Floorstanding loudspeakers — Yamaha NS-555

The Yamaha NS-555 is a vented floorstanding speaker with four drivers working as a three-way system, drawn from the brand's home theater and stereo range, designed for use as front speakers. It is the slimmer of the two towers in its series, sitting below the NS-777, and Yamaha supplies matching stands with each speaker. The cabinet is finished in high gloss black piano lacquer, and parts plus labour are guaranteed for two years.

Key specs that matter

Two 6-1/4 inch (about 16 cm) cone woofers made of polymer-injected mica (PMD) handle the bass, a 5 inch (about 13 cm) cone handles the mids, and the treble comes from a 1 inch (2.5 cm) aluminium dome. Yamaha states a frequency range of 35 Hz to 35 kHz and a sensitivity of 88 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m. Nominal impedance is 6 ohms. Input power is rated at 100 W nominal and 250 W maximum. Each tower measures 222 x 980 x 345 mm and weighs 20 kg, so a pair of towers adds up to 40 kg before the included stands.

Engineering and use context

Yamaha places the mid driver and the dome inside waveguide horns, which Yamaha uses to cut reflected sound and to sharpen the directional behaviour of the upper range. The cabinet has an elliptical form in plan, a shape chosen to lower diffraction at the edges, and it vents through a single bass reflex port. Internal wiring is Monster Cable. Magnetic shielding of the drivers was specified allowing placement beside a tube TV set or computer screen with no picture disturbance. Around the back, the input plate carries gold-plated extruded brass terminals in two separate pairs, so the bass drivers can be fed by one cable pair and the upper two drivers by another for bi-wiring. An acoustically transparent grille of a revised design covers the front baffle.

Pairing

The tower is a match for typical surround receivers and two-channel integrated amplifiers. Owners who bi-wire need an amplifier with two sets of speaker outputs or two cable runs from one set. For surround use the tower combines with Yamaha centre and surround speakers from the same generation.

Alternatives

The Yamaha NS-777 is the bigger tower from this series, with dual 8 inch woofers in a taller cabinet.