Customer Reviews

Yamaha NS-C444 2-Way Center Channel Speaker

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most good to excellent CTR channel speakers will cost you more. $250 - 300 for the highest rated (CR) is not unusual. I bought a Cambridge Soundworks MC150, under a sales misimpression that it was a "center" channel speaker. No. So off I went to see if this was still on a shelf as an open box special. Glad it was. I tested it in the speaker listening room, and it did MASTER AND COMMANDER justice. For comparison, I tried out some music selections with Bose 161s (where are superb SL and SR surround speakers), and they had clear precise highs, and sufficient bass for most center channel needs. Then the sales guy and I hooked up the NS-C444 to one of the channels, and played the same selections. The Yamaha compared favorably.

Now you might be thinking, hey, it's only a center channel, what's it got to do other than just dialog and left-to-right transition. Not that simple, friend. The center channel is one speaker in your home theatre that is ALWAYS doing something, always providing sound. You want a capable one. You also want one with excellent dynamic response and clarity. Case in point: The scene when CAPT Ramius addresses his crew after submerging in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. You hear Connery's voice in the foreground, then over the 1MC intercom circuit, then booming across the sub's bridge. Another example: Obi-wan talking to Dex in Star Wars Episode II. If the center channel is inferior, he and Dex sound like they're chatting inside a box. If the center speaker is up to the standard of your left and right speakers, they sound full and rich and "present" (right there in your living room). Another point to ponder: if you watch old, monaural pictures with some stereo DSP, a lot of the soundtrack will come from your center speaker. A quick test for scenes like this: switch your receiver to "2 channel stereo" (or a mode that mixes down Dolby/DTS 5.1 to the LF and RF speakers), then switch to 5.1 decoding. Do the voices sound the same?

Pick a good center channel and your home theatre will benefit immensely. I think this one is excellent. Consumer Reports lists a couple of other good bets that you can find for < $200. Happy hunting....

I purchased this center speaker for my bedroom system from J&R through
Amazon for only $89 with free shipping. At this price, it is definitely
the best sounding center speaker for the money.

I have a higher end system in my family room. I am a little spoiled with
this system since my center of this system is a $1000 Definitive CLR3000.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when I first hooked it up and
turned on the music. First, the material grade of the speaker is first
grade. I was very surprised at this price point Yamaha can make this speaker of this build and finish. Then I put on on some instrumental music. The sound clarity is superb, and is almost as good as my Definitive CLR3000. The mid is warm. For movies, it produces very clear
dialog. For one tenth of the money I spent on the CLR3000, I'd say it is worth much more and probably ranked among the best in the up-to-$300 price range.

I almost bought the Polk Csi3 since I was able to listen to one. I was not completely happy with it because its high is not too clear. I bought the NS-C444 based on reviews, and I am glad I did because it is definitely a better speaker both in build and sound quality.

Great speaker. Previous reviewer gave speaker bad review because of dimensions. This has nothing to do with QUALITY.

What a great speaker, I believe there was some confusion on the actual size of it, It is'nt a small speaker by any means. The picture dose'nt do this thing justice. It is a high glass black with a removable grill if you want to show off. I am not a expert on this stuff by any means but I do know what sounds good and being 40% deaf makes it hard for me to hear voices correctly but this speaker fixed me up!

First things first. The width of this unit is about twice the size Amazon has it listed. It's closer to 20 +/- inches wide. This wasn't a problem for me though.
I finally bought myself what I feel like is an upper mid-level setup 7.1 surround sound system. I bought the Mirage Nanosat 5.1 system and purchased an additional Sat from Crutchfields scratch & dent section. Also bought my receiver from there too. Neither had a scratch or dent. Both only appeared to have been open box returns.
I had read reviews of the Nanosats not being a good center channel speaker since it was an omni-directional speaker. So I used one of the old speakers as a center until I could settle on a real one. I saw the reviews for this one and found it for <$120 incl S&H. I wasn't expecting much since in my search I saw where a lot of people didn't find that the addition of a center channel improved the surround sound experience. Well, they're all wrong. This speaker made the vocals sooooo much more understandable and realistic sounding at normal listening levels. Whereas the old standard speaker had to be turned up so dang loud my wife would put in ear plugs so she could study. Of course with a good action movie, loud is the only way to go. This speaker blends in very well with the Nanosats too. I was worried that because I wasn't getting a voice matched component, one or the other would be overbearing. Not the case....
It does music justice too. I cranked up the volume to around 2/3+ and the sound was loud and clear. I'll do a review on the Mirage Nanosat under that product listing.

