Yamaha NS 6390 Bookshelf Speakers

Yamaha NS 6390 Bookshelf Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

- Three-way acoustic suspension speaker.
- The speaker is magnetically shielded, so it can be placed on a TV or video monitor without degrading the picture via stray magnetic fields.
- Yamaha's spring-type terminals make connections easy and secure.
- New grille design and satin grille cloth provide an attractive and acoustically transparent protective cover for the drivers.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 24  
[Mar 27, 2010]
Tonyl34
AudioPhile

I do admit these speakers are very good value for the money ..I paid $30 in a garage sale last month.
These are very good replacements for $10 pc speakers. The mids and woofers are worth $5 tops, the tweeters sound like they're partially covered with duct tape. The bass bottoms out very early so you'd better set these as "Small" in your receiver else they will sound hollow.
Their imaging is very poor and as I had mentioned above, the mids are cheap sounding and very lethargic. All 3 drivers lack detail. They can be driven off any HTIB receiver which is not very surprising considering their limited spectrum. You can't eq them to pump up the mids cos they will sputter at the drop of a hat.

As another reviewer had mentioned, they sound very nice until you place them next to a good speaker.

Yes, I would replace a 2 channel altec lansing pc speaker set with these but unfortunately I don't have a need to do so. I believe most of us don't either- on a pc, we would like to use either cheap, space saving speakers (or) a mid or high end setup, nothing in between.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Jan 05, 2009]
DaveB
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price, looks, sound

Very nice looking, very nice sounding for the price. Let's face it, Yamaha builds great audio equipment. These rather large standmout babies are an excellent choice for those who love music and are on a budget. You can get better sound by paying hundreds of dollars more but why would you? These will do the job nicely and you'll still be able to laugh at those who spent all their hard earned money for a little bit better sound.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha,PSB,Energy

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 24, 2007]
tyler who is in love with cerwinvega
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

bass, how sweet they look the way they sound

Weakness:

dont push bass tones through them like i did lol!!!

dont compare them to klipsh or you top dollar stuff

i have had thies speakers for over 6years. i have noticed that if you blare rap or hard bass stuff throught the speakers they will start to pull away from the voice coil. In the past year or so i have up graded to a 7.1 suround sound. wich has more power than my old system my new system has 100 and old had 75. i liked the fact that i could blare any thing through these speakers untel i put 100watts to these and started to mess up the woofers. befor i messed them up i could put bass tones through these speakers and they would rattle my room!!! i love the looks and the sound you can get from these speakers they are kick a$$ if you are smart and dont push a bass tone through the speaker

Similar Products Used:

pioner, sony, cerwinvega, infinity, klipsh, boston, and much more

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 12, 2005]
music fan San Fran
Casual Listener

Strength:

Cheap (100 per pair). Did I mention a low price?

Weakness:

The fact that these speakers are 3-way is kind of gimmick.

These speakers will sound OK unless you happen to put a different brand of speaker next to them. Then you'll realize these little Yamahas sound like the music is coming out of the bottom of a well. These were my main and only speakers before I upgraded to a decent setup (new Yamaha receiver, Klipsch Synergy speakers). Next to the Klipsch, which cost a little more but are still moderately priced, the Yamaha bookshelf speakers sound terrible. As soon as my Klipsch SS-1 arrive (to complete my setup), these Yamaha speakers are going to the salvation army.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 23, 2003]
Mark Muczyk
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sound/Price ratio

Weakness:

a tad light. may not stand up to some really loud rock.

Good product at an excellent price. Not pretentious and no extra dollars for a pretentious name plate. (although Yamaha is up there) Deep accurate base and consistent treble with some knob tweaking. Very good looking speakers that fit with any decor.

Similar Products Used:

AR, KLH, Optimus

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 18, 2003]
Stephen
AudioPhile

Strength:

Good sound balance with a little fiddling of treble and bass controls. Gold plated banana plug compatible speaker wire sockets. Nice finish. Not too large. Good range Lively sound.

Weakness:

High frequencies too bright

These speakers have impressed me greatly. After upgrading from some reasonably good computer speakers, I was impressed with the sound quality. Combined with a 12" subwoofer, they have good response. Their only lacklustre point being the mid - high ranges being slightly too bright. A tweak on my Yamaha's treble control soon fixed this. I listen to jazz, rock, alternative and classical music and the speakers were able to recreate the sounds of these to my liking. I have these set up in my bedroom. It is likely that they would not be sufficient for a home theatre set up, but until then, the price was well worth it.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[May 06, 2003]
austinlad04
Casual Listener

Strength:

Value, value, value...for the starving student and more.

Weakness:

Excessively bright sound; characteristic, but acceptable-for-its-class lack of clarity.

