How does valve amplifiers sound with metal dome loudspeakers ?

Yamaha NS-1000M and transistor amplifiers

or rather

Yamaha NS-1000M versus transistor amplifiers !

Our NS-1000M hates transistor amplifiers !

The mid range was hard. The treble was harsh.
The 12 inch woofers could not produce enough bass with transistor amplifiers.

I tried to build "audiophile" circuits to boost the bass electronically , but they sounded horrible !

Yamaha NS-1000M and our Model EL34

Our £600 30 watts Class A Model EL34 valve amplifier produces a bit more bass
than our class B transistor amplifiers. The bass is reasonable on the Yamaha NS-1000M

It produces superb imaging. You can tell point a finger at where the singer is standing !

The harsh CD sounds disappears , and it is 99% like real life.

Yamaha NS-1000M and our Model PSE 300B

The ideal amplifier for the Yamaha is our £900 to £1,200 18 watts Pure Class A parallel single ended 300B valve amplifier.

This gives much more bass than our Class B transistor amplifiers !

It sounds as though there is a little bit too much bass.

It produces reasonable imaging, but not as good as the cheaper EL34.

This sounds 99.9% like real life.

My live recording of the "Last night at the Proms" sounds
as though I was sitting 5 feet behind a bunch of noisy promenaders !
I really cannot tell if it I was listening to a Hi-Fi set
or I was actually at the Proms !

Try the 4 ohm speaker terminals !

There is a odd point about the Yamaha.

They are a difficult load for all amplifiers,
so I have to connect the Yamaha to the 4 ohms terminal of the valve amplifiers.
I suggest that you try connecting the Yamaha to the 4 ohms speaker terminals,
and see if you can hear the difference between the 4 ohm speaker terminals
versus the 8 ohm speaker terminals.

This is one big advantage of valve amplifiers over transistor amplifiers !

What are the Yamaha NS-1000M loudspeakers ?

The legendary Yamaha NS-1000M are "no compromise , no expense spared" loudspeakers ,
which is used in many studios.

The legendary Yamaha uses

3.5 inch beryllium metal dome midrange , with a magnet big enough to drive a 12 inch woofer
1 inch beryllium metal dome tweeter , with another big magnet
12 inch offer woofer , with another gigantic magnet.

Beryllium metal has the best stiffness / weight of any materials. This is a fact !
Unfortunately , Beryllium is a very difficult metal to work with.
Yamaha had to vaporise and deposit the beryllium onto a mould in a vacuum !
The legendary NS-1000M really are "no compromise , no expense spared" loudspeakers !

Other manufacturers are a bit more sane and cost conscious ,
so they settle for the 2nd best like aluminium , titanium , plastics , etc.

When Hi-Fi Choice measured the distortion of loudspeakers , they found that
the NS-1000M had the lowest distortion of the dozens of loudspeakers measured.
That was why we bought the NS-1000M many , many years ago.

We are extremely fortunate to have a pair of Yamaha NS-1000M

A L Lim
Affordable Valve Company