Vintage Yamaha NS-2000 Speakers - w/pics

I recently purchased a vintage pair of Yamaha NS-2000's, and was requested by a couple of members to post some pictures of them. Well, I finally got around to setting up an imgur account for posting photos, so I am ready to share.

First, some specs on the NS-2000 from vintageknob: Yamaha NS-2000 on thevintageknob.org

Maximum input : 250W
Rated input (JIS) : 125W
SPL : 90dB /W /m
Frequency response : 28Hz...20Khz
Resonance frequency : 33Hz
Impedance : 6 Ohm

Tweeter : 3cm; (1.25in) (JA-0526A)
Mid-range : 8,8cm; (3.5in) (JA-0802A)
Woofer : 33cm; (13in) (JA-3301)
Dimensions (WxHxD): 44cm x 75,2cm x 40,4cm; (17in x 30in x 16in)
Weight : 47kg; (103lbs)
List price : 220,000¥ (1982)

These were made in 1982, and for a relatively “short” 30 inches they weigh in at 103lbs - they are veritable cinder blocks. That's mainly because of the massive 13in woofer. Note the tweeter and midrange are beryllium, and the woofers are carbon fiber cones.

The speakers I bought are pretty much all original, except of course for being re-foamed, and I think at some point the speaker grills were maintained with a new nylon and speaker pegs for mounting. I paid $2500 for these, which considering the rarity and popularity, and moreover historical pricing, was more than fair. I’ve seen them sell in upwards of $5K for a nice set. I would rate mine a 7.5 out of ten cosmetically, and I have not found any functional issues with them whatsoever.

First pic - the NS-2000 have an American walnut / hardwood face - and I just love the warm feel they have. I like them grill off, but my wife thinks they're ugly! Go figure. You can clearly see the re-foam job as it was not done with the black / rubber surrounds like the originals were.... nevertheless, it was done well and they are still solid and won't need addressing any time soon.



The face of these are 2” thick piece hardwood, radiused on the sides and beveled on the top. The the sides are hardwood veneer. You're might be looking at the following pic thinking the face is veneer just like the sides --- but the veneer you see on the beveled top is to cover the end grain that would be exposed. I am both a woodworker, grew up a house painter/wood refinisher, so I really appreciate the way they handled the details on these speakers. They look good enough that I don’t have the urge to do any finish work on them, although there are some nicks and compression scratches in places, they’re 36 years old and you have to look close to see them anyway. From listenting distance the look great!



Note these pics were taken before I cleaned them up a little - that oxidation / dirt / smudging on the bottom of the woofer frame above rubbed out easily. And yes, when they re-foamed them, they were not diligent on one speaker about rotating the cone so the wires were positioned to 12 o'clock... but this is easily remedied. The other speaker is at 12 o'clock though, as evidenced in the next pic. You can also see the carbon fiber woofer cone is in great shape for its age. These cones are notorious for burnishing, having blemishes, but these held up well. I do plan on replacing the allen bolts and screws with stainless over time.



As mentioned, condition-wise they aren't perfect (see the pic below too) - notice the compression scratches in places... but hey, they're 36 years old... I am OK with signs of use!! These speakers are hard enough to come by, if you wait for perfection, you'll probably never own them. What's most important is they still sound wonderful.


Speaker grills - original frame, looks like replaced nylon and pegs. Not surprised there.

<see the next post for another speaker grill photo - I can only put five pics in one post>

What's also nice is that these came with the original boxes, which is tough to find on 36 year old speakers. I was surprised to see an unopened warranty card on one of the boxes <see the next post for the warranty card photo>:

Overall, wonderful speakers, I couldn't be happier with my choice! I've put a lot of hours on these so far, and they have performed well -- clean, clear, honest, and unforgiving to poor source material. I am now realizing how my past sets of speakers, although fairly good, did not differentiate source / source material like the NS-2000's do.

