Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards CLP-645 and CLP-685 speaker system

I’m comparing these two at the moment, and I had my mind set on the 685 because liked the action more than 645’s, and I thought the binaural CFX sounded better on the 685.

However, because of the 685 being twice the price of 645 I’m somewhat conflicted since I didn’t hate the action on 645, and the difference on headphones is supposedly non-existent, it might have been me thinking the 685 sounded better in the store because of the 685 being a more premium instrument.

So, if the sound through headphones is similar (maybe even identical) between the two, and the action is fine on the 645 and excellent on the 685, a bit boils down to the speakers, although headphones will still be my main usage.

The 645 looks a lot weaker in the speaker department compared to the 685. I did not test the pianos without headphones for more than a brief time, so I can’t really be the judge of how they compared. I will however return to the store to do just this, but even so, the sound will be different in the store, compared to my living room.

What do you guys think of the speakers of the 645, how do they compare to the 685’s?

//iLogic

I think the spruce cone speakers of the 685 are meant to make the sound closer to an acoustic. However, it still sounded as 'digital' as the 645 to me when I tested both at the store. The only thing noticeable is that the 685 is significantly louder than the 645 when both are set to the same volume on the slider.

This is interesting. If the 645 is good enough to fill a living room I’m finding it harder and harder to motivate a 685 buy...

CLP-645's speaker power is more than enough for a living room (mine is around 22 square meters with 2.6 m ceiling), at full volume piano is so loud that it's even uncomfortable to play. On the other hand, 685 should have richer sound due to additional speakers, so I think you should also compare overall sound quality, not only volume.

Spruce cone speakers? Wuzzup with that?

Poor man's soundboard? LOL.

Tony at Bonners says it has something to do with Yamahas environmental thinking, recycled material and such. But I dunno.

A P-515 is more than sufficiently loud to be pretty deafening in a living room. I don’t think I’ve ever had the volume slider above half on mine.

So I just traded in my CLP-685 for the N1X and I’ll give you my take on it. I found the speaker system fabulous, the best of any piano I played, and that’s in comparison to the Kawai CA98 and the Roland LX-708 which are, I believe, marketed to the same segment. As you may know, I prefer the Yamaha sound to the other two to begin with and I also think for the higher end instruments that Yamaha does the bast job mating their piano sound engine to speakers. The 645 and 685 are worlds apart in the sound you can get with the speakers.

In my own AB tests with the 675 versus the 685, though it may have had to do with the amplification, to me it seemed like the spruce cones mellowed the bass notes a lot and made the sound even more pleasant. On the 675 and even the N1X I find the CFX a little harsh (I much prefer the Bosendorfer imperial through the speaker on the N1X) but on the 685 it sounds marvelous.

Obviously the normal disclaimer that this is all subjective and YMMV based on your tastes. But I thought my experience might be useful.

Very useful indeed, in making my decision harder.

I had also a CLP-685. If i would buy a Yamaha CLP again, i probably go with the CLP-645. The sound isn't that much better and the spruce cones mean nothing. The total watts of the amplification sounds huge but i was rather disappointed at least. 50W are 50W, regardless how many speakers it has. It doesn't blend into better sound quality like a single 300W speaker.

Funny... Totally different opinions there.

I’ll go ahead and try them out myself haha

Yes, testing a DP by yourself is the only sensible option... and be aware that the acoustics of the showroom will not match the acoustics of your place. Nevertheless, the 685's speaker system should provide a better experience due to the cabinet resonance.

But you should focus on the action. The 645 uses the NWX and the 685 uses the GrandTouch, which are quite different actions. The GrandTouch has mixed reviews due to the way Yamaha decided to implement the static and dynamic weighting... so, be sure to thoroughly test them and compare them to an acoustic piano if you have the chance.

What made you switch from clp685 to nu1x?

The NV10.
(sorry, couldn't resist - I'll show myself out...).

As JoBert said: The NV10.

But to be clear: Both action and sound of the NU1X is simply superior to the CLP-685. It doesn't has much voices and a comfortable UI, but it does an amazing job in the first place: Being a great DP.

Now, let us not turn this thread into an NV10 vs. N1X rodeo. We all now which is the best, but there’s no need to be rude...... I’ll show myself out, too.....

Yes, let's not have that rodeo ...At least not yet.
But let's DEFINITELY have it in April of 2021. That's when I'll be approaching retirement and I'll be debating whether to buy the NV10 or the N1X.

Mac, by then there could be an NV20 available (Synthetic ivory included).

An NV20? A revision of their top model after only three years on the market? Not likely.

Give it five years or more. Maybe closer to ten. (Look at what Yamaha's been doing with the AGs.)