Natural Sound 3-way acoustic-suspension speaker system
Thank you for selecting the Yamaha NS-1000MM speaker system.

NS-1000MM

When using an amplifier with a rated output power higher than the nominal input power of the speakers, care should be taken never to exceed the speakers maximum input. Do not attempt to clean the speakers with chemical solvents as this might damage the finish. Use a clean, dry cloth. Do not attempt to modify or fix the speakers. Contact qualified YAMAHA service personnel when any service is needed. The cabinet should never be opened for any reasons.

CAUTIONS

Read this before using the speakers. To assure the finest performance, please read this manual carefully. Keep it in a safe place for future reference. Install the speakers in a cool, dry, clean place away from windows, heat sources, sources of excessive vibration, dust, moisture and cold. Avoid sources of humming (transformers, motors). To prevent fire or electric shock, do not expose the speakers to rain or water. To prevent the enclosure from warping or discoloring, do not place the speakers where they will be exposed to direct sunlight or excessive humidity. Do not place the following objects on top of the speakers: Other components, as they might cause damage and/or discoloration on the surface of the speakers. Burning objects (i.e. candles), as they might cause fire, damage to the speakers and/or personal injury. Containers with liquid in them. If the liquid spills, it might cause electric shock to the user and/or damage to the speakers. Do not place the speakers where they are liable to be knocked over or struck by falling objects. Stable placement will also ensure better sound performance. Placing the speakers on the same shelf or rack as the turntable can result in feedback. Secure placement or installation is the owners responsibility. YAMAHA shall not be liable for any accident caused by improper placement or installation of speakers. Any time you note distortion, reduce the volume control on your amplifier to a lower setting. Never allow your amplifier to be driven into clipping. Otherwise the speakers may be damaged.

REMOVING THE FRONT COVER

The front cover is fastened to the enclosure at four points and can be removed if desired. To remove the cover, hold on to both sides and slowly pull straight away from the speaker. To reattach, line up the four holes on the inner surface of the cover with the four corresponding pegs on the speaker and push gently.
Note When the cover is removed, be sure not to touch the speaker units with your hands or to exert excessive force with tools.

SETTING UP THE SPEAKERS

s To mount the speakers on a wall by using the provided mounting brackets
WARNING Each speaker weighs 3.0 kg (6 lbs. 10 oz.). Do not mount them on thin plywood or a wall with soft surface material. If mounted, the screws may come out of the flimsy surface and the speakers may fall. This damages the speakers or causes personal injury. Do not install the speakers to a wall with nails, adhesives, or any other unstable hardware. Longterm use and vibrations may cause them to fall. To avoid accidents resulting from tripping over loose speaker cords, fix them to the wall.

Attach the bracket to the rear of the speaker by using the provided screws.
Remove the provided pads from the backing sheet and put them at the lower corners of the speakers.
You can also use the screw holes on the rear and the bottom of the speaker for mounting the speakers on the wall or the ceiling (if you will not use the provided mounting brackets).

Rear Bottom

64 mm 60 mm
Fasten screws into a firm wall or wall support as shown in the figure, and hang the holes of the mounting bracket on the protruding screws. * Make sure that the screws are securely caught by the narrow parts of the holes.
Tapping screw (Available at the hardware store)
Diam. 3.5 to 3.8 mm 40 mm Min. 20 mm 2 mm
A screw with a diameter of 4 mm and a pitch of 0.7 mm can be used. (Depth of hole : 10mm)

Wall/ wall support

CONNECTION TO YOUR AMPLIFIER
BEFORE MAKING CONNECTIONS, MAKE SURE THAT THE AMPLIFIER IS SWITCHED OFF. s Connections
Connect the screw-type input terminals at the rear of the speakers to the speaker output terminals of your amplifier with the provided speaker cables. Connect the (+) terminals on both the amplifier and the speakers using one side of the speaker cable. Connect the () terminals on both components using the other side of the cable. Connect one speaker to the left (marked L) terminals of your amplifier, and another speaker to the right (marked R) terminals, making sure not to reverse the polarity (+, ). If one speaker is connected with reversed polarity, the sound will be unnatural and lack bass.

Loosen

Tighten

Black () Red (+)

Speaker (R) Speaker (L)

How to Connect:

1 Loosen the terminal knob. 2 Insert the bare wire end properly into the terminal
hole. [Remove the insulation from both ends of the speaker cable.]
Speaker output terminals of the amplifier

Amplifier

3 Tighten the knob and secure the cable.
Test the firmness of the connection by pulling lightly on the cable at the terminal. Note Do not let the bare speaker wires touch each other as this could damage the speaker or the amplifier, or both of them.

