Review: Yamaha NS-s20i Monitor Speakers - Almost Vintage, Still Sounding Fresh

A blast from the golden past! I bought a while back a pair of almost near mint condition Yamaha NS-s20i monitor speakers. Their main function, or the reason why I bought them was to have some nice cheap speakers to take with me to parties or summer cottages to play some music with friends at neighbor-disturbing levels. I think I paid around 100 € euros for them and now I am convinced that they were an absolute steal. Let me tell you why.

 Yamaha NS-s20i up-close

The Yamaha NS-s20i speakers were produced around year 1989 or at least that's what numerous internet sources claim. They are big bulky and sturdy speakers with dimensions of 280 x 480 x 305 mm and equipped with hefty rubber edged 21 cm bass/mid driver (approx. 8") and 2,5 cm tweeter. They are rated at 160 W input power, 6 ohm impedance and sensitivity around 87-88/dB - what all this means is that they will play loud if needed even with average powered amplifiers. Yes I tried this and the overall voice holds together marvelously up to a point, just don't expect them to brake (m)any laws of physics.

Despite their bulkiness they have the same kind of appeal as some more expensive Harbeths or Audio Note speakers if you are into "retro styled" speakers. With matching wood framed stands they might look alright in a HiFi system but I doubt they have place in home decoration magazine along white small Genelecs. Leave the grills attached and they look even bulkier. The black veneer finish is not by any means particularly stylish, and reminds me of some really cheap Sony speakers I had ages ago. The back of the speaker is not even fully fished giving the speaker a bit cheap feel. I'm not sure how much the retail price for these were as new but judging from the aesthetics alone they clearly are not far above the entry level. The model number does not give much indication of where in Yamaha's long line of speakers they fit.

Yamaha NS-s20i - Stylish or not?

I have tried them with my 50 W Dayens Ampino monoblocks and with Samson SX1200 and Samson Servo 260 PA-amplifiers paired with Abrahamsen V3.0 pre-amplifier. Using DACs like Atoll DAC100 and Burson Conductor it seems clear to me that the Yamaha NS-s20i are extremely capable and revealing speakers that definitely have some of Yamaha's world class monitor speaker DNA in them. The Anti-cables speaker cables leaves no stone unturned when it comes to neutrality, making it a nice pair with the NS-s20i. Even at around 30 years old they deliver music at stunning transparency. Being monitor speakers, they really let you "see" the music in front of you, not hiding anything behind them - in other word they really don't offer much dimension in this regard. The sound stage is more two dimensional, but it is a beautiful room-filling wall NS-s20i create. This is not necessary a bad them when watching movies or playing games.

Needless to say they are very neutral despite their big box like looks and capable of bringing ear tickling high pitched voices and effects as well as fine micro and macro dynamics and tight bass at glass shaking levels. I think this is thanks to the large bass/mid driver that lets the music play effortlessly, especially after having listened or having been used to smaller standmount speakers. The front reflex port lets you place them near the back wall as one might in studio setup.

Yamaha NS-s20i

The neutrality and slightly aggressive in-your-face sound signature rises the possibility of some listening fatigue on certain material, so depending on one's taste, paring the NS-s20i with slightly mellower gear might not be a bad idea. It would be cool the hear and see them with newer Yamaha gear such as A-S1100 amplifier.

Switching to Michell Tecnodec & Tecnoarm turntable with Denon DL103 cartridge the harshness and over analytic trebles smoothen nicely. Paul Simon's Graceland LP is an enjoyment every time and certainly that it is the case with the NS-s20i also. Paul's voice is just tangible and the attention goes to following the playful bassline in Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes. The dynamics are fast and have true sense of scale and that forementioned easiness.

They might not have the latest word in absolute delicacy, dimensionality of the sound stage or transparency but it is clear that at a second hard price the Yamaha NS-s20i are an absolute bargain. They will surprise and leave you wondering why on earth did you pay many many times more on your main speakers. After listening them for a while for this review session I'm starting to wonder why are they still in my living room while my Dynaudio Focus 160s sit idle in the corner. I'm pretty that sure if I already didn't own the Focus 160s I'd be fairly happy with the Yamaha NS-s20i - not taking anything away from the Focus 160s.

The NS-20i just make me wonder what other second hand steals there are out there. If you see a pair, grab 'em and ask questions later!

Review: JYSK JERNVED TV Stand - HiFi-Friendly Scandinavian Design

After moving to a new apartment I decided to upgrade my old smallish IKEA BESTÅ TV. Searching several online shops for a good while I stumbled upon JYSK's JERNVED. It retails at about 230 € here in Finland but luckily I managed to get mine at a discount price. The measurements of 150 W x 45 H x 45 D (cm) and smart layout without drawers (only shelves with push-to-open doors) meant that it was perfect for HiFi equipment that usually tend to come at 44 cm max width, so in total it would house three full size HiFi devices in two levels. Of course you would have to place those giant monoblocks somewhere else as the height for each slot is approx. 18 cm, which is of course enough for most devices. You can however adjust the position of the shelves behind the left and right doors, so I guess it's giant monoblock-friendly after all! Just remember to keep the doors open if yours happen to run in egg-frying Class A.

