# Yamaha NS-10?



## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

Last year I went to a new Guitar Center that opened up near by to buy some new strings for my acoustic. So I was just browsing around and i went into 1 of the studio rooms. They had a variety of monitors over there. I was listening to a couple of them I really didnt like the tonality. One of the employees ask me if I was interested in buying a set of monitors, i told him that i am interested in buying all the time. He played me all of the sets they had, I wasn't really thrilled with most of them they had. He advised me on a set of Yamaha NS10s(told me to look on ebay and whatnot), apparently they discontinued them because of the cone was made from a now extinct tree_ he said,_ also he said they sound very "reproduced"...as in clear. I told him that i would do some research and check them out.

I started looking on The Google about these drivers, i'm reading and majority of the knowledgeable people say they suck & and that they are too peaky and harsh as well as they dont extend lower than 80hz. Also read some comments like "if you can mix on these monitors they will sound good on any"....

Anybody have had experiences with them? seems like just an Hype.

ps: sorry for such a long post, but i thought the back story might be of use


Im looking on eBay they are holding their value but I dont see why
http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...&fsop=32&fsoo=2&sadis2=100&fpos2=75056&lsot2=


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

I would not get them honestly, we have them at work and the "if you can get your mix good on these" comment is very true. they are bright as hell, there was even a review once as to which brand of toilet tissue sounds best over the tweet


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

2ply?


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## stereojnky (Mar 17, 2008)

They were a staple in alot of studios way back but imho there are better out there.
And keep in mind we're talking about a used speaker that hasn't been in production for some time now. 
How much real use are you gonna get out of it?


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

im not going to buy it. I was just wondering what the hype was about


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## stereojnky (Mar 17, 2008)

Megalomaniac said:


> "if you can mix on these monitors they will sound good on any"....


Yeah i heard that all the time when I was into that (recording). 

I was just stating the obvious pitfalls of using that particular monitor now. 

If my memory serves me correctly, they have been out of production for over ten years or close to it.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

stereojnky said:


> Yeah i heard that all the time when I was into that (recording).
> 
> I was just stating the obvious pitfalls of using that particular monitor now.
> 
> If my memory serves me correctly, they have been out of production for over ten years or close to it.


Close to 10, and everyone has blown up all the spare parts


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## lacruisin (Apr 29, 2008)

I think there's a lot better out there now.


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## Big_Valven (Aug 20, 2008)

Go some NS-1000s instead


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## snaimpally (Mar 5, 2008)

The Yamaha NS-10s are the crappiest studio monitors I have ever heard. I talked to quite a few studio owners and many had a pair of NS-10s on hand in addition to their higher end monitors. Their rationale for having the NS10s was that they could audition music on a "crappy" stereo to ensure that the music would sound good anywhere. I really didn't buy this and never understood why anyone would ever use these but they were very popular.

If you are looking for nearfield studio monitors, check out KRK, M-audio, and Mackie, all of which Guitar Center carries. Also check out some of the smaller Paradigm speakers, such as the Titans, at local home theater stores. I used to work for a major telecom manufacturer and they had a anechoic chamber for testing. They auditioned many studio monitors and settled on a pair of Paradigms. Several studios that produced community-based video programming also used Paradigms. They are excellent speakers for the money.


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## spydertune (Sep 9, 2005)

chad said:


> "if you can get your mix good on these"


That is all I have ever heard about NS-10's.

About the only thing they have going for them is they aren't "Horrortone" 5C's -


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

spydertune said:


> That is all I have ever heard about NS-10's.
> 
> About the only thing they have going for them is they aren't "Horrortone" 5C's -


Check out what those things are going for on ebay!


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

lacruisin said:


> I think there's a lot better out there now.


Do you have expierience to base this on or are you going for 100 posts to TRY to win a set of tweets?


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## spydertune (Sep 9, 2005)

chad said:


> Check out what those things are going for on ebay!




.....something.....something.....fool and his money.....something.....something.....


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

spydertune said:


> .....something.....something.....fool and his money.....something.....something.....


Yep, I have 2 pair that I rescued, I think of them as an investment :blush:

SOMEDAY I'm gonna need something I don't have the cash on hand for... BUT I have a set of ****ty speakers!