SPECIFICATIONS

s Placing the speakers
Place the speakers on a sturdy, vibration-free surface or speaker stands. Better stereo images will be obtained when the speakers are slightly angled in towards the listeners. Type. 3-way acoustic-suspension speaker system Magnetically shielded type Driver.. 12 cm (4-3/4) cone woofer 2.5 cm (1) dome mid-range 1.5 cm (9/16) dome tweeter Nominal Impedance... 6 ohms Frequency Response. 70 Hz 24 kHz Nominal Input Power.. 60W Maximum Input Power.. 150W Sensitivity.. 86 dB/2.83V, 1m Dimensions (W x H x D). 150 x 275 x 180 mm (5-7/8 x 10-13/16 x 7-1/16) Note These speakers feature a magnetically shielded design, but there is still a chance that placing them too close to a TV set might impair picture color. Should this happen, move the speakers away from the TV set. Weight. 3.0 kg (6 lbs. 10 oz.) x 2 Accessories.. Speaker cable (10 m) x 2 Mounting bracket x 2 Screw x 4 Pad x 4 * Please note that all specifications are subject to change without notice. * Care should be taken not to exceed the input power values noted above.

Printed in Malaysia

V706740

Hall of Fame

Choosing Milwaukee:
Before opening Audio Emporium in 1977 I owned a small hifi shop in Estes Park, Colorado. I wanted to move to a major market where business would be more robust. I did my homework to find locations where the lines I wanted would be available. Being a cold weather guy, Milwaukee was the best fit for the profile of what I wanted to do. I visited in the fall of 1976 to see what competition there would be. I opened Audio Emporium in April of 1977. First I visited Wack Electronics on North Avenue. I walked in to find an older gentleman sitting at a long counter with the days newspaper spread out in front of him with a huge thermos of coffee. He was wearing hunting gear complete with the hat and boots- but sans jacket. He didnt even look up as I took a walk around the store including a walk up a few stairs to discover a couple of locked sound rooms. I came back down and asked if I might have a look in those rooms. He offered, Thats high hat up there. Theres nothing in there under $5000. Interesting. I had noticed a GAS Thoebe preamp and Son of Ampzilla- about $500 each up there. Sorry to bother you! Next was Port of Sound, affectionately termed Port of Noise by the locals. Without dedicated sound rooms, equipment was blasting from all corners simultaneously. I went to the counter to ask a sales person if I might hear the new Yamaha NS-1000 speakers (they had Yamaha receivers). He was perplexed- like hed never heard of them. A stern voice came from behind a cubicle from a man I couldnt even see. He barked to his salesman, We dont carry Yamaha speakers. Sell him something else! Sheer madness. On to Flanner & Hafsoos at Mayfair. Flanners would be a formidable competitor. But they were not interested in what I wanted to do. They had McIntosh and Klipsch. Those lines werent as audiophile as the ARC, Magnplanars and Dahlquists I would offer, but they knew who they wanted to cater to. Further, they were cramped with a number of small rooms in a mall shotgun setup. I would have nice open rooms where I could give the speakers a fair shake. Last but not least was a store on Silver Spring with some stereo gear in the back- books & records were up front as I recall. There were some skinny speakers there- the Bertagni Geostats. Cool! I wondered, wow, this could be some real competition!?! I asked the young sales guy if he could explain the Bertagnis to me. He was very friendly and offered, Well, they aint shitty. I mean,
Im not saying them are the best speakers but I can tell ya, they aint shitty. Im still trying to beat that presentation. Despite having a lot of competitors in the market, I thought I could carve a niche for Audio Emporium in Milwaukee.

The Products

We have sold thousands of different products over the years. But there are a few that became true friends along the way. Now, like your friends, some come with baggage and turbulence. But at the end of the day, theyre still friends. Im placing them by the approximate year that they made their mark at AE. Some were designed earlier than we discovered them. I dont pretend that AE has touched base with every good product out there. But weve seen a lot of good stuff. So, in thinking this over, since Connoisseur BD-2A turntable This was a great turntable for about $200 in its day! Its the epitome of a friend you love and hate. It sounded oh so good when loaded up with a Sonus Blue cartridge. But, it was more than a little funky. Its rubber boot kept falling off. The headshell was a mess. LP rumble could be nasty. But, considering its time twas a mighty fine source! It had good detail, but not much foundation. Rega Planar 2 & 3 turntables These are simply the best values in the history of turntables! They still make them, with upgrades of course, today! The original Planar 2 came with a teak base and Luster S shaped arm. The 3 had the better arm and black plinth. Within a few years both models were fitted with Regas own tonearms. When that happened, they blew the competition away. I still remember a turntable demo we had with the Regas vs B&O vs Technics direct drive. We had four of the same LPs, synched them up and could compare with the flip of a switch. It was so easy to tell that the Regas were better that it was embarrassing to the other guys. Panasonic couldnt care less, but our B&O rep came by to say hewouldnt sell us B&O anymore if we didnt change the demo- cuz our competitor was complaining that B&O was impossible to sell in light of this revealing comparison! The Regas supported the best cartridges of the day- the Denon 103D, Grados, Deccas- super tables! They still are, by the way!