Update review/response to Nicholas Scott: After much listening, I'm wishing I had the budget to upgrade, but I still stand by my recommendation: the 6390s are a good deal for $100 or less (preferably less). Did I say that they were the best in the sub-500 category? Clearly, I did not - and they certainly aren't. The technology in a $400 pair is far superior. However, if you're a broke grad student like me, then you it's not sensible to buy somewhat more expensive speakers (say, $250 Cerwin Vegas) that sound only a little better overall. The Yamahas do sound tinny and relatively unclear, and the crossover is rough (again, I implied as much), but the point is that a poor crossover at 8khz is better than a poor one at 2.5khz, which hits much more often. Do give us all the credit for understanding that these are inexpensive, consumer-grade technology, which in fact makes up the majority of what many hangers-on call hi-end audio. Besides, if we wanted to debate the merits of truly hi-end audio, we'd be talking about $1000+/pair units, which most of us probably couldn't afford and/or couldn't justify. Few dedicated audiophiles would ever think about thinking about NS-6390s.

Similar Products Used:

In the next year, I want to go 5-channel with 4 LothX Ions and a yet-to-be-determined center and sub. Hopefully, I'll upgrade to a pair of Ion bookshelf speakers ($600/pair)before the Fall.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 11, 2003]
Nicholas Scott
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Tight Bass; powerful mids; nice design; real freakin loud with 80 watts; natural sound; Perfect design

Weakness:

The 8in will reach it limits and to say the least it will scare the crap out of you when it does!; Why the foam surrounds?; To much color in the highs

i must say these are some fine speakers for the money, since i have such a wide variety of music i like to listen to i needed something with punch for rock music, and have color to sing the highs for jazz music. i recently blew the pionners i reviewed so i needed somethin pronto. lookin in bestbuy they speakers sounded like crap but i had a feeling they could jam, bestbuy only runs like 40 watts through them anyway. to start they have nice craftsmenship but are very light which indicates small magenets. the 8in. has something i can not understand, foam surrounds. i hated that cause i know one day they will rip apart. the mid is 4 and a 1in tweeter tops it off. they hit low but are not boomy. in fact they cant handle boom bass. the mids are flat with a high cut off. the highs have to much color but are sharp. this speakers sound like more than they are, in fact i heard these play real loud at ashley market (movie section). with a 91db sn number there guranteed to be loud

Similar Products Used:

Klh, Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood, and Jbl

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 29, 2003]
John Chiang
Audio Enthusiast

When it comes to home audio equipment, I trust Yamaha over many. McIntosh being my favorite. I never bothered listening to their speakers. The fact that they're so cheap shows that the materials are cheap. I didn't exactly know what to expect, but I thought i'd give it a try since I could get these guys for $30 through a friend who worked at best buy. Anyways, so I brought them home and hooked them up to my system unhooking the original MB Quart's I had connected. On to the testing... First I put radiohead into the CD player. Listening to creep. The sound wasn't too bad, I was actually quite surprised. The vocals weren't that defined, but defined well enough for the price. The bass was deep enough and the guitar sounded how it should. Although it was nothing compared to my regular system, I figured "hey, what can you expect from a speaker system 1/10th the cost." So next I popped in Classic Kennedy. First I listened to Presto from Summer. I can't say I was amazed at all. In fact I was rather disappointed, although I shouldn't have been considering it's price. The speakers sounded horrible. Yamaha has made a name of it's own with it's precision in sound quality in both electronics and musical instruments, yet they put down their name by making speakers that aren't up to par with their standards. Yes, I was expecting too much for the price.. but I don't think I was expecting too much from the name. Somebody commented on how you can't get better speakers for the sub-500 price. You say you're a violinist, and as one you should be able to notice when the crossover hits on violin pieces. if you're willing to shell out a few more bucks go for JBL's Studio series, or a pair of bookshelf speakers off of Klipsch's Synergy series. as for these speakers... gave them to a friend.

Similar Products Used:

MB Quart, NHT, JBL, Klipsch, and Mission

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 26, 2003]
squidman
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound Tight bass Yamaha quality

Weakness:

This is a small to medium size room speaker. In bigger rooms, bass wouldnto be heard, and highs would isperse in carpeting, etc.

Great speaker. I was sceptical at first - these were supposed to replace my Bang and Olufsen speakers. So, i just bought them because i wanted a complete ensemble: Yamaha 1978 amp, Yamaha Limited Edition 1978 tape deck, Yamaha Platinum 1978 Turntable, and recently purchased Yamaha CD changer and Yamaha speakers. I bought these, because my amp is 40 x 40 RMS, so i needed the speakers with 8 inch woofer, so that there wouldnt be much power lost. I hooked it up in Russia, when i came here with oxygen-free speaker cable (provide the clearest connection possible). I couldnt believe it. These are awesome speakers. One of the reviewers said, they have bad lows or highs. I have 1978 amp with 1978 equaliser on it, and after playing with for 5 minutes i've found perfect settings for my room, and my style of music.

Similar Products Used:

Bang and Olufsen, Nakimichi, Sony, Fisher, JBL, Bose

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 24  

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