NS690 vs NS500m

[Jpete9]

HI there, i have NS 690MK1 and NS70T and i have the option on some nice NS500M.
Its a long trip to get them so i was hoping to get some feedback first.

I only need to keep 2 pairs, so if i buy the NS500M the NS70T will be sold. (690 are staying forever)

Has anyone got any thoughts on how they sounds compared to each other, or thoughts on the NS500m in general?

 

[asilker]

I really liked my 500m's. Very dry and clean with tons of resolution. Snare hits and toms in particular sounded huge and tight. Highly recommended speaker. The bass sits in comfortably as a support but really it's a midrange showcase speaker.

The fella I got them from also had the 670 690 and 1000. In no uncertain terms he said that the 500m and 1000 were a step up in quality and resolution.

 

[Balifly]

HI there, i have NS 690MK1 and NS70T and i have the option on some nice NS500M.
Its a long trip to get them so i was hoping to get some feedback first.

I only need to keep 2 pairs, so if i buy the NS500M the NS70T will be sold. (690 are staying forever)

Has anyone got any thoughts on how they sounds compared to each other, or thoughts on the NS500m in general?

Have the same speakers as you do.

Looking forward to your review of the NS 500M if that happens.

 

[Jpete9]

Ok I am going to pull the trigger and i might sell the NS70T if i like the NS500M better. See how i go

 

[gizzyman47]

Don't blame you for not getting rid of the ns-690. Although I'm not running mine right now, I'll be keeping mine also.

 

[tubed]

Having owned all three, the NS-690 is hardly a step down in quality from the NS-500/1000.
The 690 quality is on par with the other two, perhaps nicer, add to the fact some may prefer the sound quality it has to offer over the other two fine speakers, ymmv.

 

[Pio1980]

The 690s afaik have a rep for being more tolerant of 'hard edged' source material than their beryllium siblings.

 

[Jpete9]

Not long home with them. I spent around 15-20min A/Bing them against my 690s. The 500s smoke them in the clarity stakes. For vocal/brass the 500 are much better. The 690s still sound nicer with Fleetwood Mac/Sade/Eagles - there is a really nice tone that appeals to me on these. But for more delicate stuff, eg the Jeff Buckley's You and I, the 500s are clearer.

Tomorrow the night the family is out, i am going to ease into an old bottle of scotch and get to know them a little better.

 

[Jazzmuso]

The clarity and detail comes form the Beryllium tweeter - I am not sure if it carries some mids. Apparently the NS 1000 crossover has mids and tops shared between the two beryllium drivers in that crossover

 

[Jpete9]

Yes.
NS500m = Be Tweeter, Ti Mid, Carbon Fibre Bass.
NS1000 = Be Tweeter, Be Mid, Paper Bass.

I think the Carbon cone exists only for the this model. The NS1000x and NS2000 has a stepped type carbon cone that looks different.

I dont think the NS500M crossover is as sophisticated (maybe it doesnt need to be?) as the NS1000.

I want to try something different, maybe Valve Amp, but at 91db the NS500M need more than the 6w of power i can afford in valves...

 

[MudSlideSlim]

I can only speak of the two Yamaha NS speakers I own NS 1000m and the NS200m. To listen to them separately my thought is the NS 200m is 80% of the NS1000m but to A/B them the NS 1000m speakers really 'smokes' (as in smoke on the water) the NS200m. My point is that even if you have one of the lesser NS speaker in your minds eye you might be 80%or 90% of the way there so just enjoy this wonderful line of speakers. you can't go wrong with any of them. YMMV

Just to be slightly contrary to what Jpete9 said one of the joys of my NS1000m speakers is to effortless realize who the backup singer is. If Christine McVie is doing lead my ears goes to Stevie Nicks doing back up or vise verse. Fleetwood Mac as a rock group really one of life's little pleasures. But I agree with his general point that for more finesse and detail the Be tweeters and mid range are a class act.

Michael

 

[Mark B]

IMO the driver that sets NS speakers with beryllium drivers apart is the 8.8cm midrange dome. My Infinity IRS Delta's are doing backup duty to the NS-1000xw's because of that midrange (and the spectacular imaging).

 

[Jpete9]

Thanks. I would love to own some. There is one pair of NS1000xw for sale in Oz. $5900usd

You would be mad to buy them IMO. Any issue whatsoever and your cooked. No spares for you! At 2k or something i would be OK with the risk, but 6k i imagine something comparable and serviceable would be available?

