Smooth operators

*Yamaha NS-5000 Loudspeakers

Back in the 1970s, Japanese audio firm Yamaha launched an ambitious bid to muscle into the high-end segment of the market with its NS-1000 loudspeaker, a statement state-of-the-art product that was an instant hit and over the years, evolved into a cult classic. Its unique selling point was the use of beryllium in its drivers, a material that is notoriously difficult to shape but one which possesses outstanding sonic properties.

Fast forward some 40 years and the NS-1000 has now been revamped as the NS-5000, and true to Yamaha's tradition, the new model sports a whole new material used for the construction of the twe…