Yamaha NX-70A

It’s been just the ten years since Yamaha launched its previous wireless stereo speaker system, the NX-N500 - and I think we can all agree that a decade is plenty to wait for a replacement, especially when you consider how this particular market has grown arms and legs in that time. It seems apparent, though, that Yamaha has spent a fair amount of this time thinking long and hard about what the comeback model - this NX-70A - should look (and sound) like…

As far as the look is concerned, the NX-70A can safely be filed under ‘mildly interesting’ - which, for my money at least, is preferable to your current choice in this market between ‘not at all interesting’ or ‘bonkers’. The speaker cabinets (which are available in either white or black, both with copper-coloured accents here and there) are a softly triangular shape when viewed from above - the rear panel is quite assertively curved, the front baffle more gently so. This means the side panels taper backwards, and there’s not a parallel line to be seen - which is good news where the curtailment of internal standing waves is concerned. 

Look at the cabinets from the front, and you’ll see the rear is taller than the front baffle. The 5mm aluminium top-plate slopes forwards which, again, means no parallel lines. The front baffle itself is, naturally enough, dominated by the driver array. Here it’s a big (30mm) dome tweeter above a 130mm mid/bass driver - and most unusually, they’re both made from the same material. ‘Harmonious Diaphragm’ is how Yamaha has chosen to describe the blend of Zylon synthetic polymer fibre and spruce wood, and the idea is that using the same material for both units will offer complete consistency of tone across the entire frequency range.

Each tweeter is powered by 60 watts of Class D amplification, while each mid/bass driver gets 100 Class D watts. In cooperation with the bass reflex port at the rear of each cabinet, Yamaha suggests the upshot of this arrangement is a frequency response of 50Hz - 35kHz if the speakers are physically wired together, 50Hz - 21kHz if they’re connected wirelessly. There’s an RJ45 socket at the rear of each speaker for this purpose, and the necessary cable is included in the packaging.

And apart from a socket for mains power and that reflex port, the RJ45 is the only feature at the back of the secondary speaker. The primary speaker, though, has a fair bit more going on - because this is where the system’s wired and wireless connectivity is housed. 

The physical stuff consists of an Ethernet socket, a digital optical input, an HDMI eARC socket, a USB-A slot and a 3.5mm line-level analogue input - there’s also a 3.5mm connection for the calibration mic (more on that later) and a pre-out for a subwoofer. Wireless connectivity, meanwhile, runs to Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC and AAC codec compatibility, and dual-band wi-fi. A wired or wireless network connection means Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify and TIDAL Connect, internet radio and a podcast platform are all available. The NX-70A is Roon Ready and DLNA-compliant too.

All the incoming digital stuff is dealt with by an ESS ES9017S DAC that’s able to deal with content of up to 32bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 resolution. When the speakers are wired together, all content is down- or upscaled to 24bit/96kHz (unless it’s at that resolution natively, of course) and if they’re connected wirelessly then the system operates at 24bit/48kHz - which, on paper at least, would seem to put the system at a slight disadvantage against its most obvious price-comparable rivals.

Sound quality

Some wireless systems send music bounding from their speakers, determined to snare you from the get-go with the energy and positivity of their performance. The Yamaha NX-70A, it seems fair to say, is not one of those wireless systems.

It’s a slightly more prudent attitude the NX-70A displays. It’s not unwilling to sink its teeth into a recording if required, and it’s more than happy to drive a recording forwards if that’s what’s necessary - but given a free hand it’s a balanced, quite mature listen that makes a strong case for poise being just as important to a rewarding sonic experience as attack.

And so there’s balance in every respect. The frequency response of this system runs from ‘deep and solid’ to ‘bright and shining’, but at no stage is any area of the frequency range overstated or underrepresented. It hits with polite determination at the bottom end, shapes low-frequency information nicely and has absolute authority where attack and decay are concerned - but it doesn’t just punch for the sake of it. At the opposite end it has bite and shine to spare, but treble sounds are substantial rather than flimsy - and as a consequence you’re never concerned that ‘crunch’ is going to become ‘hardness’.

It’s in between these two extremes that the Yamaha really sets itself apart, though. It communicates through the midrange in the most articulate, revealing and naturalistic manner - and as a result, voices of all kinds are delivered with complete conviction. Detail levels are stratospheric (as they are, to be fair, elsewhere too) and as a result there is a huge amount of information available regarding attitude and character just as there is tone and technique.

Soundstaging is equally assured. There’s appreciable width and a fair amount of height to the stage the Yamaha creates - but more importantly, there’s proper definition. Space is available for every element of a recording, but despite the expansive nature of the presentation there’s also an unarguable sense of singularity and togetherness - the idea of performance is as strong here as it is anywhere in all of Wireless Stereo Speaker System-land. 

