NS 10M. The Most Maligned Loudspeaker?

[Wombat]

I purchased a pair of NS10M when they were sold for home use. I used them with a dual reflex bandpass sub-woofer. They were always used against a wall.They served well for the 'family' years when career and family activities were a priority.
I liked their detailed presence. I still have them.

Opinions re these speakers are varied but on the WWW are mostly negative. This overview is more generous and more definitive than most:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story

In case you missed this reference: http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/n/ns10m.pdf?jQWj8tYIeZeymRCNXitG9Qfwq9mLf1t0

And a look at the tissue-paper story: http://www.bobhodas.com/examining-the-yamaha-ns-10m.php

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

are mostly negative.

Because they are pretty bad! I own NS1000's, a great speaker, but the 10s are what they are.

 

[Wombat]

Because they are pretty bad! I own NS1000's, a great speaker, but the 10s are what they are.

The same guy(no rookie} designed both speakers for domestic use. Have you tried the NS 10s as bookshelf speakers, their original purpose?

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

The same guy(no rookie} designed both speakers for domestic use. Have you tried the NS 10s as bookshelf speakers, their original purpose?

Yes, listened to them extensively. They found a place in just about every studio, for what they were. Better budget home speakers of the era; Advents, Dyanco, EPI, KLH ADS. etc... You would not die listening to them, or run out of the room screaming, but they do have, as you say a very mixed reputation. Yamaha of the era did have excellent engineering. The NS1000-2000 stuff is amazing. The beryllium midrange and tweeter are super low distortion and first class IMO even by today's standards. The 1000x better than 1000M due to carbon fiber woofer, the 2000 better cabinet and carbon fiber woofer. The X and 2000 are rather rare.

At the end of the day, pretty much anything can provide musical enjoyment. We get into trouble we we start comparing and feel the need for something better.

regards

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/239264-yamaha-ns-1000-speakers-comparisonshootout/

 

[Wombat]

Yes, listened to them extensively. They found a place in just about every studio, for what they were. Better budget home speakers of the era; Advents, Dyanco, EPI, KLH ADS. etc... You would not die listening to them, or run out of the room screaming, but they do have, as you say a very mixed reputation. Yamaha of the era did have excellent engineering. The NS1000-2000 stuff is amazing. The beryllium midrange and tweeter are super low distortion and first class IMO even by today's standards. The 1000x better than 1000M due to carbon fiber woofer, the 2000 better cabinet and carbon fiber woofer. The X and 2000 are rather rare.

At the end of the day, pretty much anything can provide musical enjoyment. We get into trouble we we start comparing and feel the need for something better.

regards

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/239264-yamaha-ns-1000-speakers-comparisonshootout/

Thank you for your considered opinion.

 

[restorer-john]

I sold all the Yamaha range, including the NS10Ms. At the time, the NS1000M was still available (at AU$3499pr) and the TOTL available to us (other than a special order NS2000) was the NS-1000X range topper (at AU$4999pr). I have a few pairs of NS-100X and we have an anniversary (10 year- 1984) extremely rare pair of NS-1000Ms complete with matching Japan home market stands.

The 'X' series was not remotely rare. It ran in Australia for several years and we sold the entire range.

I have all their price lists, costs and brochures from that era if there is anything specific anyone wants. I'll scan the original NS-10M brochure for your thread, Wombat.

It was a great time to be selling HiFi...

 

[Wombat]

I sold all the Yamaha range, including the NS10Ms. At the time, the NS1000M was still available (at AU$3499pr) and the TOTL available to us (other than a special order NS2000) was the NS-1000X range topper (at AU$4999pr). I have a few pairs of NS-100X and we have an anniversary (10 year- 1984) extremely rare pair of NS-1000Ms complete with matching Japan home market stands.

The 'X' series was not remotely rare. It ran in Australia for several years and we sold the entire range.

I have all their price lists, costs and brochures from that era if there is anything specific anyone wants. I'll scan the original NS-10M brochure for your thread, Wombat.

It was a great time to be selling HiFi...

I still have a brochure. A 174 8125 % 4. Same one?

 

[restorer-john]

A 174 78Y110.

Yours is a 1981 brochure, mine is 1978.

I'll scan some stuff for the thread tomorrow. I've got a NS-20M brochure from 1984- they were quite rare.

 

[Wombat]

A 174 78Y110.

Yours is a 1981 brochure, mine is 1978.

I'll scan some stuff for the thread tomorrow.

Thanks.

 

[restorer-john]

They were a reference. A consistent and adequate speaker for near-field and considerably better than the Auratones (Horror-tones). Having owned a pair of Horror-Tones for a short time, I can attest to their complete putridity.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

The 'X' series was not remotely rare.

I was speaking from my perspective being in the US, I did not come across them often. I even though about getting a pair from Japan a few years back but never got around to it.

 

[Guermantes]

I enjoyed reading the SOS article, thanks @Wombat. I used NS10Ms in the college studio when I was studying. They were always supposed to be considered a domestic speaker equivalent -- an idiot check. I remember some students bringing in their own nearfields as replacements for important projects and I think this was primarily because they were more familiar with those.

I'm absolutely sure Bob Clearmountain wouldn't have relied solely on the NS10s when he also had the monitoring resources of whichever mega-buck studio he was working in at the time. I wonder what he uses now?

I can imagine many home studios in the '80s did rely solely on NS10Ms for their primary monitoring. They were seen as an industry standard that was easy to acquire. Unfortunately, the marriage with cheaper upstream equipment and inexperienced users probably added to their infamy.