I bought these about a week ago for $90. I'm running them through a Yamaha HTR-5230 and a Yamaha EQ70. These speakers can be bi-amped but do not need to be. These speakers sound great! These speakers are being pushed with less than 100 watts per speaker. The bass is house shaking! The dome tweeters provide smooth highs and the mid range dual woofers provide good vocals and tight bass because they are enclosed separately. The 15 inch woofers provide bass that goes lower than my powered M & K subwoofer. Another plus with these speakers is that they are very slim and take up less space than most speaker cabinets. I have no regrets buying these speakers.

I haven't found any yet.

I know anyone reading this will be looking because they found a used pair somewhere. For around $150, if they're in good shape, they'll be a great choice.

I bought these speakers from Best Buy around 2000. They were just sitting on the floor all by their lonesome saying "buy me". Someone had returned them, and the store didn't even have a space to put them on the shelf.

Since then, I've moved about 7 times (more or less). They've traveled thousands of miles, been knocked over by drunk party guests, been knocked over by cats, and the grills partially broken.

I've only ever powered them by ~300W receivers. All in all, they would only have been putting out 50W per channel max. I once dragged them out for a wedding receiption in a hall, because no one planned for music. They filled the hall, and I was actually requested to turn the volume down.

When set up in a 6.1 or 7.1 setup, they sound amazing. Like some others have said, the woofers aren't subwoofers. They provide a great low sound, but you need a good sub to do the job right. In a couple houses now (like I said, I've moved a lot), the theater with decent center, surround, and a sub, and a good projector, it's better than sitting in a movie theater. Well, that's the goal of every home theater, isn't it?

"True Audiophiles" have shown me their system, and are always impressed by mine with these speakers. I've never been willing to part with them.

The only reason I found this site tonight is because I was searching Google to see if I could find a set of replacement front grills. There are 6 plastic pins that hold them on, and over the years 3 or 4 pins each have broken. The damned cats keep pulling the grills off. At least they never touched the speakers.

I suspect I'll be keeping these for an awful long time.

Sturdy, great sound, amazing volume & bass for their slim dimensions.

For the price, there really are none. I guess bi-amping can improve their sound, but a good receiver and a little EQ tweaking makes it unnecessary in my opinion.

Let my qualify my "audiophile" description as "budget audiophile," i.e. looking for great sound reproduction I can afford on a college student's budget. With that in mind, I couldn't be happier with these speakers. They far surpassed any expectations I had for them considering how little Yamaha sold them for. I got them in the spring of 2000, so I've had them nearly 6 years now and I think they may even sound better now than they did new. They pretty much do everything: I own only these two towers, and they are my music, home theater, computer, and electric guitar & bass speakers, as well as being the monitors for my home music studio. Everyone seems to believe these speakers need to be bi-amped, but I've never felt the need to spend money on any extra equipment for them. A standard connection to my receiver gives me more volume than I could ever need, and more bass than my friends get out of their powered subs. I've read reviews saying 1738's don't respond below 30Hz. I can't measure an exact cutoff point, but I play my bass through them and can play a low A at 27Hz without any loss of volume, so I think it's quite possible for them to go lower. They're hooked up to a sony STR-DE845 Receiver, and I have more (and clearer) bass than many home theater setups I've heard, and without ever even turning up the receiver's bass levels all the way.

high-power handling, 4-way design, versatile, amazing potential provided you have the necessary components to unlock that potential. they sound stunning if ran via optical or coaxial digital out from your source components.

tuned port could be more tightly set within the cabinet. one came loose from re-verb and i had to remove and re-glue it. but that's kinda splitting hairs as they say since some might consider that general maintenance.

the last reviewer is correct about the necessity of having an EQ to crossover the 15's on these. bi-amped, equalized and properly tuned, these will certainly be some of the better speakers you're likely to hear---in any price range. are there clearer speakers out there? sure. however, consider the cost to obtain something NOTICEABLY better. not to mention, even if you had something just a wee bit clearer, unless they were powered towers with a pretty big sub in each cabinet, you'd still be majorly lacking in the bass department vs these when bi-amped properly. i have a 10" sub in conjunction with the 15's and most systems simply can't compare with that kind of low-end output. that is unless you really want to go out and buy 3 or 4 decent powered subs (or 2 insanely expensive ones) and flood your living space with a bunch of extra subwoofer separates. that is the main reason i haven't thought of upgrading these; they still sound great after all this time and with the added convenience of the 15's it's tough to justify going out and spending $1000 or more for a set of speakers that may sound slightly more detailed but ultimately can't hit as hard. in all honesty i'll say this-if u have a set of these but have never bi-amped them and spent much time fine-tuning their sound, u may as well not bother complaining about them because you're not coming close to experiencing their full potential anyways. it's alot like complaining about how bad your car runs when u only have 2 tires on it.

