I bought a pair of NS10s last month and have been waiting for a decent amp to pop up locally on eBay, but so far, no luck. At this point, I don’t even know if they work, and I’d really like to get them up and running in the studio.

I’ve never used passive monitors before, so I’m still figuring things out. My question is: can I use something like the Behringer A800 for now without breaking the bank, until I find something more commonly recommended?

Another concern is that I share a studio with others, so I’d like an amp that offers some protection in case of misuse. Is that even possible? Do the protection features in budget amps actually safeguard the monitors from things like peaks or voltage issues?

Any help is appreciated!

As I'm sure you can imagine, enduringly popular topics like 'Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About NS10s' have been covered on this Forum multiple times before and there are literally dozens of existing threads stretching back 20+ years just on the subject of amps.

'Search' is your friend!

For example, here's one with 736 replies that could be a good starting point: Yamaha NS10m Studio monitors and Amplifier thread

Thanks for the link. I assumed that budget amp recommendations from 15 years ago might not be very relevant today, but I can see there’s still occasional activity on the thread, so I’ll give posting there a try. I’ll definitely do some reading up on how it all works. Thanks again.

I think people go overly nuts about what amp to use with NS10s. They are basically home stereo speakers (what they were originally designed and sold for). I use a cheap 45 watt Pyle amp and they sound fine.

Mine were powered for years first by a Radio Shack AM/FM Receiver/Amp, then by an ancient Alesis RA100 and now a Sampson...works just fine.

That's what I don't get, a decent amp with sufficient power and headroom is just fine. No need for some esoteric mastering grade power amp for these things; they were just inexpensive bookshelf speakers that (IIRC) Clearmountain started using one day and ta-da they became a staple in the studio to check if your mix would sound good for most home stereos, cars, TVs, etc.

These days, my checks are on cheap Delta Airlines earbuds and my OG Auratones I managed to keep around for 40 years. I should sell my NS-10s since they are just sitting in a box somewhere.

That was a terrible mistake. They are awful. Dis you bother to look at a frequency response graph?

The amp is irrelevant. No amp will make them sound good.

Please take this stupid brainwashed nonsense to idiots at audiosciencereview.

I use some Fosi V3 little amp from Amazon, plenty loud and very clean.

While NS10 would not win any contest for the best sounding loudspeaker or “flat” frequency response, I find them a very good tool for mixing and placing the instruments, the snare and the vocals at the right (or desired) level in the mix.

I don’t own a pair, but I find them quite useful, even today.
And a good amp (I tend to prefer the class AB ones) with enough power reserve, will help to clear/open up any loudspeaker, including the midrange focused ones.

Adding a subwoofer (even a cheap one like the cheap Vera Fi Caldera 12) to the ns10 helps to make them more “balanced” to “listen to”, BUT the information you get is still useful imho.

(I used them with an old infinity sub, the same CLA uses).

I just thought I’d try to explain why some of us still are on NS-10’s. I don’t, but I do understand why some engineers still use them today.. and find actually a useful tool for mixing, although is not a “good sounding” one.

howdy

Cheu

Ignore him. He's the "flat frequency response" ASR cultist. Posts in every monitor thread, doesn't understand anything, can't mix... the usual.

In a sealed room the freq responds is -+ from 30 hz to 15k with in 15 db (+/- 7) in my room (real life scenario) . So very flat. The lightweighed woofers are great for fast response. I use it with an Alesis ra100 just good noting special.

I have mine paired with some Tannoys that have good bass response, and a switch so I can hear just the NS-10s, or both together. Really, the only time I listen to the NS-10s alone is to check if the low end and mids are translating on crappy systems. You do have to learn them however.