I just acquired a pair of the Yams. They became available at a very reasonable price and being curious I thought, what the heck, I won't lose if I don't like them, I can sell them.
From what I'd read about them they are either a) bright and forward in the midrange or b) ruthlessly revealing of any brightness further down the chain. Which view you subscribe to may depend on how high in esteem you rate what's further down the chain ... or not.
There's a useful write up of them on HFWs Olde Worlde -
http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/oldeworldehtml/yamahans1000m.html, where they suggest that partnered with SS amps like the Naims which ruled the HiFi press in the eighties they sounded harsh, but partnered with valves or class A SS they sounded sublime. The suggestion was that this was simply their revealing nature exposing the character of the typical SS sound of the time which worked far better with the bextrene coned BBC monitors and variations of favoured at the time. I wouldn't know and I wouldn't court contoversy by stating an opinion
All I can say is that from my limited experience with them so far (a day and a couple of evenings) is that whilst I wouldn't go so far as to say they were harsh with my SS Densen, in my room they certainly benefit from knocking back the mid and tweeter using the front mounted controls.
Other than that they are a huge improvement over my Kefs, once I'd fiddled with those knobs a little, the mid and high end are beautifully realistic, with bags of detail and unfatiguing. Bass seemed a bit disappointing at first, there not seeming to be much of it - especially given the size of those woofers - and what there was of it a bit detached. I was surprised that placing them a lot closer to the wall than the Kefs improved matters considerably - good, clean, tuneful bass going down a long way - in a position close enough to the wall that my Kefs would have boomed all over the place.
Not sure I'll keep them though, they sure are ugly. They also seem to show up duff recordings a bit too ruthlessly (what they were designed for I guess). Which for a lot of folks would be a very good thing, but personally I'd rather some of my favourite but less well recorded/mastered stuff weren't so exposed (Oh for a "rose tinted specs" button on an amp
).
The Unison hybrid is valve pre and ss power I believe. A question I asked a while ago, but didn't get any further on is how much of that valve "character" comes from the pre and how much the power. Just wondering because if the Yams really are as revealing as HFW suggest, the dem with the Unison might suggest its the power amp side that does it. If I were tempted to keep my Yams (might need some cosmetic surgery mind), the possibility of using the Densen for the Preamp and getting a valve power would be quite tempting.
Addenda: Bloody hell. Just listened to the first Boards of Canada CD with the Yams in place. Proper trouser flapping bass and not a hint of boom to be heard ... for some strange reason they seem to be interacting with the room upstairs (Auntie Ants' office/studio) and making her floorboards vibrate
I'm starting to like these ugly ducklings
