 Early use of the NS @-@ 10 among engineers include Bob Clearmountain , Rhett Davies , and Bill <unk> in the US , and Nigel <unk> in the UK . Clearmountain , then a rising star in record production , is often credited for the popularity of the NS @-@ 10 ; Phil Ward , writing in Sound on Sound , suggested that Clearmountain was probably not the earliest , but was certainly the most influential early <unk> . It became a legend that Clearmountain had chosen it because it was the worst speaker he could find . He was one of a new breed of creative freelance recording engineers and producers who would travel from studio to studio equipped with their own gear that included microphones , and a pair of Yamaha NS @-@ 10 , as a reference . 
