Yamaha NS-SP1600 5.1-Channel Surround Speaker System (Black)

by Yamaha

Product Details

• Item Weight: 31.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 35 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00097I5W4
• Item model number: NS-SP1600
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Yamaha NS-SP1600 5.1-channel Home Theater Complete Speaker System gives you the convenience of an all-in-one system with high-quality speakers. Not only are these speakers perfectly matched for acoustics and design, but they take advantage of unique technologies that Yamaha originally developed for its high-end speakers. With an amplifier or receiver and a DVD player, you'll enjoy movies with sensational surround sound. What's more, even with their extremely high quality, these speakers are small enough for easy positioning in rooms of any size.

The satellite (main, rear, and center) speakers have a two-way acoustic suspension design with one coaxial two-way driver plus one full-range driver. The center speaker has the same coaxial two-way driver, and also includes dual cone full-range drivers. All of these speakers are rated at 100 watts maximum output, more than enough for dynamic movie sound. The 100 watt powered subwoofer uses two of Yamaha's unique power-bass technologies: QD-Bass and advanced YST. Together they combine power and detailed, accurate reproduction in a compact unit.

QD-Bass Technology uses down-firing drivers with square, pyramid-shaped reflective plates to radiate the sound efficiently in four horizontal directions. The reflective plates (not used in competitor's down-firing subwoofers) negate any effects caused by the floor surface and reduce resonance between sound waves reflected from the floor and the unit. Also, most other systems use circular cones, but by radiating in four directions to avoid the legs of the cabinet, QD-Bass reduces turbulence caused by reflection from the legs. Changing the height of the square pyramid varies the acoustic load, permitting relatively simple high-cut adjustment and improved bandpass properties. The QD-Bass system provides extraordinary power and smooth frequency response from an extremely compact unit. It also allows greater freedom of placement, since the sound radiates with equal effectiveness in all directions.

Yamaha's patented Advanced Active Servo Technology (Advanced YST) generates incredible bass from small speaker enclosures. Advanced YST is the ideal method of combining amplifiers and speakers for maximum performance. This system's advanced negative impedance converters intelligently adjust the negative impedance generation as the speaker moves, creating a hard, rigid cone that prevents deep resonant waves from leaking out of the speaker cone. This means the full power of the waves is forced out through the air port, resulting in clear, powerful bass.

Product Description

Complete 5.1 Home Theater Speaker Package. It features Four 2-Way Satellite Speakers (2.5" Woofer & 1/2" Tweeter), a 2-Way Center Speaker (Dual 2.5" Woofers & 1/2" Tweeter and a 6.5" 100W Cube-Type High Power Subwoofer, featuring Yamaha's Advanced YST (Yamaha Active Servo Technology and QD-Bass (Quatre Dispersion Bass) Technology. The Satellite Speakers have Wall Hanging Capability and Conventional Speaker Bracket Compatibility. All speakers have removeable Grill Cloths and are Magnetically Shielded.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will NOT be diappointed with these speakers, November 22, 2006

By 

J. Brown "Darkcobra007" (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha NS-SP1600 5.1-Channel Surround Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

I recently bought these speakers ($99 from Amazon/Etronics) to pair up with the Sony STR-DG600 A/V receiver. I was extremely skeptical of how well these speakers would actually perform at this price range but was completely blown away by everything.

The shape and design of the speakers and subwoofer will match pretty much any color scheme you may simply because it's not two-toned. The product itself feels to be of a very good build quality and not some cheap wooden toy. The subwoofer looks kinda small but trust me, don't let the size fool you because the subwoofer can hit hard and accurately.

The room the speaker set is used in is about 20 X 18 so it's not too big but not that small either. The bass is unbelievably strong. The subwoofer is probably too powerful for most listening modes. I first watched movies with the sub level set to 50% but found that to be way too high because it would have the whole room shaking from the sheer thunderous power it outputs. I have since turned the sub power down to 25% and that seems to be the sweet spot for movies, music and games without being over bearing. The sound from the center channel is absolutely spectacular but hearing audio from the other 4 satellites in addition to the center channel is where your ears are in for a real treat. It's really hard to put in words and explain how crystal clear this system sounds. In no way am I an audiophile but I've listened to high-end, mid-range, and low-end speaker sets and I would say that the performance of these speakers would rank a step above mid-range speakers. Now I do have one recommendation and that recommendation is that you replace the included speaker wire with higher gauge wiring. It comes with speaker wire that seems to be like 22 gauge. In my opinion speakers are best heard with 16 gauge wiring or thicker. I replaced the wiring with 16-gauge Monster Cable. I tested the audio with both the stock wiring as well as the Monster Cables and I can honestly say that it made a nice improvement over the stock wiring but that improvement was only really noticed in movies. The improvement in music was only slightly better with thicker gauge wiring but that may be because the audio from the music I was playing was recorded at a much lower bit rate than what is used in movies. Either way I recommend replacing the speaker cables right off the bat. The same applies to the supplied subwoofer cable. Their subwoofer cable isn't the best so I replaced that one as well with a Monster Cable subwoofer interconnect cable. I didn't even bother connecting the original one.

Anyway, these are probably the BEST 5.1 surround sound speakers you will find at this price. I am overly impressed with my purchase and just hope I don't run into any quality issues down the line. Some Best Buy stores have this speaker set available as a demo so if you have the opportunity then listen to them for yourself.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product - great value for money, December 14, 2006

By 

R. Podila "Krush" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha NS-SP1600 5.1-Channel Surround Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

I've used this speaker set for a couple of days and have been completely blown away. I was looking to build a decent home theater for enjoying my new HDTV and for playing movies but had a limited budget (under 300). I considered HTIB options including Yamaha YHT 270 - Onkyo S590. I did end up buying Onkyo only to return it at cause it had a problem of hiss at higher volume and lame bass response (passive sub). Yamaha YHT270 also suffered from the same shortcoming so I decided to go for separates and boy was I right!! I got the Pioneer VSX516-K from CircuitC for 170 and the NS-SP 1600 5.1 speaker set from Amazon for 130 - perfect fit for my budget!!
Now for the review of the speakers themselves:
**At this price the Subwoofer that ships with this set is a steal - it hits hard and has enough power to rock my 18x20 entertainment room.
**The satellites are small - discrete well made and look nice.
**The lows on this set are amazing - crystal clear and crisp - the mids are a bit lacking and the sub does an excellent job picking them up.
**The center channel is great and the dialog enhancement mode on my receiver drove the center channel to perfection.
**I cant say enough about the sub so I have to mention that they are amazing.
**The speakers provide enough dynamic range to frighten my wife while watching Shrek (The dragon scene) - imagine that!!!
**Another thing to note about these speakers is I drove them all the way up to the maximum that my receiver can drive while playing Hendrix and there was no roll off or clipping - amazing isn't it.

Another note - the free shipping from Amazon was great - I actually got the shipment and day before the earliest predicted delivery date.
I would blindly recommend this speaker set for anyone putting together a decent starter rig. Another advantage with this system is when I upgrade - my receiver is already 7.1 channel so I can get some rocking floor standing fronts and the satellites can go in the back. Yamaha's got a new fan!!!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great speakers, February 25, 2006

By 

Alec R. McGinley "Soundtrack Lover" (Brewster, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha NS-SP1600 5.1-Channel Surround Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

These are the best you will find for the price, bar none. I looked at many different sets of home theater speakers, but Yamaha NS-SP1600 were very easy to install and the sound they give with some of my favorite movies is like I am in a theater. Now I don't have to spend so much to get the movie experience I can now stay home. Yamaha does it again.