Beyond the list of standard restoration steps detailed on the main page, here are some added notes for this unit :

I acquired this receiver on eBay from a pawnshop in Missouri that said “it has been tested”.  Exterior condition was fair due to faded lettering on the faceplate.  I was still eager to get this as you hardly ever see these for sale in any condition.

The Yamaha CR700 (and CR500) are extremely rare stablemates of the more familiar “00” series receivers (CR400, CR600 and CR800 – all of which I have restored/sold).  The styling and and internal layouts are total departures from the “even” models released at the same time.  It seems like Yamaha was testing 2 styling paths – settling on the more familiar all-silver look that continued for the “20” and “40” series receiver generations that followed.  The CR700 has the same Yamaha “natural sound” sound – just packaged/styled differently.

You may see CR700s from sellers in Japan (100V mains and non-NA FM tuner frequency range).  I have also seen one that was NA compatible, but had DIN (not RCA) connectors in the back along with strange speaker output sockets.  For sale is an example set up for 120V mains with “normal” RCA connectors and speaker spring clips in the back.

Initial visual inspection went well with no evidence of previous issues inside or out.  The original output transistors were still in place (a good sign).

Initial testing showed high functionality with just normal noise due to dirty switches/pots (easily resolved with thorough cleaning/lubing).  The tape loop had a channel out due to a disconnected wire (reattached to fix issue).

Something interesting is that the tuner meter provided is labeled “tuning” which usually means a meter that indicates “center” point of a FM station.  In reality, the CR700 as a “signal strength” meter that works for AM and FM.  I guess you do use it for “tuning”, but this is not the usual designation.

The recap went smoothly and included a modest up-capping of the main amplifier supply caps from 2200uF to 3300uF.  

Final functional testing complete/passed.  As is typical for Yamahas, this receiver has very low idle hum and hiss levels.

Cosmetics are very good except for a scratch on the volume knob and significant loss of faceplate lettering in the upper right corner (see photos).  I have seen another CR700 that was sold with the word “Volume” and the little numbers around the knob totally removed.  To me, this indicates the original silk screening was unusually fragile.  The rarity of this receiver makes replacement parts extremely hard to find, so I decided to leave the faceplate as I found it vs removing lettering totally or trying to somehow re-ink the missing letters.