Recently acquired a pair of Yamaha NS 690 speakers to join the Yam NS 1000. The build quality of these speakers are exceptional and the cabinets are in near perfect condition (8/10). They are slightly "narrower" and "shorter" than the NS 1000 but the same 30cm depth. Each weighs 22kg as opposed the 31kg of NS 1000 and they do not have the beryllium mids and tops. The soft dome mids and tops are hefty drivers in their own right and the woofer is also 12" driver huge magnets. The bass driver is beautiful and has an almost reassuring look to it. Covers are in good condition with no holes or tears and both have the Yamaha logo in tact.
Initial listening to the 40+ year old speakers - tops and mids smooth and detailed, bass however slightly out of "tune" and overall sound a bit recessed. Very clean though. I have let them run with a tuner for a while as they were out of use for a few years. I am in the process of cleaning up dust around drivers and plan to oil cabs a bit. Noticed that one tweeter seemed intermittent and has now gone quiet (probably dead - hope not). So some work to be done here to get them up and running and fully functional.
The build quality overall - cabinets and drivers, design and appearance, very good. The suspension of bass drivers seem to have gone a bit "floppy" but I'll see whats up when I do more critical listening later. Its a problem with older speakers I suspect. This speaker is not as Iconic as the NS 1000 but has a really good reputation according to reports on other forums. They match really well with the Yamaha AS 500 amplifier I have them connected to and I have enjoyed them so far. Searching for a tweeter in the meantime and will have crossovers checked - especially caps.
I am not really a hands on person so prefer plug and play stuff. I suspect and have experienced that is not always possible with older gear and a bit of cleaning and tinkering is always necessary and beneficial. Thankfully there are folks to assist with this kind of thing. More posts as I progress with minor restorations I think are needed here. Just happy to have them "in the house" - I really appreciate and enjoy audio gear from that era so most of my stuff with few exceptions (some amps and CD players) are 30+ years old. My initial and lasting impression is that this like many other Yamaha speakers is a quality product that is the culmination of much research and development and pride in production that was characteristic of Japanese electronics companies at the time.
Initial listening to the 40+ year old speakers - tops and mids smooth and detailed, bass however slightly out of "tune" and overall sound a bit recessed. Very clean though. I have let them run with a tuner for a while as they were out of use for a few years. I am in the process of cleaning up dust around drivers and plan to oil cabs a bit. Noticed that one tweeter seemed intermittent and has now gone quiet (probably dead - hope not). So some work to be done here to get them up and running and fully functional.
The build quality overall - cabinets and drivers, design and appearance, very good. The suspension of bass drivers seem to have gone a bit "floppy" but I'll see whats up when I do more critical listening later. Its a problem with older speakers I suspect. This speaker is not as Iconic as the NS 1000 but has a really good reputation according to reports on other forums. They match really well with the Yamaha AS 500 amplifier I have them connected to and I have enjoyed them so far. Searching for a tweeter in the meantime and will have crossovers checked - especially caps.
I am not really a hands on person so prefer plug and play stuff. I suspect and have experienced that is not always possible with older gear and a bit of cleaning and tinkering is always necessary and beneficial. Thankfully there are folks to assist with this kind of thing. More posts as I progress with minor restorations I think are needed here. Just happy to have them "in the house" - I really appreciate and enjoy audio gear from that era so most of my stuff with few exceptions (some amps and CD players) are 30+ years old. My initial and lasting impression is that this like many other Yamaha speakers is a quality product that is the culmination of much research and development and pride in production that was characteristic of Japanese electronics companies at the time.