Connoisseur BD-2A

Rega P2
Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers The DQ-10 was one of the first really good dynamic driver speakers. They were hideously inefficient and needed careful placement. But, they didnt sound boxy and when run with big amps, did a very nice job. Despite being large, the bass wasnt prodigious. It sounded better with a sub! We ran them with GAS amps primarily. It was a good combo for the day, but the Ampzillas ran hot and had issues. The Son was more reliable but borderline in power for these hungry speakers.

Dahlquist DQ-10

Ampzilla & Son of Ampzilla Ampzilla was a big nasty amp from GAS. It ran hot and had some reliability problems. But it was among the first of the big bruisers that could drive Magnepans and Dahlquists. Son of Ampzilla sounded more mellow and was more reliable. But Ampzilla served its purpose for the customers who needed the muscle. Ampzilla is the definition of an amp we loved- and hated at the same time.

Ampzilla

Son of Ampzilla
Magnepan MG-1 speakers At only $500pr the MG-1 was an eminently affordable, audiophile speaker at a great price. Yes, they required placement away from the back wall which many wives didnt want. But the sound was quick and the image was large. MG-1 rewarded you for running the best possible electronics!

Magnepan MG-1

Magneplanar Tympani 1-D speakers To this day its one of the most unique speakers to have graced hifi-dom. They sounded large and open when you ran them with enough power. That was a challenge in the 70s! They were difficult to dial in. It was the ultimate tweakers speaker. They rewarded you for hours of fiddling and fussing. I heard them sound great, and lousy- depending on how they were placed and what they were run with. The good news is, they rewarded the customer who was willing to work with them and massage them with the right electronics.

Magnepan Tympanis

ARC SP-5 Preamp When I opened in April of 1977 ARC had its full function SP4a preamp and D-100 amp. It was a nice combination. But by June ARC introduced the SP-5 which was a better sounding preamp for less money. I wasnt as nuts about the D-100. It sounded good but didnt drive our tough speakers well enough.

ARC SP-5

1978 Snell Type A Speakers I wandered into the Snell demo room at CES in Chicago just like a hundred others. The size of the image was immense. The sound was smooth. It was quite striking in its lack of assault to the ears. I was immediately taken by the Snell A and ordered them. The Type A was a magnificent use of drivers that were quality but not much more. Peter Snell died a young man at 38 or so. But it was a pleasure to meet him and sell his baby for a few years. He got more mileage out of parts that came off the shelf than anybody! Linn LP-12 What a great sounding table! Linn showed us that the darn thing spinning the LP was as important as the arm or cartridge. When fit with a great arm and cartridge, which was NOT a given in 1978, the LP-12 extracted more info than the Regas. But, with many of the BAD arms of the day, the LP-12 didnt sound as good as the Regas! Twas mess to dial in but rewarded you for trying.

Kimber 4 PR

B&W 801 speakers The best speaker the market had yet to see arrived in 1979. The 801 bettered the planars and electrostatics, to my ears anyway, in every way, shape and form. They demanded power, but so did the screens. The 801 made use of Kevlar and a special midrange housing that nobody had even thought of before. With a big time woofer and excellent cabinet design, the 801 really introduced the modern era of loudspeaker design. Before this, guys were basically just buying drivers from Madisound and screwing them in boxes! Most companies still are.

B&W 801

B&W 802 speakers The big debate of the day was, which is better? 801, or 802? The 802 had two 8s, the 801 had one 12. They had the same gorgeous midrange/tweeter head- truly ground breaking speakers! I liked the 801s fullness but some folks liked the leaner look and tauter bass of the 802. We sold more 802s because of the more domestic size. I recently visited (2010) an old buddy who is still running a pair in mint shape. They have held up very well!

B&W 802

RH Labs SB-1 subwoofer This was the first CLASSIC SUB. It was a coffee table size. This sub made full use of its driver by tuning the chambers fully. It was a terrific sub which whupped the competition. Yeah it was big and not many ladies would let them in the house. But if you got one of these bad boys hooked up to T-1Ds, pretty esoteric stuff for the day! On top of the performance Randy Hooker (RH) called it a subwoooofer, which added to the charm!

