The Absolute Sound High-End Loudspeaker of the Year: Yamaha NS-5000

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by hoffmanuser2020, Feb 22, 2021.

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  1. hoffmanuser2020

    hoffmanuser2020 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    james, jusbe, bhazen and 7 others like this.
  2. Blue Gecko

    Blue Gecko Peace

    Location:
    Wisconsin
  3. doctor fuse

    doctor fuse Forum Resident

    Now we know who paid the most in advertising with TAS! :whistle:
     
  4. iceaero

    iceaero Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I’ve really wanted to hear these. No idea where or when I could though, but one day...
     
  5. mcbrion

    mcbrion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut
    TAS must have changed, then. They used to review without "fear or favor" and panned Infinity's Kappa 9 speakers (circa 1990), along with one or two others (The IRS Beta got a decent, but not great review, and a couple of others), even though Harry had the Infinity IRS speakers as his reference. Arnie Nudell was not happy about that, and his speakers never made speaker of the year, yet he continued to advertise. I reviewed a pair of Genesis and the review was mixed, yet Infinity continued to advertise.

    So, I guess you're talking about a different TAS, yes?

    Also, this isn't THE speaker of the year; I believe that that will be the Wilson XVS speakers. This is a Product of The Year within a category. The fact that there are no other products means this will be put into perspective when the (print) magazine arrives. But it sounds like its more a "good-for-them" Product of The Year. Harley proclaimed the Wilsons the most lifelike speaker he'd ever, EVER heard. So, I doubt a $15,000 set of speakers would be THE product of the year. TAS has turned into an Alternate-Universe version of Stereophile.

    In fact, this "Product of The Year" thing? It's confusing the way they do things now. I don't subscribe or read it much; it's not the TAS I knew and loved. Not by a long shot.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2021
  6. doctor fuse

    doctor fuse Forum Resident

    The Lady doth protest too much, methinks
     
  7. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Sad but true. Don’t forget payola.
     
  8. SonicCzar

    SonicCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Can we stop calling speakers like this "bookshelf"? They are floor standing speakers with a see through base, or stand mount speakers. If they are bookshelf speakers they should be reviewed on a bookshelf against a wall.
     
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  9. Ro-Go

    Ro-Go Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hudson Valley
    Gorgeous. Bet they sound good too.

    For that price, though, it'd be tough to not go active ATC.

    But these look nicer.
     
    bhazen likes this.
  10. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    Has anyone heard or bought these yet? If so, please share your experience. I hear Yamaha's engineers in Japan still consider TAD/Pioneer as the speaker manufacturer to beat. It would be nice to relive some of those Pioneer Vs Yamaha battles from decades past...
     
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  11. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    macster, hman and Ingenieur like this.
  12. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    Would love to hear a pair. Looks to me like much engineering dollars were spent developing these. I could care less the company nor the country, not prejudiced in any way.
     
  13. OC Zed

    OC Zed Bludgeon Riffola

    Location:
    Costa Mesa, CA
    I talked to a Yamaha rep a few weeks ago who mentioned that the 5000 sounded amazing. (You can take that with a grain of salt, but I felt like I was getting a candid answer from him. I work for the motor company and he didn't have any reason to give me salesman BS.)

    He also mentioned that the little brother of the 5000 - the NS-3000 - is finally going to be available in the US by year end. He said he hadn't heard the 3000 series yet, but a lot of the same features from the 5000 were borrowed for the less expensive 3000.
     
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  14. Espen R

    Espen R Senior Member

    Location:
    Norway
    I have heared these speakers. Yes, Yamaha is pushing the limits by great engineering and high tech materials.
    These speakers open up for the micro-micro details in music, so you get a more of a live feeling that music is playing in your living room. The sound is utterly transparent.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2021
    Helom, timind, Bananas&blow and 7 others like this.
  15. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    I am inclined to believe him man.

    I have heard/played around with the NS-F901 which retails for 5k and usually goes on sale for 4k...It sounded jawdropping amazing!! granted it was in a pristinely treated room with high end electronics. The build quality and everything about them seemed to mimic speakers that cost way more. I wondered how the hell they were able to sell it for 4k and noted that they were made in Indonesia (a.k.a dirt cheap labor costs probably keeps the price down on that model)...

    If the NS 3000 & 5000 are a big step up from the F901, i can only imagine what they did with it...(TAD killers maybe! I suppose i will accept defeat if my TADs get defeated one day ;) ).
     
  16. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Thing is, compared to Japanese audiophiles, U.S. and European audiophiles are pikers.
     
