Yamaha Soavo-1

Great speakers – Great speakers, I can’t fault them at all. I have the Ns c901 Ns sw1000 & Ns b951 hooked up to the Rx A02070. The sound quality is crystal clear, never loose or sloppy. They are a joy to listen to. Especially when you put on a vinyl.

Soavo NS-F901 – This is for the newer model, I tried to make a new category but wouldn't work. So time was well overdue to retire the 24yo Bose 401 and 30yo Bose 501. Amazingly these old speakers are still a pleasure to listen to but my ears deserved to be even more spoilt! I have spent some time with some $15000 Focals and that's what I wanted but way over budget so i thought I'd give their cheaper versions a go. At the shop o had some 948's, Vienna Accoustics and yamahas lined up and spent a day, then another day playing everything I could through them. The Focals were nice but the bass too boomy (I never thought I'd say that about a speaker!). The Yamahas were the surprise, they were so crystal clear, nearly to a fault, they seemed to make you concentrate on everything whereas the Focals seemed to be more relaxed and open. Problem was I liked both sounds. I've read the Focals don't colour the recording but after listening to the yamahas I don't believe this is true. The Focals seem to pretty up everything, you can play crap through them and it sounds nice. The Yamahas were the ones that sounded out only what was recorded, no extra bass, no extra soundstage. Just the recording, which when the recording was subpar it was shown to be. On a good recording though, wow!

Well I couldn't decide and as everything would sound different through my amp and my room I was confused. The great salesperson at Junction Audio offered to send me up the Soavos, then the 936s when they came into the shop. So at home with a brand new pair delivered I spent a whole weekend listening to all types of music, even went out for a few hours leaving a speaker break in recording playing. The Yamahas handle everything and can play loud, actually the louder the better. This beautifully accurate sound is amazing to listen to but can be tiring at times, I think I was focusing too much!

After a few weeks the shop was calling asking where their speakers were, I said they couldn't have them till I tried the 936's. They had a pair in the shop, so I went down again and again lined the 2 up and loved both, arghhh. I Had no time to swap and listen and I had the last pair of Yammies and other people wanted them. I really wanted to try the Focals through my system but I couldn't let the Yamahas go and was not sure my amp would run the Focals as well so I called back and bought them.

My amp is around 6 years old, a Yamaha rx a2000 which I have biamped to the speakers. The more time I spend with these the better they are and the better at lower volumes too. I've also learned that the amp really matches well. I have never used the Yamaha sound stage s exiting before but they seem to work with these speakers. As the speakers don't add echo like the Focals then the sound stages work more subtly. I started only focusing on pure direct but have found with some amp tweaking the 2 channel stereo mode is good for everything and widens the soundstage just a little ir if I really want a recording to sound like I'm in a live venue the other selections work.

The only 2 criticisms I can make are the intensity of the clarity can sometimes tire my ears, this is variable as sometimes it has me stuck to the couch for hours. The other is they don't have that punch you in the face bass, the bass is there but it's not boomy, I guess you could say it's refined. On some heavier music I sometimes wish the speakers were a bit sloppy and would hit me with a wall of indecipherable music pressure but they won't, you can have them as loud as you can stand and still you can separate every instrument!

I have these in an imperfect room, basically a square and they are placed to the side of one half and I'm sitting only around 8ft from them. They would work better in a bigger room. They really make it feel like the singer is in the room with you even mire so if I am in another room I would swear there is a live band in the lounge room.

I'm mighty impressed with these speakers and considering they are supposed to be hooked up to a much more expensive amp.

I still wonder about those Focals, maybe in the future I can sneak some in for downstairs!

Oh I didn't mention how beautiful they are, the piano black finish is superb!

Everything I expected – I have had these speakers for about 6 month. I use them as front speakers, together with the Soavo 3 as back speakers and two Soavo 900-SW subwoofers, and a Yamaha Avantage 3000 amplifiers. Together, I paid about AU$11000 for the lot. Even considering the cost, I am really happy with the speakers. I love the whole system, except the subs, which were great disappointment. The speakers are overdesigned and the engineering is outstanding (I am an engineer). These speakers should easily last a life time, while giving excellent sound quality. Some reviews have criticised the mid-range, but I think this is an area where the speakers really excel. But I suppose it is a matter of opinion. There are no vibrations, resonance or any other annoying sounds from the speakers; just pure music.

I am very happy with the purchase and difinetly recommend the Soavo 1 and Soavo 3 pair of speakers. (Soavo 3 are almost identical except that they have 1 less base speaker (1 instead of 2). If you are planning to buy subs or only listen to classical music, Soavo 3 are just as good.

I The sound quality, the excellent design and build quality, attention to detail Nothing - However, stay away from the Soavo Subs