I have been buying Yahama home theater equipment for several years, and still they amaze me everytime I get something new. I originally had a set of NS-A50X speakers running off a RX-V800 reciever. I upgraded the reciever to the RX-V2700 and my front mains to NS-777. Since I got the last upgrade my front end has been a little off. So this year I decided to upgrade my center to the voice matched NS-C444, boy oh boy what an improvement. I am very satisfied, the price is right sound is very full and I got my package a day early.

The Center speaker arrived today and I just wanted to look at it to ensure there was no damage. The box says the speaker is Nior Black which should mean it should be the almost flat stain type finish but when I opened the box it was the piano finish(super shinny). Other than that the speaker was 100%. It doesn't match the other speakers I have but I'll not be returning it just because of the finish. It's black and that is what is important. I like the size of the drivers and the center mounted tweeter/horn. I have a complete set of Yamaha NS-6490 bookshelf speakers and a SW-216 sub woofer and I just needed the center to finish out a complete system I have stored for future use. Sound is clear and clean. After testing I re boxed it and placed it with the other components.

I recently received an older hand me down Yamaha reciever. It had 4 satellite speakers and a sub, but no center channel speaker. I used some regular 16 gauge speaker wire to hook the speakers up and the sound quality was decent, but it sounded like something was missing. I went to two major electronics retailers(Best Buy and HHGREGG), but for the price they wanted for a center channel speaker, I might as well bought a brand new system. I could have bought any name brand speaker, but I wanted to keep it all Yamaha(just a personal preference). I found this speaker for around $100. When I got it in the mail it was a little bigger than I expected, but after a slight modification to my entertainment center, it fit perfectly. I used the same speaker wire I used with the other speakers to hook it up. I invited some friends over and watched UFC 129 and it sounded great. I recently replaced the speaker wire with Monster speaker wire and it sounds even better. I'm completly satisfied with my little hand me down surround sound system.

I already have the NS-555 as my front speakers so getting the timbre matched NS-C444 was really the next logical step in building my Home Theater.

Yes the dimensions listed on Amazon are STILL incorrect after 2.5 years but if you hit "see more technical details" you will see the correct dimensions. As a home theater enthusiast looking to build/upgrading a system one component at a time you need to do your research using the manufacture's site and other internet resources.

So how good is it? There are four factors that influence the sound you hear-Media, AV Receiver, speakers and environment:

1) The input signal (are you watching TV with a stereo signal? or a DVD/Blue Ray disk with 5.1/7.1 audio encoded in DTS/DD/DTS-MA/Dolby TrueHD? You want broadcast TV to sound as good as HD Audio it's not the receiver or speakers fault.

2) How good is your AV receiver in decoding, amplifying the input signal? Do you use Dolby PLII/DTS Neo/THX when playing back stereo signals. How good is the audio processing for those modes? You have a crappy receiver you cannot blame the media or the speakers.

3) How good are you speakers-ALL OF THEM-Front Left/Right, Center, Surround Left/Right and sub woofer in reproducing the signal that is sent to them?

4) The MOST important factor is environment/room set up for your Home Theater. If you have a DEDICATED home theater (you probably will not need an NS-C444 in that case) then you do not have the same problem with background noise as a living/family room or basement based home theater.

When you have the dishwasher, washer/dryer, kids playing, other external noise in the background not matter how good your Home theater is or how EXPENSIVE it is none of it matters.

This center channel does EXACTLY what it's supposed to do for the price. It reproduces all center channel inputs faithfully. So for my family room home theater it's the best value for money in center channel.

This center is absolutely amazing quality for the price. Like many have said, crisp highs and mid, low bass, but overall amazing. You can find this center channel cheapest here on Amazon or ebay for under $120, way less than you would find in the stores. I feel that the price of this center can be categorized as "I want to upgrade my system, I want amazing sound, and I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on 1 center channel" range.

Keep in mind that this center channel is meant to be paired with the Yamaha NS-777s (or similiar bassy fronts). Some people on here complained that it didnt' have much bass, which is true. It's not meant to be heavily bassy because the NS-777's are the speakers that bring the bass in their Dual 8" woofers and reflex ports, in addition to a sub if you have one. The NS-c444 is heavy on the Mids and Highs for two reasons. One, because it's the EXACT SAME as the Mids on the NS-777's. Two, this is the speaker in a home theater system that's ALWAYS on. The crisp highs and mids allow the important parts of the movie, THE WORDS/CONVERSATION come through, while the other speakers add the atmospheric or scene sounds. In addition, any of these attributes can be adjusted quite easily if one takes a minute or two and adjusts the audio settings of their receiver.

This speaker is absolutely amazing for the price - A good home theater system can't be taken seriously if the center channel is weak. This speaker fills that void - and if paired with the right front speakers and subs, this is the perfect fit.