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nothing in this league before speaker-wise.

Nice laid back sound, very musical ONCE properly wired and equalized for the proper HF & LF connecting posts.

My only beef with these speakers is the cheap wooden (breakable) bracket which mounts on the back at the base of speaker to stabilize it. This needs to be a metal stand or spikes. Power rating is misleading. HF drivers (3 in total) require more power than the single LF driver. Most people are unaware of this.

After owning these speakers for nearly 4 years now, I feel comfortable in posting this review. I've compared them against Advent Legacy II's & Heritage speakers, Acoustic Research Performance Series, and found them to be quite capable for H/T. And in some instances Music as well. But you must have power to drive these speakers. Rated nominally at 120 watts each, music power (read as peak power rating) 240 watts per channel. Unlike popular beliefs, the majority of the power isn't going to the big 15" subwoofer. After emailing yamaha for answers, I discovered the breakdown to be aproximately 150 to 180 wpc going to the upper freq drivers (remember this is a 4 way speaker) and the big shielded woofer is only rated to handle between 45-60 wpc. And simply straight bi-amping the LF doesn't work properly. The crossover virtually sends all freqs to the LF driver which muddys the LFE signals put out by any decent amplifier. Solution? I installed a Numark 2600 adjustable gain equalizer between my H/K AVR8000 & my PA-2000 (which supplies power to the LF) rated at 100 wpc with hcc. (Most likely this figure jumps to 140-160 wpc when you factor in a 6 ohm load verses 8 ohms) With the equalizer disabled the system sounds awful, sending everything but the kitchen sink into the LF driver, but when you activate the psuedo-crossover eq I've installed, the LF really cleans up, and kicks some major bass!! I've set the crossover point around 120 Hz (everything below 120 boosted, everything above 120 attenuated) Gain controls are vital depending on the music or sound selected. This leaves all 125 wpc (rated @ 8 ohms by H/K) so in all likely event probably closer to 150-175 wpc @ 6 Ohms, to drive the 3 remaining drivers in the HF region. The result, what everyone else has been saying. These speakers sound warm and laidback. Not harsh or overly bright, but tonality and voicing is very smooth and natural in character. The sound staging isn't perfect, but then again these speakers are narrow, and probably should be slightly toed (angled) towards the sweet spot of main listening area. Mine face straight ahead & are at least 8 feet apart, with the woofers facing out towards the room's corners. Otherwise the bass would cause my equipment to resonate and this would not be desireable. To get an idea of just how these speakers differ from my other speakers, I typically use these for listening/watching DVD's that are DD 5.1 (higher compression) and mostly with music videos or concerts. I also listen to CD's & MP-3's thru these jewels as well. However, when I put on an older source like a tape, record, or some earlier mastered music selection, I switch in my Advent's to brighten things up. (Sort of like low beams & hi beams) For Movies, especially THX style action, the Yams are just fine. But when I want to watch/listen to some detailed material, I like to augment the AS-1738's with some more transparent speakers. I've heard the analogy made that clean/good electronics require a smooth more laid back sounding speaker, while an older tube type amp requires a more detailed and in your face type of speaker (like Klipsch). So with that in mind, these Yamahas when properly wired with heavy 12 awg, bi-amped (equalized) low freq signals will provide smooth and easy to enjoy sound for hours on end. In short, I could listen to the Yamahas for many hours and not leave with ringing in my ears. However, the Advents & AR's I listen to can't make the same claim. On the other hand, if you want a highly voiced sound staged speaker that envelops you with it's warmth, I's say these speakers can do so. (Provided, you have the electronics to back them up) In closing let me just say, that I owned these speakers for several years, before I upgraded my electronics to adequately power these speakers. I'm glad I waited, because the amps make a HUGE difference in how a speaker ultimately sounds!! Since I paid only $400 or so (from Best Buy) because they were an open box item, I feel very comfortable in awarding 5 stars on both counts. If I were comparing them to AR-1's or NHT, 2.4's I'd be knocking 1 or 2 stars off the Yams, but since I'm not, for the money, they're a GREAT BUY! Remember to Bi-Amp and EQ the LF or you'll not be happy and most likely come here to complain....

