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Yamaha NS1000M Help, Advice, PLEASE

Hello all. I purchased a nice pair of the legendary Yamaha NS1000M today. I got a good deal on them, and I actually bought them with the intention of trading them for a nice pair of Planar speakers. Then I made the mistake of hooking them up. Oh my. These things are wonderful. Perhaps the ugliest speaker ever made, but truly astonishing sound. I hate to say it, but in some ways superior to my (formerly) unassailable Meadowlark Shearwater "Hotrods". Enough background. I have several questions.

1. This pair was made in 1981 (original stickers still on the rear), and they use the old-style spring-loaded terminals. I hate those things. Will it ruin the value or be a bad idea to install a nice pair of WBT 5-way binding posts or similar?

2. If keeping the original terminals is best, what type of speaker wire should I use? The darn things won't accept anything heavier than bare 14 ga. wire. Is there an audiophile wire designed for this application, or am I relegated to the ole Radio Shack "zipcord"?

3. This pair has the black ash finish, and they are not attractive. Would it be a bad idea (or affect the value) to have the cabinets refinished and stained a medium cherry or oak?

4. The 12" woofers are dirty; really dirty. Is there a way to get behind the metal mesh covers to clean them up? My vacuum will get some of it, but I really need to run a tacky cloth over them to get all the crud. Suggestions?? Are the metal mesh covers removable?

5. I currently have these monsters on my carpeted floor, and the mids and tweeters are significantly lower than my ear-level. What brand, type and size speaker stands are recommended for these speakers.

Thanks all. I'm awestruck. Any other suggestions from you NS1000 fans will be greatly welcome!! -David
klipschking
griffinconst
61 posts
 
Sorry if this was mentioned already but you can use "speaker pin connectors" with those spring terminals.
The ones @ Monoprice are gold plated, take up to 12 AWG wire, and are less than $4 a pair.
Congrats on finding some speakers that you love.
klipschking OP
82 posts
 
Thanks again everyone. I found a nice pair of 24K gold plated brass pins at Radio Shack, and used them to terminate a pair of Audioquest cables. I can't believe how good these speakers are!! I would love to see John Atkinson @ Stereophile compare them to some of the newer high-end speakers. I know where my money would be!
dazone
57 posts
 
The cheapest way to stand (that I know of) with no signature is stacked concrete blocks from Loew's. Open face out. You can spray paint em anything.
metralla
945 posts
 
On the pricing ... I bought mine new from a dealer in Brisbane Australia in 1980. The list price was $1400 and I paid $1250 for a demo pair.

Regards,
peterpills
3 posts
 
Like many here, I have the best of both worlds S/H Yammys + Quad 63s with VTL power amp ... for subtlety in the living room; NS-1000Ms upstairs for power and clean fast impact together with subtlety
[Thinks: Should I logically unload the Quads :-) ]. With Spectral 150 power amp and DMC6 pre and their model 1000 CD, MIT giant-killer speaker cables -- best system I ever had.
In other words, anachrophilia rules.
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