ns10 crossover schematic?

[Whoops]

Let us not forget an amazing thing...NS10's cost appx. 250.00 for a matched pair and on top of that they had a 5 year warranty.

If that was the price $250 in the 80s was a lot of money.
Nowadays these go on reverb from 550€ to 1000€ and no match pair of course

The critics started to rip into NS-10's in the early 90's and 30 years on they still attack one of the most iconic studio standards. Guess it's hip to hate the winner.

30 or 40 years later and no professional studio uses them, and they're no longer a standard for probably more than 20 years and for the rightful reasons.
Like Cyrano said some studios might have them in the wharehouse for some visiting engineer. I worked in a professional studio for 6 years, we had them in the equipment list, and in those 6 years the NS10 were only used 1 time by a visiting mixing engineer.

 

[mappee]

Wow ya got all the adverts, those are the "little boxes" I was snidely referring.
Be interesting to compare NS-10 to auratone but I already know the results. They both did their thing.
BTW 250 in the 80's was cheap for something you would put in a pro studio. BIG REDS were everywhere
in USA and I guess Tannoy in Eu.
All good, as I always thought the speakers were criticizing me? Scary

 

[Jiminy]

Yes, it was Bob C. who started the trend, AFAIK.

Yes, SonsofThunder, you have the right approach about them. If your mix sounds good on the NS10s, then they will work elsewhere.

For those who don't understand why NS10s were popular and complain that they are fatiguing and sound bad... basically that's your answer above.

There are several additional points to make:

-They were not meant to be played loud, and most engineers who don't understand them were using them at inappropriate SPLs.

-They do sound different depending what is driving them. Don't assume it's the monitor's fault until you've heard them with several good amps.

-It's a mistake to use them in a large room or at a distance. Again see the first point about high SPLs. Of course that causes fatique.

-The early NS10s did indeed have a nasty peak, but you learned to listen through that and it helped prepare you for the real world where your music would be heard.

-The later NS10 Studio versions sound quite good.

-However, they are not meant to sound flattering or glorious and comparing them to much more expensive monitors is missing the point of their utility.

-I, and many engineers, preferred them in many instances because you were no longer seduced by a glorious sound and could immediately get to work.

-Really flattering and good sounding monitors are HARDER to mix on because you have a harder time sifting through what is really going on -- because everything sounds better, everything sounds good! How can you mix when it all sounds good? You can't. (You don't want rose colored glasses mixing.)

-If you need references that you feel you are not getting with the NS10, flip the switch and listen for a minute with bigger monitors. You are not married to the NS10 throughout the mix!

-I personally dislike Genelecs. Blech.

This is the best explanation of the proper use of NS10's I've read. We used them along with the Auratone 5c's for years in the 70's & 80's. Horrible speakers but good for checking phase and mono mixes at low volume. They were small enough to sit on the meter bridge and not obstruct the main monitors, besides they looked sexy so they must be good right? That was in the day we mixed for AM radio stations. Oops, dated myself. There are much better powered nearfield speakers today. Regardless, it's all about getting to know what your using as a reference and translating from there. Stick with a pair you know and can relate to.

 

[Phrazemaster]

I bought a pair of NS10's off eBay and on some advice also bought a used Adcom amp. I had the amp revamped by Jim Williams.

I was prepared to hate the NS10's, but paired with that modded amp, those speakers are sweeeeet. I mean, really nice to listen to, with a deep 3D sound. I was shocked.

Now to be fair I've not spent extended sessions on them yet, so the harshness people speak of may get to me yet. But just, wow.

Mike

 

[Gertius]

I recently had the opportunity to take apart a Yamaha NS615 to look inside.
The crossover is exactly the same as in the NS-10M Studio.
I am attaching a picture that I took, where you can see all component values, also the inductors have them printed on.
I also traced the wires on the circuit board and it's exactly the same as in the Studio´s version pdf manual schematic.
From this thread (and other reported sources) it can be seen that the NS615 crossover is also labelled NS-10M on the inside:
https://forums.rgc.ro/topic/124924-yamaha-ns-615-ns-10-tweeter-si-crossover/I take it then that the non-Studio version of NS-10M has the same crossover as the NS615, which would make it the same over all three versions.

I have tried switching around the tweeter and woofer between NS615 and NS-10M Studio, with leaving the original crossovers in.
When only switching the tweeter, the sound wasn't the same. I had to switch both tweeter and woofer to make the NS-10M Studio sound the same as the NS615. I then noticed, that also the woofer in the NS-10M Studio is called 1801A, as compared to the 1801 from the NS615 (see images attached).
My impression is that the Studio woofer sounds a bit slower and thicker, the 615 woofer faster and thinner. Maybe that's where the different wattage rating comes in?

TLDR: the crossover is identical between the NS10 variations: NS-10M, NS-10M Studio, NS615.
the difference in sound comes from different tweeters AND woofers between NS-10M Studio and the non-Studio NS-10M/NS615 (these two have the same components)

 

[mrclunk]

Sorry wasn't getting notifications on this thread.
I will be running tests when i have spare time...

Hi mrclunk,
any updates on this? Did you already have time to enter the rabbit hole?

 

[thomasdf]

In France, NS10s are in every studios. I used to be assistant and then house engineer in a studio with a pair of them, and I HATED them with all my guts. But then I started freelancing and every studio I went had NS10s, and also Genelec... Since I hate Genelec even more, I got myself a pair of NS10s for my home setup... and with the right amplification I ended crazy in love with them. Fantastic fantastic set of speakers to work with and make quick and solid decisions and move one. I couldn't live without them now. And I still hate Genelecs haha

Edit : I had not seen tommypiper's post from 2007, but I totally agree on every point.