Yamaha NS-500M vs NS-1000M - the former wins!

TEPEZ

TEPEZ

New Member
Hello friends! So I bought them both. Well, It started with a love affair with the ”little” Yamaha NS-100M, that in terms of transparency/neutrality/overall performance blew both my WLM Diva Monitor’s and Harbeth Monitor 30’s (and a few others from the closet) out of the water. I love the ”monitor sound”, mind you.

I just had to the get the NS-1000M’s (abundant in Scandinavia due to Swedish Radio sellling out hundreds (?) of pairs in the last 10 years). Bought a pair locally.

And by coincidence I the same week stumbled upon a pair of NS-500M’s (pretty rare over here). Had to buy them too.

The wife was not happy. Not at all. Quite the opposite. Well, there are no shortcuts. She must understand this.

I was - as expected - amazed at the sound of the NS1000m. Bright, fast, agile, transparent (nedless to say they put the JBL 4311b’s I had in my living room and was considering in buying to such a shame it was almost embarrassing). The detail and presence of these speakers is just something else. True statement speakers. A love affair to be sure. Though a tiiiiny bit harsh in the upper mid’s and a tiiiiny bit lightweight in the bass/midbass, which I really don’t mind...

I proceeded to connect the NS-500M’s. Roughly the same sized cabinets and overall appearence - the NS1000M’s build might have the slight edge. Both are statement/reference build quality, though.

I upon first listen could not hear any difference what so ever compared to the NS1000M’s on my first reference recording (Cohen I’m your man Soundtrack). The sound - imageing/detail/precence was immaculate.

After a couple of days changeing back and forward between the NS1000M / NS500M playing all of my reference recordings on CD the differences became, not apparently, but subtlety noticeable. BTW, Played on my McIntosh power amp, Yamaha power amp, Pathos Logos integrated and Kenwood Mono blocks.

In my opinion, the NS500M possesses what the NS1000M is ”missing” - namely a hint of warmth to the upper midrange, and most noticeable, a slightly more distinct bass response (without ever sounding loose or lean). This most likely due to the titanium carbide dome driver mildrange (500m) instead of beryllium (1000m) and carbon fiber Woofer (500m) instead of paper (1000m). Detail/transparency/etc is seemingly the same between the two, to my ears.

To me - a lover of neutral/airy/extremely detailed speakers for critical listening only - the NS1000M and the NS500M are the best speakers out there (If you don’t want to pay ”silly money”).

And between them, the NS500M’s have the slight overall edge (though almost identical sound). This to me was Very surprising. Love them both though. And wont part with any of them. Sorry Marie.

Anyone else here who has compared the NS1000M to the NS500M (or NS100M/200M)? I’d love to hear your opinion.
 
It sounds like you should try adjusting the l-pads on the NS1000s. It's been recommended by some owners to turn down the mids to about nine o'clock, and turn down the tweeter a little also. Here's a photo of where mine are at currently.
 

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Sure, I’ll give that a try, even though it feels ”psychologically wrong” and hard to look at the l-pads like that, in the long run:)

But, dont’t get me wrong - I think the NS1000M’s sound is exceptional, and who knows, eventually I might prefer it’s ever so slightly lighter/brighter sound to the NS500’s ever so slightly fuller sound (I always seem to find myself going back to brighter/drier sounding boxes, not that the NS1000M sounds dry). And I don’t want to exaggerate the differences between them, which also subjective to some extent...
 
And I have more listening experience with the NS1000M’s, since I owned a scruffy pair many years ago - but remember their sonic signature as somewhat different. And my sonic preferences at 20 years of age certainly were different.
 
I understand, and I have found that many different vintage 3-way speakers run with a hot midrange that needs to be turned down a bit. Not sure why?
 
I had a pair of NS500's for about 20 years.....my belief is its much easier to make a great sounding 2way than 3way speaker. I never had the luxury of comparing the NS1000's to the NS500's, but those 500's sounded much better to me than many other speakers I brought home during those years.
 
isolar801 said:
I had a pair of NS500's for about 20 years.....my belief is its much easier to make a great sounding 2way than 3way speaker. I never had the luxury of comparing the NS1000's to the NS500's, but those 500's sounded much better to me than many other speakers I brought home during those years.
Click to expand...

