Yamaha GF-1

70kg + 80kg = 150kg... each !

But what is more remarkable is that Yamaha stuck to its magic formula : Beryllium. If it was here used somewhat differently (forged vs. vapor deposited), this shows remarkable constance.
A constance confirmed market-wise by the astronomical number of Be-equipped loudspeakers Yamaha did sell worldwide since 1975.

The GF-1, however, is a very different beast than anything tagged NS... even the lavish NSX-10000 Centennial model remains a midget compared to the GF-1 !

Made of two separate enclosures, powered by 4 amplifiers (each with four transformers !) and frequency dividers, turbo-powered in the bass dept by Yamaha's stable YST active servo-controller / enhancer, the GF-1 was a (very) limited edition object, a cost-no-object extravaganza. Power-supplies for the 8 integrated amps are external, too.

At 7,000,000¥ it is understandable Yamaha didn't expect to sell many, even there was a technically identical but lesser-veneered version at... 5,000,000¥.

A dedicated 2x 100W Class A power amplifier with external power-supply and basic preamplifier functions (source selection and attenuator) was optionally made available to drive part of the GF-1 : GF-D1 (D for "Driver").
Its preamp section outputs the signal at a max. of 25V and 0,012 Ohm ! It cost 1,200,000¥...

Two COTY Awards were given to loudspeakers in 1991 : one to the Sony SS-GR1 and one to the GF-1.

After that, like most japanese brands, Yamaha retired from the high-end market and concentrated on mid-end HT receivers and the MLan systems - the GF-1 was one of the last exclamation points of a now bygone era.

Only two pairs have been spotted so far, bearing serial numbers 0017A /B and 0019A /B. The accompanying GFD-1 had a more normal E000134PR.


No dedicated catalog found so far (or even seen) but Knobbers do get to see more than the basics outlined here...
Pair #19 is visible here.