Yamaha NS-2000
(1982 - 1987)

Revised version of the NS-1000 bestseller and masterpiece - still Beryllium loaded.

Besides the straight placement of the drivers, the only tangible difference with the original is the woofer : out went Yamaha's staple white special pulp paper and in came carbon fibers !
Already a lightweight but stiff material, Yamaha made the cone of its new 30cm woofer in eight pieces, bonded together for even more mechanical rigidity ; the carbon fibers are lined from center to edge. Edgewise-wound OFC copper is used in the voice coil ; the surround is made of impregnated polyurethane foam and the chassis is cast with a special aluminium alloy....

The 8cm mid and 3cm high drivers are essentially the same as those of the NS-1000, with a few manufacturing differences to improve dispersion characteristics and input capacity ; OFC wiring is used here as well. The enclosure is built thicker with more bracing throughout. Although it is commonly seen as clear veneered, Yamaha did make a little batch of black NS-2000.

The layout of the filter was also changed although not drastically and, again, OFC wiring is in. To avoid diffraction at the edges, said edges were rounded and a cloth grille was delivered stock - the NS-2000 was meant as a home loudspeaker, not a studio workhorse.
Lowest resonance frequency was lowered (40Hz > 33Hz), nominal impedance as well (8Ohm > 6Ohm) but overall weight and dimensions got a big surplus, just as acceptable input rating and output capacity.
Crossover frequencies were kept as they originally were (500Hz & 6kHz) but the new woofer allowed to shake da foundations even lower : 40Hz vs. 28Hz.

The Beryllium domes were made with a process not so distant from the one used for the V-FET transistors from Yamaha... and Sony. Yamaha gradually refined its vacuum-depositing technique throughout the 1980s until the ultimate refinement was reached : no vacuum-depositing on copper-plated aluminium molds but pure beryllium drivers ! That however only happened with the G-F1 self-powered monster, shortly before Yamaha ducked all high-end audio activities...

The later NS-1000x (1984) and the ultimate Centennial NSX-10000 version in 1987, produced in even smaller quantities for Yamaha's 1987 Centennial anniversary, are quite rare compared to the NS-2000. However, as better as the 2000s were, Yamaha didn't sell nearly as many of them as they did sell the original 1974 NS-1000.