As I recall (and memory is not the best arbiter of fact), Yamaha was generally sold via dealers sans the usual "Pioneer" discount. Example: a Pioneer SA-9500 v2 integrated amplifier had a 'list' at $450.00, but mail order price was about $300.00. It had similar specs to this Yamaha... maybe better. Pioneer's massive SX-1250 receiver sported a $900.00 list, but mail order was about $550.00. Brick and mortars hated that, and by necessity gravitated to lines without this sort of discounting mentality. Eventually Pioneer became persona non grata.
The Yamaha dealer in my area sold SAE (a line of separates originally designed, I think, by Jim Bongiorno), Bang and Olufsen, and Tandberg. They even sold the Ira Gale/Sao Win turntable, along with Ira's speakers. You couldn't buy those brands at a discount. If you entered their store and admitted you owned a Pioneer, or were thinking about one, they'd laugh in your face (OK--maybe they'd be more subtle about it). They'd tell you how Yamaha was the 'real' high-end of Japanese electronics. Of course Yamaha 'sounded' better. They'd convince you of that.
Later, you might pick up one of the 'underground' hi-fi magazines. There, Yamaha would usually play second violin to some obscure American boutique manufacturer; a manufacturer that might not be in business a month later, after you spent a thousand dollars on his amp that just blew up, and took out your speakers. Then you'd wished you'd bought the Yamaha. Or Pioneer.
Even with all the politics and BS, gear from those days had a certain 'class' that you just don't find much anymore. My current amp runs circles around any of that era's stuff. But I'd like it even more if it looked as nice as some of the Yamaha (or Pioneer) electronics from those days.
I have an ancient Pioneer SX727 tuner/amp. It is a very high quality piece I got for free. I recapped it and used it for years.
It needs recapped again...but I won't bother. I like my ridiculous new system much more! Corrected for inflation it would
be about 2000 dollars today. One thing about the old 70s tuners that were good ones...they have fantastic FM receivers.
The AM BCB in most of them was pedestrian...but the FM tuners were excellent. They are sensitive, selective, and don't
overload when connected to a rooftop antenna. They blow modern receiver on a chip digital radios away...there is just
no comparison. Of course, I don't listen to FM anymore so that does not matter to me. But if you like to...try one out.
So much better than the crap made today. My pioneer has a mitsumi tuner in it. Multiple stages of tuned RF amplification
in a classic super-hetrodyne architecture. Fantastic!
Much more power/dollar is easy now thanks to class D and switching power supplies. But the new tuners suck.
Control feel and potentiometer quality are better in the old stuff too. Also no SMD devices make service a breeze.
Unless you need long ago discontinued transistors or a power transformer. Pots are not out there either...and they fail.
I love the old stuff a bunch. But they are fading into memory as they fail in unfixable ways. If nothing else, this test
shows how nice the old stuff was. But it was expensive too.