Plenty of Room for HiFi Devices

The assembled TV stand weights over 50 kg. The assembly itself takes couple of hours of your time and having a partner makes it a whole lot easier. I'd even say that having extra pair of hands is absolutely necessary, and I think the manual states that also. The finished product looks good with its knobless white gloss doors, hiding all those beautiful gaming consoles, amplifiers and DACs your girlfriend simply can't stand. After the doors have been installed they require some adjustments but it doesn't take very long if you have the nerves. The top and sides have "concrete" grey finish - could have been all white but it's still good looking like this too, if a bit more masculine. I didn't install the back cover (don't know why anyone would) so that there would be plenty of room and for cables and ventilation for the devices.

Batman Approves

All in all it's a sturdy and good looking TV stand that in my opinion has a great layout and plenty of room for home entertainment devices. And if you happen to mount your screen to the wall, there is even more room on the top for, for example, turntable, tall tube amplifier or center speaker (a small center speaker can also be placed behind top middle door) if multi-channel is your thing.

You might have guessed that I'm happy with the purchase, and I think that the JYSK's JENVED offers very good quality and elegant and smart design even at full retail price. Recommended!

Review: AKG K271 MKII Headphones - Not So Humble After All

All right folks, it's time to give this pair of small transducers some credit. After some second hand hifi trading I found myself owning a pair of AKG K271 MKII headphones. "Affordable 2nd hand price and hey it's AKG so it can't be all that bad" I remember thinking. In the past I briefly owned the smaller AKG K171 MKII - but since they were on-ear I couldn't wear them comfortably with glasses... or at all for that matter thanks to my big head and their strong clamping force. Plus their sound quality didn't raise any remarkably positive feelings, and after a while it was easy to part with them.

With the K271 MKIIs I immediately noticed that they were much more comfortable to wear, having with still quite strong or even stark clamping force. They go nicely over the ears and the velour pads (I believe you also get leather pads) do not draw much attention after a while. They are closed-back headphones so sure your ears can become somewhat warm after long sessions, and I find myself taking small breaks to "cool" my ear pinnae. But this happens only when I'm using the headphones for many like an hour straight. Which I do quite often since these are the ones I've been using at my office for some time now. AKG states them as "professional over-ear headphones for studio and live use" and " Universal genius for monitoring, mastering, studio and live sound mixing" - these are some demanding tasks.

On with the show.

Plug and Play. Picture AKG.com

I remember at first the K271 MKII did not surprise me, "another pair of boring flat sounding studio 'phones with no life". But still they were adequate in every aspect as one would expect, the sound quality was not disturbing but also not exiting. They were comfortable to wear and they blocked sound nicely from the outside world. So they found a place from my collection, even if they were highly underused for quite some time.

At some point I began to think if I should just sell them and be done with AKG's studio headphones. But before that I wondered if there was any way to mod them, or get more exciting sound out of them. Without much thinking I took pliers and pulled the inner foams that protect the drivers out because hey - it can't be there to improve the sound right?... and oh boy. "Are these even the same headphones?", the shock was instant and real. Suddenly the K271 MKIIs were much more dynamic, the bass was deep, fast and the general feel was something it was not before: fun, foot-tapping fun. The overall presentation was so much better and clearer, but most importantly to me, the music was now alive - an enjoyment through these headphones. Truly a veil had been lifted, or in this case pulled, while still maintaining the positive qualities of studio headphones. At that point I began to take them seriously.

My office rig surely is nothing special - trying to keep a low profile with FiiO E10 USB DAC connected to Firestone Audio's Cute Beyond headphone amplifier. The amp deserved a review of its own but let me just say that the sound it produces is far from "cute". It's super fast, snappy, aggressive from bottom to top and brings even the most boring and soft headphones to a whole new level. Brings them alive. A true bargain of a headphone amp. The combination is seriously good considering that all three, the cans, DAC and amp were together cheaper than the average pair of nice RCA interconnects.

Few words about sound quality of the K271 MKIIs on this rig. Yes they are fast, and slightly bass heavy so that music genres like electronic, metal and hip hop can be enjoyed easily. They do not make much of a 3D sound but more in the manner of in your face, or rather in your ears. Still the separation of instruments is decent but everything happens in a two dimensional field. They might lack the absolute resolution, refinement and delicacy of more expensive headphones but their strength lies in their versatility - everything sounds equally good and exciting. Certainly not a "Grado sound" that's for sure. Is this some kind of budget flat earth sound in the footsteps of Linn or Naim?  Maybe not, but then again maybe not too far from it either. I realize that this type of sound signature may not appeal to everyone but I find it somewhat of an achievement to end up with this kind of sound as opposed to what I remember hearing the first time I wore K271 MKIIs.

The K271 MKIIs are definitely not a new model but as of time of writing this, they are still widely available at a price of little over 100 euros. Sure there is a fierce competition at this price range and if I were looking for a new pair of phones I don't know how likely I would have chosen this model. I prefer them to the AKG's K550 but a top-of-mind competitor could be Audio-Technica's ATH-M50x. It was by chance that I got these in the first place and, well, as they say, everything happens for a reason. I have a feeling that the K271 MKIIs are not going away any time soon and considering the fact that these are indeed AKG's studio headphones, I have feeling that they won't be falling apart any time soon either.

So there you have it. I don't know whether this article was a weird review, a poor mod guide or just idle mindflow but I hope that you got something out of it, and remember it the next time you bump into AKG's K271 MKII. I have been bumping into one daily and I really don't mind if it remains that way!