Customer Reviews

Yamaha NS-6490 3-Way Bookshelf Speakers, Black Finish ( Pair )

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Made purchase of these NS-6490's on clearance from the 'shack in fall 2009 and I'm glad I did. Probably not worth current retail prices but grab them on markdown if you can. The exterior is beautiful even with the glaring white woofers. The speaker has the required heft to dampen the 8" woofer, and the range should be smooth with the choice of provided driver sizes. Unfortunately we consumers just won't know what it is capable of until it gets a decent crossover. Inside you will find no acoustic fill, which by itself isn't unexpected in a design at this pricepoint. However, there is no effective crossover. there are instead 2 capacitors acting as bass blockers for the 4" mid and the tweeter glued to the back of the terminal cup and the 8" woofer runs full range. In a larger woofer this may not be a problem as the voice coil simply wouldn't drive higher frequencies; here it is. Budget for acoustic fill and a proper crossover, or run a new terminal cup and bi-amp with eq's. I didn't take the other reviews seriously about the lack of bass, chocking it up to the sealed design. Stock levels are woeful for the woofer and box size. I'm hoping some acoustic fill will round out the bottom end a little until I can get a decent set of crossovers.

WOW! What an outstanding product. They handle tons of power, it can output a lot of bass without distortion and the overall sound is exceptional for the price and size. Using as FRONT speakers in my setup. Sound clarity is also very good.

I bought these speakers about 6 months ago, and am happy with them thus far. Currently, they're hooked up to a Yamaha 5.1 receiver, but I'm only running them stereo. So many people said the speakers lacked bass, so I dragged out a powered sub I had and hooked it up. Eventually, I found that the speakers produced adequate bass for me, so I've removed the sub all together.

I was a little disappointed when I first hooked up these speakers because the bass was too over-powering and the mids were really lacking. I tried adjusting my receiver to lower the bass and increase the mids, but nothing seemed to work to my liking, so I did what anyone would do; I just played it at higher volumes. I'm writing this review because the other day I realized that the mids have developed over the past months of use, and now the speakers sound smooth and produce a very clean sound. So children, I guess the moral of the story is that patience is, in fact, a virtue! I gave it 4 stars because of the extraordinarily long break-in.

I have audited several low price speakers, such as $100 to $300 range Pioneer, Polk Audio, Boston, KLH ... This Yamaha speaker has great highs, transparent, and Great 3D imaging! The focusing so sharp and accurate, I can almost 'see' the instruments and singers.
However, this speaker is weak at midrange and lows. A subwoofer can compensate for that.

While many loudspeakers are shrinking in size to be decor friendly, the Yamaha NS-6490's are more conventional with an 8" woofer, three-way design. Their relatively bulky size and seemingly entry level build quality are not what sold me on these. What did it for me were its old school "acoustic suspension" enclosure and Yamaha's solid reputation for consistent specs, reliability and performance at any price point.

At first listen I knew I'd be more than satisfied with their performance. A month later, I'm still impressed by their natural clarity, lack of listening fatique and slam that just doesn't exist with most entry level speakers. The imaging from these is dead-on point, as long as they're on axis with the ears.

Yamaha electronics have been my favorite for over 25 years for a good reason. They deliver the goods, consistently. Without going into any more detail, Yamaha got it right again in engineering a pleasing product with a price that would make professionals envious. The NS-6490's are a hidden gem among the rocks. Nice job Yamaha. I bought two more from Amazon with no regrets.Yamaha NS-6490 3-Way Bookshelf Speakers, Black Finish ( Pair )

Before we get to the acual review part we have to get a few things out of the way:

1. Crossovers do not have to be some bulky contaption in order to be effective. A simple crossover is just a cap and an indictor (wire wound in a coil) so just becuase Yamaha uses a simple setup does not mean it's ineffective. speaker coils are inductors by design
2. If you are expecting big price speaker features in budget speakers (like fill for example) you will be dissapointed and you can do 1 of 2 things:
a. buy fill and correct the issue
or
b. spend more money on your speakers
3. If you are expecting big bass out of these speakers. it's NOT going to happen as they are acustically sealed (google acustic speaker suspension to find out the pro's and cons) but suffice it to say that it takes MORE power to get bass out of these as you have to overcome the static air resistance inside the box. Ported speakers have better bass response because the air can more freely in and out of the port.
4. Particle board cabinet construction....you will be suprised how many speakers that cost several times as much use this stuff and there is a reason for it...it does NOT RESONATE like wood boards do. MDF, HDF, PFB it's all the same stuff.

Now down to the nitty gritty

I use my speakers with the following system
Ymaha HTR-5635, NS-C125 center and 2x YST-SW215 subs

Personally I enjoy my speakers immensely and they do exactly what they are supposed to do.. I have 2 sets of these one set from 1992 and one set from 2004 (yes, they have been in production for more than 20 years) the sensitivity on these are good at 90dB and they sound vrey natural and are not overbearing until you crank the volume WAY up at which point the tweeters really make the speakers sound harsh. In my opinion, if you are going to use these with a receiver, you should add a subwoofer to fill out the low end. There are definately no gaps in the frequency like there are with other speakers that use cubes/satalites with a bass module. The frequency response chart that I had from the original set showed a relatively flat curve from 100hz up with no noticable frequency holes.

Although these speakrs are cheaply priced, they are not cheaply built imho and will last a long time if properly cared for and by far offer the best bang for the buck

I found thse speakers to be a great bargain and they definitely look nice, but their tone is bright to the point of being harsh. The highs are extended to be sure but there is no weight to the bass and the mids shrivel under those rough high tones. Turn the treble down halfway, turn the bass all the way up and dial in a good sub. They can be made to sound fairly resolute and detailed with a little tuning. However they lack that clear refined sound when running straight signal to them without tone adjustments, which higher end speakers exhibit with less effort. 4 Stars because of the price and the ability to tune them with a good sub. Subtract one star for every $10.00 increase above their current price. Decent, pretty looking home theatre mains if you have nice stands.

I bought these speakers about 5 yrs ago and didn't like the sound from the get go. I tried breaking them in for about a month and the quality of sound still sounded very tinny and hollow. I paid 50.00 for these and I still felt it was wasted money. At 100.00+ they are a total rip off. I can't believe these are on sale again. The cabinets are very cheap, there is no sound dampening inside, and all there is for tonal separation for the drivers is one capacitor soldered to the tweeter. Cheap junk but I gave them two stars because there are worse speakers out there and not by much.

Ive had these speakers for over a year now, and they still wow me and others that hear them. The dome tweeters provide a very crisp clean high Hz.

I play live music and all of my pro audio gear is pumping music through Yamaha speakers. They beat all other manufacters hands down in price to quality

ratio.

Now, after 8 years of my Yamaha speakers proving themselves worthy in the live music scene, im slowly converting all of my home audio to yamaha. The 315

powered sub is next on the list!!

I purchased the Yamaha speakers for my garage that now is a workshop. Due to the environment in the shop I did not want to expose a pair of "top-of-the-line" speakers to the dirt, dust and hazard found in that area. I chose the Yamaha speakers for their size and sound quality. I have been happy with my selection. They produce a great sound for their size and price. Now when I am building log furniture or cabinets I can keep the tempo up and rock the shop!