Yamaha NS-10M Studio Monitor

[sandawa]

just arrived from Cagayan de Oro where, by chance, i met a Yupangco exec who told me they found out they still have a good number of old stock Yamaha NS-10M Studio. that model was the last of these legendary recording studio monitors produced from the '70s to late '90s. the Studio unlike the other NS-10Ms has no cover grill and meant for use in recording /mixing.

i was told the local firm is planning to dispose of its old stocks, especially the remaining display units, in all its outlets nationwide at only P8K and that such sale could be in late April. boxed-sealed units could be included in that promo i was told. for that amount, i already had reserved a pair to augment my original Japan-issued NS-10M.

Yupangco/Perfect Pitch shops currently sell NS-10M Studio at P28k per pair. at US eBay, a recent transaction for a sealed boxed pair went $1,350.

[jetok]

sandawa,

thanks for the valuable info.



is this the one?

[Superman]

ok 'to bro...thanks ha! meron pa kaya, balitaan mo ko...lapit na matapos ang pagset-up ko...next weekend siguro pwede na tayo session...thanks!

[dennispm]

this is good news sir! where did you place your reservation?

thanks sir.

[sandawa]

my unit will come from Cagayan de Oro. check your nearest Yupangco shop for reservation. i understand not all shops have remaining units that would be up for sale in 3rd week of April.

why could they afford to sell that low? Yupangco could have bought those speakers at only $300 per pair back in mid-90s when exchange rate was only P25 to $1. as you probably know, the retail price of almost any product is 60% acquisition cost and 40% margin for distribution expense, cost of money and dealers' profit.

that pair is currently retailed at P28,000, which is equivalent to over $500 - the ongoing price for NS-10M in the used/old stock market worlwide. in the used equipment auction market in Japan, i found out the original NS-10M was selling at only 20,000 yen while the NS-10M Studio is selling at 25,000 yen. made some researches and found out the 10M Studio was an improved version.

[Superman]

pwede pa ba tayo mag-order, bro?? from CDO?? thanks!

[sandawa]

CDO would send me their bank account for the payment as soon as the management makes the sale official in mid-April. we can corner units available in Mindanao, i think. i have asked here in Davao but not one is available in their Bajada and Matina shops.

[Superman]

thank you sir! lapit lang kasi sa office ko yung yupangco...sige, see you soon! kelangan ko bumili CD writer para makopya niyo ni diego yung iba pang mga CDs

[dennispm]

sandawa said:

my unit will come from Cagayan de Oro. check your nearest Yupangco shop for reservation. i understand not all shops have remaining units that would be up for sale in 3rd week of April.

why could they afford to sell that low? Yupangco could have bought those speakers at only $300 per pair back in mid-90s when exchange rate was only P25 to $1. as you probably know, the retail price of almost any product is 60% acquisition cost and 40% margin for distribution expense, cost of money and dealers' profit.

that pair is currently retailed at P28,000, which is equivalent to over $500 - the ongoing price for NS-10M in the used/old stock market worlwide. in the used equipment auction market in Japan, i found out the original NS-10M was selling at only 20,000 yen while the NS-10M Studio is selling at 25,000 yen. made some researches and found out the 10M Studio was an improved version.

OK sir. Thanks. I'll try the Yupangco shops in here in MM.

[sandawa]

superman said:

thank you sir! lapit lang kasi sa office ko yung yupangco...sige, see you soon! kelangan ko bumili CD writer para makopya niyo ni diego yung iba pang mga CDs

check the Davao surplus shops. i just bought two original configuration IBM NetVista CPUs from Japan at P4K each, P3 (866Mhz) lang, pero mas mabilis pa sa P4 clone na over 1G Mhz ko. all original NetVista IBMs na ako ngayon, ginarahe ko na yung mga clones ko.

i hope we could get enough units of NS-10M Studio, kailangan bolahan ng husto para maglabas yung mga Yupangco managers, otherwise, sila mag-uuwi ng units lalo na yung mga nakaka-intindi.

