Sometimes, buying budget is not a compromise, as Bob Tomalski found out when auditioning this £60 Yamaha box
Some centre speakers are wedge-shaped. If you think about it, it makes sense. The low profile is ideal for placing on top of a television and the front-to-back depth gives the cabinet the volume needed for reproducing accurate mid-band and bass.
This £60 budget model measures 435(w) x 100(h) x 221 (d)mm and is fabricated from a polymer. Yet the matt black livery avoids giving a cheap 'plasticky' appearance. In fact it looked rather smart placed on top of my reference Mitsubishi TV.
However, there are obvious cutbacks in the design. The rear terminals are small clip-fits designed for a medium gauge cable such as QED 42-strand or similar.
The design is a 2-way bass-reflex. Two 80mm mid/bass units are used in conjunction with a 19mm tweeter.
Electrically the specification is modest with a nominal input power of 40W (or 50W music power). In real terms this means you can use it with a mid-price SOW Pro-Logic amp, but a bigger 100W/channel model might give distress. But then, given its budget positioning, this will probably not be an issue.
As with its bigger brother the frequency response margins are rather wide. A -10dB droop is allowed from 60Hz-20kHz. The nominal impedance of the package is also 6 Ohms - the sensitivity is somewhat lower at 88dB.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Our first test was for bass. We were surprised. The small size belies the extension. The LF wasn't as good as the bigger Yamaha reviewed elsewhere, yet it handled Jurassic Park with some enthusiasm. Again, the most natural audio was obtained when using the Pro-Logic Normal mode.
This said, and while mid-band is fine, the treble is shrill on some soundtracks. It's great for reproducing shattering glass - as in Batman Forever- yet a tad too strident on music tracks with (otherwise) smooth violin strings.
Female vocals can also sound a shade too trebly. This box is the sonic opposite of the Paradigm reviewed elsewhere -clean rather than mellow and warm.
It's equally an acquired taste. We left it coupled to our system for some days and grew to like the cool tones until we exchanged it for something better -the more neutral sounding Jamo Centre 160, again reviewed elsewhere.
This is the only speaker in our test that gave any hint of magnetic staining. We nit-pick, though. It is no problem with normal use on top of the TV, yet as the speaker was moved around -closer to the tube surface - we saw some reddish patches, indicating that the flux-busting is not to the same high standard as its bigger brother.
Overall, though, it's excellent value for money. A low price, low-profile box that may not be the best, but is certainly not the worst.