Yamaha T-4 (1979–1981)

The Yamaha T-4 is a stereo FM/AM tuner built for the Japanese domestic market from 1979 to 1981. It sat at the bottom of Yamaha's "new T series" - the basic model beneath the T-7 and T-9 - and was priced at 18,000 yen at introduction.

It covers only the Japanese FM band (76-90 MHz), so the T-4 is seldom seen outside Japan. That keeps it a somewhat niche collectible today. It's a compact, straightforward analog tuner with a large flywheel tuning knob, an LED signal meter, and both fixed and variable RCA line outputs. A multipath output jack is present, switched, as is a mute function. The front end uses a varactor diode for FM tuning and a PLL multiplex decoder IC.

Specifications from the period are consistent across sources. Usable sensitivity is 10.0 dBf (1.3 µV at 300Ω), 50 dB quieting comes at 13.0 dBf, mono THD is 0.3% at 40 dBf, and stereo separation is 40 dB at 40 dBf. Selectivity is rated better than 60 dB, capture ratio 1.5 dB, image rejection 50 dB, AM suppression 55 dB, and spurious response rejection 90 dB. The audio frequency response is 30 Hz to 15 kHz, and AM sensitivity is 300 µV. The signal-to-noise ratio is listed at 70 dB, though hifi-wiki.de lists 74 dB at 40 dBf. Output is approximately 0.75 V fixed, with a variable output also available. hifi-wiki.de lists an output voltage range of 0.75 V to 1.5 V at 40 dBf.

The T-4 measures 435 × 46 × 268 mm and weighs 3.4 kg. Power consumption is a modest 5 W. The FM antenna inputs accept both 300Ω balanced and 75Ω coaxial connections, and an external AM antenna terminal is provided. A period review from Modern Recording (July 1979, p.86) confirmed Yamaha's published signal-to-noise figures under standard measurement conditions.

Known specs:

FM tuning range: 76–90 MHz (Japanese band)
Usable sensitivity: 10.0 dBf (1.3 µV at 300Ω)
50 dB quieting: 13.0 dBf
THD (mono, 40 dBf): 0.3%
Stereo separation (40 dBf): 40 dB
Selectivity: better than 60 dB
Output: 0.75 V fixed, plus variable
Dimensions: 435 × 46 × 268 mm; 3.4 kg

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Yamaha T-4 (1979–1981)

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