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Yamaha NS1000M a good buy?

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eddy123

New Member
I always had a weak for Yamaha products specially the Speakers. I can buy a set NS1000M for about 1300USD. The owner says there are in perfect condition, of course he wants to sell. I have not seen them yet. Buying these is one but driving them could be a challenge . I have only a vintage CR2040 and a bit newer RXV2095 receiver.

My question; is the price right? its quite a lot of money for some vintage speakers. I read that the NS1000X is a much better speaker.

Could one of my two receivers drive these or should I look out for another amplifier??

Regards
eddy
 
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Their a great speaker and I'd love to have them.

Usually they sell around $1,000 a pair if you can find them. In that condition their probably worth it....
 
More a D&S question but here goes. That is pricey for NS-1000M's.

The NS-1000M's are not too hard to drive so the 120 watts in the CR-2040 will be more than enough.

The NS-1000X is slightly larger and heavier and will go a little deeper. Otherwise, they sound similar.
 
Small money for the level of performance. Put the NS-1000M's next to Harbeth 7es-3 or Monitor 30's and listen for what the differences are. The NS-1000M is cleaner, more transparent and larger sounding. Despite actually being less bright (that one is a surprise) the NS-1000M has a greater abundance of low level detail. The Harbeth monitors are warmer and boxy but in a nice way and have a bit more bass. Both great speakers, they each have a different calling. The Harbeths might appeal more general listeners who do so for relaxation while these Yamaha speakers are better suited to critical listening, having a low coloration advantage in light of a narrow bandwidth. The NS-1000X is not a better speaker, the vertically aligned driver arrangement causes notable baffle edge response ripple and drops if I recall correctly around 1.3kHz, 3kHz, and 4.5kHz. Receiver will work, but separates are rewarding.
 
Nikko75 said:
...these Yamaha speakers are better suited to critical listening, having a low coloration advantage in light of a narrow bandwidth. The NS-1000X is not a better speaker, the vertically aligned driver arrangement causes notable baffle edge response ripple and drops if I recall correctly around 1.3kHz, 3kHz, and 4.5kHz. Receiver will work, but separates are rewarding.
Click to expand...

Interesting comment on the alignment of the mid and upper drivers. I've read comments good and bad on mirrored and vertical alignment. What are you hearing that is different?
 
I've read a lot of thing too, some true, some not. The JA-311400 tweeter used a poly-based damper as part of the suspension molded to the rear of the diaphragm. At higher power it could actually separate, that was a starter. As noted in my previous post, the response isn't quite as good as the 1000M model. What I do recall is some peakiness and depression in the high frequency range. The auditioning was performed with a distributor from Harbeth present and he was quite impressed with the NS-1000M's sonic performance. Both speakers were placed on 20" stands, Quad 606 amplifier. The NS-1000Ms also were a notable improvement in my opinion over the nice B&W 803S, which were $3000 per channel, no less. That wasn't a direct side by side comparison, however. In any case, it offers great value.
 
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I've heard NS1000's and I really don't get the prices they command.

A very neutral sounding speaker, but I guess if that's what you like.. more power to you..

Yes, the price on these is a little high.. .as a whole I think they are over priced all the way around.

Great quality speaker, but a sound that you'll either love or hate... You better give them a really good listen before you decide if that sound is worth the money to you.
 
I am driving my NS-690 Mk1s with a CR-2040 and I can force you out of the room if I wish to. Thet are on about 16" stands that I built when I still had the baby brother NS-670s. Just glad I made the stands sturdy.

It took me approximately a month to dial them in to where I feel the three drivers are equal. If I put on the Fanfare for the Common Man you will feel the drums as well as hear them.

$1300 is a bunch of money but don't worry about your CR-2040
 
I would say its a bit high. Like a few others mentioned they usually go for around 1k. I can get a nice set right now for around 600.00 in my area with original stands. But i just picked up my ns-690's and have not had enough time with them yet to decide if i want somthing better. Also cant really swing 600.00 right now. There are better deals to be had but if its hard to come by equipment in your area, and they are really what you want go for it. So far i like my 690's alot.
 
Nikko75 said:
Small money for the level of performance. Put the NS-1000M's next to Harbeth 7es-3 or Monitor 30's and listen for what the differences are. The NS-1000M is cleaner, more transparent and larger sounding. Despite actually being less bright (that one is a surprise) the NS-1000M has a greater abundance of low level detail. The Harbeth monitors are warmer and boxy but in a nice way and have a bit more bass. Both great speakers, they each have a different calling. The Harbeths might appeal more general listeners who do so for relaxation while these Yamaha speakers are better suited to critical listening, having a low coloration advantage in light of a narrow bandwidth. The NS-1000X is not a better speaker, the vertically aligned driver arrangement causes notable baffle edge response ripple and drops if I recall correctly around 1.3kHz, 3kHz, and 4.5kHz. Receiver will work, but separates are rewarding.
Click to expand...