RH Sub

Hafler DH-200 and DH-101 David Hafler left Dynaco in the dust and created these terrific sounding little guys. The preamp sounded better than it had a right to. It was built cheap as can be, but sounded very clean. The amp was a better value- with very tight bass and good clarity. Most of you old audio guys had at least a sniff at these, I would guess!

Hafler DH 101

Hafler DH 200
Apt Holman Apt Holman made a very popular preamp and power amp. The good news is that the preamp had all the features that audiophiles wanted for about $650. The sound of the preamp was similar to the Hafler 101- clean but thin. The power amp (100x2 $700 ish) was clean but too lean for my taste. It was a bit surprising to me how much traction these products got in the press for their level of sound. But they were reliable and had nice features. 1980 Threshold 400A, 4000A, SL-10 Threshold knocked ARC off the shelves for me! I had grown to love ARCs warmth and smoothness. But, it was slow and dark compared to the Threshold. The 400A amp at about $1300 was a steal. It beat the ARC D100 handily. I was humbled when customer Bob brought in a 400A and it KOd the ARC quickly. The 4000A at $2k was the best amp you could buy! The SL-10 preamp had a dead silent moving coil section- what a great array of products! These, like the B&W 801, ushered in the era of truly progressive gear.

Amber Series 70s

1985 B&W 808 speakers Were you ready to rumble?! By 1985 the 801 was such a venerable product that it was king by acclamation. So B&W decided, almost as a goof, to build two 801s in one box! The 808 was a mere $8k pr and about 350 pounds. It was truly awesome with the right horsepower!

B&W 808

Kyocera R-851 receiver The best stereo receiver I ever heard came out this year. The R-851 started a great relationship for us and Kyocera. It was priced like Yamaha or Denon but built much better! At $850 with guts! 85 w/ch, this was the first RECEIVER that could drive some of our demanding speakers nicely.

Kyocera R-851

Kimber 4TC speaker wire Ray Kimber stepped up from the 4PR plastic coating to Teflon Coating and variable size stranded wire. It improved musically in midrange and high frequency resolution. 4TC remains one of the best values in the speaker wire world!

Kimber 4 TC

Kimber PBJ interconnect Interconnects up to this point had been mostly parallel wires with a plastic jacket around them to make them look larger than they were. Kimbers PBJ was braided in weave, without a shield. The result was passage of more information- and arguably the best interconnect you could buy for reasonable money!

Kimber PBJ

1986 B&W DM-2000 speakers Do you remember this pentagonal shaped speaker? It was a forerunner to the Matrix design that has propelled B&W away from the field. They learned with DM-2000 that controlling all this cabinet reflection info was vital to precise imaging. This did it for about $1400pr.

B&W DM-2000

Vector Research VCD-700 Audio Emporium Enhanced CD Player For only $400 we sold a ton of these very reliable CD players. Some of our competitors chided this move, saying, Vector Research?! What they didnt know is that Vector vendored products out, like NAD, Adcom, Cambridge and Outlaw do today. This CD player was made by Kyocera and remains one of the best built, inexpensive players we ever sold. We did our bypass cap mod and made this a very solid source piece for a couple of years. At the same time Vector had very nice receivers and a fine integrated amp- sourced from Rotel!

1987 Rotel RA-870 Integrated amp This marvelous integrated set the stage for many a serious, affordable high end system. To this day Rotel has great sounding integrateds with real power and fair prices. The RA-870 was the first to cut the mustard.

Rotel RA-870

Kimber KCAG interconnects Kimber introduced the high end KCAG to the market. With pure silver wire and the unshielded weave, KCAG set new standards for transparency, regardless of price. Kyocera DA-710CX CD player What a fine CD player! Up to this point we had sold a few reasonable players from NAD, but this is the first one that was truly built like a brick outhouse and demanded our respect. It was about $800 and made the other stuff look like tinker toys! 1988 Kyocera DA-310 CD player Most of you will remember that in the early days I was not excited about the sound or build of CD players. We actually modified or enhanced as I called it, some early NADs and Denons to soften up the bright top end. Well, the Kyocera 310 pretty much ended all that. It was only $325, built very well and had good components. It won me over and I was proud to sell it to anybody! We had sold Kyoceras under the Vector brand name. But it was nice to have the DA-310 because it was the real McCoy and didnt need our bypass cap mod. Rotel RT-850 tuner The 850 was the first digital tuner that sounded good and performed as advertised. It was clear, didnt drift, easy to use. We sold a boatload because back in the day, as my rotten kids say, FM was still a vibrant source without one third of its time wasted on ads! 1989 Threshold S-350e power amp What a great amp! Once again Threshold raised the bar with this high end offering!

