MSP10 Studio

More than 30 years experience in the design and production of top-performance speaker systems has won Yamaha an enviable position in the recording field: respected professionals depend on Yamaha to help them achieve award-winning sound. The venerable NS10M STUDIO monitor speaker is an excellent example: from its introduction in the 80's through to its recent discontinuation (due to unavailability of the necessary pure virgin pulp for its distinctive white woofer cone), the NS10M STUDIO was the definitive near-field speaker monitor in an overwhelming majority of professional studios throughout the world. But times change, and technology must evolve. The MSP10 STUDIO is an example of near-perfect evolution. It takes over where its predecessor left off with precision and performance that are perfectly suited to today's production needs.

The Yamaha MSP10 STUDIO Powered Monitor is poised to become a cornerstone of the "new age" of audio production, in which advanced digital production consoles such as the Yamaha DM2000 and 02R96 as well as high-sample-rate digital source material and ultra-accurate reproduction media are rapidly becoming the norm.

The last thing an audio professional needs is flattering sound. They need the truth – precise reproduction that clearly reflects even the tiniest changes in EQ, dynamics, effects, or any of the multitude of parameters that add up to create the final sound. Thus, unlike many home-use systems that can simply be made to sound "good," reference monitors have to sound "right," and that's an entirely different story. Here's where inspired design, uncompromising material selection, innovative technology, micron-tolerance manufacturing, and a good dose of one elusive skill that only comes through long experience – knowing what "right sound" sounds like - become vitally important. The MSP10 STUDIO design team, headed by Akira Nakamura, designer of the original NS10M, has all the necessary skills, resources, and dedication. And with development assistance and feedback from industry luminaries, the Yamaha MSP10 STUDIO delivers performance you can bet your career on.

In any situation speakers are part of an interactive "system." This includes the speakers themselves, the amplifier that is driving them, and the room in which they are used. Ideally, all of these elements must be carefully controlled to achieve optimum performance. By integrating the power amplifiers and speakers, at least part of the equation can be kept under perfect control (the room is up to the user). The MSP10 STUDIO power amplifier/speaker system is ideally matched and precisely tuned to achieve the best possible performance. Of course, the power amplifiers themselves are of the finest quality.

And unlike component power amplifiers which must be designed for acceptable (read: "compromised") matching with the widest possible range of speakers, the MSP10 STUDIO's amplifiers are designed and manufactured specifically to drive the system's woofer and tweeter – specifically in the MSP10 STUDIO enclosure. No matter where the MSP10 STUDIO monitors are used, and with what sources or other audio gear, you know that you're always receiving the benefits of a perfectly matched power amplifier and speaker system. You'll hear the difference. You'll also benefit from the convenience of not having to deal with external amplifiers and cabling.

There are a number of advantages to multi-amp speaker setups, but many people shy away from the added cost and extra equipment required. With the MSP10 STUDIO everything you need is built-in – all you have to do is supply the line-level input. The 8-inch cone woofer is driven by a 120-watt power amplifier, while the 1-inch titanium-dome tweeter has its own 60-watt power amplifier. In the MSP10 STUDIO this particular power and impedance combination results in the perfect balance between the low-mid and high frequency ranges.

The frequency ranges are divided via a carefully designed electronic crossover before the power amplifier inputs, featuring steep 30-dB/octave roll-off curves in both the low- and high-pass filters. The steep roll-off minimizes intermodulation between the frequency bands at the crossover point, achieving significantly smoother, cleaner crossover performance in the critical midrange. And the fact that the crossover is a line-level electronic design completely eliminates the loss, distortion, and sometimes severe intermodulation that are almost unavoidable in conventional passive crossover networks driven by a single power amplifier.

The MSP10 STUDIO woofer and tweeter units feature some important design innovations that contribute directly to improved sound quality. The 8-inch woofer, for example, features a mineralimpregnated polypropylene cone with low-damping rubber surrounds for exceptionally smooth response. Low-reflection highrigidity die-cast magnesium baskets both maximize mechanical precision while minimizing unwanted coloration of the speaker's output. The 1-inch tweeters feature titanium domes that offer the perfect combination of light weight and rigidity for precise reproduction right up to 40 kHz.

The tweeters have an exceptionally powerful 17,000 gauss magnetic circuit that results in extremely fast response for crisp, natural transients, and are integrated with a waveguide that achieves uniform high-frequency dispersion of 120 degrees. But if there's one thing that sets the MSP10 STUDIO drivers apart from the rest, it's not so much what they're made of as how they're made: precision, micron-tolerance manufacturing. The slightest eccentricity in the alignment of the tweeter domes and waveguides, for example, can seriously affect performance. So can the alignment of the coils and magnetic circuits. These are details that require a considerable investment of energy and resources to do properly, and they are exactly the details that make the MSP10 STUDIO the superior studio monitor that it is.

In today's production environment, which often includes computer and video displays as well as a range of magnetic media, magnetic shielding is essential. Conventional magnetic shielding schemes have the unfortunate side effect of distorting the magnetic flux of the speaker's critical magnetic circuit. The end result is distorted sound. This was one of the biggest obstacles the MSP10 STUDIO design team had to face, but one they overcame with a new "advanced magnetic structure" that achieves effective shielding while maintaining the integrity of the speaker's magnetic circuit for significantly lower distortion as well as an improved definition.

Yes, the boxes are part of the system too, and demand as much attention as the electronics and drivers themselves. The MSP10 STUDIO's bass-reflex enclosure is constructed from high-quality MDF (Medium Density Fiber) and braced to eliminate colorationcausing resonance. Resonance-free operation is further ensured by a painstaking 9-step finishing process that includes no less than 5 layers of piano-finish paint. The result of all this attention to detail is response that is so natural and transparent that you can hear details even in delicate decays and reverb tails.

The MSP10 STUDIO features a balanced XLR-type connector for input. This provides direct compatibility with professional gear and allows the use of balanced lines for maximum audio quality even where long cable runs are required. Rear-panel controls include an input sensitivity control with a -6 dB ~ +4 dB range, and trim switches that enable you to adjust the bass and treble in three positions. (0 dB, -1,5 dB, -3 dB at 50 Hz and +1,5 dB, 0 dB, -1,5 dB at 10 kHz) – allowing the system's response to be quickly matched to the room. There's also a low cut (80 Hz) switch that is useful when the MSP10 STUDIO is used with the SW10 Subwoofer. For convenient wall mounting Yamaha offers an optional BWS251-300 Wall Bracket.

For An Interview with the Man Behind the Sound, click here.