I fully agree. One less driver makes for less filter ajustment/components/integration/etc, but when done all correctly I find a 3-way monitor the more satisfying listening of the two.
 
Thank you Tepez for sharing your experiences. I own a pair of Yamaha NS-200M and think they're top notch. I haven't had the opportunity to compare the NS-200M to the 500M or 1000M side by side, but to my ears the 200Ms don't sound bright, the mids are very accurate and not recessed, the bass is tight and dynamic, though they lack the very deep bass.
Even though they lean towards that monitor sound, I can listen to them for hours on end without fatigue, unlike real (flat) studio monitors I've owned.
Overall they're fantastic and hard to beat.
 
TEPEZ said:
In my opinion, the NS500M possesses what the NS1000M is ”missing” - namely a hint of warmth to the upper midrange, and most noticeable, a slightly more distinct bass response (without ever sounding loose or lean). This most likely due to the titanium carbide dome driver mildrange (500m) instead of beryllium (1000m) and carbon fiber Woofer (500m) instead of paper (1000m). Detail/transparency/etc is seemingly the same between the two, to my ears.

To me - a lover of neutral/airy/extremely detailed speakers for critical listening only - the NS1000M and the NS500M are the best speakers out there (If you don’t want to pay ”silly money”).

And between them, the NS500M’s have the slight overall edge (though almost identical sound). This to me was Very surprising. Love them both though. And wont part with any of them. Sorry Marie.

Anyone else here who has compared the NS1000M to the NS500M (or NS100M/200M)? I’d love to hear your opinion.
Click to expand...

I have a set of Yamaha NS-70t titanium which is fairly close to the NS-500M. :)

Have also used the NS-1000M in the house, not at the same time as the NS-70t though.

Unfortunately have not been able to do a side by side comparison as you have done.

FYI the specifications for the NS-70t:
Type .......................3-way 4-speaker bass reflex speaker system
Speaker Unit..............................................20 cm cone woofer x 2
10 cm cone mid-range
2.5 cm (1") dome tweete
Nominal Impedance ...........................................................6 ohms
Frequency Response ............................................38 Hz – 20 kHz
Nominal Input Power ..............................................................80W
Music Input Power................................................................280W
Sensitivity.....................................................................90 dB/W·m
Dimensions (WxHxD)....................................254 x 950 x 314 mm
..............................................................(10" x 37-3/8" x 12-3/8")
Weight.....................................................................15 kg (33 lbs.)
Accessories ..............................................Speaker cable (4m) x 2

Using a Luxman L-430
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/luxman/l-430.shtml
 
I’d love to listen to both the NS-200M and the NS-70T. Regrettably, Very scarse supply of those models here in Scandinavia. Nice to hear that these wonderful speakers still get played out there.

Probably no surprise that the NS-line speakers sound similar - and in a way good that the focus has been on the NS1000M only (at least over here). There are some serious bargains to be had in many of the other NS-speakers. I really don’t think you could do better than to buy a good pari of NS, despite questionable WAF....I Wouldnt even want to think of What speakers like this would cost to develop/construct today, with the standard used by Yamaha back then.
 
I think people are confusing the three-way NS-500M and the two-way NS-500. These are very different speakers.

http://www.vintage-speaker-review.com/2012/06/yamaha-ns-500-and-ns-500m-review-and.html
Yamaha NS-500 and 500M in comparison
The Yamaha NS-500 speaker series consists of two different speaker models. The NS-500, a two-way speaker with a Be tweeter and the NS-500M, a three-way speaker with a titanium midrange speaker and the same Be tweeter. “Be” refers to the beryllium deposited in the manufacturing of the tweeters, which ought to make them stronger, lighter and more responsive. NS-500M speakers have a weight of around 51 lbs. and measure 14 ¾” x 26 5/8” x 12 ¾” .
Even though both speaker models are of high quality, the NS-500M is rated higher in reviews, not at last because it is has a midrange speaker.
Both models include a 12” woofer and Yamaha´s 2” dome be tweeter, the NS-500M includes the mentioned 4” semidome midrange speaker. Be aware that the midrange speaker is not the beryllium midrange, used in the bigger Yamaha NS-1000.
Both, the NS-500 and 500M include two level controls under the speaker grills. One control allows to adjust high frequency sounds, the other adjusts the midrange. When altering these controls, set the midrange control to the desired level before altering the high levelcontrol.
If you are looking for specific information about the NS-500M, you will find plenty of manuals on the internet or just click the link at the end of the article, which will open the correct link at audiokarma´s manual database.
 
