The NS-5000 seem to be sold everywhere but the Americas. It could be a matter of really having a hit on their hand and supply and demand as the reviews have been good. I found a Yamaha dealer in Tokyo with the NS-5000's on their website with the notation "backorder". That should tell you something. Competition in this price range is tough, but I doubt Yamaha is going to bring in just its high end amp and stop there; note Technics is back with a full high end line, although at a higher price level. I also see some of the newer speakers in this price range going for 2/3 of their list prices used, like Wilson Sabrina and B&W 803d3. Now you have Magico introducing the A3, an all aluminum machined sealed acoustic suspension speaker for $10k that doesn't look like it has a lot of compromises. That could be a game changer.I still play and my C7 is the centerpiece of my music room. Well it was until the GT-2000 showed up and now they fight over the limelight.
There's no longer any Yamahas in the garage but I miss both my old FJ1200 and GTS1000 (look it up - James Parker's RADD front end made it something special).
I'd love to hear the NS-5000 and I'm fairly certain it would do justice to the price. But in that range there is some very stiff competition...my dealer would have let me have his floor model Revel Ultima Salon 2s for the same money and somehow I don't think the 5000's are *that* good .
jblnut