Yamaha HS5 Review: The Monitor That Tells You Off
Buy the HS5 if you want a monitor that refuses to flatter you and your room is small enough that a bigger woofer would only excite modes you cannot treat. Skip it if you want speakers you also enjoy listening to, or if you need real information below about 55 Hz without adding headphones to the workflow.
Deliberately unflattering, published to 54 Hz, and the right size for the rooms most people actually have.
Yamaha HS5 Powered Studio Monitor, Pair
~$340
A bi-amplified two way nearfield monitor with a 5 inch cone woofer, sold as a pair.
Check price on AmazonSpecifications
| Configuration | Two way bass reflex bi-amplified nearfield, sold as a pair |
|---|---|
| Woofer | 5 inch cone |
| Tweeter | 1 inch dome |
| Frequency response | 54 Hz to 30 kHz |
| Amplification | 45W low frequency plus 25W high frequency, 70W total per cabinet |
| Inputs | XLR and TRS phone jack, balanced or unbalanced |
| Approx. price | Around $340 for the pair |
Specifications above come from Yamaha's published figures as listed on the Amazon product page. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.
What it does well
- Yamaha's stated design goal is sonic purity without colouring the original sound, and the result behaves that way: it does not hide anything.
- The 5 inch woofer puts less energy into the range a small room handles worst, which makes it more accurate in practice than a bigger monitor in the same space.
- Balanced XLR and TRS inputs, so it connects properly to any interface without adapters.
- 70W per cabinet is ample for nearfield listening at sane levels.
- The white cone is a reference point people recognise, and resale is straightforward.
Where it falls short
- Nothing usable below roughly 54 Hz. Kick weight and sub bass have to be checked on headphones or accepted as unknown.
- It is not enjoyable to listen to. That is the design intent and it is still a real cost if these are also your only speakers.
- Harsh sources sound harsh, which is useful information and unpleasant company on a long session.
- It is rear ported, so a wall directly behind the cabinet reinforces the low end and undermines the flat response.
- A flat monitor in an untreated room is still mostly reporting the room. The speaker cannot fix what the walls are doing.
What owners report
Published owner reviews are remarkably consistent, and the most common single comment is some version of the same experience: the first week is unpleasant, and then mixes start translating. Owners describe hearing problems in their own recordings that they had never noticed on consumer speakers, and describe the HS5 as unforgiving rather than bad sounding. Very few owners describe them as fun.
The other steady theme is the low end. Owners regularly pair them with a subwoofer or with headphones for the bottom octave, and owners who did neither report guessing at kick and bass balance. That is what 54 Hz means in practice.
What actually decides your mixes
A flat monitor reports what reaches your ears, and in a small room a great deal of what reaches your ears is the room rather than the speaker. Put your dimensions into the room mode calculator to see where the modes land, and use the speaker placement calculator to set the triangle and the distance from the wall behind the cabinets. Those two steps cost nothing and change more than the difference between any two monitors at this price.
If you are cross shopping, the HS5 versus KRK Rokit 5 comparison covers the flat versus flattering question directly, and five inch versus eight inch monitors covers why a bigger woofer is usually the wrong upgrade in a small room. The JBL 305P MkII is the main rival at a slightly lower price, and its wider sweet spot is worth more than flatness when the desk position is fixed and imperfect.
Who it suits
- Small rooms, roughly up to 12 feet across, where an 8 inch woofer would do more harm than good.
- Anyone whose mixes keep failing to translate to cars, phones and laptops.
- Producers willing to check the bottom octave on headphones rather than pretend a 5 inch woofer covers it.
- Anyone who wants an unambiguous reference rather than a speaker with an opinion.
Who should skip it
- Anyone who wants one pair of speakers for both work and enjoyment.
- Bass heavy production where the bottom octave is the whole point and headphones are not an acceptable substitute.
- Desks where the cabinets must sit flat against a wall, since the rear port makes that placement worse.
- Untreated rooms with no plan to add corner absorption, where the flatness is largely wasted.
Alternatives worth considering
JBL 305P MkII Powered Studio Monitors, Pair
~$319
The Image Control Waveguide keeps the stereo image stable over a much wider listening position, and Boundary EQ compensates for a wall behind the cabinet. In a room where you cannot sit in the ideal triangle, that is worth more than the last few percent of flatness.
Check price on AmazonAdam Audio T5V Active Nearfield Monitors, Pair
~$470
The U-ART tweeter resolves reverb tails and cymbal decay more clearly than a dome tweeter, which makes reverb length and de-essing decisions less of a guess. Take it if your uncertainty is in the top octave rather than in level balance.
Check price on AmazonYamaha HS8 8 Inch Powered Studio Monitor, Pair
~$678
The same voicing with published response to 38 Hz, which removes the guesswork in the bottom octave. Worth it only if the room is roughly 12 by 14 feet or larger with corner absorption already in place, otherwise it makes the room's problems louder.
Check price on AmazonKeep reading
- Yamaha HS5 vs KRK Rokit 5
- Five inch vs eight inch studio monitors
- Room mode calculator
- Best studio monitors for small rooms
- JBL 305P MkII review
- Yamaha HS8 review
This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Yamaha HS5 good for a small bedroom studio?
Yes, and better than a larger monitor in the same room. A 5 inch woofer puts less energy into the 40 to 80 Hz range where small room modes are strongest, so what you hear is closer to the mix and less dominated by the room. Run the room mode calculator with your dimensions to see where your modes land before deciding you need something bigger.
Do I need a subwoofer with the HS5?
You need a way to check below about 54 Hz, and a subwoofer is only one of them. In a small untreated room a subwoofer adds energy exactly where the room behaves worst and adds a crossover alignment problem. Checking the bottom octave on headphones costs nothing and avoids both. Add a subwoofer once the corners are treated, not before.
Yamaha HS5 vs JBL 305P MkII, which should I buy?
The HS5 if you can sit in a proper listening triangle and want the flattest response, the 305P MkII if your desk position is compromised. JBL's waveguide gives a noticeably wider usable sweet spot and the Boundary EQ switch helps when the cabinets sit near a wall. Both are honest monitors, and the room will decide more than the badge does.
Why do my mixes sound bad on the HS5?
Because it is doing its job. The HS5 is voiced not to flatter, so harshness, muddiness and level problems that consumer speakers smooth over are audible. Almost every published owner review describes an adjustment period. Use a familiar commercial reference track for the first few weeks and compare against it rather than trusting your memory of how things used to sound.
How far from the wall should HS5 monitors sit?
As far as the desk allows, and not flat against it. The cabinets are rear ported, so a close boundary reinforces the low end and undoes the flat response. Yamaha provides room control and high trim switches to compensate, and a shelf is not a fix for a modal problem. Use the speaker placement calculator to work out the geometry first.
Working out your own room and signal chain? The Home Studio Build Planner is the paid version of these pages: 8 printable worksheets you fill in with your own numbers, plus the full PDF, $29.