TEPEZ said:
Hello friends! So I bought them both. Well, It started with a love affair with the ”little” Yamaha NS-100M, that in terms of transparency/neutrality/overall performance blew both my WLM Diva Monitor’s and Harbeth Monitor 30’s (and a few others from the closet) out of the water. I love the ”monitor sound”, mind you.

I just had to the get the NS-1000M’s (abundant in Scandinavia due to Swedish Radio sellling out hundreds (?) of pairs in the last 10 years). Bought a pair locally.

And by coincidence I the same week stumbled upon a pair of NS-500M’s (pretty rare over here). Had to buy them too.

The wife was not happy. Not at all. Quite the opposite. Well, there are no shortcuts. She must understand this.

I was - as expected - amazed at the sound of the NS1000m. Bright, fast, agile, transparent (nedless to say they put the JBL 4311b’s I had in my living room and was considering in buying to such a shame it was almost embarrassing). The detail and presence of these speakers is just something else. True statement speakers. A love affair to be sure. Though a tiiiiny bit harsh in the upper mid’s and a tiiiiny bit lightweight in the bass/midbass, which I really don’t mind...

I proceeded to connect the NS-500M’s. Roughly the same sized cabinets and overall appearence - the NS1000M’s build might have the slight edge. Both are statement/reference build quality, though.

I upon first listen could not hear any difference what so ever compared to the NS1000M’s on my first reference recording (Cohen I’m your man Soundtrack). The sound - imageing/detail/precence was immaculate.

After a couple of days changeing back and forward between the NS1000M / NS500M playing all of my reference recordings on CD the differences became, not apparently, but subtlety noticeable. BTW, Played on my McIntosh power amp, Yamaha power amp, Pathos Logos integrated and Kenwood Mono blocks.

In my opinion, the NS500M possesses what the NS1000M is ”missing” - namely a hint of warmth to the upper midrange, and most noticeable, a slightly more distinct bass response (without ever sounding loose or lean). This most likely due to the titanium carbide dome driver mildrange (500m) instead of beryllium (1000m) and carbon fiber Woofer (500m) instead of paper (1000m). Detail/transparency/etc is seemingly the same between the two, to my ears.

To me - a lover of neutral/airy/extremely detailed speakers for critical listening only - the NS1000M and the NS500M are the best speakers out there (If you don’t want to pay ”silly money”).

And between them, the NS500M’s have the slight overall edge (though almost identical sound). This to me was Very surprising. Love them both though. And wont part with any of them. Sorry Marie.

Anyone else here who has compared the NS1000M to the NS500M (or NS100M/200M)? I’d love to hear your opinion.
Click to expand...

I've never heard NS-1000m's but own several pairs of Yamaha NS speakers (see sig). I will say the 500m's are wonderful speakers and match your description quite well. Interestingly, the NS-70t's are fairly close to the 500m's but not quite the match for them overall. The 70t's have a relatively deep cabinet and produce more bass than most NS speakers I've heard; I think the 70t's maybe the "consumer" version of the 200m's. If you like the Yamaha sound but like just a bit more low end I think the 70t's are a really nice choice. The 670's and 690's are also superb speakers but I'd give a slight edge to the 500m's...if only they weren't so industrial looking...
 
I just sold my NS-500M's, but I owned them for about 9 months. I bought them and a pair of 1000's (Not M's, the home version) at the same time. After listening to them side by side I feel that the 1000's have better midrange but the 500M's had slightly better bass. Almost everything else was equal. I just sold the 500M's today, and I and the buyer listened to the 500M's and the 1000's for a while. He came to the same conclusion. When listening to the saxophone of Candy Dulfer we both agreed the edge went to the 1000's, but when there was more need for bass, the 500M's had just a bit more punch. Anyway, I still have the 1000's, and love them. But the 500M's are quite impressive in my book, and I will miss them.
 
