Widely used near-field studio/home theater monitor. prduces a sound that replicates well in other speakers.

Needs to be mated with a good subwoofer

Widespread belief has it that the Yamaha NS10M
Studio is the most widely used near field monitor
to be found in professsional recording studios. If
true, that by itself would be a strong argument
for its home use. That after all would help you to
hear what the recording engineers heard in the
studio, true fidelity to the recorded sound. There
fore, it is not surprising to find that Yamaha has
taken the studio monitor version, which is an
acoustic suspension design and modified it for home
(stereo or theater) use with magnetic shielding and
a base reflex design. The marketing target is
ambiguous: as a result the speaker is sold singly
and not in pairs or in a home theater set. Also
surprising is the fact that it has made a very
small splash in the market given Yamaha's clout. It
is, all things considered, a very good speaker,
very true to the traditonal quality of the 10M
heritage. I have been using a pair with frequent
switching to /a/d/s/ S700s, RA Labs MiniMonitors,
and N.E.A.R 15Ms and 10Ms. My long-term preference
is for the two N.E.A.R. sets with the NS 10MT pair
in third place over /a/d/s/ and RA Labs.
Considering the awesome quality of the N.E.A.R.
speakers, this is high quality for the NS 10MT! It
is a satisfying product, and I recommend it within
the context of my comparison.

Similar Products Used:

Neasr 15M and 10M; RA Labs mini-reference; a/d/s/ s700

The most widely used near field monitors in the business hands down

For it's use, the standard studio setup usually has tissue over the tweeters so it can be overbtight

To all you audiophiles out there. The ones that are too uninformed to realize that almost much of the music available is mixed in the studio using Yamaha NS10's. The same ones that listen to music only for its sonic experience and not total sensory enjoyment. And also the ones that only enjoy music from their pet product lines. Also, the ones who do not believe in tone controls regadless of sound room enviroment. GET OVER IT!!!! If you want to listen to what the engineers and producers listen to this is it. Not some $20,000 over-rated pair of Martin Logans. This is the studio standard for near field monitors. Would I consider owning a pair of these at home? Probably not except for mixing. So, logically speaking, if these are what engineers are using, and the engineers are equalizing the music based on what they hear from these speakers, is it not also logical that the audiophiles claim of getting the closest reproduction (and don't forget most electrical instruments are brought right into the board with effects loops)best achieved by reproducing what the engineer or producer hears. Because you can't reproduce what the engineer hears but only what he interprets through these speakers. So here, I present you the only audiophile speaker in existence. Enjoy all self righteous audiophiles.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy

What can I say, it’s the standard.

Needs a sub.

They sound great with a Tannoy 12’ powered sub.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm bookshelf speakers, when I started.

Great for studio mixing. Translates well to other speakers. Great value for the money.

Not good for home use. Dull and, at times, boring. Little bass response.

I had used these for years in the studio to mix with and they were great for that application. You had confidence that music mixed on these monitors would translate well to a wide range of speakers. Not harsh at all allowing you to listen for hours without fatigue. If you could make these puppies sound good you would make other higher-quality speakers sound great. The catch is that it can be difficult to hear sonic abnormalities and/or shortcomings and it takes a while to get used to them. There's no extra sparkle or extended bass (bass drops off at something like 70Hz) so music doesn't get the spotlight here, just a natural albeit soft light. I recommend you use these only for studio work and, if possible, in tandem with a good subwoofer.

Similar Products Used:

I've also used Genelec 1031, JBL 4206 and Tannoy's for mixing.