Yamaha M2000
A name that turns up in two completely different racks — and only one of them is a Yamaha.
Overview
Here's the problem with searching for a "Yamaha M2000": the name resolves to at least two unrelated pieces of studio gear, and the period documents don't agree on which one you mean. The first is a large-format multitrack recording console — the AMEK M2000, a British desk built by AMEK Systems and Controls Ltd. of Salford, advertised in the trade press with a mainframe for 28 inputs, 24 track-reading meters, 16 buss outputs and 8 direct assigns. Neither of those is a Yamaha product. That distinction matters more than anything else on this page, so it's worth stating plainly up front: the "M2000" badge was worn by an AMEK console and a TC Electronic effects unit, and collectors chasing a "Yamaha M2000" should confirm exactly which box is in front of them before money changes hands.
The AMEK M2000 is the more thoroughly documented of the two. A period advertisement lays out its architecture in unusual detail: an in-line format with panning between live busses, mic and two line inputs per channel, a four-band equalizer with switched frequencies, four auxiliaries, Penny and Giles faders, and in-place solo on both channel and monitor. The frame carries 28 inputs, 16 busses, 8 direct assigns and 24 meters, with a stereo buss for remix and four separately addressable stereo subgroups that can be routed to a monitor facility. Separate studio and control-room monitor selection systems, a built-in oscillator and talkback, a 240-point jackfield and 48V phantom power round out the feature set. The same advertisement describes the M3000 as a step up the range, with VCA faders, DC subgrouping, 32-track monitoring and a four-band parametric EQ on all I/O modules — useful context for where the M2000 sat in AMEK's lineup, though the ad's "excellent performance specifications" is marketing copy, not a measured verdict.
The TC Electronic M2000, by contrast, surfaces almost entirely through the secondhand market. Studio gear listings from the mid-to-late 1990s repeatedly offer "TC M2000" units as new or special stock, and studio equipment inventories list the M2000 alongside TC's M5000 as part of a working reverb and effects rack. That's the clearest signal of what the TC box actually was: a rack effects processor common enough in professional rooms to appear in inventory after inventory. Beyond its presence in those racks, the available documentation doesn't establish its converter resolution, algorithm set, or original price, so those details are best left to a unit in hand rather than assumed.
What the record does not support is a Yamaha M2000 at all. No manufacturer document, period review, or trade listing in the available material attributes an "M2000" to Yamaha. The confusion is understandable — Yamaha built a deep catalog of mixers and processors through the 1980s and '90s, and model numbers like PM-2000 and SPX-90 turn up constantly in the same studios that owned AMEK desks and TC effects. But a shared number is not a shared product. Anyone who has been told they're looking at a "Yamaha M2000" should check the badge, the back panel, and the manual before treating it as one.
For the AMEK console specifically, the practical appeal is the in-line topology and the Penny and Giles faders — the kind of British large-format construction that studios committed to for years. The caveats are the usual ones for a desk of this size and age: a 240-point jackfield and 28-input frame mean a lot of contacts, a lot of cleaning, and a lot of maintenance, and a console this complex is only worth owning if the buyer can service it or knows someone who can.
The honest summary: there is no verified Yamaha M2000 in the documented record. There is an AMEK M2000 console, documented in period advertising, and a TC Electronic M2000 effects processor, documented through studio inventories and resale listings. Buyers should identify which one they're actually looking at, verify the manufacturer on the chassis, and treat any "Yamaha M2000" listing as a naming error until proven otherwise.
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