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## bigabe (May 1, 2007)

The NS-10s are like a 25 year long forum boner.

Everybody got all hyped up about them in the 80s for some reason. They weren't even originally designed as studio monitors... they were designed to be cheap ass home theater speakers.


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## stereojnky (Mar 17, 2008)

bigabe said:


> The NS-10s are like a 25 year long forum boner.
> 
> Everybody got all hyped up about them in the 80s for some reason. They weren't even originally designed as studio monitors... they were designed to be cheap ass home theater speakers.


Maybe they have the response curve of 90% of all crappy home speakers. 
That was genius!

You know I almost bought a pair because of the hype. The fact that they were to discontinue production had something to do with it also.

I kinda wish I had now. I could have sold them and bought me another UL12.


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## finfinder (Apr 15, 2006)

$500-$750 for 10 year old Yamahas on Fleabay !!! ???
They gotta be kidding. There's way better stuff out now for that kind of money.


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## $rEe (Jan 15, 2008)

Genelec1031, Mackie HR 824.



stereojnky said:


> They were a staple in alot of studios way back but imho there are better out there.


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

so why did that Guitar Center guy say the cone was made from a RARE extinct tree? lol  what kind of bs was that about


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## stereojnky (Mar 17, 2008)

Megalomaniac said:


> so why did that Guitar Center guy say the cone was made from a RARE extinct tree? lol  what kind of bs was that about


I can't remember why they were discontinued. 

He probably didn't know what he was talking about. Maybe he did, who knows.
The mere fact that he suggested them says a lot.

I just remember seeing a lot of them in photos of studios back then.

Whenever I see pics of studios, I always try to identify as much equipment as I can.

You ever go to best buy and try to get advice from those guys about car audio?
I was in there getting an ipod cable for my 205 the other day and overheard this guy telling somebody that if he upgraded his radio he would lose his steering wheel controls.

It was a common car that I know they make an interface for.

Btw which monitors did you audition?


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## bigabe (May 1, 2007)

They discontinued the NS-10m because they developed newer, active models that sounded just as ****ty. 

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA...,,CNTID%253D49338%2526CTID%253D560744,00.html

And the old school Yamaha white cones are nothing more than treated paper cones. No extinct trees... nothing like that. New ones are polypropylene.


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## spydertune (Sep 9, 2005)

bigabe said:


> The NS-10s are like a 25 year long forum boner.
> 
> Everybody got all hyped up about them in the 80s for some reason. They weren't even originally designed as studio monitors... they were designed to be cheap ass home theater speakers.



They were introduced in the late 1970's IIRC.

I don't believe there was much of a home theater category then.

However, Betamax was pretty hot.


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## stereojnky (Mar 17, 2008)

bigabe said:


> They discontinued the NS-10m because they developed newer, active models that sounded just as ****ty.
> 
> http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA...,,CNTID%253D49338%2526CTID%253D560744,00.html
> 
> And the old school Yamaha white cones are nothing more than treated paper cones. No extinct trees... nothing like that. New ones are polypropylene.


Oh no, according to the manual, the cone is formed from " ...a sheet of specially developed paper material...". Probably toilet paper.
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/result.php


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## bigabe (May 1, 2007)

spydertune said:


> They were introduced in the late 1970's IIRC.
> 
> I don't believe there was much of a home theater category then.
> 
> However, Betamax was pretty hot.



My bad... 

I should've said consumer level affordable home audio.

My point is, they were not originally developed as, or intended to be studio monitors.


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## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

My yamaha cdx-530 ROCKS though 

And YES those NS10's suck indeed.... (ears start to automatically ring again when I think about the time Candisa sold her marantz to a guy that used NS10's)


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## Candisa (Sep 15, 2007)

This thread reminded me immediately on that... in a BAD way 

I sold my Marantz PM7200 KI because it sounded waay to warm on my speakers... On NS10's, it was still like listening in a freezer, and the volume level that guy 'listened' them didn't make me feel any better, but hey, I got the Marantz sold 

NS10's... they SUCK

PS.: I think that guy had a couple of those 5C's laying around too 

greetz,
Isabelle


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## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

I think they were not those exact same speakers, but they indeed looked cheap. different color cone though and different enclosure too.... Not the 5c's as pictured here


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## Hernan (Jul 9, 2006)

NS10... no no. 