The 1000x has a different set of drivers to the 1000/1000m apparently - so not sure how yours compare to 1000/1000m - have you tried it?

 

[Mark B]

I haven't compared my 1000xw's to 1000/1000m's. The biggest difference would be the carbon fiber woofers round out the low end a bit. There are a lot of these speakers available in Japan. Shipping is expensive, and the real possibility of shifted magnets on the woofers during shipping makes it a risky proposition.

 

[rottalpha]

I haven't compared my 1000xw's to 1000/1000m's. The biggest difference would be the carbon fiber woofers round out the low end a bit. There are a lot of these speakers available in Japan. Shipping is expensive, and the real possibility of shifted magnets on the woofers during shipping makes it a risky proposition.

mine came on the pallet. no magnet shift..thanks god, but the shipping gorillas still managed to drive the forklift inside one of the boxes and scraped the bottom of one of the speakers...could have been worse, so I am not complaining (it is the right rear corner of the left speaker in the photo...I will never notice it)

Hi Mark, I did not have time to test my X's against my M's, but the initial impression was that while carbon woofer had a more authority, they kind of lacked some of the finesse of paper woofers. I do not want to make a prediction of how they compare when set side by side, but I think that the M's low end will not be as "low" but will be more detailed. If you end up doing the comparison, I would be really curious to hear your thoughts. Again, I did not have the proper setup but that was my impression based on a very limited time of listening of sound from poor source and not ideal speaker positioning...when I listened to the X's.

 

[SuperLead100]

I'm a little late to the party but here goes. I also have NS-500m's, NS-670's, and NS-70t's; I enjoy them all very much but they do (to me) have very distinct personalities. The 70t's are a warmer sounding speaker yet still provide clarity and detail. I also find they provide more low end than the other two but its bass is not as tight as the others. It is a larger cabinet than the 670's with a spruce fiber woofer and titanium mid and tweeter. All in all 70'ts are very impressive sounding.
To me, the 670's are a very nice all around speaker that provide great detail and more bass than you'd expect (depending on the recording). I do run the attenuators on the tweeters at about two o'clock to add a bit more for highs. I find they are very accurate and present most genres very well. The build quality on the 670's is phenomenal and they sound great with all my Yamaha amps.
The NS-500m's are the most detailed and unforgiving with poorly recorded material. The highs are crystalline, the mids prominently forward and bring vocals to life, and the bass is tight yet full. They are a greatly underrated Yamaha speaker as many other models get more love. The 690's and 670's are prettier, as the 500m's look more like the 1000m's, but the 500'ms will hold their own against those speakers and even outperform them depending on your preferences. They can also usually be found for much less than the 690's/670's because they are so underrated.

 

[Mark B]

mine came on the pallet. no magnet shift..thanks god, but the shipping gorillas still managed to drive the forklift inside one of the boxes and scraped the bottom of one of the speakers...could have been worse, so I am not complaining (it is the right rear corner of the left speaker in the photo...I will never notice it)

Hi Mark, I did not have time to test my X's against my M's, but the initial impression was that while carbon woofer had a more authority, they kind of lacked some of the finesse of paper woofers. I do not want to make a prediction of how they compare when set side by side, but I think that the M's low end will not be as "low" but will be more detailed. If you end up doing the comparison, I would be really curious to hear your thoughts. Again, I did not have the proper setup but that was my impression based on a very limited time of listening of sound from poor source and not ideal speaker positioning...when I listened to the X's.

When my NS-1000xw's arrived with one of the carbon fiber woofers ruined I bought a pair of new NS-1000 paper coned woofers, and used the speakers that way for several years. I prefer them with the carbon fiber woofers.

 

[rottalpha]

When my NS-1000xw's arrived with one of the carbon fiber woofers ruined I bought a pair of new NS-1000 paper coned woofers, and used the speakers that way for several years. I prefer them with the carbon fiber woofers.

I saw the broken magnet on that woofer. What a pity. I am glad you ended up finding the replacement.

As far as the sound...when I will do that side by side comparison, I will know more. It won't be for a while :-(

 

[Jpete9]

I bought the ns 500m. Used them for 2 weeks and sold them. Yes they were clear but after a while I was hoping for some more clarity and detail in the mids. I will get the ns1000 or ns1000x. I am in Japan right now and have demoed a few in store. But the shipping to oz makes them too Exe. In oct I will focus on getting replacements. Interesting that Yamaha amps used in demos. As1100 and ca1000

 

[avionic]

500,690... 500, 690... 500, 690........NS-1000