Yamaha MusicCast WX-010 Wireless Speaker Quick Review by mark2410

Yamaha MusicCast WX-010 Wireless Speaker Quick Review by mark2410

Thanks to Yamaha UK for the sample.

Brief:  Yamaha’s mini Sonos.

Price:  £150 each or in the US US$180

Specifications:  Wi-Fi Yes, AirPlay Yes, Bluetooth Version/Profile Ver. 2.1 + EDR / A2DP, AVRCP, Audio Codec SBC, AAC* (*Receiving Only), Maximum Communication Range 10 m / 32.8 ft. 10 in. (without interference), File Format MP3, WMA, MPEG4-AAC, WAV(*2), FLAC(*2), AIFF(*2), ALAC(*1) --- (*1) up to 96 kHz (*2) up to 192 kHz, Ethernet Yes, Speaker Unit 9 cm (3-1/2”) Woofer x 1, 2.5 cm (1”) Tweeter x 1, Passive radiator x 2, Maximum Output Power 25 W (Woofer 15 W + Tweeter 10 W), Power Supply AC, Power Consumption 8 W, Standby Power Consumption 2 W (Network Standby ON, Bluetooth Standby ON, Wireless connection), 0.2 W (Network and Bluetooth Standby OFF), Dimensions (W x H x D)       120 x 160 x 130 mm; 4-3/4” x 6-1/4” x 5-1/8”, Weight 1.7 kg; 3.7 lbs, Colours Black, White

Accessories:  Well the power cable for them is all you get.  Though the Apps to control them are available and free.

Build Quality:  Like everything else I’ve seen from Yamaha, the build quality appears to be flawless.  It is heavy, solid and I can see no issues with any aspect of it.

Aesthetics.  The while one, with the more grey mesh outer is nice looking but I think the black looks much nicer in pics.  Though if I had that I may think the other way round.  They are mostly diminutive, easy to barely even notice them.

Sound:  The bass is considerably more even than you’d expect.   The driver isn’t big at all but with two bass radiators it increases the surface area and thus the bass is more controlled and linear as it descends.  It’s not flawless, it still does decline but its better behaved than tiny speakers would be otherwise while keeping the output quantity up.  It’s unusual to have two bass radiators but it does work well.  The mids are good, rather accomplished and probably what they do best.  Then the treble, well that is strangely abundant.  Not just that it’s a bit abundant but that it’s got a rather hard edge to it.  That makes them feel rather enhanced in terms of their detail retrieval.  It’s edgy and noticeably present which is unexpected.  They do however do well with two of them together, the bass is competent and the mids are nice yet that treble is over edgy and with that edge it makes it sound more abundant than it really is.  Yet there is an overall grown up balance, accomplished and treble aside, pretty evenly balanced.  At low volumes and on their own they make for a great little background music speaker.  Yet I couldn’t help but want them to be more use as a stereo pair.  They coped with music so well that I wanted them to be usable for all audio not just the streaming supported kind.

Value:  As a stereo pair very nice, on their own they are expensive for a background speaker.  Surely one by itself you’ll only use for background stuff right?

Pro’s:  Good audio quality.  High quality bass output. 

Con’s:  Treble too edgy.  No aux input.