Kimber KCAG

Kyocera DA-310

Rotel RT-850

CAL Aria CD player Boy, what these guys did right, they really did right! The Aria was a warm, smooth CD player. It was a BAT wannabe (see 2001). Unfortunately, it wasnt very detailed and when the lasers had problems, CAL couldnt fix them. The service on these and other CAL items was a disaster for the money they asked. But it sounded buttery in a day when most CD players were still hard edged.

CAL Aria

1990 B&W Matrix 804 speakers To me, this is one of the most significant speaker introductions of all time! It really hurt the flat panel speaker biz in our store. It was a small tower, imaged GREAT, sounded boxless, was efficient, had quite respectable bass. Finally, we had a smallish speaker SHE was happy to have and HE was thrilled to have. With separate Kevlar mid in its own enclosure and the open air tweeter, this marked the era where B&W started to leave the competition in the weeds!
1991 Forte 4 amp This great sounding class A amp from Threshold was a joy. At about a grand it was great for B&W 804s or any number of other, reasonably efficient speakers. We still encounter customers that have these and are delighted with them two decades later. What a great amp!

B&W 804

Forte 4
Paradigm Titan speakers At only about $209 per pair the Titan redefined how good a cheap speaker could sound. When it came out, it clobbered the mainstream competition. There is no arguing with its hardware. It used a cast frame driver, sturdy cabinet and whupped fanny. With a number of revisions over the years, Titan dominated its price class for about fifteen years!

Paradigm Titans

CAL Sigma, D to A Converter This small, tube, DAC, was just the ticket for taking the edge off some of the CD harshness that was common in the day. You could add it to most any CD player with a digital out and it made something downright nasty, enjoyable. A nice product!

CAL Sigma

1992 Paradigm Atom speakers Paradigm followed the Titan with a little brother- that Atomanother killer! It was 10% smaller and sounded 95% as good. This one-two punch put Paradigm on the map as the best budget spks out there!

Paradigm Atom

Rotel RB-980 power amp The RB-980 was an instant classic! At 120 w/ch and about $600 it sounded more like a Threshold than an Adcom, NAD or Carver. It was fast, stable, solid and NOT BRIGHT. This marks the time frame when Rotel really gained the upper hand over its upper mid priced competiton. Rotel OWNS this territory post 2000. But this amp in particular brought the roof down!

Rotel RB-980

Marantz MA-500 mono block power amp The MA-500 was the cute, long skinny amp that worked wonderfully in home theater or stereo. It didnt have quite the warmth or altruistic audiophile character of the Rotel. But, it was bullet proof and very flexible. We sold a ton and they served our theater goers very well indeed!

Marantz MA-500

1993 Threshold T-2 preamp The T-2 established new performance standards industry wide for its clean, quiet, powerful sound. Things not only started, but STOPPED better than anything Id heard before. Tube products introduced a certain color that some folks would prefer, period. But for most of the market the T-2 stepped away from prior solid state competition. A true classic!

Threshold T-2

Paradigm Monitor 5SEMk3 speakers The Five was a wonderfully voiced, 8 2-way tower with soft dome tweet. It sounded large, mellow and was just what the doctor ordered for so much of the early, edgy digital sound. The Five made it all more palatable. At only $500 per par, Id still miss the Five, but I still have a pair in my theater system!
1994 B&W Nautilus 4 way speakers This was the first of the Nautilus Series. At a mere forty grand a pair, we didnt sell as many of these as we did Paradigm Titans, but the Nautilus gave us a picture of what was to come. It controlled cabinet resonance better than anything else. It only needed four stereo amps to drive them! Weve enjoyed seeing this technology trickle down to more affordable B&Ws!

Paradigm Monitor 5

B&W P-4
Paradigm Mini Monitor Most of what I said about the Monitor Five in 1993 holds true for the Mini Monitor. The Mini had the same soft tweeter, but used a 6 woof instead of the 8 found in the Five. It was $300 per pair and enough better than the Titan to be well worth the money. This speaker dominated its price range for several years!

Paradigm Mini

1995 B&W P6 speakers The P6 was a dynamite product because it was a 3-way, with open air tweeter, in a sleek rosenut cabintet. It was sort of a workingmans 804 without the Matrix, at about $1600pr. The P6 was lean and threw a large image!

B&W P-6

Paradigm PS-1000 powered sub We had sold powered subs before- RHs, M&Ks, Velodynes, but all had their problems. The finish work wasnt good, the amps had trouble holding up under duress, the crossovers werent very lean. But the PS-1000 at $550 turned the powered sub market on its ear! To this day Paradigm offers a version of it- and it remains one of the best values in our business, a 10 cast frame sub with big time discrete amp- and lots of muscle!