Dynamic headroom is more than adequate, so any variation in intensity or volume is expressed confidently - and the more subtle dynamics of harmonic variation can’t escape the attentions of the NX-70A either. Rhythmic expression, thanks to the authority the system exerts over the attack of low-frequency notes or hits, is coherent and convincing. 

The Yamaha’s overall attitude is one of careful balance. It’s not short of character, and it can do ‘energy’ and ‘entertainment’ with the best of them. But there’s nothing tiring or relentless in its sonic make-up - and those long listening sessions just fly by as a result. 

living with the Yamaha NX-70A

The standard of build and finish here is typically Yamaha - which means it’s very good indeed - although the exposed screw-heads on the top panel don’t give a particularly premium look. Otherwise, the appearance is quite elegant and understated.

There are a few physical control buttons on the rear of the primary speaker - they take care of stuff like wireless pairing, Bluetooth connectivity, nominating the speaker as the left or right channel and so on. The supplied remote control handset looks and feels nice enough. and it takes care of input selection, volume, power and the major playback controls.

The most thorough control of the NX-70A, though, is available via the MusicCast control app. It’s quite busy and crowded in its layout, but that’s partly because it’s so packed with functionality. The basics of source selection, volume and EQ adjustment are covered off, naturally, but it also has 40 (count ‘em!) slots for saving favourites - be they radio stations, playlists, podcasts or songs. It allows you construct and access a ‘quick’ playlist from various sources, lets you specify a number of different one-button ‘routines’ (there’s a preinstalled ‘routine’ that lets you power off everything that’s being controlled by the app in one hit), and it allows you to create muliroom and/or multichannel systems using other MusicCast-enabled equipment. To be fair, MusicCast is no BluOs and so your options as regards partnering equipment are rather limited in this respect - but nevertheless it’s a useful feature. And the app is also where you can access and operate the ‘Yamaha parametric room acoustic optimiser’ (or ‘YPAO’ for short).

YPOA is Yamaha’s proprietary Dirac-esque room compensation technology - just plug the bundled mic into the appropriate socket on the rear of the primary speaker and away you go. The system takes into account the specifics of your room and the speakers’ position within it, and attempts to optimise the sound to best suit it. In practice it’s as useful and effective as any alternative I’ve used. 

The primary speaker has a little single-line display at the bottom of the front baffle - it lets you know about the power status of the system, the selected volume level, the content that’s playing and suchlike. The secondary speaker has a corresponding area in the name of symmetry - but it’s just used to confirm the speaker is powered on. 

Yamaha is from the only manufacturer offering custom stands for its wireless stereo speaker system - at £500 per pair the SPS-70A stands are undeniably expensive and, in sonic terms, they don’t do anything a decent pair of third-party stands costing half this money can’t do. But they have aesthetic commonality with the speakers, some rudimentary cable management and, significantly, the speakers bolt to a top-plate that’s exactly the same shape as the foot of the speaker. They ship with soft or pointed floor spikes.

conclusion

Some wireless stereo speaker systems will deliver your music at a higher resolution than this, and some will allow you to control them using a less crowded and busy control app. But very few at anything like this sort of money will offer the combination of balance, insight and authority the Yamaha NX-70A can give you.

listening notes

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds O Children
Even slightly compressed recordings like this are given space and air by the NX-70A - and the system’s facility with midrange information means the ‘secular gospel’ attitude of the voices is communicated explicitly. 

‍Lambchop The Daily Growl
Here’s where the Yamaha system is able to give a tremendous account of its ability to tease the harmonic variations out and give them the weighting and context they deserve. The hushed nature of this recording means the piano takes centre stage, and the system describes it fully.

New Order True Faith
Rhythm, tempo, straightforward wallop - this none-more-80s classic requires a confident rendition of all three, and the NX-70A is more than up to the task. Edges are straight, overhang is non-existent, and you’ll be shaking a tail-feather in no time.

You buy the Yamaha NX-70A because you’re interested in every scrap of information contained in a recording, because you enjoy a mildly interesting aesthetic in a product category that’s not renowned for such things, and because you don’t automatically want be grabbed by the lapels when you put some music on.

A smartphone and a subscription to a music-streaming service gets you up and running - but connect an Arcam Radia CD5 to the Yamaha's digital optical input and a whole new avenue of listening opens up. And something like the TCL C7L, with its extraordinarily accomplished picture quality and utterly tedious sound, will benefit no end by being connected via HDMI.