Yamaha NS-A220 Speakers any good?

matt314159

New Member
Hey guys first post here. I spent so long typing the last post that I was logged out and lost everything when I hit submit so now I get to start all over again. I know poor me.

I recently purchased a pair of Yamaha NS-A220 speakers from a craigslist ad for $60.00. I was a dope and took his word instead of asking to audition them, he said they were fine. They were not fine. I got them home and the tweeters and mids are dead as a doornail on both cabinets. I checked them with an ohmmeter and they show an open circuit.

Instead of trying to deal with the seller again (if he gave me a bold-faced lie about the condition of the speakers I want nothing to do with him anymore) today I called up Orange County Speaker and ordered some replacement mids and tweeters. The grand total on those was $96, bringing my $60 speakers up to over $150 bucks.

The speakers I bought look like this:
NA-A220%20021.jpg


(if you want to see more detailed pics of the original mids and tweeters I posted a lot more at This Link)

The replacement speakers I bought are as follows:

Mids (x2):
CGWM25.1.JPG

5" Paper Cone Midrange
8 ohm / Sealed Back Frame
6oz Magnet
35 Watts RMS / 70 Watts Peak
Frequency Response: 700hz - 8.5khz
Outside Diameter: 5.0625"
Cabinet Cutout Diameter: 4"
Model: GM35 $19.95 each

Tweeters (x2):
CGWTSpaper.1.JPG

4" Paper Cone Tweeter
8 ohm
6oz Magnet
35 Watts RMS / 70 Watts Peak
Frequency Response: 3000hz - 18khz
Outside Diameter: 4"
Cabinet Cutout Diameter: 3"
Model: GT25 $19.95 each


So now that you know the grizzley details about this speaker system that I'm pretty sure I paid WAY too much for, I have some questions for you knowledgeable folks.

1) How are the Yamaha NS-A220's? Are they decent, high quality speakers or were they the Sears Surplus specials? I have found NO INFORMATION on the internet at all about these. I know one thing, the cabinets are solid and they feel nice and heavy. Probably about 50 pounds per speaker heavy.
2) Did I pick the right replacement speakers for these? (See the link for additional photos to compare with what I bought)
3) So after all is said and done, I paid $156 for these...once they're fixed up, what would you say they'e be worth roughly? (Probably nowhere near what I paid, I can guess that much).
4) out of curiousity, does anybody know what vintage these speakers are? My guess would be late 1980s, but I have no clue whatsoever.


We're going to be using these as mains for a backyard, poolside, 'dive in' movie theater we're building in the back yard. We're doing it on a shoestring budget, I might add... I wanted to spend no more than $50 on these...I blew that by 300%... :(

Any thoughts or comments on these speakers and/or my replacement speaker choice would be well appreciated. I don't think I got the best price on the replacements, but I trust Orange County Speaker, I have had good experiences with speakers in the past.
 
Those look very similar to ones an old girlfriend I had in college had in the mid 80's. She had a rack system from Yamaha. They sounded ok but nothing great. I had a similar issue with an old receiver I got that the seller told me it was in A1 shape. Well, I just dumped twice the purchase price to get it running properly. But I figure at least it will be like new. But if I were to try to sell it, I would loose some money. But no worries :)
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I debated about going back to the guys house and demanding a refund, but on something like a $60 purchse, I didn't feel like it was worth the confrontation. (I'm sure there are others who disagree, but I'm just not a controntational type, to a serious fault, I'll admit)

The replacement speakers are getting here today, I'm curious to see how they sound when I install them and test it all out.

I consider myself a newbie to any kind of serious audio equipment, I was an a/v tech for two years in college and that's about the extent of my experience. I can solder an XLR cable, but that doesnt mean I know what I'm looking at when it comes to speakers. I went under the assumption that heavy=better. If I'm auditioning speakers, I know what sounds good to me though.

For my indoor surround sound system I have Infinity RS-425's and 225's for my fronts and rears, and I'm very happy with their sound but I don't want to haul my "good stuff" (probably not even THAT good by most of your standards, but good to me!) outside for our outdoor movies.

Thanks again for the responses, and if anybody has anything more to add, I'm all ears!
 
I think for outside duties, those Yamahas will work. Buying used is always a gamble. I do understand about the confrontation problem since I am the same way. I should have taken the receiver back and got my money back but decided to just get it fixed and move on. The original price was not bad either.
 
(part of me is wanting to avoid the confrontation, the other part of me is embarrassed as all hell that I didn't actually test the speakers.)
 
*rolls eyes* it freaking figures.

I might have to return the ones to OCS and buy these.

*edit. Thanks for the tipoff, I have requested an RMA on the order from OCS and even if I have to pay a restocking fee and return shipping (i'm not sure what their policy is) I still stand to save a lot of money. I had no idea that they could be so cheap.

If OCS offers to match the price or something, I'll still go with them but if not, I'm going to be ordering these from partsexpress. The total after shipping was going to be $27 from partsexpress, compare that to the $86 I paid after shipping and tax to OCS for the exact same order.
 
Well it quite literally paid for me to join this forum. Thank to MarkAnderson's froogling (why didn't I think of that!) I got an RMA# for the $86.19 order from orange county speaker and just placed the order with partsexpress for 27.93

That's a savings of $58.26 (less the return shipping on the first order which should be around $5)! Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU MarkAnderson for your post!
 
Here let me really make your day.

I have a set of these (they are rack system models) I paid $20 for a set without grilles, not a bad speaker, I ultimately ended up gutting them, the drivers are setting in a box in my garage, I'll give you the tweeters and mids if you want to pay shipping, you can have the "crossovers" as well (caps).

One thing I would advise is run a bead of glue along the back where the panel meets the sides, I seen several pairs of these now including mine where the glue had dried out allowing the panel to vibrate and make a distrubing noise similar to a blown woofer.
 
Still going on near as I can tell....

Surprisingly 2 or 3 of the posters are still active AK members.
And one member joined in 2002, Dan ^$@&^(^$@#^&**&*(
I've wondered what date AK went live originally.
 
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