Yamaha NS 5000

Thanks for taking the time for the write up. Yamaha must be trying to control the pricing uf the speakers by selling at big box stores. Shame since there's usually very little to compare to and those half glass rooms just suck for demoing music playback.

This was not a big bx store, I do not think they sell the 5000 series at these big stores. Shelley’ s in Los Angeles area, where I went, is a super high end store.

http://www.shelleysstereo.com/

The other stores in the USA that have them are also high end stores. There is of course the online sellers.

www.musicdirect.com

https://www.abt.com/product/140313/Yamaha-NS-5000-Black-Bookshelf-Speakers-With-Stands-NS5000PNST.html?utm_source=connexity&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=NS-5000PNST#

The reason the Yamaha was placed in this room was they had the other rooms occupied with their existing gear. They did not buy the Yamaha system and are displaying this as a favor to Yamaha. In fact, I brought up the NS 5000 11 months ago to them when I audition the Paradigm Persona. They were not too interested nor that familiar in the NS 5000. I can understand their view since Yamaha does not have the rarefied audio reputation today as other brands. I think Techinics is in the same boat today, I believe Luxman had that perception a decade prior.

Saying all of that I think a purchase of the NS 5000 speaker will happen for me. I went back and read some reviews and they also stated the beautiful sound or tone aspect of the NS5000’s, that I clearly heard. They also complimented the speaker for things like imaging, size of soundstage, and placement of sound (instruments, singers). Things I thought were their but were obscured by the room.

I was thinking of even buying the Yamaha M-5000 and C-5000 amp and pre because the connectivity and output options to the speaker(s) is better than the Luxman gear I have in mind. However, the Luxman gear seemed to sound better when I auditioned but again the room comes into play. I am pretty sure I will stick with the Luxman’s.

I was reading that insertion of the foam plug into the back of the speaker will move the low frequency to 49 Hz from 26 Hz. That may be OK for me to try sans DSP and use only the Tone controls of the preamp, it is worth a try. Otherwise, the Lyngdorf 2170 or 3400 will be used. If I get the NS 5000 I will also keep my KEF LS50’s in the same room and have them hooked up.

http://www.livingsound.com.au/2017/01/yamaha-ns-5000/

@steve59 See my post from November 1.  Distribution initially will be very limited and through a handful of stores selected by Yamaha.  How those stores demo the speakers is obviously less carefully curated by Yamaha.

Not that it is relevant in your case, but I wonder how the resale value will be on the NS5000?  I wish you could have heard them in a better room, I can sense your not being totally sure, and selling them if that 1% of not knowing grows after purchase could be a big hurt.

If you look at the gallery pictures here you will find a picture of the  NS5000s set up in a sound room.They sound superb in there.Any of my audio friends who have heard them in this system have been very impressed.It looks nothing special but sounds really good.Note the acoustic panels behind them which are a Yamaha product and must be there for a reason.Wrong West Coast for you though yyzsantabarbara!
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