Yamaha TSS-1B 5.1 Computer Speakers (6-Speaker, Black)

by Yamaha

Product Details

Product Manual [267kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005A3UH
• Item model number: TSS-1B
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 20, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

From desktop to bedroom, from 5.1 channels to stereo, Yamaha's versatile TSS-1 brings enveloping sound to any room where limited space is a concern. Even with 48 watts of total amplifier power, Dolby Digital as well as DTS surround-sound decoding, five tiny satellite speakers, and its own powered subwoofer, the TSS-1 is still conceivably portable enough to travel alongside your laptop--it would add drama and polish to any multimedia presentation.

Finished in standard PC beige or home theater black, the TSS-1's dictionary-sized main unit houses the digital processor and amplifier/preamplifier (volume controls, etc.). Yamaha even includes a small stand, which lets you mount the controller either horizontally or vertically (our preference is vertical, as the unit is laid out that way).

Four small buttons let you select the input (Digital, four-channel, and two-channel), surround mode (Dolby Digital 5.1, four-channel Pro Logic, and 5.1-channel DTS), generate a test tone (to level-match speaker output), or mute the sound. A bank of corresponding green LEDs indicate your selections. Below these are three level controls (center channel, surround channels, and subwoofer) and a master volume control. Completing the front panel are a 0.125-inch headphone jack, a green LED power indicator, and an on/off switch.

The back panel is straightforward as well: you get coaxial and optical digital-audio inputs, analog RCA jacks for all speaker connections, and two sets of 0.125-inch stereo analog inputs, which will accommodate anything from your PC's analog output to the output of an MP3 player or even a portable CD player (two cables are provided for such connections).

A speaker-mode selector switches between two-, four-, or five-channel playback (the subwoofer is always on). The simple design is a blessing, but depending on your needs, you may find the inputs limited. There is no video switching and no analog RCA inputs for stereo or multichannel sources (as from a component CD or DVD-audio player, for instance).

The satellite speakers are cute little things, with champagne-colored grilles and Yamaha's tiny periwinkle-blue logo. A small foot can be adjusted in three positions, letting the speakers fire either straight ahead, up, or down, depending on the height at which you set them. In addition, two slots on the back of the satellites provide easy and effective wall mounting, while the matching powered subwoofer is a small cube that you can tuck under a desk or otherwise out of sight.

And the sound? Hooking up the TSS-1 to our PC makes an immediately apparent and major improvement to the sound over standard PC speakers. Sampling a variety of favorite jazz and vocal CDs revealed the system's good overall tonal balance, clarity, and richness, while the powered sub adds a nice sense of heft, if not the ultimate in bass extension (still, very good for just a 5-inch driver). Plopping in a five-channel DVD is also lots of fun, and we found our small office space seeming to morph into a larger, multidimensional soundscape. The TSS-1 plays loud enough for us, but high-volume freaks may need a larger system (and couch potatoes may miss remote operation).

Yamaha's TSS-1 is a well-designed, integrated system that should make a sweet addition to any PC, laptop, CD player, or small AV system. And thanks to Yamaha's unusually clear user's manual, it's also easy to set up and a breeze to use. Good warranty, too! --Wayne Garcia

Pros:

• Easy to set up and use
• Clean, well-balanced sound
• Good placement flexibility
• Choice of coaxial or optical digital-audio inputs
• Hookup cables included
• 1-year warranty

Cons:

• Limited input choices
• No video switching
• No remote control

Amazon.com Product Description

Yamaha's TSS-1 theater surround system brings premier theater-style sound to personal computers as well as portable audio and video players. Featuring built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, the TSS-1 includes five satellite speakers, a wood subwoofer, and a dedicated amplifier with master volume and individual level controls. The TSS-1 delivers clear 3-D sound from 20 kHz all the way down to 40 Hz, meaning all the sound from a DVD or game will be reproduced faithfully, from the shrill whine of jet engines to the deep bass of an explosion. It boasts a 5.1-channel system for DVD movies, games, and music; a 4.1-channel surround sound for PC and console games; and virtual surround stereo for music and multimedia CDs.

The elegant, compact all-black design of this high-performance system fits any décor and produces powerful, rich sound with its 2-inch, 6-watt satellite speakers and 5-inch, 18-watt subwoofer--all magnetically shielded so you can place them anywhere. The subwoofer incorporates Yamaha's exclusive Active Servo Technology, which optimizes the interaction of the amplifier, speaker, and enclosure to deliver deep bass, thus producing a significantly wider frequency range than other similarly sized and powered systems. Each satellite has an adjustable angle base for optimal listening pleasure. A headphone jack allows for private listening.

This system is also available in white. Yamaha provides a one-year parts and labor warranty on this system.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value for the Money, February 12, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha TSS-1B 5.1 Computer Speakers (6-Speaker, Black) (Personal Computers)

After doing research on systems similar to the TSS-1...like the DTT3500, Inspire 5700, Onkyo GXW51, and some others, I found that this was the best bang for the buck (from Amazon for the black version). I was also fortunate to get the rebate. With no sales tax/free shipping, it was a no brainer).

I would say that for the room I'm in (12' x 11'), it is plenty loud. I use it in a desktop set up in my office, so I'm about 3 feet from each speaker...I was able to turn up to full volume for both DVD and music (music sounds better than DVD) and didn't get any noticeable distortion. BTW, full volume is louder than is comfortable for me to listen to. The speakers are very clear with no hiss and music using Dolby Pro Logic is pretty good as well (I know alot of folks don't like Dolby Pro Logic on music). The controls are very intuitive. Inputs include digital, 4 ch analog, and 2 ch analog and one button on the front to choose between them. When using 2 ch, you can either choose Pro Logic or not. With 4 ch, you have no choice (2 sets of stereo inputs are on the back for 4 ch). With digital, the system will tell you automatically if it is a DD5.1 or DTS signal (but you can choose to not use the decoder). It will also tell you if the signal is DD5.1/DTS and you've chosen not to use it (by accident, I would guess). It does this by dimming the light for DD5.1 or DTS.

