Yamaha has a great reputation for making fine musical instruments, and some of this rubs off with the creation of the absolutely gorgeous Soavo 1 floorstanding speakers.

Taking a look at the Soavo 1, you can instantly recognize that these speakers are hand-crafted and made to demonstrate what great craftsmanship looks like in loudspeaker design. From the almost excessive finish to the beveled front edge and carved wooden port, everything about these speakers clamors for recognition.

We tore into these beauties to get a feel for how well the components were designed and what made these 59.5 lb speakers tick. What we found was overbuilt die-cast baskets, 1/8-inch baffles on the 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter assembly and an amply sized magnet in each of the dual 6-1/2-inch woofers. The midrange driver and accompanying Neodymium magnet was a tad on the anemic side physically--surprising, since Yamaha is well-known for its midrange emphasis in several other models (something that is pleasing to our ear at least).

The bi-ampable speakers have a couple pairs of robust 5-way binding posts on the back and you'll need to first remove the red and black plugs before using an actual banana connector. Thick jumper cables are included, so you can wire them up easily with any standard speaker cable. These are put there to guard against accidental misuse in countries whose power plugs are almost equally spaced.

In our listening tests we utilized a few different tracks ranging from Classic Rock to Techno/Electronica to Country. The idea was to test out the Soavo 1s in as many listening styles as possible to better isolate any playback or reproduction issues. Bass response was out of this world (extending down to around 35 hertz) and we found that no subwoofer was needed (or even recommended) when using a pair of these speakers for music listening. Should you want to integrate them into a home theater system for movie use, then a sub would be recommended. The only consistent flaw would be the performance of the single midrange driver; we kept finding myself wanting more in this area.

Overall, the sound was pleasing, dynamic, and full-bodied. While the Soavo 1s certainly aren't cheap, they remain a great way to get speakers that look as good as they sound.

Pros: High-end detailed sound, solid, beautiful cabinet construction, very high, quality drivers
Cons: Midrange detail, very pricey

Warranty
2 years