Yamaha MSP10
Our Score:	Imaging	8
C	Dynamic Performance	8
	Frequency Response	7
	High Volume	7
	Sound Quality	7
	Price / Performance	7
	Overall	74 C
	List price	Approx $1600/pr sunburst finish, shown
	Web site	http://www.yamaha.com

The Yamaha MSP10 is a biamped nearfield featuring an 8-inch woofer and aluminum dome tweeter mounted in an 8-inch waveguide horn. The speaker is ported with two round ports on either side of the tweeter.

Listening to the MSP10s immediately made me think of NS10s. Like other Yamaha speakers, the MSP10s offer a prominent midrange – not nearly so harsh as the NS10, but definitely out in front. If you like mixing on NS10s, then the MSP10 is going to be right up your alley. They have that hot-midrange sound prevalent in all of Yamaha’s speakers. The MSP10s have a great midrange and top end, but do not offer the earth-moving bass of the Mackies. The bass response of the MSP10s seems to start sloping off just a little at about 80 Hz, and is definitely rolled off pretty good by 55 Hz.

For speakers with average bass response, though, the MSP10s seem to have more-than-expected woofer excursion issues. I was able to rattle the woofers of the MSP10s with program material that didn’t trouble the other speakers. And as I listened to the sub bass on the Supreme Beings CD, I noticed some serious amplifier issues with high bass levels. When presented with deep bass at a loud (but not unreasonable) level, the woofer “pushed” out hard as though faced with DC – a sign of an amplifier behaving badly – even though the amplifier clip indicators never lit. Surprised, I tested bass-heavy CDs on a different pair of MSP10s, and was able to reproduce this behavior every time.

When I saw this issue it was a dealbreaker for me. When a company integrates amplifiers into its speakers, the amps had better be good ones. Not these.

Finally, the MSP10s have ports tuned such that they produce extremely focused puffs of air at high velocity. Why do I mention that? Because – and I’m not kidding here – at high bass levels these ports produce blasts of air that will literally part your hair at a distance of four or five feet. Trust me, the constant puffing of air in your face will really drive you nuts.

Do not underestimate how annoying this can be. Think Chinese Water Torture. Imagine feeling it every time you mix for the next few years. Get the idea?

I did have the opportunity to audition the MSP10s with their matched subwoofer, the SW10. The SW10 is a 10 inch front-firing ported woofer with a built in power amp. The SW10 does extend the bass response of the MSP10s, but like many subs it lacks the definition and sense of balance that you get with a two-piece system with equivalent response.

At high bass levels, the MSP10s produced a substantial amount of port chuff, exceeded only by the Behringer Truths. I hoped that the chuff and other bass response issues would be solved when the SW10 was added into the equation. Only a little: the SW10 also exhibited excursion and port chuff issues. And the SW10 did not go as deep as I would have hoped that a powered subwoofer would. While the performance did improve, I was never able to get the quantity or quality of bass present in the Genelecs and the Mackies.

And the MSP10s are no bargain. At $1200 for a pair (street prices), plus $600 for the sub, you’re just under $2000 by the time you get the three piece system.