Summary: Yamaha's NS-555 Home Theater speakers are a Great balance of quality and cost. After some reading of reviews and consideration of other speakers I chose to get these NS-555 towers. I have been listening to music, playing a variety of CD's thru my Oppo 983 DVD player, which sure seems to be a very capable DVD & CD player. I have been listening thru the RXV663 reciever and using the two channel set up under "Disc Listening" either 'Straight' or the 'Pure Direct' so that the speakers are recreating an unenhanced sound.
I am a believer in speaker break in for most speakers. As the cone and the surround flex patterns from the movement must form over time and allow for (hopefully) improved response. The first day I hooked them up at about the 90 minute mark I heard a change from tight, precise and a bit harsh to more smooth and natural. This week at probably the 40-50 hour mark another shift occured again smoother more natural less harshly precise. Many friends and some of the sites seem to believe that it takes about 100 hours for a good break in to occur.
I start with a cd of what ever i want to listen to and after a few tracks turn the volume up a bit and continue thru a number of cd's finally taking it to the volume settingon the receiver of about -4db to 0db which is plenty loud. this is the point in which the sound has changed and smoothed out the past tow times.
Actual improvement or Jedi mind trick? Some one outlined this and I just think it's true, that if a speaker was annoying in any way it would become more annoying over time, you'd reach a fatigue level that would not go away.
Strengths: Improving sound that started as overly tight, precise to harsh and moving towards natural smooth while still precise.
Fabulous construction, at about 43 pounds they have a weighty solid feel.
The black piano finnish is stunning and you have a choice of grills on or off either way they look pretty cool.
While watching DVD;s they sound great.
You can use spade connectors or banana connectors for quick hook up.
They are set for Bi-Wiring so you can use seperate cables one for the tweeter and mid-range and one for the two bass speakers, that is also supposed to improve the bass response.
For home theater speakers they do really well with music so they are audio enthusiast friendly on a shoestring budget. I spent $366 for the pair including shipping.
Weaknesses: The fact that they need a break in period will be a short coming to those that don't have the patience to wait.
The back porting makes proper placement an imperative to get the bass right. You may read about short comings on bass for these, i think they have great bass response but placement may be off for those not getting enough.
Similar Products Used: I can't equate these to what I have used in the past so this is a stretch. However, i do have more audiophile friends and listening to their set ups of Polks and Chapmans, i think these are awesome for the price.
I have used several smaller Yamaha speakers and found them to have a good sound. My earliest ones, model # unknown at this time still sound good and are part of the 7.1 system in the 2nd set of rears.
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Summary: I was considering buying these speakers reading the reviews here at audioreview.com. The comments were very convincing and satisfying. As the speakers are...
Of course, as every speaker, they need to be used intensely for about 1-2 days at the first time, as they may sound a bit differently; they are "raw". After this I can tell you (as everybody told below me), the NS-555s are amazing in every aspect.
The highs are clear, there's no frizzling, even at very high sounds. Midbass is accurate and great. The bass is also pure and natural (at 2 channel music listening and high volume it's incredible), however, you need either a receiver with wide bass level-options or an additional subwoofer to get a very deep and rich low frequency sound. It's performance is outstanding in home theater use and in music listening too. (And I haven't been able to try out the bi-wired version yet!)
The look of the speaker is second best thing beside it's performance. I had the opportunity to look at the cherry colour, but I found the black piano much more elegant. It looks beautiful, but it's a great fan of fingerprints as well. I suggest buying white gloves. :)
To sum up, I can highly recommend this speaker for home theater use or just for listening music. There are no real cons. You won't regret it, as I didn't regret it either.
Strengths: Sound: clarity, accuracy; it's beautiful
Look: piano black is elegant, stylish and also beautiful
Weaknesses: There are no real weaknesses. Only some minor ones: bass is a bit deeper with a good receiver or a subwoofer; piano black loves fingerprints.
Similar Products Used: JVC speakers
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Summary: These are not very efficient speakers at 88db. You need a good true 50 WPC at a minimum to drive them. Additionally, you must position speakers properly in an appropriate environment/room. (Any/all speakers)
My listening room is 11x14 with 8 foot ceilings. With the rear of the 555's positioned about 18" from the wall and 24" from the side walls with a seating position about 24" from the rooms back wall the bass is nothing short of incredible when called upon to "thump".
Bela Flecks "flight of the cosmic hippo" is literally jaw dropping.
On Royal Crown Revue's "Mugzy's Move" CD, The upright bass is full and articulate. The horn section is crisp and smooth.
Rock and roll of any flavor is fantastic.
Powered by a 1984 vintage Pioneer SA 1050 Integrated amp (100WPC) They simply perform beyond what their asking price would imply.
Set them up properly, feed them quality recordings with CLEAN power and they are fantastic speakers. And I concur with others that they are aesthetically elegant with the piano black finish.
Strengths: Extremely satisfying speakers. Great soundstage and very dynamic. Well balanced neutral speakers. Great imaging. Deep and punchy bass.
Weaknesses: Low Sensitivity/efficiency (88db)
Similar Products Used: Athena, Cerwin Vega, Polk Audio, Acoustic Research.
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Summary: This is seriously an overlooked speaker. Performance is outstanding when you use a decent receiver. The higs and mids are on the top notch and bass is precise deep and acurate. These are great for music and perfect for HT. I went to and high end store and audition a 1000$ monitor audio speakers and let me tell you the ns-555 has nothing short in performance. Get these and bi-wire them to your receiver; I recomend (Yamaha,Denon,Onkyo,Marantz,PioneerElite,H/K,sherwood....) and you'll get $1000+ audio from and afortable speaker and you'll get the plus that they look great in that piano gloss color.
Strengths: Superb audio specially when bi-wired.Precise and very acurate music and HT performance.
Weaknesses: None, just handle these with care
Similar Products Used: JBL,polk,monitor audio,infity
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Summary: I have only owned my Yamaha NS-555 speakers for 2 weeks so this review is based on a relatively short exposure.
I listen mainly to classical music with jazz and other genres a distant second. The NS-555s are, for me, an ideal choice. The very important middle range in the sonic spectrum is cleanly and transparently reproduced. Treble is without any harshness or sibilance. Bass is nicely extended and well defined. Listening to any of the later Mozart piano concertos, for example, is pure pleasure.
Although NS-555s were, apparently, designed for home theatre applications, they are excellent performers in 2 channel music. And as a bonus, they look great too. The piano finish enclosures and the brushed chrome feet are really rather elegant.
If you are in the market for quality speakers at a good price then certainly give these Yamahas an audition. They are hard to beat.
Strengths: HIgh quality construction; attractive appearance; excellent sound
Weaknesses: None that I know of.
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