Hi-Fi Choice magazine in the UK has a new review in their January 2018 issue (sorry, no link). I just read it today at the newsstand. The reviewer found them like electrostatics and the drivers tonally even, big soundstage, great midrange. He had a few niggling dislikes but he compared these to the NS-1000's he owned. Also compared them to the Sonus Faber Serafino, which the magazine said had a larger overall stage. The Yamaha's they said are more detailed, not clinical or cold, but it leads me to believe the NS-5000 would be wonderful with tube amps. But the Serafino's are 20% more costly. Perhaps since the Yamaha's are being reviewed in the UK, the US will get them next. But I also read in another forum that Yamaha makes only 8 AS-3000 amps per day, so I continue to wonder if the reason we don't have these speakers yet is simply production volume limitations. Audiogon has a good forum question on speakers in this price range and there are simply so many good choices. For me, looks are important. I find Vandersteens and Wilsons to be ugly. I like the B&W 803d3 in white/silver for its looks. Nothing wrong with Magico's in basic black and the new A3 for $10k looks promising. The Sonus Faber's are beautiful, but not my taste. The Yamaha's are. I like to try new things. For example, I'm a ketchup lover. When Heinz introduced green ketchup, I was the first to try it. It's actually the same in every respect except color as the red ketchup but when I ate food with the green ketchup, eyes open naturally, it simply tasted different to me. In fact, I hated it. So while audiophiles talk about the WAF - wife acceptance factor - while I don't have a W, I do have the MAF - me acceptance factor. I want to like what I see when I listen, and that may affect my perception of what sound I'm hearing. I don't know and I haven't read anything about this possible effect. I'll be damned if I'm going to buy something I think is ugly. I love the Yamaha's looks. Simplicity is elegance. It always sounds different to different reviewers, owners, with different electronics and in different rooms anyway. There's no way to absolutely know. I'm buying what I like that is in this class that I like to look at, the 5000's. Put me first in line.