A note on the crossover network - it is all original too - I am sure some are already wondering how a 36 yr old speaker with original caps still sound good... but these used Metallized paper capacitors (I think paper in oil?), and they have a very long life. Even still, the caps are 36 years old, and have no doubt still degraded some, and I do plan on tinkering with them to see what some by-passes or new caps will do to the tweeter / midrange network. Note also I will be leaving a fallback to original in all cases - just like HiFiDo does when they maintain them. One of the reasons is the midrange and woofer caps are epoxied to the board in deep wells, are a very difficult to get out. There's plenty of real estate for bypassing, etc. For anyone wanting more information than they could ever want on the crossover networks, see Yamaha NS-2000 - Manual - Loudspeaker System - HiFi Engine for the Service Manual, and Opinions on Floorstanding Speakers - Budget $4K where member Davey and I kick around crossover update ideas.

Very satisfied with these speakers, they fit my room and system well, and have quelled my search for speakers for a while anyway....

 

Another pic of the grills, and the warranty card still affixed to the original boxes, I had too many photos in my original post:




@Davey , @808_state , @Helom --- finally got the pics you requested!

 

Beautiful speakers and amazing condition for their age. Congrats!

 

Nice! Those look like they have pretty good drivers. If you get the urge to tinker, you can perhaps find someone here or at DIY Speakers and Subs - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews or Multi-Way - diyAudio who could tell you how and maybe even measure each raw driver, and folks who might help you redesign the crossover. Crossover design evolved tremendously after those Yammys were designed, so there is probably more depth of sound to be pulled from them.

Likewise you could anti-vibration coat the insides (and possibly the driver frames) Sound Damping in the Car Audio Department at Parts Express | 409 , and stuff the insides of the cabinets to absorb rear wave energy "Acousta-Stuf Polyfill Speaker Cabinet Damping Material 5 lb. Bag" from www.parts-express.com! or insulation fiberglass (NOT pillow stuffing, that is not a good material).

I can't tell if the woofer surrounds are foam-if so you want to ask about preventively coating them, as foam falls apart over time.

And the big question, which I didn't see: how much did ya pay for 'em? Geez, makes me want to get a pair to mess with, since I don't have enough stuff to do in my life

 

Answer:

My long-windedness can be a curse.... you're forgiven for missing that....

 

They're foam, and from the look/feel they've been done fairly recently. I've thought about coating them.

As mentioned, especially in the threads I linked, I've been digging in deep on the potential for x-Over mods. (not sure if you saw the blurb at the end of my post regarding x-over). I have lots of options, of course, and I've seen the thread you posted. The NS-2000's don't have a lot of info on the net regarding x-over, there's some, but not a lot. (no need to post links to x-over on the NS anyone, I've probably seen it). Note the midrange and woofer caps are epoxied into wells, and tough to get out. Hifido leaves them in as a result when they upgrade the caps, and work around them - they are being guarded with sharing any replacement info they use. There's tons of info on the NS-1000 x-over upgrades, but its a different network. The NS-2000 does not use any electrolytic stock, where the NS-1000 did. The NS-2000 are all metallized paper in oil.

I will probably start with the tweeter network - it's one 2.7uf cap, and the lone "easy" target... but of course the tweeter is high bang for the buck. I may try a high quality .01uf bypass tack soldered for easy back out as a test... maybe teflon or polystyrene... then play with a direct high quality silver / oil mundorf or something if not happy. The tweeter could use a little clean up, but still sounds good.

The midrange has seven total caps - all 3.5uf. There is one in parallel with the six, and some have used a 20uf piggybacked by a 1.5uf... I've seen interesting options. These midranges are special in this speaker, and will tread carefully again, I don't want to change the voice too much from how they were originally.

Either way, I am treading carefully and leaving a fallback along the way --- as you probably know more people screw up x-over upgrades than do it right... it takes good research and planning. First step is to get the crossover network out and do some measurements, visual inspection... but in no hurry as they sound great.

 

@head_unit - btw, when I purchased these, the seller (who was a Yamaha employee) actually had the stock Yamaha JA-3301 reconing kit for the woofer --- complete with new carbon fiber cones, and the original black rubber surrounds! He wanted an arm and a leg for them, so I passed, plus he purchased them in 1997, so the surrounds are 20 years old. Just like they age when installed, they also age in the box (just not as fast) and they are 21 year old rubber / fabric....

He wanted $600... which was crazy to me.... so I passed.

 

Wow, that's a beautiful set, nicely done!