Paradigm PS-1000

Rotel RDD-980/Rotel RDA-980 Transport/DAC The drive/DAC world was humming along but at some pretty major money. Remember Wadia? Theta? PS? Well, typical of Rotel they swiped most of the good ideas, made modest tradeoffs withholding mechanical overkill, and came out with two reasonably priced, great sounding components! The sound was warm, the image was broad. The bass wasnt as muscular as the $2k per box guys, but at about $700 each, what a deal!

Rotel RDD-980

1996 Bryston 4B-ST power amp We picked up Bryston when Threshold/PS/Forte imploded. The timing was ideal! Bryston had just improved its classic 4B to the Stuart Taylor inspired 4B-ST. At about $2300, 250 w/ch, and 20 yr warranty, Bryston offered some of the best sound in the most reliable package weve ever seen! The bass impact ran rings around its competition, as did the silent noise floor.

Bryston 4B-ST

Bryston BP-25 preamp This companion remote preamp just came out too. Its noise floor was better than Threshold and the units have proven to be even less persnickety. While we were sad to see Threshold evaporate, Bryston picked up the slack without a missed step for us.

Bryston BP-25

B&W 602 speakers B&W broke the mold with the 602. With a 7 Kevlar midrange, 1 thick cabinet and a few other technical gains, the $500pr price range would never be the same again. The 602 has gone on to become the best sounding traditionally sized bookshelf speaker for many years. Its had a couple revisions and is fresh as a daisy in 2006!

B&W 602

Marantz CD-63SE CD player This beauty was almost an accident. Marantz had a fine sounding CD-63 at $400. A reviewer offered, heck, if they just dotted a couple Is and crossed a couple Ts, this could be a state of the art contender for not much more! And, thats exactly what they did!

CD-63SE (lower unit)

1997 Bryston B-60 integrated amp The B-60 shattered integrated amp standards of performance. At last, in a single, skinny chassis you could get definition and image specificity like big separates. Of course it didnt have the bang to drive huge speakers, but it got the most out of anything less. At about $2k, it remains one of the best electronic buys out there.

Bryston B-60

Bryston 3B-ST power amp Following the 4B-ST, Bryston came out with the 3B-ST, an improvement over its renowned classic. The 3B was significantly less money and for most speakers, plenty of amp! Everything the 4B-ST did well, the 3B-ST did ALMOST as well, for a third less cash.

Bryston 3B-ST

Marantz MA-700 power amp Marantz finally came out with a bigger brother for its 125w MA-500 mono block. At 200 w mono the MA-700 was primarily and testosterone charged theater amp. Whether you needed one, or more, the MA-700 became a bullet proof theater goer.

Marantz MA-700

1998 Rega Planar 9 turntable While turntables werent selling well in the late 90s, they were still selling. It was interesting that Rega made a quantum level improvement in the performance at the $2700 range. It was great- if not 15 years later than wed have liked! The Planar 9 had a much superior power supply and drive mechanism, as well as perhaps the best tonearm the industry has ever seen! Further, it came out with its own EXACT cartridge. For a little over $3k you couldnt beat it forperhaps $10k!

VK-D5SE

Bryston 14B-ST power amp At a mere $5k and 500 w/ch, the 14B-ST was like two 4BSTs in one box. Not many speakers need this kind of power. But there are a few!

Bryston 14B-ST

2002 Rotel RSP-1066 preamp/processor What a great thing when you find a super sounding piece thats a great value too! The 1066 has precisely the array of nuts and bolts 99% of our customers want, at only $1500. Yes, you can beat it, but for three times the price. At $1500, everything else pales in comparison!

Rotel RSP-1066

Rotel RMB-1075, multi-channel amp, 5x120 The RMB-1075 is a gem! In one box, you have 5 x 120w. It isnt like a receiver. Its a TRUE 120 x5, all channels driven amp. Its attractive too. It came out at $1300 but when the RSP-1066 came out, they dropped this guy to a grand!

Rotel RMB-1075

Bryston SP-1.7 surround preamp This is THE BEST sounding surround preamp out there. Bryston made this a purist piece- no video switching or on board tuner. This handles only audio. Your video goes straight from your sources to the TV or projector. This is like a surround version of the hallowed BP-25 stereo preamp!

Bryston SP 1.7

BAT VK-51SE preamp BAT made the VK-50SE a couple years back. It was very nice, a bit of a standard with its super tube design. When the VK51SE came out, I couldnt believe the difference! The 50SE has been a reference standard for many magazines and listeners. But to me, the 51SE has broken new turf in terms of transparency. It isnt cheap at about $8k, but its the best preamp Ive ever encountered!