During my madness years (when my collecting was at it’s highest) I had a love for Yamaha speakers.At one point I had the NS 1000’s ,500M’s,the 200M’s,NS 10’s and the 670’s.The first ones I sold were the NS 10’s to a school that was wanting them for recording.The next was the 670’s.Those were the easiest decisions on which one to sell.I was ordered by the boss (wife) to narrow my collection.This is how I came to the decision on which I had to part with, which was not easy.The 1000’s were my favorite for jazz and instrumental music.The 500M’s were more balanced for rock and roll.I did not listen to much jazz and was always a rock and roller.I sold the 1000’s.So now I was left with the 500M’s or the 200M’s.That decision was actually harder.My ideal set up was to have the 500M’s as front and 200M’s as rears.I kept the 500M’s.I have sold many very fine speakers,Pioneer HPM 100’s,JBL 4410’s. B&W etc, but selling my 200M’s were the ones that hurt the most.The 500M’s had the slight edge because of the way they could fill the room with such a well balanced sound.At an easy listening level the 200M’s were the best, no fatigue.But I do love how rock sounds when I want to crank it with my Sansui G8000.I know my descriptions are not technical but it seems difficult to put into words such nuances.
 
SOONERS1958 said:
During my madness years (when my collecting was at it’s highest) I had a love for Yamaha speakers.At one point I had the NS 1000’s ,500M’s,the 200M’s,NS 10’s and the 670’s.The first ones I sold were the NS 10’s to a school that was wanting them for recording.The next was the 670’s.Those were the easiest decisions on which one to sell.I was ordered by the boss (wife) to narrow my collection.This is how I came to the decision on which I had to part with, which was not easy.The 1000’s were my favorite for jazz and instrumental music.The 500M’s were more balanced for rock and roll.I did not listen to much jazz and was always a rock and roller.I sold the 1000’s.So now I was left with the 500M’s or the 200M’s.That decision was actually harder.My ideal set up was to have the 500M’s as front and 200M’s as rears.I kept the 500M’s.I have sold many very fine speakers,Pioneer HPM 100’s,JBL 4410’s. B&W etc, but selling my 200M’s were the ones that hurt the most.The 500M’s had the slight edge because of the way they could fill the room with such a well balanced sound.At an easy listening level the 200M’s were the best, no fatigue.But I do love how rock sounds when I want to crank it with my Sansui G8000.I know my descriptions are not technical but it seems difficult to put into words such nuances.
Click to expand...

Revisiting this post because I had the opportunity to compare NS-500 (2-way), NS-500M and NS-200M at a store. While I had the NS-670 at home and had owned NS-690II in the past, too.

Now, this was very interesting, each speaker was tested with a vintage JVC reciver JVC JR-S100 or S200, in any case no more than 35W/chan.

The NS-200M had what can be described as pleasant sound, similar to my NS-670, however bass response was rather light AND... when trying to achive good bass response and volume, the JVC receiver emptied its power reserves (power supply fluctuating with the music). None of the other speakers tested (500M, 500) had such issue when trying to reproduce a nice, loud sound rich in bass, the JVC power being enough.

So either the NS-200M needs lots of current, or something strange was with this sample (which looked, cosmetically, in great shape, btw).

Has anybody had such experience with the 200M? I would like to buy it, but it was very strange to see them so power hungry. Specifications show 90db/w/m, similar to the other two speakers tested. Yet the other two were more efficient on the bass department.
 
Bought a pair of NS-1000's last year off a fellow who rented our basement apt. from us. Already had a pair of the NS-670 and NS-690's which I admired very much. Always wanted to hear the 1000's and wasn't disappointed. Great speakers in my book! Heavy as all hell though! While I love the NS-1000's, I don't think I could sell my NS-690's. The 670's I would set free. Can only have so many!
 
gizzyman47 said:
Bought a pair of NS-1000's last year off a fellow who rented our basement apt. from us. Already had a pair of the NS-670 and NS-690's which I admired very much. Always wanted to hear the 1000's and wasn't disappointed. Great speakers in my book! Heavy as all hell though! While I love the NS-1000's, I don't think I could sell my NS-690's. The 670's I would set free. Can only have so many!
Click to expand...

FWIW, the japanese catalog for the NS-690/670 show the latter (the smaller 670) to have a frequency response without the kinks the 690 has, and slightly lower distortion.

All of them are pretty good speakers, though.
 
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