The right one is the NS1000 monitor. A reference in they days. They sound much better than they cost are their time.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Hernan said:


> NS10... no no.
> 
> The right one is the NS1000 monitor. A reference in they days. They sound much better than they cost are their time.


They still sound like ass, but better ass.

I have mixed many-o session on NS10's, I CAN get used to them, the NS1K's? Why bother? Why re-introduce ass that sounds different?


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

I got some nice Bose stereo monitors i am using on my tv in the bedroom. sounds better than a stock speaker on a tubed tv thats on the back side of the tv. :/


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## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

Yamaha's got nice amps, nice playback-devices, builds pretty nice instruments..... sweet bikes..... But PLEASE yamaha STOP BUILDING SPEAKERS!!!!

Seriously though.... How could they fail so miserably when all of their other equipment is certainly well worth the money?


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## phreakness (Apr 11, 2008)

The NS-10 is a studio mixer monitor setup. I have 2 pairs in each of my studios. and I can take one mix from my protools rig and put it on my other setup and those NS-10 pretty much sound the same. 

It true what they say that if you can make your mix sound good on a set of NS-10 it'll pretty much sound good anywhere. Their frequency response is a nightmare but their accurate and point to problems in the mix very well. Its one of the few monitors a layman with an untrained ear can say 'XYZ is to loud and LMNOP is distorting' because its really easy to pick that stuff out on these monitors. Its annoying and you get fatigued listening to mixes over and over. If something dumbs the mix down and points out flaws quickly, thats a tool i'll always keep around. 

Typical monitors are flat and make everything sound good, thats not what you want in a mix monitor.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

phreakness said:


> Typical monitors are flat and make everything sound good, thats not what you want in a mix monitor.


WTF? Flat yes, make everything sound good, pretty far from it.

I have yet to see a layman get a mix right on a set of NS10M's, unless right means no top end in the final proiduct.


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## Hernan (Jul 9, 2006)

Nobody likes/liked the NS1000? Many years had passed by but at the time they are NICE. OK, basslacking but mids and highs were superb!

I used to hear them hooked to hi end gear. Tubes everywhere, exotic turnables and off course well recorded LPs!


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## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

chad said:


> WTF? Flat yes, make everything sound good, pretty far from it.
> 
> I have yet to see a layman get a mix right on a set of NS10M's, unless right means no top end in the final proiduct.


With you 

I mean... In my opinion a monitor that doesn't have flat response is no good.

A monitor should have a flat curve in order to hear everything the way it was recorded! If not, it will be pretty hard to make a final mix that sounds flat. It's the only way to get a recording that the end-user is capable of tweaking to his likings> Not every system is the same, so if you have a flat recording you can work easier on EQ'in to your likings. I want a liniar curve in recordings and system so I don't have to touch the EQ and everything sounds as balanced and accurate as it gets.

Just my opinion


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

I was reading through and find it amusing what some posted about their speakers. I have never heard the NS-10, but I can imagine that they must not sound very good. However, my home theatre currently consists of the NS-7390, a NS-C444, and a YST-SW315. All running off my Denon, I have never auditioned a better sound with a total cost that has been under $750 so far (for the speakers, the Denon was a bit more than that). Once the NS-777 are added to the collection, it will be complete. Unless I add another YST-SW315 for the other side of the room, because that mamma jamma just SLAMS!


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

chithead said:


> I was reading through and find it amusing what some posted about their speakers. I have never heard the NS-10, but I can imagine that they must not sound very good. However, my home theatre currently consists of the NS-7390, a NS-C444, and a YST-SW315. All running off my Denon, I have never auditioned a better sound with a total cost that has been under $750 so far (for the speakers, the Denon was a bit more than that). Once the NS-777 are added to the collection, it will be complete. Unless I add another YST-SW315 for the other side of the room, because that mamma jamma just SLAMS!


I (well my parents currently) own a set of Yamaha tower speakers that were released in the mid-late 80's. They have an 8" and a 1" with a nice crossover. They sound FANTASTIC! REALLY nice deep stage, fogiving on placement, attractive, etc. My first real set of speakers as a kid and still truckin 20+ years later.

Those still don't change my stance on the NS10 

Chad


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