Post by Owen Y on Oct 24, 2019 9:05:29 GMT 12
YAMAHA have just announced their USA upcoming debut of a 'flagship' 5000 series of hi-fi components, designed to work as a system. Availability: NS-5000PNST Speaker (speaker pair with stands included): Late October, US$14,999.95 (MSRP) 3-way Zylon high strength-lightweight Zylon material drivers, white Japanese birch cabinets with piano black finish.
C-5000 Preamplifier: now available, US$9,999.95 (MSRP) Fully balanced, dual mono, dual toroidal transformers, 'floating' phono & line stage circuit. M-5000 Power Amplifier: now available, US$9,999.95 (MSRP) Patented 'floating' & balanced design. GT-5000 Turntable: Early 2020, US$7,999.95 (MSRP) Belt drive, quartz 'timed', 7kg combined outer-inner platters, carbon fibre & copper-plated aluminium tonearm, wood cabinet, piano black finish. As noted here before about the new Yamaha turntable, it incorporates " a short, straight arm designed to deliver superior rigidity" - ie the tonearm has NO headshell angle offset (see below). There is a school of though in tonearm design (see also the Viv Labs Rigid Japanese tonearm designs) that zero angular offset, which eliminates skating sideforces but accepts some tracing distortion, is much a better sounding compromise than the tracing instabilities created by applying anti-skating correction sideforce. The 'short' tonearm - I'm not sure of the benefits, if any, but the Viv Rigid tonearms adopt similar philosophy (with a 7" arm option). High End products for the US market, but it's part of the 'hi-fi rejuvenation' of some Japanese Hi-Fi brands such as Technics, Marantz, Luxman...etc.  
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Post by cooksferry on Oct 24, 2019 11:21:01 GMT 12
That tone arm is generating a lot of discussion among the online "experts" . You'd expect that Yamaha would have done some serious r & d on it
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 24, 2019 12:17:41 GMT 12
It's possibly a bit like Well Tempered removing cartridge angle & overhang adjustment on their Amadeus TT - relieving the user of the hassle of alignment setting - a compromise, but more user-friendly. In Yamaha's case here, they claim a sonic advantage in having to skating/antiskating - I'd agree, but they think too that a shorter (9") arm is sonically more advantageous than the improved tracking accuracy of using a longer (say 10", 11" or 12") tonearm.
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Pundit
Post by belbo on Oct 25, 2019 5:21:19 GMT 12
The turntable visually pays hommage to the original GT line - those were DD however...
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Pundit
Post by cartridge on Oct 25, 2019 14:45:38 GMT 12
NZ pricing looks pretty good against USD...
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Post by colinf on Oct 25, 2019 19:43:16 GMT 12
Doesn’t having a straight, short tonearm on the GT-5000 go against the efforts of companies like Thales who aim to get the tracking error down to almost nothing?
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 25, 2019 22:04:38 GMT 12
It's usually a compromise of a factors, eg: - Does the extra mechanical complexity that Thales employ, for example, significantly compromise tonearm rigidity? - Are conventional antiskating systems worth having, given the inevitable inaccuracy of trying to balance skating friction forces which vary with groove complexity (music variation) & groove speed variation from outer to inner groove? Quite a few tonearm (longer ones esp) delete antiskating mechanisms, but the Yamaha/Viv Labs non-angled-h'shell approach does not generate any skating side forces. - Is the small additional tracing distortion of a shorter/stronger tonearm, a worthwhile trade-off against a longer, possibly less stiff or higher mass arm?
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Post by Graham on Oct 25, 2019 22:26:37 GMT 12
Having played around for myself with linear tracking I have often wondered if a 12 inch straight arm ( no offset)would provide the least amount of compromises. It's possible that the use of offset, overhang, and the variable and vague antiskating force create more distortion due to uneven side loading of the stylus than the arc of a straight arm. Maybe, maybe not ?
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Post by colinf on Oct 26, 2019 19:29:42 GMT 12
It would seem like the least amount of compromise would be a linear tracking arm, with its short, rigid arm wand and no tracking error or need for anti-skating. Just the complexity of moving the arm across the record smoothly still exists. But to forgo the complexity, a 12” arm would be close. I still wonder why Yamaha went for such a short arm, despite the increase in rigidity. It might sound good, but only up to a point. The thought of those pesky geometric compromises would ply on my mind as I’m listening to a GT-5000. I think Yamaha made a risky choice. Well if nothing else, it’s certainly got us talking about it! I recall seeing a turntable with a short, straight arm with no offset, and the bearings mounted on an eccentric sub-assembly that actively cancels the tracking error depending on lateral position. Can’t remember which it was though. Is anti-skating such a force to be reckoned with?
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by michaelw on Oct 26, 2019 22:40:39 GMT 12
how about a fixed tonearm and moving platter ? sony did it with cd transports. eg cdp-xa7 es an lp is physically larger but rotates at much slower speed than a cd 
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Post by colinf on Oct 27, 2019 22:41:39 GMT 12
Interesting idea, I thought about that ages ago! Someone needs to make one and see. The tonearm would need to be conventional but straight. An optical pickup would sense when the tonearm has rotated clockwise on its horizontal bearing while playing the record. The servo system would move the platter right to get the tracking error back to zero. Such a system would avoid the pitfalls of having to resort to the terrifying lateral coupling systems of a linear tracking tonearm. Fast cueing might be problematic though. But the design would have a unique selling and talking point. Maybe the old Technics SL-10 linear tracking turntable was a good idea after all, in need of modernising, and also to take normal cartridges.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on May 24, 2020 19:55:38 GMT 12
YAMAHA expands Premium Hi-Fi family of audio components with new A-S Series Integrated Amplifiers(YAMAHA Press Release published in The Absolute Sound - 21 May 2020.) Adding to YAMAHA's recently introduced 5000 Series of Premium Hi-Fi components. Interesting to note: - YAMAHA were the first company to use the term 'Hi-Fi', on stereo equipment in 1954.
- After 45 years, YAMAHA equipment still follows the design aesthetic introduced by Italian Architect & Designer, Mario Bellini in the mid-70s.
- Vintage style Power Level meters.
- "Mechanical Grounding" of heatsinks, transformer & large capacitor to the chassis & support feet for "expressive and rhythmic bass, presenting the ‘Groove’ of the music to the listener".
- Thick wiring for Low Impedance Grounding connections to "help present an open, natural sound stage".
- Toroidal power transformers.
Pricing is not unaffordable: A-S1200, US$2,799.95 A-S2200, US$3,999.95 A-S3200, US$7,499.95 
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Post by Owen Y on May 24, 2020 20:11:39 GMT 12
Also joining the YAMAHA 5000 Series, a new NS-3000 Standmount Loudspeaker: " The new two-way NS-3000 standmount utilises Zylon – a product comparable with beryllium, but with the softness of textiles – combining a 30mm dome tweeter with a 160mm low-frequency driver. Sensitivity is quoted as being 87dB (at 6ohm) and a matching SPS-3000 stand is also available. Prices are yet to be confirmed. " (As reported by HI-FI CHOICE - 22 May 2020) See also YAMAHA NS-3000 webpage
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