Yamaha 5000 Audiophile Series

The 5000 Series – A Serious Audiophile Package

The Yamaha Hi-Fi History

Yamaha was established by Torakusu Yamaha in 1887 when he built his first reed organ. Over the years Yamaha has grown into the worlds largest manufacturer of musical instruments and along the way created some outstanding audio products. In 1954 Yamaha coined the phrase “Hi-Fi” and introduced their first Hi-Fi player and has continued to produce quality audio equipment ever since; including the CA1000 Class A/Class AB amplifier in 1973, the ‘Gigantic and Tremendous’ GT-2000 record player in 1982, the infamous NS10M near field studio reference monitors in 1978 and the GF-1/GFD-1 active speaker system in 1991.

The 5000 Series Of Products

Building on years of quality designs and technology development Yamaha has now released their 5000 Audiophile Series of flagship components designed to work together as a complete system for “the most discerning and passionate audiophiles”.

From the Yamaha news release:

“With this new system, the focus is less on the individual components and more on the immersive and uniquely moving experience created for the listener,” said Yamaha’s Alex Sadeghian. “Achieving purity of sound is critical and our new 5000 series was designed with this, and the discerning listener, in mind. Authentic sound reproduction is in the Yamaha DNA, from our musical instruments and the smallest wireless speaker all the way to our flagship Hi-Fi gear. That is the entire concept behind the 5000 series. It’s an achievement in both art and sound.”

The GT-5000

Harping back to the Golden Age of Hi-Fi, the GT-5000 draws its design inspiration from Yamahas’ original ‘Gigantic and Tremendous’ series of turntables. They were all characterized by heavy wooden cabinets and a heavy platter which served to dampen vibration and deliver improved performance. This new ‘top of the line’ turntable features a short, straight carbon fiber and copper-plated aluminum tonearm, and a 4.4 lb inner and 11.5 lb outer platter. Its 24-pole, two-phase AC synchronous motor is driven by a locally generated quartz-timed power supply that provides a perfect sign wave of exceptional frequency stability. The motor drives a customized belt-drive mechanism that minimizes the influence of any motor cogging and excludes the need for feedback speed control, providing an open and smooth sound.

All of this is wrapped up in a stylish and sleek heavy wooden cabinet finished in high gloss piano black.

Released is pegged for early 2020.

Specifications Overview:

• Belt Drive
• AC Synchronous Motor
• Drive – Crystal Reference Generated Sine Wave
• Speeds – 33-1/3 rpm, 45 rpm
• Speed Adjustment – ±1.5%
• Wow & Flutter < 0.04%
• Speed Variation – ±0.1%
• Connectivity – Audio XLR, RCA. Strobe 3.5mm jack.

The C-5000

Featuring a fully balanced audio chain, discrete components and dual low magnetic leakage toroidal power supplies, this amplifier is truly all analogue and a mirrored pcb channel design ensures that all signal paths are identical. A patented design that “floats” the phono EQ, input amp and line amp stages removes the influence of ground noise from the signal. Tone defeat/bypass is also provided to create the shortest and cleanest signal path.

Specifications Overview:

• Frequency Response – (BAL/LINE, etc) +0 / -3 dB (10 Hz-100 kHz), +0 / -0.3 dB (20 Hz-20 kHz)
• THD +Noise – 0.0100% (BAL [LINE, etc.] to BAL [LINE], 20 Hz-20 kHz), 0.0200% (MM / MC BAL [UNBAL] to LINE 2 RECOUT, 20 Hz-20 kHz)
• Channel Separation – 1 kHz / 10 kHz] 110 dB or higher (BAL / LINE, etc.), 80 dB or higher (MC, BAL / UNBAL), 98 dB or higher (MM, BAL / UNBAL)
• Signal to Noise Ratio – 110 dB or higher (BAL / LINE, etc.), 80 dB or higher (MC, 300 ohms, BAL / UNBAL), 98 dB or higher (MM, BAL / UNBAL)
• Tone Control – (BASS) Boost / Cut [30 Hz] ±9 dB, Turnover Frequency 350 Hz, (TREBLE) Boost / Cut [20 Hz] ±9 dB, Turnover Frequency 3.5 kHz
• RIAA Accuracy – ±0.5 dB (MC / MM BAL [UNBAL])
• Subsonic Filter – 15 Hz: -3 dB (MC / MM BAL [UNBAL])

The M-5000

Together with the GT-5000 turntable and C-5000 preamplifier, the M-5000 delivers an end-to-end balanced signal chain for premier performance. By completely floating the power amp circuit from the ground any undesirable impacts from minute voltage fluctuations or ground noise are removed.