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Advent Legacy II's, Heritage speakers, A/R 318PS, Home built ViFa kit speakers & Speaker Lab speaker kits from the 80's.

pretty much anything u can bring up that concerns speakers. excellent frequency range (30-20,000), 15-inch subs that'll give u heart palpitations when bi-amped, nice looking and high power-handling.

absolutely, positively, completely nothing...

well, in a nutshell, i've never spent a more sound $118 in my whole life. i saw these in best buy (very slightly used) and almost peed myself. i couldn't believe a set like this was going for so low, even used i'd have paid alot more. anyways, to really get the full potential of these beasts, u GOTTA try bi-amping the subs on them...my god...u don't even need a separate subwoofer when u do this. i know several people with powered subs and my yams blow 'em away, easily. these are the kind of speakers u see when yer a young teenager and wish upon a star that one day u might have them. the mids and highs are beautifully rendered too, making these sound on par with speakers twice the price. if u can find a straggling pair of these around still (yamaha discontinued them, mainly because they were overshadowed by crappier speakers people seem to like buying at three times the retail price)u must pick them up. you'll be surprised, that's all i can say.

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khl(pfffft), several others that only wished they were this sweet for the price. the only brand out there that offers truly decent quality at this kind of price is maybe pioneer.

The highs and mids are very very clear, these speakers turn up so loud the bass pounds so hard and it has a 15 inch woofer :) And I just got a Yamaha YST-SW800 subwoofer, 1000 watts and a 10 inch woofer. :)

The bass can only hit down to 30 hertz and some music tracks go lower and the woofer cant handle that. but it doesnt bother me for the 2 years I have had these.

I purchased 4 of these speakers about 2 years ago for $340 for a pair. And wow there worth every penny. To begin with these speakers are soo stylish and sleek looking, and wait till you turn up the volume. I used on a pair of the 4 at this party I had a couple months ago and no problem, they were incredible. The highs and mids are extremely clear. The bass is pounds and rattles everything in the house, but it can be picky on some music tracks. Not usually, overall im very pleased with the bass. A+ job on Yamahas part

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heard crappy ass infinty 8 inches boo MY SYSTEM: Fronts: Yamaha NS-A1768 Center: Yamaha NS-A143 Rears: Yamaha NS-A1768 Subwoofer: Yamaha YST-SW800 Reciever: Sony STR-DE975 CD Player: Sony CDP

Clarity, range, size and profile, power!

Bass reproduction doesn't carry that "umph!"

I purchased these from Supreme Video on-line for $479 complete with shipping. I like ALOT of treble and these speakers give it! The side firing subwoofers are a little difficult to manage in my particular listening space, but that doesn't bother me at all. The subwoofer is nice but not awe-inspiring. I must admit I would buy a second pair in a heartbeat! I did extensive research before I purchased these and subsequently purchased a Technics AX-7 receiver to go with it, also from Supreme, the two make beautiful music together through all my ranges of tastes. And the receiver handles all three types of nominal impedances 4,6 and 8.

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Jensen 3080

crisp clear highs, nice looking. big ass woofer.

little bright sounding for some

have had these for 2 years now, and to be honest i was going to upgrade last month. we and auditioned several pairs of speakers (klipsch reference and legend, paradigm reference etc..) and could find nothing in my price range that were better than these (1500). i had cash in hand and did not buy anything (my wife was shocked!) anyway i took the money and bought an amp instead...very fine speakers indeed

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Klipsch,paradigm

The mid's and hi's are reproduced beautifully and the space saving design make the speaker fit virtually anywhere while the sound is still heard effectively, also the choice of biwiring is a definite plus.

Bass is a little light depending on where you stand or sit but evident nontheless.

I was looking to upgrade my system from the ground up and was using a pair of JBL's I had for over 10 yrs. I bought a Kenwood surr.snd receiver(VR-2080)which is 6 ohms which was not an easy match for a lot of speakers. Looking thru catalogs like Crutchfield and Sound City, I looked in J and R's catalog, there I found the Yam. NS-A1738 and to my astonishment they were 6 ohms! But what also got me was the unbelievable price-$399 a pair!!! Without hesitation I called them to make sure it was not a type-o and placed an order.These speakers compliment my surr. snd system to the fullest and I am all but too pleased. WHAT A BUY!!!!!

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