There aren't any reviews of this speaker anywhere that I can find, so I figure I'll review them here. Audio Physic just released the Yara II Compact, which I thought was the same thing, but it uses a smaller woofer and cabinet. None of the dealers I contacted had them or knew there were being replaced, let alone what the differences in sound are.
My system consists of a Bryston B60 integrated amp (60 watts/channel @ 8 ohms, 100 @ 4 ohms), Rega Apollo CD player, Pro-Ject 1Xpression turntable with Speed Box mkII and Acryl-It platter (sitting on a Musical Fidelity Stable-1 isolation table), Canare 4S11 speaker cables, and Audioquest King Cobra RCAs. The Yaras sit on Apollo A-3 speaker stands.
Specs from Audio Physic's website:
Technical specifications
Height: 400 mm / 15.8" Width: 180 mm / 6.7" Depth: 220 mm / 8.7" Weight: 7 kg Recommended amplifier power: 20 - 120 W Impedance: 4 Ohm Frequency range: 47 Hz - 33 kHz Sensitivity: 89 dB
Auditioning these speakers was honestly an afterthought. I'd heard Audio Physic speakers were good, but not much else. In searching for a pair of monitors in the $1500 or so price range, I found out these would fit ($1250 msrp). I was most interested in PMC DB1+ at the time, due to Bryston and PMC using each other's gear to voice their own, and Bryston making the amplifiers for PMC's active speakers. I also heard the Linn Katan, Dynaudio Focus 110, Focal 70? V, Rega R1 R3, and R5, Naim N-Sat, Totem Arro and Rainmaker, and ATC SCM7. Each of them had their strengths and weakness. Overall, none of them are as good as the Yara IMO. The ATC SCM7 is a better speaker IMO, but they need too much current to get going, and high SPL to open up and sound the way they're supposed to. I rarely listen to music that loud, let alone for any length of time. At my preferred volume, they didn't sound very good. The Naim N-Sat is also a very good speaker. It didn't have the low end response that I want. Putting them against a wall in my room isn't possible. And their "Wall of sound" while very good, isn't exactly what I want long term. The speaker that fit my needs and tastes better than anything else was the Dynaudio Focus 110. They aren't nearly as good as the Yaras IMO, but they were second best.
That brings me to the Yaras. It's very hard to describe their sound. The first thing I noticed was their soundstage and imaging. It's enormous. It goes well beyond my side walls, back wall and ceiling when that information is on the CD. Everything is true to life in size and space; nothing is exaggerated to make it sound bigger or more spaced out than it should be. My main reference in this regard is the Totem Arro. The Yara's soundstage is bigger in every way. The Arro barely if ever breaks the front plane of the speakers; the Yara will place a sound at your shoulder if it's supposed to be there. An example is of this is in Tool's Wings For Marie: 10,000 Days Part II. There's some rain and thunder that pretty much engulf you. The Arro couldn't come that close to me. This doesn't mean that the Yara is a very forward sounding speaker. Rather, the parts of the music that are up front are where they're supposed to be. The parts that are far back are far back. These speakers won't pin your ears back, nor will they make you want to move your seat closer to get closer to the music.
These speakers are highly detailed. I hate to use the proverbial 'I heard stuff that I never knew was there' line, but it's somewhat true. A more accurate statement is I heard things I never noticed before. After hearing a bunch of new details in albums like Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and 10,000 Days, I switched back to my PSB Image T55s. The details were actually there before, but I had to work hard to hear them. They were either blurred, buried, or sometimes all together missing completely. With the Yaras, I don't have to work to hear them. They're still subtle (as they should be), but they're easily heard. It's kind of hard to describe. With all this detail, it seems like the speaker should get a little clinical and lose some musicality. Not even close. The details revealed subtly add to the music, and never detract from what's going on. Some highly detailed speakers I've heard are what someone here once called 'left-brained.' These are entire-brained to me, being analytical and artful at the same time.
One would think a speaker being this detailed and revealing would make bad recordings worse. Not a single recording I own became worse in any way. Every one of them became far better. Flaws weren't hidden or smoothed over in any way. They did become more apparent, but it never once detracted form the music. Ever hear an unre-mastered Jimi Hendrix CD? Some of the worst sound quality I've ever heard. Yet it never sounded as half as bad as it did on my old speakers. I can't really explain that one either. I don't have any mp3s, so I'm not going there.
The Yaras put out better bass than any monitor I've ever heard. That's a pretty bold statement. I'm sure there's a monitor out there that does, but I haven't heard it. This doesn't mean car subwoofer bass; it means real word, non-synthesized bass. My new favorite bass test is Bob Marley's Legend re-mastered CD. Through the Yaras, the bass is very tight, clean and strong. If they can pull this off, they can pull off just about anything. The only thing in the bass department that is slightly lacking is a few tracks with thunder. Tool's 10,000 Days' thunder goes down just a little further than the Yaras are comfortable with. It doesn't sound bad or unconvincing at all, but it could sound just a bit better. I have no desire to buy a subwoofer to correct this. It's not worth it for these extremely rare instances IMO.
