Price Paid:  $2200.00 from mailorder new in USA

Summary:
Wow! do a google on the internet and find others who own NS-2000 Yamaha's. Excellent. I was delighted to read even that other pairs exist out there in the world.
Let me tell you what I know about Yamaha. First got involved with them after six of us EE's built a half dozen pair of Bose 901's in the early seventies from a bootleg set of plans from an MIT student of Prof. Bose.
Soon came to see the shortcomings of 901's and then read fabulous things about the NS-1000's. Carefully AB'd these with Dahlquist DQ-10's for hours, and ended up with the Yamaha's. Had a blast as a young guy with a house where I could rock them at full volume. Then I saw reviews of the NS-2000 that said they solved the shortcomings of the NS-1000's. Could not come close to finding them in any store, so I bought them without even laying eyes on them. I had faith in Yamaha.
Paid $1300 for the 1000's in the seventies, and in the early eighties the 2000's listed for $2900 here in the USA. They were a MAP product, but I searched and called the classified ads in the back of Stereo Review unitl I found a guy five states away who researched and told me you needed a separate franchise from Yamaha just for the 2000's. His store didn't have one, but he worked with a buddy who applied and got one, and cut the mail order price to $2200 shipping included. Illegal. So I sold my 1000's to my girlfriend and have had the 2000's ever since. I never had had a pair of speakers before that I deemed perfect enougth such that I would never need search ever again, and that's still how I feel! These things are built like the rock of Gibraltar.
Along the way I attended a Hi-Fi show where an old timer with Yamaha Corp told me that years before they had stopped importing them into the USA because at 105 lb. each, the shipping costs killed them. The woodwork was done in the factory piano works in Japan, and they wouldn't trust the construction any place else.
So I have my pair that I am the original owner of and they sit in my NYC living room where they were uncrated in the early eighties. Hence they are in prime condition, without a flaw or scratch that I have ever seen on them.
Then one day about four or five years ago I was cleaning them and I removed the grills to witness that the foam suspension for the woofers rotted in place. When I touched the material with my finger lightly, it left a hole. I was horrified and figured that my beloved speakers were toast. I wrote to Yamaha with little hope and received a form letter explaining that rebuild kits were available for two hundred dollars apiece. Gladly I bought two kits and meticulously did the work myself using the particularly noxious Methyl Ethyl Ketone to remove the twenty year old cone glue. Yamaha supplies the new glue and detailed instructions and it was a proud moment when I finished and put these speakers back in operaton and they worked like new!
I do have the original product one sheet literature that came with these speakers when new. Yes, there was no manual for these three thousand dollar speakers, just the one sheet of paper with English on one side and French on the other side. I mention this for two reasons. First, someone mentioned in one of the other reviews that these speakers have 15" woofers. That is not the case. The original NS-1000's have 12" carbon fibre woofers, and the NS-2000's were advertised with 13" carbon fibre woofers. This is confirmed on the specs within my one-sheet. And the weight is listed as 103 lb. 6 oz. Secondly, since I read that many seem to have second-hand speakers, if anyone has the NS-2000's without the literature, it would be no trouble for me to copy the sheet for you. I could make a pdf and email it to you.
Now my girlfriend wants to downsize her NS-1000's so I am trying to find out where I might find a market for them if anyone knows about this? Let me know?

Strengths:
Fantastic realistic sound that has pleased me over many years.
I'm way beyond having my life revolve around comparing speakers for fine points that no one I know can detect. My ears are still reasonable and I enjoy the sound of vinyl, but there's just not enough time for holy grail.
I love these speakers.

Weaknesses:
Size and mass. I don't know what I'd do if I had to move.

Similar Products Used:
Owned NS-1000's and NS-2000's
Magnaplanar speakers.

JohnHart

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.40 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from Japan

Summary:
Bought these units from Akhibara-ten in Japan...a mecca for the best hifi equipment this side of SanFrancisco. Previously i had units by B&W and Dynaudio...also had the smaller Yamaha NS-1000X...which is one of the best speakers i ever heard until now. Excellent at everything but mainly i listen to rock and jazz. The 15inch carbon fibre woofer provides the necessary 'kick' to replicate quite closely a real drum. More fun than any speaker i ever had...audiophile qualities but will blow you away with power!

Strengths:
Extreme clarity, pace, rythmn, timing, bass and presence. All you want from a speaker...good looking, accurate and ability to reproduce things you never heard before in a speaker.

