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Yamaha NS1000M recap

N

nielsoe

New Member
Hi all

Being the happy owner of a 30 year old pair of NS1000M´s I´ve been wondering if a recap would bring any improvement to the sound. It´s not that I´m not satisfied with their sound. I am, but I´ve got no point of reference as my own pair is the only one I´ve ever heard. Anyone out there with NS1000M recapping experience? Furthermore, I read on this forum that the caps are somehow self healing. Anyone?
 
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If you have a DMM that will read capacity you could check them out. Personally I have often wondered how a hermetically sealed capacitor could "dry out".
 
I'm listening to an almost 30 year old pair of M's right now and they sounds so good with no changes. From what I've learned, Yamaha used all quality to built these speakers. :tresbon:
 
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All I did to my NS-670s was to veneer the cases in Cherry because they were badly marked. I simply refinished the cases of my NS-690s. I doubt that either pair could sond much better.
 
You might want to read over this thread:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78978

It's all about the need to recap after so many years. The self-healing virtue of electrolytics refers to physical leakage or lack thereof. It does NOT address changing values. As is stated in the thread, the problem is ESR or effective series resistance, which always increases over time, faster in some, slower in others. The caps can keep their capacity but suffer increasing ESR. ESR slowly blocks the tweeters and drives the woofers into places they weren't intended to go. A meter to read capacitance is only about 50 bucks, but one that will read ESR starts at around $400, and so is not common. You might find a repair facility with an ESR meter that could test them for you. Otherwise, it's not rocket science: just desolder one end of a suspicious cap and solder in a new one. You will most likely hear a difference.

Also, it has been mentioned, although I would never point a finger, that over time, you become so used to the sound of your speakers that you literally can't tell there has been any degradation in sound. It's like driving the same car every day for years, it pulls to the right, but that behavior has come about so gradually that you automatically pull to the left and think it's just fine.

For as cheap and easy as it is (on most speakers) to change out the caps, it's really a shame not to do it and let all those fine notes come out.
 
Oh man I´m so glad I joined this forum. All that great info!! Never heard about ESR but I guess I should have my NS1000´s checked out. By the way; which is the best way to date the Yama´s: The date printed on the back on the drivers or the serial no? I guess the serial no. would state the date they left the factory while the date on the drivers state the date of production of these...
 
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