
It takes incredible design for a product to become an industry standard. What makes the Yamaha NS10 so incredible is that, in an industry, music, that is constantly shifting and moving forward technology-wise, the NS10 has managed to maintain its position on top since 1978.
Although its main usage these days is monitoring, the NS10 actually was initially marketed as a bookshelf speaker for domestic environments. Shockingly, even though it became the standard by which most studios judge their mixes, it was a marketplace flop, selling very poorly. When studio engineers found the NS10, however, they latched onto it – it’s durable, standard frame and even bass-drive makes them ideal for mid-range studio monitoring. Unfortunately, Yamaha discontinued the NS10 in the early 2000s due to material shortages, but NS10s are still floating around, coveted items on the music production scene.