The Yamaha CR-2020: A True '70s Blockbuster

There's something magical about the majestic stereo receivers of yesteryear. Apart from being magnificent examples of industrial design, they're dead simple to operate while offering a full complement of features to ensure a great, though decidedly old-school, music listening experience, complete with analog power meters. And then there's nostalgia... I still own (and recently refurbished) my first receiver - an Onkyo TX-2500 I bought for $200 in the mid-70s. It looks and sounds as good as it did back in the day.

- BOB ANKOSKO 

Over the past couple of years, we've written about such icons as the The Fisher 800-B from 1961 and the 70s-era Marantz 2500 and Sansui 9090DB - each a masterpiece in its own right.

Today we turn our attention to another 70s-era tour de force: the Yamaha CR-2020.

Yamaha introduced the CR-2020 in 1977 and it quickly became one of the brand's best-selling models. Boasting a respectable output of 100 watts/ channel into 8 ohms with "no more than 0.05% total harmonic distortion," the CR-2020 was one step down from the flagship CR-3020, a veritable beast that put out 160 watts a side and offered a slightly more refined lineup of features and controls.

Yamaha was so laser-focused on eliminating distortion that its engineers came up with a new way of measuring it. They called it Noise Distortion Clearance Range and it required "all pertinent measurements [to] be made under actual listening conditions; through all amplification circuits used in actual listening (i.e., Phono Input to Speaker Out), and at the volume control settings preferred for normal listening levels."

In a sales brochure, Yamaha tied its measurement methods to an overall design philosophy: "To us at Yamaha NDCR is more than just a measurement. It reflects the design approach to all our music products. Because we pay such close attention to their sound in actual use, our engineers developed this assessment method to help build in the same tonal response for home audio enjoyment."