The closest speaker I can think of to the Yaras is the Totem Arro. The Yaras have all of their strengths, and they're better at doing everything the Arro does exceptionally well. The biggest differences are they don't have the Arro's shortcomings. Due to the Arro's small woofer, they aren't very dynamic when pushed, they can sound a tad thin, their bass is on the lighter side, and they struggle to have sound break the front plane of the speakers. They're also hard to drive and tricky to place right. On the flip side, the Arros are extremely clean, neutral, natural sounding, and pull of a disappearing act that very few speakers can, regardless of price. The Yaras do all this, only better IMO. They're far easier on an amp, and I haven't had any placement issues yet. To be honest, I haven't spent a lot of time with placement. I put them where my old speakers were, and they sound just about perfect. I haven't filled up the stands because I'm enjoying listening to them too much. A dealer said that a lot of his customers drove them with low powered tube amps with great results.
With my PSBs, my mind went into evaluation mode more often that I wanted it to. It seemed like I was always picking them apart rather than enjoying my music. I guess this is similar to people saying they're listening to the equipment and not the music. After the first hour or so, I couldn't evaluate the Yaras anymore. I was enjoying my music way too much for that. That's the highest compliment I can give anything in this hobby.
The only weakness I can think of is that it takes a few more db's for them to open up than my PSBs did. Its a very small amount, but more none the less. My wife hasn't complained yet, so I don't think its much of an issue at all.
Actually, there's another weakness, but it doesn't have anything to do with the speaker itself. Audio Physic's US distributer is awful IMO. There are very few dealers, even fewer ads and promotions, and virtually no reviews. How is that possible? Its a shame these speakers are this good and barely anyone will know anything about them.
I left out a bunch of stuff, but the write up is already longer than I wanted it to be.
Thanks, Art. After re-reading it, it sounds like I was bashing the Arros a little bit. Not my intention at all. The Arros are one of my favorite speakers, regardless of price. Their shortcomings aren't that much - ie the loss of dynamics isn't painfully obvious, but it is noticable to me.
Funny thing is, I've always though the Arros would be a perfect speaker if they didn't have the shortcomings I talked about. The Yara is very close to the Arros in a lot of ways, and doesn't have them.
I think the Yaras are the perfect speaker for me. That doesn't mean they'll be perfect for everyone else or even anyone else.
Its been a while since I've heard the Rainmakers and I didn't hear the Yaras side by side with them. I also didn't spend too much time with the Rainmakers because I preferred the Arros by a decent margin. I honestly can't say why I liked the Arros more, except that they sounded better and more natural to my ears.
Maybe I didn't give them a fair chance. Now that I'm struggling to put it into words, maybe I shouldn't have listed them.
Thanks for the review Stu. Made me go play 10,000 days again.
First impressions are often the best in terms of describing what it is that you heard that was different. Good of you to do that for us. You should still work with the placement. The down side is you put them back to where they are now and no SQ lost.
Nice review, I'm glad you like the APs, I remember being quite impressed by them when I had a chance to hear them a while back, but that was at a Lyric HiFi with MAC all around (I think?). It's always a roll of the dice once you get a speaker home, I'm glad this gamble worked out for you.
Lyric Hifi in Manhattan is where I heard them, after an ill fated attempt at another store due to an arrogant owner.
I initally heard them on a Mac 6900 and Rega Apollo. After I told the salesman I had a Bryston B60, he went into the back and came out with a B60 he just got from a trade in. It sounded equally good with both amps. Different, but equally good IMO.
Two other points -
The Yara Evolution also comes in a floorstander version for about $2k. Same tweeter, woofer, and XO. Only difference is cabinet size. On paper it goes down about 5 or so hz in bass. I could hardly tell any difference, and to be honest the difference could have been imaginary. At $2k, it'll compete with just about anything else out there, and the dealer claims its one of his best selling towers in the store. At $1250 retail, the monitor wipes the floor with it from a value for money standpoint.
The Yara Evolution line is available with a brushed aluminum finish for about $300 more for the monitors, and about $600 more for the towers. The towers on display had that finish. It could have been the worst finish I've ever seen. They looked like they belonged in a kitchen next to some stainless steel appliances. Not that it looked like hack job or anything like that, they're just very ugly IMO.
When I asked him who would buy them, he laughed and said that 99% of them were bought by women. I told him I thought women would be interested in wood veneers to try to blend the stuff into a room and draw the least amount of attention to them. He laughed and said 'So did I.'
Just another story of a couple of guys having no idea of what women really want.
Fantastic review Stu. A great read. Glad to hear your loving those speakers so much. I remember reading a review on Audio Physic speakers in a Hi Fi World magazine. Very nice speaker indeed.