BAT VK-51SE

2003 Kimber Timbre Interconnect The classic PBJ interconnect was improved to the Timbre, like the music, not the tree! The Timbre softened a slight edge off the PBJ. The result is the most open, airy cable available at affordable money, under $100 per meter.

Kimber Timbre

Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player Weve had lots of good values in CD players. But RCD-1072 set new standards for warm, detailed sound at the price. The other nice thing- the RCD-1072 was built well! It came in black or silver and appealed to die hard audiophiles or just normal civilians wanting a CD player that matched the mates in their Rotel stack.

Rotel RCD-1072

B&W 703 Speakers B&W switched from the CDM to the 700 Series. The CDMs were very nice, lean towers. But the 700 Series is much more refined! The 703 was the least expensive model to use B&Ws unique FST, surroundless midrange driver. The subsequent speed and detail was a nice notch up from 704 and lesser models. Made in B&Ws own Danish furniture factory, the fit and finish improved dramatically too.

B&W 703

2004 Bryston BP-26 Preamp Bryston raised the bar on a solid state preamp with the two chassis BP-26. It was great to see them get past the wall wart power supply. BP-26 rounded out the bottom end better that BP25. It had better detail and a more silky mid-top response. It was a significant upgrade of a classic preamp and the best solid state preamp we had heard.

Bryston BP-26

B&W Diamond Tweets in the 800 Series Speakers The ultra high end of the speaker world improved much with the introduction of the diamonds. We audiophiles are always asking for more extended top end- until it gets too aggressive. With the new diamond series we could have our cake and eat it too. The 802D and 803D in particular have done very well even in conservative Milwaukee! 2005 Rega Apollo CD Player The Apollo was the surprise hit of 2005! It was quietly announced and ended up redefining serious CD playing for about a grand. The level of transparency Apollo brought to $1k was indeed a new benchmark.

Rega Apollo

Bryston BP-6 Preamp When Bryston brought out BP-26 we were afraid they were DONE worrying about a $2k preamp. Fortunately, BP-6 answered our wishes. The sound was very much like the classic BP-25 and for a fair amount less money. It didnt have as many ins/outs, but the music was classic Bryston clarity and precision!

Bryston BP-6

B&W 705 Speakers The 705 for about $1500 featured B&Ws open air, Nautilus tweet. The sound was huge and open- not the least bit boxy. You can always get more bass with a sub. But the 705s sound like opening the window to the music.

B&W 705

B&W 603 Speakers The updated 603 is an excellent value. Its a fairly lean 3way tower for about a grand. It could be driven by almost any receiver out there so it was very forgiving. Yet, if you ran great stuff into, like Bryston, the speakers showed they could get up and run. I liked it a lot cuz a guy could buy them for his surround sound receiver, and yet keep them when the electronics got better.

B&W 603

B&W N804s Speakers The 804 at $4500pr offers much of the sophistication of its much more expensive brothers. With top mounted aluminum tweeter, a 6 FST surroundless midrange, and two 6.5 Rohacell woofers and rounded cabinet, 804 brought new levels of sophistication to the price and size. It looked beautiful too. WAF was very high!

B&W 804S

2006 Rega Saturn Rega rewrote the book on Red Book CD operation procedure- literally! The Saturn was the highly anticipated upgrade over the shockingly successful Apollo. With 7 power supplies instead of 3, with dual DACs and a superior line stage, Saturns performance, especially in regards to transparency and airy, spacious sound, is second to nobody!

Rega Saturn

Rega P1 Its nice to get a turntable back into the mix. When Rega discod the P2 in 2004 we thought, well, they just cant make a cheap turntable and be profitable. Imagine our surprise when P1 was announced! Its a Rega through and through. Machining tolerances arent as precise. But sonically, its a terrific upgrade from its $350 competition and a welcome answer to guys with old Duals, B&Os and Technics that need replacing!

Rega P-1

NAD C325BEE Integrated Amp This new edition of NADs classic little integrated for $400 was outstanding. NAD has had many version of its entry level integrated amp. A bunch have missed the mark by cutting corners they shouldnt have. For example, some didnt have pre-out/mainin loops- or used crummy spring loaded speaker terminals instead of banana posts. This guy did it all right. NAD C525BEE CD Player Ditto above, except the amp part! NAD has long been known for nice sounding, cheap 2ch. Theyve had a fine history of $300 ish CD players. C525BEE kept it up.

