Yamaha NS-2000A Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Review

[shadyJ]

​

Most of the attention that Yamaha gets as a home audio brand these days seems to be in their electronics products such as receivers and soundbars where they are always a part of the conversation, but I don’t hear as much about their hi-fi loudspeakers. However, I have always liked what I have heard from their speakers at audio trade shows, so in order to get more exposure, I asked if they would send me something. They accepted my invitation, and so in for review today is the Yamaha NS-2000A tower speaker. The NS-2000A stands second only to the mighty NS-5000 (Audioholics YouTube coverage of the NS-5000A) among the high-end of Yamaha’s loudspeakers. These beauties retail for $8k/pair, so they aren’t exactly inexpensive as tower speakers go, but what does Yamaha deliver for this not-insignificant sum? How do the NS-2000A speakers compare to others in their class, and what does Yamaha do to leverage their vast resources to produce a high-quality floor-standing loudspeaker? Read our in-depth review to find out the answers to these questions...

READ: YAMAHA NS-2000A FLOOR-STANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW

 

[TLS Guy]

View attachment 71766​

Most of the attention that Yamaha gets as a home audio brand these days seems to be in their electronics products such as receivers and soundbars where they are always a part of the conversation, but I don’t hear as much about their hi-fi loudspeakers. However, I have always liked what I have heard from their speakers at audio trade shows, so in order to get more exposure, I asked if they would send me something. They accepted my invitation, and so in for review today is the Yamaha NS-2000A tower speaker. The NS-2000A stands second only to the mighty NS-5000 (Audioholics YouTube coverage of the NS-5000A) among the high-end of Yamaha’s loudspeakers. These beauties retail for $8k/pair, so they aren’t exactly inexpensive as tower speakers go, but what does Yamaha deliver for this not-insignificant sum? How do the NS-2000A speakers compare to others in their class, and what does Yamaha do to leverage their vast resources to produce a high-quality floor-standing loudspeaker? Read our in-depth review to find out the answers to these questions...

READ: YAMAHA NS-2000A FLOOR-STANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW

They have resurrected the old BBC Smiley! The tweeter need work, it is breaking up jus a little early at the top of the range. The break up is sudden severe and not pretty.

Having said that, their design goals are on the right lines, but not executed with sufficient expertise. This design needed more R & D, especially that tweeter, but also the crossover.

This was a great plan but the design clearly falls short.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Speaker response is about +/-3dB up till about 16kHz, then it gets a little hot for the youngsters and probably okay for the elderly who have lost a few upper frequencies.

In contrast, B&W, Paradigm, Golden-Ear and few others like to get a little hot around 10kHz.

 

[shadyJ]

They have resurrected the old BBC Smiley! The tweeter need work, it is breaking up jus a little early at the top of the range. The break up is sudden severe and not pretty.

Having said that, their design goals are on the right lines, but not executed with sufficient expertise. This design needed more R & D, especially that tweeter, but also the crossover.

This was a great plan but the design clearly falls short.

I don't believe that is break-up at the top end. I think break-up would be a lot more chaotic and carry through off-axis angles. I think that may be deliberate voicing. I don't regard it as a problem since it wouldn't be all that audible on typical source material.