Yamaha NS-1000m - a legend or a dream acoustic?
Yamaha NS-1000m are acoustic systems that have long and successfully excited the consciousness of many high-fidelity audio lovers.
Today Vladimir from our friendly site analogsound.rf is ready to talk in detail about this speaker and even more, about its modification with Hi-End crossovers from Troels. The Yamaha NS-1000m is a legendary floor-standing speaker and deserves special attention. YAMAHA NS-1000M 108,000（1台、1978年頃） \119,000（1台、1993年頃） As we can see, it has been produced for quite a long time. https://audio-heritage.jp/YAMAHA/speaker/ns-1000m.html
REASON FOR CHOOSING NS-1000m: First, a stop in the growth of speaker sound class. The only alternative is JBL 4312 in various versions of the first release (i.e. modern E,N, which have not degraded in sound). There is nothing more in the 100tr budget, but what is further interesting already exceeds 300,000 rubles. And it doesn’t matter what is expensive, but what is also important is that these are options that require further work (filters, restoration of the housing, etc.), without guaranteeing the result, and then selling speakers with a price above 300tr is very difficult. While the JBL 4312 can be found in Japan for 100,000 rubles in excellent condition and the sound is guaranteed! In the search for interesting speakers in the budget, for example, 150tr used market, nothing has interested me yet. But I noticed that it was with the YAMAHA NS-1000M, as well as with the JBL 4312, that some of the most famous people in the AUDIO world were involved in restoration and tuning.
Restoration by KENRICK SOUND
Let's see what the studio from KENRICK SOUND offers in Japan: https://jbl43.com/?mode=srh&cid=&keyword=1000m&x=39&y=7
His works were sold for around $5,000-6,000; ordering from him and delivering it neatly will cost around 400,000 rubles!
Even at this price they are worth it and compared to new speakers in this budget - the Yamaha NS-1000M will be more interesting. The second person from Denmark - Troels Gravesen, having many non-budget projects, also worked with the Yamaha NS-1000M, his project is not commercial (in terms of development, but he sells kits of crossovers and speakers through affiliated companies), but he was involved (in the case with Yamaha NS-1000m) with a friend’s speakers and his goal was to achieve maximum sound quality with an investment lower than that of KENRICK SOUND.
Below is a link to his work, with all measurements and justifications: https://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Yamaha-NS1000.htm
Its crossover with delivery costs approximately 40,000 rubles, which can generally be called a budget option compared to the work of KENRICK SOUND.
Considering that the project has no commercial origin. Troels' conclusion is encouraging: “My player has never sounded so good.” And he has projects worth hundreds of thousands.
Read more about his work on the website https://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm
The only difficulty was finding a Yamaha NS-1000M in good condition in Japan. Firstly, I didn’t want to bother with firewood, and secondly, cosmetics say a lot about the technical condition. And in the original 1000M they are made of birch veneer and painted black. Veneer is a soft material, and given the weight of the speakers, one piece weighs 31 kg!
Marks from time and scuffing of paint cannot be avoided; after all, this is the late 70s. One of the advantages is that the bass is permanently suspended, and all the speakers are made of components that are practically not subject to time, and have strong protection from mechanical damage. After spending a lot of time, two pairs of speakers were purchased in order to be able to compare the original performance with the works of the Dane. Those. We will listen to one pair as is, and the second with the Troels crossover (+40,000 per kit). And here I have a legend - Yamaha NS-1000M, in original design and in excellent condition.
What we know from history: no acoustics have been produced for 10 years in a row. YAMAHA NS-1000M was included in the Top 100 best products in the 40-year history of consumer audio equipment according to Stereophile magazine experts and is the most popular high-end speaker system in history. One of the best acoustic systems of the 20th century. Positioned as studio monitors. Acoustic design - closed box. Yamaha presented a new model in 1974 (NS 1000 monitor), which is the most popular high-end speaker in the entire history of “speaker building”. By the mid-70s, Yamaha began experimenting with such a difficult-to-process material as beryllium, and achieved outstanding results.
As is known, this metal, despite the highest rigidity, is quite fragile. Yamaha was the first to learn how to process beryllium, first for the production of field-effect transistors, and then for the production of dome midrange and high-frequency speakers (vacuum deposition technology of sputtered beryllium in a special chamber). Positioned as a high-end device, priced at 145,000 yen when it was released, the NS-1000M was designed for both home and studio use and sported a birch wood finish with a semi-matte black finish. Having a fairly large thick-walled body.
FIRST listening impression: Amazing stage construction and depth! I experimented with different amplifications. The original terminals do not allow the use of modern wires with a large cross-section, however, nothing spoiled the sound.
The stage invariably stood in the center and in depth. All the details and tools are in their place to the maximum extent possible. You can hear everything, sounds from the audience at live concerts, and in the studio where the recording was made, even breathing! What is important is that the midrange or high frequencies do not dominate. It’s just that everything is clearly audible and is located exactly where the sound engineer intended. There are reviews that there is a metallic color, there is NO such thing, the string is bright, detailed. The string is not made of fishing line, but metal. Let's take a guitar and start tormenting it live, what do you hear? It's an iron string. This speaker will not give any color to the voice, keyboards, or drums.
And another plus: they play comfortably with low-power amplifiers and at low volumes, without loss of scene or detail. Of the minuses - practically one - it is very difficult to find speakers in excellent condition; usually in Japan they offer full firewood. And from some studios (Kenrick, etc.) - EXPENSIVE.
The second couple entered the PROJECT . Ordered from Western Tuning black piano lacquer for the body (there are offers in Japan with different price ranges) 20-40tr to the price plus delivery in Japan.
And this is the version ordered: Crossovers from Dane:
And the terminals are already provided for test with different speaker wires
The result of the project is included in the budget of 150tr, in any case, in this budget it is not possible to buy new speakers for stereo! We get musical speakers on a new element base that are beautiful in appearance and easy to fit into modern design. There is not much time left and everything will be assembled, and I will tell you in detail about the result of the upgrade of the Yamaha NS-1000m with the Troels crossover after the work is completed.