The design employs MOSFET power amplifiers, improving drivability for low impedance speakers. Their power is provided directly from the power supply and not via any regulating transistors as in many other designs.

Just like the the huge toroidal transformer, massive block capacitors and oversized heat sinks that have all been mechanically fixed to the copper plated frame to stop any signal impacts from vibration, power cabling is also massive, using very heavy gauge cabling and screw terminals to ensure low impedance connections.

Pure brass speaker terminals supporting two sets of speaker connections for each channel are provided and inputs include RCA and XLR connectors. The large clear VU power meters are housed behind Asahi glass.

Specifications Overview:

• Frequency Response:  +0 dB / -0.3 dB (20 Hz-20 kHz), +0 dB / -3 dB (5 Hz-100 kHz),
• Power:
  • 100 W + 100 W (8 ohm, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.07% THD, 2-channel driven),
  • 200 W + 200 W (4 ohm, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.07% THD, 2-channel driven),
  • 400 W (8 ohm, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.07% THD, Monaural driven)
• Damping Factor >300 into 8ohms @ 1KHz
• THD + Noise – 2-channel driven: 0.035% (LINE [BAL] to SP Out, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 50 W, 8 ohms), Monaural driven: 0.05% (LINE [BAL] to SP Out, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 200 W, 8 ohms)
• Channel Separation  >90 dB @ 1 kHz, >70 dB @ 10 kHz
• Signal to Noise ratio – 110dB

The NS-5000PNST

Last but not least of the 5000 series are the NS-5000 bookshelf speakers, which have tweeter, midrange and woofer diaphragms made of a synthetic fiber material called Zylon. Yamaha claims that: “Zylon, a synthetic fiber created in Japan, is rated as the world’s strongest organic fiber and boasting optimum elasticity it is vapor-coated with Yamahas proprietary monel alloy. The soft-dome diaphragm suppresses peaks and dips in the frequency response caused by the inherent resonance of the diaphragm, while taking advantage of ZYLON’s high acoustic velocity comparable to that of beryllium. The result is a remarkably flat frequency response, with unified tone color and acoustic velocity over the entire frequency range, providing a comfortable listening experience and meticulously accurate, superb sound reproduction of the highest degree.”

The passive crossover is built on a double sided pcb using extra thick low impedance copper foils and optimally short signal paths. The hand picked components include: MCap SUPREME EVO audio capacitors, Mundorf’s MResist SUPREME attenuator and inductors that weigh as much as 3.52 lbs.

The very high rigidity enclosures are constructed from void free laminated plywood (1-1/8″ and  3/4″ thick) made from white Japanese birch finished in high gloss piano black. They include resonance suppression chambers to remove unwanted resonance in the mids and highs, and an Acoustic Absorber to resurrect the music’s original presence.

Specifications Overview:

• Bass Speaker – 12″ cone
• Mid Range Speaker – 3-1/4″ dome
• Treble Speaker – 1-1/4″ dome
• Passive Crossover Frequencies – 750 Hz / 4.5 kHz
• Frequency Response – 26 Hz-40 kHz (-10dB), -100 kHz (-30dB)
• Power handling – 200 W (Nominal)
• Size (WxHxD) – 15-1/2″ x 27-1/8″ x 15″ (with speaker terminals)

Image Credit: Yamaha USA

AVAILABILITY

Click on the following links for more detailed technical information:

• GT-5000 Turntable: Early 2020 List $7,995.95
• C-5000 Preamplifier: List $9,995.95
• M-5000 Power Amplifier: List $9,995.95
• NS-5000PNST Speaker Pair with stands: List $14,995.95

The new 5000 series will initially be available to the U.S. market at six exclusive “experience centers” located throughout the country. These include Abt Electronics and Music Direct in Chicago, Shelley’s Stereo in Los Angeles, Soundlux Audio in Miami, Stereo Exchange in New York City, and Gramophone in the Washington, D.C. area.  Additional information on the 5000 series, including the list of experience centers, is available here.

Take a peak at the rebuild of my Thorens TD160S turntable.