Yamaha NS-5000 Loudspeakers

The NS-5000 tweeter, mid-range, and woofer all feature diaphragms made 100%* from ZYLON® – a synthetic fibre rated as the world’s strongest** and boasting optimum elasticity – which are then vapour-coated with Yamaha’s proprietary monel alloy.

The soft-dome diaphragm suppresses peaks and dips in the frequency response caused by the inherent resonance of the diaphragm, while taking advantage of ZYLON®’s high acoustic velocity comparable to that of beryllium.

The result is a remarkably flat frequency response, with unified tone colour and acoustic velocity over the entire frequency range.

*100% of the base material
**Comparative data concerning all existing organic fibres (source: Toyobo Co., Ltd., May 2015)

Mounted behind the tweeter and mid-range are newly developed R.S. Chambers (patent pending) that suppress unnecessary tube resonance generated behind the diaphragm. Using proprietary acoustic analysis, two custom-designed chambers cancel tube resonance.

The R.S. Chambers achieve higher-resolution audio reproduction by eliminating the need for a large quantity of sound-absorbing material inside the enclosure that tends to smooth the frequency response of each Speaker and potentially degrade minute nuances of the sound.

As a result of exhaustive research on a variety of enclosure designs during the development of the NS-5000, a 3-way ‘bookshelf’ design was chosen – echoing the design of Yamaha’s iconic NS-1000M (released in 1974).

The bass-reflex enclosure has an internal volume of 65 litres – the smallest possible size for a 30 cm, 3-way configuration. The cabinet is assembled using a 3-way mitred joint construction technique and other traditional wood-crafting methods.

Reinforcing crosspieces inside the enclosure, based on FEM analysis, suppress ‘box ringing’ caused by delayed vibration from the six surfaces of the enclosure. In addition, a twisted flare port eliminates extraneous noise (wind noise produced at each end of a bass-reflex port) inherent in the bass-reflex design, and improves resolution in the low frequency range while also enhancing Signal-to-Noise performance.

In selecting a material for the enclosure of the NS-5000, the mechanical strength and acoustic properties of various materials were investigated.

Laminated plywood made of white birch from the island of Hokkaido was chosen with every knot and hole painstakingly removed to ensure the utmost qualities in the cabinet structure.

The front baffle is 29.5 mm thick and the other five sides of the enclosure 20 mm (in all cases, omitting paint primer layer and paint thickness), to achieve the ideal rigidity of the enclosure.

The cuboid enclosure unifies internal standing waves at a specified frequency, which are cancelled by a newly developed resonance tube (patent pending).

This technology eliminates the previous need for the large amount of sound-absorbing material inside the enclosure. The result is the virtual elimination of standing waves with amazing efficiency and pin-point accuracy.

All 6 external surfaces of the enclosure have a glossy Piano finish created using the same dedicated paint, primer and polishing processes used for Yamaha’s renowned Grand Pianos. The uniform and hard membrane further increases the overall rigidity of the enclosure, significantly enhancing Signal-to-Noise performance.

All drivers are connected in positive phase with single wiring to deliver a natural listening experience. Components of its frequency-dividing network are mounted on a double-sided printed circuit board with extra-thick copper traces of 140 μ in thickness; a shorter signal path on the circuit board minimises the loss of sound data during transmission.

Moreover, in order to minimise signal loss, only handpicked parts of the highest quality were used – such as the MCap SUPREME EVO audio capacitor made by Mundorf of Germany (and renowned as the pinnacle of audio-use capacitor), Mundorf’s MResist SUPREME attenuator, and a woofer coil that weighs as much as 1.6 kg.