I don't do gaming, so I don't have an opinion here. I got it mainly for entry level surround sound and for music.

The headphone is nice touch as well. It uses Yamaha's Silent Cinema which does virtual surround sound on headphones (like Dolby Headphone and DTS Virtual Surround). I found that this feature is pretty good (much better than just 2 ch stereo).

There's also a switch on the back to set output to all 5 speakers, 4 speakers (no center channel), or just 2 speakers (no center channel or surrounds). When in 4 speaker or 2 speaker mode, a phantom center and virtual surround channels are created by mixing the information that would have been sent to those speakers. They all sounded pretty good. But, I don't know why anyone would want to use fewer speakers.

It helped to listen to a demo of the TSS-1 and play with the controls (even though the store noise and store size impacted the sound). Tip: bring some sort of portable player (MP3, CD...or if you're rich, a portable DVD player) with a stereo jack M-M with you (if you bring a portable DVD player, bringing an optical or coax digital cable (toslink on the TSS-1 side) will let you hear the DD5.1 and/or DTS depending on the film(s) you bring). Alot of demos have the system plugged in but there is no sound source. This way you can input some music or something to listen to. It may be a little hard to find a demo...

The Onkyo GXW51 is an interesting platform (on paper)and sounded OK, but didn't seem to have the highs that the TSS has... The DTT3500 sounded similar to the TSS-1, but was more expensive... The features and sound qualtiy on the 5700 didn't convince me that the price difference from the TSS-1 would be worth it. I decided against the DTT3500 because it didn't have DTS, no headphone and a price difference.

Conclusion: I think for the price point the TSS-1 is great. It won't "wake the neighbors" but if that's not your goal, this system will provide excellent sound quality, good features, and an affordable price (and it is "loud enough"). The only drawback I can see is there's no remote control. ...

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good speakers, good price - but TAKE NOTE, October 2, 2002

By 

Ryan P. Bennett (San Leandro, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha TSS-1B 5.1 Computer Speakers (6-Speaker, Black) (Personal Computers)

It's going to be tough to find a better price on a mid-range 6 piece amplified system with DD5.1 and DTS decoding, but I believe I found the reason behind the bargain basement pricing on this package...read on.

The TSS-1 has gained some well deserved industry recognition, due to the excellent mid and high end reproduction emitted from it's 5 identical 2" cones, adequately supported by the ported 5" sub's lows. Yamaha has employed a concept dubbed "Active Servo" in the design of this system, which seems to be a catch phrase to explain their reasoning behind the crossover threshold and use of a ported cabinet. You can read more about this on Yamaha's website if you like, but I believe that the end result of Yamaha's new math is a noticeible loss in midrange.

Setup is easy enough. Regulation RCA plugs cap the speaker cables, which are long enough to position the speakers just about anywhere within listening range. Inputs are straightforward, but it is in this category that Yamaha made their gravest mistake...THIS IS IMPORTANT...THERE IS NO CENTER/SUB ANALOG INPUT! They did include and analog input for front l/r, and one for rear l/r - why did they neglect center/sub? I have no idea. This IS a 6 speaker system, but this shortcoming really limits the system's capabilities when you don't have a 5.1 digital source (which is pretty much any time you are not playing a DVD). For computer applications, don't be fooled if you have a 5.1 capable sound card (Live!5.1, Audigy, Extigy) into thinking that it will encode your audio sources into a digital form that can be interpreted by this decoder. All you will get digitally is 2 CHANNEL STEREO, further modified by the amp's Pro-Logic circuitry. You can switch over to analog 4-channel mode via a front mounted toggle button, but you will lose any data contained in the front and sub channels. The result of this is you can't hear any sounds positioned to appear directly in front of you, and the loss of the sub-directed bass frequencies. Also, the switch from digital to analog mode requires a change to the sound card setting (on Creative cards, anyway), which is yet another nuisance. Alright, so have I made my point about this system being essentially useless for 6 channel analog audio? If your application is to drive 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS exclusively in a close-quarters environment (i.e. DVD direct connection), then this product is the jewel.

The speakers themselves are not easily mounted to a wall so that they may be positioned well, but the stands have adjustable tilt up to about 15 degrees off level for desktop placement. The control panel is straight forward, and the Pro-Logic function seems to work well for pseudo-surround.

That's about all, and probably enough if you were considering this set for use with a computer. Hope it helps someone with their decision.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get these speakers for your PS2, July 27, 2001

By 

"vicious-miyoshi" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha TSS-1B 5.1 Computer Speakers (6-Speaker, Black) (Personal Computers)

I got these speakers after looking around online for some better speakers for my room, to hook up to my PS2. I had seen a lot of speakers that companies make directly for the PS2 for like $200-300. Big waste of money most of them are only 2 channel, looking at the descriptions of the products just make me real mad. I found these speakers on a website for sale, but I wanted to buy them from Amazon.com because I know I wouldnt have a problem with shipping time. Anyway after doing my reading on Yamahas website about the speakers, I learned these are the best speakers for the price to get the most out of your PS2 digital 5.1 setup. Only ... I went ahead and got the Acoustic Research Optical Digital Cable, these speakers sound amazing, for a bedroom. The best speakers you can buy for your PS2 Bottom line, Digital input, DTS, Dolby Digital and Prologic decoder (even comes with a small cable optical and RCA). I dare you to beat that. Get the most out of your PS2 sound wise.