NAD C-325BEE

Paradigm Mini Monitor & Monitor Seven In late 2006 Paradigm introduced much improved versions of their classic Mini Monitor and sleek Monitor 7 tower. These V5 improvements go way beyond a little crossover tweak or unobtanium on the tweeter. The new designs radically up the efficiency and clarity from small cabinets.
Paradigm Mini v5 Paradigm Monitor 7v5
2007 Bryston BCD-1 CD Player It took Bryston about 25 years to come out with a CD player. $2700. And when they did, they did it right. With detail and bass impact like weve not heard before, BCD-1 is the best thing to happen to the Red Book CD since 1982! The great thing about BCD-1 is that, especially with the XLR outs, we finally could offer a CD source that was equal to the best electronics. When running through BP-26 and the 4B-SST amp- it offered affordable edge of the art performance!

Bryston BCD-1

Rotel RC-1082 Preamp With video and surround sound dominating the market since HD became real, two channel advancements have been few and far between. This $1200 preamp was a welcome exception. Sounding clean, warm and quiet- but offering main stream features like, remote, phono, headphone amp/jack, tone controls and IPOD input jack on the front, RC-1082 gave us an affordable preamp to brag about. Rotel RB-1072 & Class D Power Amps Rotels first class D amp was the $2500, 500 w/ch RB-1092. It was a super product and value. But how many people wanted 500w/ch?! It was a welcome addition when the RB-1072 landed at only $900, 100 w/ch. The clarity of RB-1072 was stellar. The bass control was taut and solid as a rock. The dynamic contrast of RB1072 was lightning. Rotel offered RB-1072 in seven channel form in the RMB1077 for $2500. Hence, 2007 is the year Class D came of age. Im confident well look back in ten years and give a lot of credit to Rotel for making these strides!

Rotel RC-1082

Rotel RB-1072
B&W 683 Speakers This is an instant classic! At $1500 pr the 683 is a working mans 804. It has the FST surroundless midrange, solid bass and warm top end! N804 is among the finest speakers at any price. 683 is dangerously close in a much less expensive offering.

B&W 683

2008 B&W 684 Speakers The 684 for $1100pr is B&Ws first speaker in history to use a Kevlar woofer! B&W worked long and hard to get the Kevlar woofer into its mix, and did so with a bang. 684 has been an instant success at the most popular of price points.

B&W 684

B&W CM-5 Speakers The CM-5, $1500pr, is B&Ws upgrade of an always popular product- a reasonably priced mini-monitor. The great thing about CM-5 is that it blows away minis with 4 and 5 inch drivers. Using a 6.5 driver, CM-5 produces significant bass and is the class of its field. Dressed in gloss black, it is dominating the category.

B&W CM-5

Marantz PM-8003 Integrated Amp For a mere grand, Marantz has produced an integrated amp (70x2) that competes with many an esoteric beast, at a fraction of the price. If you build a product like it was built in North America, but build in China for the cost advantages, you can see why PM8003 has been such a hit. Featuring Marantzs patented HDAM design, PM-8003 can drive almost all the speakers we have- very well.

Marantz PM-8003

Marantz CD-5003 CD Player The new budget king of CD players is the CD-5003, $350. It is built like a tank, substantially better than the NADs and other affordable players on the market. With solid build, marvelous headphone amp and digital out, CD-5003 is finding its way into many high end systems.

Marantz CD-5003

2009 Naim Nait-XS Integrated Amp If ever a product existed that defied your expectations, I think this is it. At $2450 and 60 w/ch, the XS is so quick, controlled and musical- that its positively remarkable. Ive heard lots of nice amps over the years but never has one surprised me so muchwhere I expected good but got incredible! Then you match it up with the new CD5-XS CD player for $3150 andits hard to beat at any price. It has enough control to run B&Ws, Paradigms and to a reasonable degree, even the hungry Magnepans! Bryston BDA-1 Outboard DAC I always tease (sorta) Bryston about being hideously slow at coming out with new products. CDs were introduced in 1982. Brystons BCD-1 came out about 25 years later. Well, this time they have come out in timely fashion with a state of the art DAC for a reasonable two grand. This guy can make your CD player sound close to a BCD-1, and tie into your computer music and even cable TV box as well. I think in many years well look back at THIS piece as the first outboard DAC that really did it all RIGHT for its time!

Naim Nait XS

Bryston BDA-1
Paradigm Studio Monitors V5 Paradigm has always made nice Studio Monitors. But the jump to the V5 series was dramatic! With real wood, rounded cabinets and a new driver configuration, three models of this line are right there with the B&Ws that are made in England! Paradigm Studio 20 Mini Monitors $1300pr The Studio 20 was not quite a MINI Monitor. It most certainly did not SOUND like a Mini! With the best bass at anywhere near its size and price, mated with gorgeous Paradigm open, airy sound and high efficiency, Studio 20 has become my favorite affordable Mini!