Yamaha NS-555 3-Way Floorstanding Speaker

I spent many hours in Fry’s Electronics and BestBuy stores listening all kinds of floor standing speakers, trying figure out which of them would fit my budget and my requirements… I am not audiophile, but I appreciate clear sound, and I’d like to hear all instruments. After reading reviews on Yamaha ns-555 speakers I wasn’t pretty much sure if I should buy them. Some people say they sound good, some say they lack of lower frequencies… So I decided to give ’em a try. I was planning to buy a subwoofer in case they lack of base sound. I have Yamaha RX-V573 receiver (I know it’s old one, but it still fits my needs), and it has bi-amp feature (not bi-wire), and ns555s can be connected in bi-amp schema. So, they arrived, I connected them to receiver, turned the music on and…felt down from coach trying to lower volume and lower base frequencies! Oh, boy! The sound was so loud and so powerfull! I do not know why people complains on lack of base.. they have lots of clear base sound! My Yamaha RX-V573 receiver has adjustable crossover, equalizer, and tone adjustment (high and low frequencies). The lower frequencies were at 0db, I set them on -3.5 db and I still have a lot of base! I set equalizer 400hz to -6db, 160hz to -3db, and 60db to 0 db, and I set crossover to 60hz. And now base guitar and drums sound like in live concert, no barrel echoes! And I do not need subwoofer anymore! :-))) Oh, and, by the way, scene is wide enough – no complains. None of the speakers of this size and price range in the store can beat ns555. I was wondering why this speaker not selling in store. And answer is clear – if people would hear them, they wouldn’t buy anything else, but ns555s! :-))))

First, the audio: When it comes to audio, beauty is in the ear of the listener. I debated the 555 versus the 777 and purchased the 555. No regrets. When the Yamaha RX-V4A receiver in front of the speakers was fine-tuned, these speakers cover the complete range of audio output and do it well. When the drummer smacks the sticks into the rim of the snare drum, it is as clear as being there. The bass produced is clear, certainly adequate and not a muddled boom.

Second the physical: The assembly is easy; the support foot attachment could be improved with pre-installed nesters and machine screws instead of wood screws attaching the feet to the cabinets. The grilles look good and apparently are meant to stay in place and not intended for (easy) removal. The polished black exterior looks great.

Every listener’s auditory capability and taste in sound are different. The NS-555 meets my expectations well in both categories. All at a reasonable price.