I had a pair of NS-1000X's and the low frequency improvement over my NS-1000M's was significant and greatly improved the only real flaw on the 1000M version.

The 1000X vertical alignment and subsequent slight ripple and drop off might move a meter in a sound chamber, but go mainly unnoticed in the real world, while the improved low frequency performance over the 1000M was a welcome addition on the 1000X. I had them both, side by side, and more than my ears agreed with that conclusion.

Yamaha normally improved their audio products with subsequent models and the 1000X was an updated version with a graphite carbon woofer rather than the paper cone of the JA-3058A. Not sure how much woofer composition equates to bass presentation, but it was significantly improved on the 1000X.

To answer the OP, $1300 is absolute top dollar for 1000M versions, look to spend half that. 690's and the excellent 500M are good alternatives for less money. I still have my 500M's....:yes:
 
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I’m enjoying a pair of NS1000M at the moment and they sound outstanding. IMO the bass performance is great matching the mid and HF drivers delivering an accurate and quit dynamic reproduction of music.
Prices for these can vary widely with $1300 being on the high side, but on the other hand you may also never come across that <$500 pair locally. For the price, you’re definitely going to want to audition them and if you absolutely love them, talk the seller down…they’ll have a hard time selling at that price.
 
Thanks all !

I know these are great speakers, still have a set NS-655 which is pleasing me for more than 30 years, and is it that long! I bought my CR-2040 at the same time and still use it as my office set. I put the set aside for some years after I bought the Infinity Kappa 8. The CR-2040 could not drive these speakers so I bought a set of Denon Amplifiers. The Infinity's were finally sold due to a move together with the Denon set but never did away my CR-2040. The NS-655 were with my brother and came back to me after some years. The foams had to be replaced which I did. I was always impressed about the solid construction and used materials of these speakers. It’s still top class and hasn’t seen any similar speakers of this quality after the 90's. The NS-1000M was always a young boys dream for me, I actually should dream of girls at that age but I didn’t as a teenager, only much later :D. Now it’s financially within reach but maybe I should keep this dream alive and don’t get disappointed by price or performance. I hope it’s possible to view them as they are for sale on a kind of eBay website in this country.
Cheers! will let you know if I bought them.
 
That is too much money for them in my opinion. The price is driven by the legendary status they have developed. There was a time when they were 6 to 7 hundred a pair not that long ago. I had a pair of ns-500m's, with the smaller woofer and titanium midrange, but with the beryllium tweeters and was not blown away.. I only spent 200 for them at the time locally and sold them for a few bucks more. If you want to find a pair of Japanese speakers that will sound better than them, look for a pair of Sony SS-M7's. The Yamaha's are true monitor speakers and thus only hit down to 50hz with a 10 inch woofer.
 
Jax3822 said:
That is too much money for them in my opinion. The price is driven by the legendary status they have developed. There was a time when they were 6 to 7 hundred a pair not that long ago. I had a pair of ns-500m's, with the smaller woofer and titanium midrange, but with the beryllium tweeters and was not blown away.. I only spent 200 for them at the time locally and sold them for a few bucks more. If you want to find a pair of Japanese speakers that will sound better than them, look for a pair of Sony SS-M7's. The Yamaha's are true monitor speakers and thus only hit down to 50hz with a 10 inch woofer.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't part with mine for anything less..Second thought , I wouldn't part with mine..:no:
 
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Jax3822 said:
That is too much money for them in my opinion. The price is driven by the legendary status they have developed. There was a time when they were 6 to 7 hundred a pair not that long ago. I had a pair of ns-500m's, with the smaller woofer and titanium midrange, but with the beryllium tweeters and was not blown away.. I only spent 200 for them at the time locally and sold them for a few bucks more. If you want to find a pair of Japanese speakers that will sound better than them, look for a pair of Sony SS-M7's. The Yamaha's are true monitor speakers and thus only hit down to 50hz with a 10 inch woofer.
Click to expand...

Have you even listened to a pair of NS1000M? They have a legendary status for good reason.

The VintageKnob.org calls them an "Audio Masterpeice"

Hi-Fi World of UK states "In truth, the NS1000Ms are one of the most transparent 'speakers ever made, with dazzlingly fast transients, superb sound staging and great clarity and detail. But they also have a JBL-like capacity to inject life, drama and scale into everything they touch # a formidable combination of virtues!"

I've spent a lot of time with these and totally agree!
 
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