 

Very desirable speakers back in the day... no doubt they still sound sweet. Enjoy.

 

I likey.

I want some vintage Yamaha speakers for an all Yamaha setup.
The only thing stopping me is apparently many others want these speakers too.
I'm told the Yamaha P-2XXX amps sound good paired up with their speaks...

 

I also have a Yamaha GT-2000L turntable, also released in 1982, the same year as the speakers.

Maybe I'll take a closer look at the P-2xxx amp too....

 

Those are just gorgeous and in amazing shape for their age! They were obviously well taken care of I hope they last you another 36 years! Happy listening!

 

I used to drool over these when they came out. Would have matched my Yamaha CA-2010 perfectly back then. The NS-1000's as well.

 

Nice!

 

Awesome! I had a neighbor many years ago who had a pair of these. They were a much darker wood, if I recall correctly, but I will never forget how great they sounded connected to his upper-end Yamaha receiver. Congratulations on your pair! I’m envious!

 

Congrats on the purchase of those fine speakers, i love the old NS yamaha speakers, and feel lucky to own a pair of NS-500M. i can only dream about the day i can afford a pair of NS2000 or any of the NS1000 for now. enjoy Im super envious.

 

What everyone else has said:

 

Love em.

The NS-1000's are my holy grail.

 

I read in a post from you in 2015 that you had a ca-2010 in mint condition sitting in the closet.... did that ever "come out of the closet?" Do you still have it?

I have been digging in the last few days on vintage amps, and looking at things like Marantz 2325, Accuphase E-202, and the Yammy Ca-2010. Since I have a Yammy GT-2000 turntable, Yammy NS-2000 speakers, it seems like a natural progress to get the Yammy CA-2000 amp!! (note the CA-2010 is a CA-2000 in Japan - the 2010 was the name given to the ones released in the US).

I have a beat on a very nice CA-2000 that has been restored by a source that can be trusted... it would be fun to see what all Yamaha sound path, and all "2000" designation, would sound like!!!

 

Very sweet indeed!
Enjoy Sir!

 

Can’t speak for a all 2000 set up but , my all Yamaha C45 pre, M45 power amp & NS500M set up is very natural sounding. Not overly warm or Bright, just right if u ask me alows the recording to shine. Buts it’s unforgiving of a cr*p recording. It doesn’t gloss over the problems n make it better so to say.

 

That's the rule of the day with NS-2000's ---- they are honest, true to the source. On the plus side, good source sounds good.... plus, change your source component (CD, TT, whatever) and the sound changes.... but of course bad source, whether bad recordings, pressings, or an inferior component and the NS-2000 is honest and unforgiving.

I was particularly amazed by this --- of course I've read that many times, but when experienced for the first time it can be an eye opener.

 

And old man whose dogs I used to walk to pay my studies let me play one of my Kinks records on his all-Yammie system once. He owned these very same speakers. I was in awe at the sound but could not obtain anything resembling realistic volume. He had a monster receiver and listened to classical music only, so he was really amused with my record. He's never heard of The Kinks before.

Power hungry speakers.

 

I don't understand this sentence, not sure what you are saying.... what did he have driving them? that's the key of course....

...you aren't saying NS-2000 can't play loud? Or are you saying his components didn't have the power? Or do you know what the components were?

I have the NS-2000's with a Parasound P5 / A21 - which is 250w power, and I go to only ten o'clock on the P5 volume and you can't hear yourself think... they resemble very realistic volume, and I've played a few Black Sabbath LP's, Scorpions, Zep through them and more. Not much of a Kinks fan though....

The 2000's are 6ohm rated at 89db sensitivity, they are not the simplest to drive, but not overly difficult. They have a max wattage of 250W, and getting anywhere near that would be ear splitting for sure.

I also own Klipsch 150W RMS RP-280FA's, at 98db sensitivity, and the NS-2000 are every bit as "loud" --- the difference is of course they don't fall apart at higher volume like the mid-level Klipsch can with a powerful amp driving them... I owned Klipsch RF-7's before, and they just didn't sound all that good when the volume got half way up, the sound started getting loud, but lost refinement. Not the case with these NS-2000's.... I guess that's what you get from 13" woofer and beryllium tweeter / mid drivers.