Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha NX-U10SL USB Powered Stereo Speaker (Silver)

I've had the speakers for about a week now and have tried all three power options: USB, A/C, and batteries. I haven't used them on batteries long enough to know how long the batteries will last (it takes 4 AAA batteries).

Sound - You have plenty of volume, even on battery power. Bass is better than most speakers this size, but volume much over 60% or so starts some mild distortion. The volume and quality are much better than built-in speakers though. The target market for these speakers is laptop portability and for that they are wonderful. The single unit, although somewhat large (about 9" long), easily packs away in my notebook's case. Setup is simple and sound quite good for a hotel room or other confined area (which is usually where you'd use them anyway).

Included items - Everything you need is included except batteries. You get an A/C adapter, a battery cradle (plugs in nicely to the power bay when you want to use battery power and is easily removable when you do not), a usb cable, a cloth bag, a patch cable for your mp3 player, and the unit itself. Everything is compact, quality is good, and setup takes only a couple of minutes.

The unit itself has a cover over the power bay that opens up and doubles as a stand. It even comes with a tiny rubber foot to keep the unit from slipping when set up (and they give you a couple extras too). You either have the unit plugged in (either to the laptop usb port or, using the same cable, to an A/C outlet) or have the battery cradle installed. There is a volume control, an on/off button, and a jack for aux input on the unit.

I connected my Archos 604 personal media player, played a video, and the sound was great. It works well in a hotel or other small room where you want to listen or view but don't want to use headphones. The benefit is that you can use the speakers completely independently of the computer if you want to plug in a media player.

The price could be better but it's still a new item and I would anticipate that, like everything else, the price will eventually drop. Still, I consider it money well spent so far.

I've had this speaker for a couple of weeks now and it is everything they say it is. When I travel with my laptop I use it to watch DVDs and listen to my music collection and it sounds great - way better than any other portable speakers I've tried. The sound is good but what's also great about this Yamaha speaker is the three-way power options. Plug it into the wall, use batteries, or runs off your USB power while hooked to your PC playing your tunes. I haven't used the battery option much so I can't comment on the battery life but, I suspect it is not great since the speaker puts out 20-watts. I don't think you can find a better sounding speaker with these power options for less. (If you can - let me know...please!)

I heard about this unit from a Home Theater newsletter of all places. The reviewer just had to share this item with those of us concerned about the quality of sound.

While it does not produce the sound that can be had from a good pair of separate PC speakers, it also does not take up the space nor the wiring menagerie either.

That said, the sound is actually quite nice when you are in its 'zone' of listening. The bass is really surprisingly rich considering that the center bass diaphragm is only 5"x1" in size.

I can carry it easily with my PowerBook and only need to plug in a single USB cable to power it and feed it stereo sound. In iTunes I set the Equalizer tool to use the "Loudness" setting to get what I consider the best sound from it (some really low bass will distort so I drop the lowest equalizer slide switch about 4dB).

By the way, it also amplifies cell phones, portable DVD players and the like via the supplied power cable and 1/8th inch jack.

After much looking and too much research on speakers, I decided to take a chance and order this sight unheard... I had purchased a set of Logitech V20's and returned them after three days. They sounded okay, but at low volumes, they constantly cut out, similar to how they would cut out at high volumes.

This little Yamaha speaker has to be the best USB, portable, powered speaker available at present. If you buy this thinking you will get Bose Home Theatre quality, then save your money and buy the Bose, but if you need great sound, clean, crisp, and well-defined for use in an office, then this speaker cannot be beat!

When I first plugged it into my MacBook, I was blown away at how good it sounded and it sounds good with all kinds of music, and speech from this speaker is very rich. This speaker is not really made to play at high volumes filling a room, but it can do just that. For confined spaces and for one or just few listeners, it is more than adequate and very pleasant to the ears... Best of all, I can throw it in my computer bag and be on my way!

Highly reccommended for anyone interested in a high-quality listening experience at work!

I'm really happy with this USB speaker. I'm a presenter and I'm using this product with excellent results.

Dave