    Bananas&blow likes this.
  17. mcbrion

    mcbrion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Stick to listening the message and not killing the messenger. And thanks, but I'm a man, not a lady. Don't get your pronouns confused; I haven't crossed into a transgender yet.

    This is a system review, not an individual review of one component. Systems are designed to complement each other. So it has been with Goldmund (speakers, turntable, electronics), Carver, (speaker, electronics). TAS never used to do system reviews, because the resultant sound depended on one component "compensating" for the sound of the weaknesses of the other components.
    Goldmund's amp and preamp were were reviewed in tandem by Harry and he found that if you used the two together, the sound of the amp compensated for the sound of the preamp. And Goldmund's turntables had a slight darkness to the sound: I owned the top turntables for a year or two and then the amp, and then the speakers. It was clear that one without the other changed the sonic end result.

    As I said, I'm confused as to to why this is the "Speaker of the Year" when it was not reviewed without the other components. I also said it was not the TAS that I knew and worked for. My information is factual, yours is speculation and you know nothing about the way the magazine worked in the 1980s-1990s (I'm guessing at this, to be fair, but your trendy colloquial response is indicative of someone who doesn't know how the magazine used to work (or you'd never have typed those words and shown you know nothing about the magazine's reviewing procedure in those decades). I suspect you were not a reader of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s TAS, where, around 1996, the magazine clearly warned about a "splintering" taking place in the High End. But we can't all be OLD and knowledgeable - and have actually worked for the magazine, so it's easier to write a pithy quip.

    I still don't get why this was the (Loudspeaker) Product of The Year.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2021
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  18. Slack

    Slack Forum Resident

    They do sound amazing.The most realistic and beautiful sounding midrange I have heard and a very coherent and musically engaging sound from top to bottom..I much refer them to far more expensive things like Magico S 5.Some people might want something more "hi fi" sounding I suppose but these are all about being faithful to the sound of instruments and voice and to engage you with the music.
     
  19. Daedalus

    Daedalus I haven't heard it all.....

  20. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Yamaha's worst problem in the USA, is no specialty dealer only brand. Which means statement products like this pair of loudspeakers, don't get the dealers they need for these to really succeed. Which is sad. As it gets lumped in with the more ordinary Yamaha line.
     
    OC Zed likes this.
  21. Apesbrain

    Apesbrain Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    Strong resemblance to its grandfather also a well-respected speaker:

    [​IMG]
     
  22. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    Large multinational companies like Yamaha, Sony, etc can in no way be tied to a single country of origin. It is simply inaccurate.

    Poor choice of words whilst mentioning a country of origin by absolute sound indeed (might trigger the dudes soaked in pride all day long in the land of the free). I can only imagine what would happen on this forum if some Chinese engineer made a Chifi speaker that got product of the year!

    Nevertheless, even celebrated engineers like Andrew Jones have repeatedly acknowledged that the Japanese audio engineers he has worked with were some of the best in the world. They just voice speakers differently than the regular Euro brands. IME, It is a very meticulous high OCD level work culture (reflects on the work especially with engineering, 14 hour shift? No problemo chief if i get to drink for 3 hrs straight when i get off).....

    Funny thing is...the Japanese audiophiles run as fast as they can to grab the JBLs and i typically run as fast i can to grab them Japanese speakers....Grass is indeed greener on the other side.
     
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  23. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    As an owner of the NS-2000's (currently set up as my mains) I would admit I'd love to hear the 5000's. But at $15K it'll have to wait :)

    I always contended though that to remake my NS-2000's in today's market it would probably have to be a $15K speaker with the expense of the components they used......... and here Yammie comes out with the 5000 at $15K!
     
    timind likes this.
  24. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    One similarity I see with the NS-5000 to the NS-2000 is the high "density" size to weight-wise. My NS-2000's have the density of a neutron star, their size belies their weight.

    The NS-5000 is:
    Dimensions (WHD): 15-1/2" x 27-1/8" x 15"
    Weight: 77.2 lbs.

    That's relatively small box for 77lbs!

    Much like my NS-2000:
    Dimensions (WHD): 18in x 30in x 16in
    Weight : 110lbs

    The NS-2000 has 37% more volume in the cabinet than the NS-5000, and weighs 42% more. However, they both are around 80 cu in / pound, so similar density for their footprint.

    What's it mean? I dunno, just had a calculator next to me and I like data. :)
     
  25. AC1

    AC1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Antwerp, Belgium
    Too bad they don't come in walnut.
     
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