Back in the late 70's early 80's, Yamaha was the foot in the door for high end. Their speakers were some of the first to use Beryllium (the legendary NS-1000M), their electronics were built like tanks. I've owned integrated amps, preamps, amps and even a TT. I've never heard a speaker of theirs I liked. Even a little bit. Then again, I can't think of any Japanese made production speaker I've liked.
They've got their new flagship bookshelf (NS-5000) which has new composite drivers they claim has
acoustic velocity comparable to beryllium. But unfortunately, it appears they're trying to keep a retro look just to make sure people make the connection - they have staggered drivers. I've no doubt that they figure this is their target demographic. Still, a little disappointing. Hopefully, they'll try out some of the things manufacturers have learned about time/phase coherence in the past few decades on another model or 3.
Yamaha, like Pioneer and Marantz, seem to go through periods of being really serious about high end, then walking away for a decade or two. They're making
some interesting looking gear again. They've certainly got the $$$ and R&D behind them to be able to make world class audio. Heck, I'm seriously considering their CD-S2100 CD/SACD player. They may be
physically built like tanks, but I can't think of a single piece of gear I've owned that lived past its 3rd birthday.
Introducing our flagship 3-way bookshelf speaker system, setting a new standard in performance and quality by which all other Hi-Fi speakers should be judged.
usa.yamaha.com