[Superman]

sandawa said:

superman said:

thank you sir! lapit lang kasi sa office ko yung yupangco...sige, see you soon! kelangan ko bumili CD writer para makopya niyo ni diego yung iba pang mga CDs

check the Davao surplus shops. i just bought two original configuration IBM NetVista CPUs from Japan at P4K each, P3 (866Mhz) lang, pero mas mabilis pa sa P4 clone na over 1G Mhz ko. all original NetVista IBMs na ako ngayon, ginarahe ko na yung mga clones ko.

i hope we could get enough units of NS-10M Studio, kailangan bolahan ng husto para maglabas yung mga Yupangco managers, otherwise, sila mag-uuwi ng units lalo na yung mga nakaka-intindi.

uy ayus! thanks sir! bukas dadaan ako...yung TV ang hina-hunting ko ngayon eh

[sandawa]

i was watching Jackson Browne's Going Home DVD last night and noticed Don Henley's studio interview using the NS-10M as background. i remember seeing these speakers in other DVDs' recording studio shots of Leon Russell, CSNY, Queen, Springsteen and over a dozen others. these musicians seem so proud showing off their NS-10Ms ;D.

these speakers, BTW, are best for studios as nearfield monitors and not at home, except, perhaps, in small rooms where nearfield parameters are achieved. what's nice though are their flexibility and odd behaviour with variations in performance thru different paper tissue brands applied as high frequency equalizer.

[sandawa]

just got back from Cagayan de Oro last night and the bad news is that the NS-10M i was supposed to pick up was not part of the Perfect Pitch/Yupangco sale. i guess they realized the value of those small speakers in time, or somebody referred this thread to them.

anyway, for those who may visit CDO these coming days (it's PBA all-stars there this weekend), my friend's shop, American Surplus, at Xavier gym has some US speaker bargains: JBL, Infinity, KLH, Janszen, DCM, Boston Acoustics, Paradigm, etc. prices of two-way systems with 6.5-inch woofers generally go below P4K, big floorstanders are from P5K to P8K. i should have bought a JBL L20Ti and Infinity Reference 2000.3 but i was a bit worried over my kid's medical school bills next month.

POSTSCRIPT: "When a door closes, a window opens."

a few hours after the original posting, i went around my usual sources here in Davao and found an odd-looking, black woofer, NS-10M pair. the shopowner said it was all original except the woofers were painted black since the white pulp cones were unevenly dirty when he got them.

i first doubted his claim until i saw the cutting on the paper cone, which indicates it was an original. the NS-10M's original woofer, unlike normal speakers, was not perfectly fabricated and had cutting to fit the metal frame. i took the pair home with the problem of how to peel off that black paint on the woofer without destroying the original and treasured white pulp cone. an option is to leave it as is and listen how it differs from the original.

this is my second NS-10M pair from Japan and lucky to have it at a small fraction of the original discounted price offered to me last month by Yupangco for their demo unit in CDO.

[sandawa]

just got my third pair of Yamaha NS-10M -- in mint and perfect condition -- an hour ago. i admit it's not a true "hifi" speaker, but then again, it is almost legendary with respect to industrial application: the world's number 1 studio monitor and most preferred by recording engineers.

i'll probably share two of the three pairs to startup recording studios if they need these gems. the original NS-10Ms stopped production a couple of years back since the tree, endemic to Japan, from where the original white pulp/cone material comes from, is an endangered species.

POSTSCRIPT:

i just checked Japan auction prices. used NS-10M still sells at an average price of $200 in Hifido. a pair of NS-10M tweeters in US eBay still sells at over $200.

[diego]

saw an ns 20 or 30 at joels store a while back and it has the white colored cone. you might be interested

[sandawa]

i've seen those too, but the problem is they lack "history," unlike 10M which is a recording studio phenomenon.

[joey]

i saw this baby sa isang studio at si britney spears ang kumakanta. iba talaga tong Yamaha ns-10m masyadong sikat! ;D

[sandawa]

Sorry for being inctive, I was too busy travelling with 6 trips outside Davao these past two months. That's about a month outside my station.

I was planning to sell two of my three pairs of NS-10Ms three months ago and I did receive about half a dozen inquiries about it online, including a couple from overseas. Last month, I thought it would be a waste to sell them, especially at my planned price of only up to P7K per pair. I mean these are the original classics that are no longer produced. I don't need cash anyway and I'd be happy taking care of those tiny babies in the years to come.

I made the right decision. Grammy on Feb. 11 is giving Yamaha a technical award for the NS-10Ms and other contributions that improved the outputs of the recording industry. Here's a link:
mixonline.com/news/headline/yamaha-technical-grammy-011607/

[Lordfoo]

Sir Sandawa,

Tahimik po ang forum pag wala ka.
Welcome back. Indeed those NS10Ms of yours are venerable speakers!

OT: Remember the SAE a501 about which I inquired from you? I missed out on the unit by a few hours...some lucky audio enthusiast is now enjoying the unit.

Foo

[jadm72]

Good PM

What would be the market value locally for a used pair?

I checked in ebay it is about USD350 - 400.

Is it only for studio use or for easy listening?

Thanks for your ideas.