built. Reminds me of 
an Abrams prototype!
The knobs can be gripped with no fear of bumping some other control and 
doing who knows what in this age of multiple functionality! The switches are 
positive in their movements and once again, you can move them without 
turning on several functions that transform the digital display into a LASER 
light show! The push buttons are also very positive in their movements 
without the sideways slop common today. Alright, so a totally blind man 
gives it his safe to feel without fear certification, who cares? Who should 
care are you guys out there with fingers the size of a broom handle! Not the 
length, the diameter! It must be horrible for you trying to operate anything 
electronic today. How do you type on a keyboard? All I can imagine is using 
my elbows to hit the keys with. A strong arguement for a spelling checker 
for sure! Now this CR-1020 you could operate without using up an entire 
stick of roll on armpit stench killer and taking so many showers in one day 
that the water department sends a man out to see where the leak in the water 
main is!

Reminds in principal of the Icom transceiver from about fifteen years ago 
called the 765. Remember it? A base station with the power supply built into 
it. Yes it had a large foot print, but you only needed one piece of gear and 
no external wires to the PS which is always a minimum of six inches farther 
away than the longest patch cords you can buy! The front panel layout was 
fantastic! Large knobs, large buttons, an analog display a person who was 
older could read without putting his nose on the glass and fogging it up.

Now this CR-1020 has one feature that troubles me, FM Dolby. I know it was a 
bad idea and I am aware it came and went faster than Elizabeth Taylor's 
husbands did! But what year did FM Dolby begin to be broadcast by commercial 
radio stations? How many years did the stations continue to broadcast in FM 
Dolby? What year was it stopped and forgotten about?

Then the really big question to strain the neurons memory circuits. Why did 
somebody invent Dolby for FM in the first place? The reason FM was used was 
because it was quiet, unlike AM, and was not subject to all of the hissing, 
popping, crackling and such sounds. Why did someone think that the consumer 
out there listening to FM needed noise reduction to remove, well, what was 
not there!

Thank you for your enlightenment gentlemen. I will sleep better knowing the 
truth behind the FM Dolby story.

Duane Fischer, W8DBF