Tron legacy soundtrack speakers6/20/2023 Yamaha's engineers went down the same path with the NX-N500. British monitors are famous for their success here and the LS35a is still a prime example of a mini monitor done right. It's tough to accomplish in multi-driver designs and requires a seamless marriage between woofer and tweeter. Classic speaker design aims to get this spot on, then move outwards from there. Yamaha managed a convergence of musicality and control in this modest tweeter that may not be immediately impressive but will certainly wear well over the long haul. My Apogee ribbons speak in similar fashion so there were no complaints from me. The sweetness in the top was more a product of lack of resonance. Although anechoic measurements indicate roll-off above 13kHz, my in-room response was considerably flatter and listening showed that the design was highly responsive. Upon casual listening, most people will assume that the tweeter is voiced soft. Yamaha's polyester tweeter imparts a somewhat forgiving character to the upper octaves. The pursuit of holistic quality proved more rewarding than single-minded bass quantity. As with any speaker, placement alters response. It simply required judicious positioning to avoid anomalies in the lower midrange. Experiments with more conventional bookshelf placements showed that greater bass weight was achievable. The NX-N500 may not achieve Mark & Daniel bass but managed a credible job. The response at this point was hardly ruler flat or massively authoritative but sufficient to build a bit of solidity into the bottom end. Even when stand-mounted for no boundary reinforcement, the NX-N500 still showed activity at 35 cycles. Yamaha played conservative on their 54Hz spec. The NX-N500 made impressive gains in bass excursion as the speakers wore in, evolving from controlled but somewhat polite to controlled and quite deep. If there is penalty for short-term patience, long-term rewards have historically been durability, predictability and superior control (in a properly matched enclosure). The 5" woofers utilize stiff surrounds and take their sweet time to wear in. Straight out of the box, tonal balance was a little light although midrange and upper frequencies were impressively smooth, expressive and remained so for the duration. Yamaha built versatility galore into this pint-sized package but what did it sound like? "In a Sentimental Mood" by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1962) and "Moonlight in Vermont" with Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto (2002). The names below are familiar chestnuts and the recordings are clean, capable and commendable. This is a lovely way to discover new material as well as meet up with some old friends. Now I'm going to double up again on some material from the current Late Night Jazz Tidal play list. The recording is a combination of synths and full orchestra and while not top audiophile caliber, it has sufficient dynamic swing and soundstage complexity to keep it interesting. The composer brings his prior experience from Tron: Legacy and Oblivion to bear and shows superb control with a graceful orchestral swell that hits climax not with a massive peak but instead a haunting single note of longing. The movie has been deemed ET for a younger generation so expect some tugging on the heartstrings. I also did the "Earth to Echo Suite" from the eponymous soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese. These are "Suicide Mission" from Mass Effect 2 and "This Time There's Three of Us (the Majestic Tale)" from Doctor Who. At the 05:30 mark into the second composition, you will experience extreme déjà vu. The first is a synth gamer's soundtrack, the second a television episode soundtrack. I'm going to lump the next two recordings together because the juxtaposition is amazing fun. This type of material relies on strong beat and incessant dynamic bounce which here are complemented by a reasonably weighty tonal balance and a good attempt at artificial ambience with dimensional solidity. "What Do You Mean?" from Justin Bieber's Purpose is a surprisingly well engineered Pop album that allowed Bieber to move away from his boyhood image but remain accessible to his audience. It's big, it's wide and it has some dynamic swing in its stride, along with bass lines that go reasonably deep and meaty. "Hands to Myself" from Revival by Selena Gomez is a bouncy little Pop number with some decent production values. This Yamaha is built for that so I took guilty pleasure in the advantage. made it to the listening sessions but below I've chosen material to reflect that the game should also be one of fun and discovery. You can assume that all my standard Reference Recordings, Telarc, Dorian & Co. If technology is the method, music is the goal.
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