Weaknesses:
Rarity...find one pair of these and you're lucky. I had to go to japan to get some.

Similar Products Used:
B&W Nautilus 802 Yamaha NS-1000X

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Summary:

After living with a pair of Polk RTA-11t speakers for about 10 years, a friend from work mentioned that he knew of someone wanting to sell a pair of Yamaha NS-2000s. I went to audition them, and I was not the slightest bit impressed with them. The system they were attached to consisted of a Vemak(?) CD player and a Cary amp (I think it put out about 10W/ch) connected with about $5000 worth of cables. However, I persisted and went back to audition them with my 130W/ch Rotel power amp. That made a difference. I have now been using the NS-2000s for about 2 months. They sit atop heavy, spiked steel stands. They are a 3-way design, with a 30mm beryllium dome tweeter, an 88mm beryllium dome midrange, and a 330mm carbon fibre woofer. The tweeter and midrange are (probably) identical to the ones used in the NS-1000Ms. The woofer and cabinet are superior. At lower listening levels I actually prefer to hook up a pair of mini monitors, since the Yamahas just don't seem to get going until you stuff several watts into them. But at medium to "share you music with the neighbours" levels, these speakers are fantastic. At times I am a "bass freak" and when I wind up the bass control, they are quite happy. Most of my friends do not appreciate what good sound quality is until you cause them physical pain. When I "show off" I sometimes play Dire Strait's "Money For Nothing". Towards the end of the guitar cressendo, you think your ears are going to bleed. But from the other end of the house, the sound is clear and undistorted. This lends credit to their high level abilities (and nothing to my intelligence). I listen mainly to rock/pop, but I do listen to jazz, classical and some folk quite regularly. I don't know if these speakers are "accurate" -- I haven't been able to directly compare them with a live performance, but I find the sound to be extremely "listenable". I find that I turn on the stereo far more frequently than when I had the Polks connected. I am considering upgrading my CD player, which is now around 9 years old. I think CD technology has progressed somewhat over that period. Despite Polk and Yamaha claiming a sensitivity of 90dB/W/m for their speakers, I find that for normal listening levels I used to have the volume control at about 9 o'clock for the Polks, but I use it at about 11 o'clock for the Yamahas (yes, I am using an identical electronics setup in both cases). The construction of the Yamahas is excellent, and the wood veneer finish is still beautiful, and these speakers are probably 15 years old. The previous owner had some modifications made, and the woofers reconed when the foam surrounds deteriorated. The new cones have a synthetic surround, perhaps butyl rubber, which should last longer than foam. The other modifications were internal rewiring, and the replacement of the spring clip connectors with banana sockets. The only problem I have now is that the midrange and tweeter attenuators are getting a bit scratchy. They need cleaning or replacing, and I doubt that Yamaha spares are cheap.
When used as home theatre speakers they are also excellent, except that I feel that I need a subwoofer. This isn't due to their inability to reproduce stacks of bass, but some movie soundtracks have bloated bass effects, and the 500Hz crossover point is just way too high. With my surround sound processor's bass boost on, the low bass effects are huge, but the upper bass becomes very boomy and tiring. A subwoofer crossed over at the recommended 80Hz would be better.
Overall I am truly happy with these speakers. They look great without their grilles, and the cabinets polish up a treat. I give them 4 stars. They are not as good as other speakers I have heard, but then I cannot afford those speakers. However, for the price I paid ($2000 Australian) they are a wonderful balance of clarity and ability to go loud. This suits me. I would really like to hear comments from other owners of the NS-2000.

Manufacturer's Specifications:

Woofer: 330mm (13") pure carbon fibre with 89mm voice coil
Midrange: 88mm (3.5") beryllium dome
Tweeter: 30mm (1-3/16") beryllium dome
Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m
Impedance: 6 ohms
Frequency response: 28 - 20,000Hz
Power Rating: 125W
Crossover: 500Hz, 6kHz
Dimensions (WxHxD): 440x752x370mm (17-5/8 x 29-5/8 x 15-7/8)
Weight: 47kg each (103lb)

My music system components:

Sony CDP-C705 CD player
Sony TA-E77ES preamplifier
Rotel RB-870BX power amplifier
Sony MDS-JE510 minidisc recorder
Nakamichi ST-7 tuner
Cable Talk 3.1 speaker cable

Strengths:
Very clear, enjoyable sound. Will go extremely loud when needed.

Weaknesses:
Not as precise as some newer speakers - but they cost lots.