Coolest NS-1000's I've seen...

Picked up a CA-1010 amp from a local-ish seller last weekend, and as I was about to leave he asked me if I wanted to see his main system. These NS-1000's weren't even being used, but they were the first thing he wanted to show me. Holy Schnikes...





Obviously, the refinishing job is custom and brilliantly executed (he mentioned the original cabs were pretty beat up). He also worked with someone to get the crossovers rebuilt and moved externally. I don't know if the circuit was modified or not.

And FWIW, this is his main system :drool::





Astute fans of modern gear might be able to identify most of the components (interestingly, the amp for his Legacy woofers is a ClassDaudio model, by far the least expensive item in the mix). Got to listen to a few tunes, and it was stunning.

That's my old ca-1010, and how is Jim doing? Haven't seen him in a few years.

What a strange coincidence. I just finished reading on a DIY forum about the same model. This was also rebuilt (by YNWaN United Kingdom) with external crossover.

saltwater said:

That's my old ca-1010, and how is Jim doing? Haven't seen him in a few years.

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Ha, that's awesome!

Jim is doing well. I think he had fun showing his system off to someone that really appreciated it. He invited me to stop up sometime for a listening session, which I will definitely take him up on at some point.

Last time I was up there his amplification was all mcintosh. I purchased some dq10's from him, and mentioned I had a ca-1010. We did some trading and he wanted to compare it with a ca-1000. I guess the 1000 won the battle, or he got rid of both. At the time I was trying to get him to tell me a dollar amount to purchase those ns 1000's. He wouldn't let them go.... So I sit here dreaming, It's good to see he got them done.

saltwater said:

Last time I was up there his amplification was all mcintosh. I purchased some dq10's from him, and mentioned I had a ca-1010. We did some trading and he wanted to compare it with a ca-1000. I guess the 1000 won the battle, or he got rid of both. At the time I was trying to get him to tell me a dollar amount to purchase those ns 1000's. He wouldn't let them go.... So I sit here dreaming, It's good to see he got them done.

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I'd be surprised if the CA-1010 didn't sound a bit better, but I doubt the difference is too noticeable. I figure that he's had the CA-1000 longer and was probably just more attached to it. He may have me rebuild his CA-1000, so what I'll probably do is bring up the refurbed CA-1010 for him to compare to, and hopefully he'll let us hook it up to the NS-1000's!

If and when he does sell those speakers, I doubt either of us will be able to afford them... :tears:

if you want to take my 2010 let me know. I had Dave (Avionic) go through it and work his magic. That guy has magic fingers, it's amazing he brought it back from the dead.

cdfac said:

Picked up a CA-1010 amp from a local-ish seller last weekend, and as I was about to leave he asked me if I wanted to see his main system. These NS-1000's weren't even being used, but they were the first thing he wanted to show me. Holy Schnikes...

Obviously, the refinishing job is custom and brilliantly executed (he mentioned the original cabs were pretty beat up). He also worked with someone to get the crossovers rebuilt and moved externally. I don't know if the circuit was modified or not.

And FWIW, this is his main system :drool::

Astute fans of modern gear might be able to identify most of the components (interestingly, the amp for his Legacy woofers is a ClassDaudio model, by far the least expensive item in the mix). Got to listen to a few tunes, and it was stunning.

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Wow, drop dead gorgeous!

Cheers,
John

cdfac said:

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I've just stumbled across this thread and, to my surprise, I see that I must have made those anti-difraction rings - I may have made the badges too. Nice to see them fitted to such a smart pair of NS-1000's :tresbon:.

Interesting he wasn't using them.

Mine could use the tops, and bottom re-done.

In what way?

Enthusiast2 said:

Interesting he wasn't using them.

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did you see the rest of the system?! i'm sure there are some things the NS-1000's could do better than the big Legacies, but they are an awesome speaker and there really isn't room there to set up both.

at any rate, i've convinced him to bring those Yammies out so that we can A/B my rebuilt CA-1010 with his stock CA-1000. that should be happening soon.

^
Mine are in a smaller room than the one shown.
They need to be used.

The external crossover is something I could be interested in. Anyone know who I could contact on this?

Could this be a fairly clean way to implement tri-amping? You'd just have to unplug your crossover and and plug in your active crossover. I wonder if that would be a noticeable improvement on an already great sounding speaker?

Here are two threads explaining how to build upgraded crossovers:

http://www.audioflat.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=198

http://www.audioflat.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=170

and a big thread detailing the upgrading of my own speakers:

http://www.audioflat.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=159

My Yamaha crossovers are external now and look like this:





I now run them active to the bass drivers and passive, via the crossover, to the mids and tweeters.

Thanks for the info YNWaN - very interesting stuff!

Did you have a chance to judge the improvement of your new crossovers separate of the speaker upgrade or did you do it all in one shot?

Quite a collection of equipment, wow!

elrod said:

Thanks for the info YNWaN - very interesting stuff!

Did you have a chance to judge the improvement of your new crossovers separate of the speaker upgrade or did you do it all in one shot?

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I ran them passive for a while - the crossover allows the bass section to be split off. Going active in the bass made quite a big difference but there are other factors to consider. To go the semi-active route I used a Lab.gruppen IPD1200 amp to power the bass drivers. This amp has a digital front end that allows you to not only create the crossover point but also alter the frequency response to account for room gain. Because the crossover is done in the digital domain it allows it to be adjusted very quickly and easily and a large number of settings can be saved. I ended up using a third order crossover on the bass. The overall result not only tightened up the bass it also resulted in quite obviously increased transparency in the mids and greater dynamic all round - stereo focus is quite remarkable and instruments really sound as if they are in their own space. I've just this afternoon listened to 'Play' by Moby and the bass from this electronically generated record is simply extraordinary in its stygian depth and power!

N.B. The upgraded crossovers are basically the same as the originals in that it is the same circuit but with the three legs (bass, mid and treble) separated out from each other.. The component values are the same and the DCR of the coils is also matched (air cored are used for two of them instead of the ferrites used by Yamaha). Polypropylene capacitors are used (ClarityCap ESA and Mundorf Supreme).

YNWaN said:

My Yamaha crossovers are external now and look like this:

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:tresbon: :yes:

YNWaN, those external crossovers are works of art!