Seeking Soundbar with DTS Decoding/Processing - Sony HT-CT500 or Yamaha YAS-71?

I am shopping for a soundbar and am having a hard time deciding between the Sony CT-500 and the Yamaha YAS71BL.

My Must Haves include DTS decoding, DD 5.1 decoding, clear audio (especially vocals in movies), reasonably loud, good bass and improvement over the TV's speakers (I have a 40" Sony Bravia 720p LCD TV).

Primary usage includes watching movies with DTS and DD 5.1 audio via a WDTV, HD TV via Verizon FIOS DVR and DVDs with an old DVD player.

I have my WDTV and FIOS DVR connected to the TV via HDMI. Would like to connect the Optical Audio Out from both WDTV and FIOS DVR to the SoundBar's receiver (because although my TV has an Optical Out, it doesn't pass through DTS and DD 5.1 audio - just drops/ignores them).

I have no desire (and don't see a need at this time) to pass video through the sound bar. The Vizio is out of the question as it doesn't do DTS decoding.

I see the CT-500 for over $400 and the YAS71 for under $300 online.

I've read comparisons between the CT-100 and the YAS71 - stating that YAS71 is way better.

How about the CT-500 and the YAS71? How do they compare? In what ways is the CT-500 better than the YAS71? Does it have more features/connection options (other than the BraviaLink with my TV ofcourse).

Are there any other soundbars in the same price range (~ $300) that are comparable?

Thanks,
MediocreFred.

Thanks for the suggestion scrope. I have seen/heard the CT-100 and was not very impressed. However, I understand that the CT-500 is far superior.

I am more interested in either seeing or hearing/reading opinions of those that have seen A-B comparisons of the CT-500 and YAS-71.

Specifically, I would like to know if the CT-500 is worth ~ $200 more than the YAS-71. Is it really that much better? If so, in what way?

I am used to buying almost everything online sight unseen - based purely on online research and forums such as these. So far, I have never been disappointed.

It's almost as if I trust the observations and opinions of others more than I trust my own!

I've read through every thread dealing with the CT500 and the YAS-71, but, cannot find any information comparing them against each other.

Thanks.

shenrei, thanks very much for your reply. That does help.

My living room is 15' x 15' with three and a half walls (the right rear half wall is open to the kitchen) and a flat ceiling. Will the YAS-71 be adequate for a room this size? The TV is against one wall and the sofa against the opposite wall.

We don't play movies super loud, but, still like the dialogs to be clear and audible without having to have the rest of the movie sounds (action sequences and so on) be oppressively loud.

The connectors on the YAS-71 are just adequate for now and I have no plans for more equipment, but, who knows what the future will bring.

The extra power of the CT500 does sound appealing, but, given the size of the room, I am not sure if it will add value. We find our TV's speakers more than adequately loud - it is just lacks clarity and crispness - it can just get very loud.

In our media room, I have a Denon 4205R receiver with fairly decent 5.1 speakers, a 92" screen and a projector. I certainly don't expect the soundbar to deliver anywhere close to that experience. My main reason/need for the soundbar is to decode DTS and DD audio streams and sound better (clearer, cleaner, crisper, some bass, reasonably loud) than the TV's speakers.

If the CT500 was in the price range of the YAS-71 (+ or - $50), I would have jumped on it. But, with the CT500 being almost $200 more than the YAS-71, I am not so sure.

If you or anybody else can tell me that the YAS-71 will be adequate for me (in a 15 x 15 living room) and all that the CT500 will get me for the extra $200 is more power and more input connectors (I have a Harmony remote and so, the BraviaLink is not that useful), I'll get the YAS-71 this week.

Thanks for all your help.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking of just placing the soundbar on right in front of the TV.

I've been reading more about the CT500 all morning and am now leaning towards it - it does give me more options to upgrade components down the road.

Is there any advantage that the YAS-71 has over the CT500 other than the price? Is the Yamaha better in any way?

With the CT500, I might velcro it to the top of the TV, or, mount it on the wall right above the TV.

I was looking to buy the YAS-71 for $279 at buy.com or the CT500 for $399 at Newegg.

Provantage's shipping is quite high and its price with shipping comes pretty close to buy.com or Newegg - both of which have free shipping.

Thanks.

Thanks again.

The width of the Sony should be OK if I wall mount the soundbar right above the TV; it does make it hard to move the TV around though...

As for sound quality, the main CT500 thread has numerous positive comments. Although, I haven't found any comparing it with the YAS-71.

For the extra $120, I am leaning more and more towards the Sony. A purely subjective question. If you had to pick between them now, which would you pick and why? I just want to make sure that I have not overlooked considering any factors/angles.

Thanks.

shenrei, thanks for responding to the subjective question. Good points.

mathruj, thanks for the data points.

I read about the Denon, but, ruled it out because it is a discontinued model that in only available used on Amazon and because it doesn't have the ability to control volumes of individual speakers/channels.

With the YAS-71, I will be using up all of the inputs right away. If I ever purchased a bluray player or any other component, I would have to either unplug one of my existing components, or, upgrade the soundbar.

Also, 99% of the movies I watch are using my WDTV - the original version which doesn't have a DTS decoder. Using the optical output on the WDTV, I can have it pass through any audio stream to a receiver. For now, I haven't tried any media files with DTS-HD or direct BluRay format rips.

With the YAS-71, I can only play movies with DTS and DD encoded audio streams (in addition to AC3 and all the regular formats). If I had a DTS-HD or a native BluRay audio stream, I would not be able to play it. With the CT500, I can play all of those as well. So, while no piece of electronics is going to be truly future-proof, the Sony might serve my needs longer than the Yamaha.

That said, I do see your points regarding Yamaha's reputation and sound quality.

Additionally, the slightly suspect build quality of the CT500s (from its thread) have me hesitating about buying it from NewEgg or Provantage - both of which will have me pay for return shipping if I do end up with a defective unit.

mathruj - thanks for bringing up the aspect of the Sony having many more features for the same price which may indicate compromised sound quality. While the features are all cool, I know that I will not be using the BraviaLink (although I have a Sony TV) and for now, I am not planning on passing HDMI through the CT500. I have a Harmony remote that I am perfectly happy with for switching between different activities (Watch WDTV, Watch TV, Watch DVD, ...). I understand that if I want to watch DTS-HD and BluRay using WDTV, I'll have to pass HDMI through the CT500. So, the on screen display/menu of the CT500 is not of much use for now.

Despite all this, it is the thought that the CT500 will be a little more future proof than the YAS-71 (which I'll be maxing out right away) that is keeping me undecided.

As for the CT500's 200Hz crossover, the fact that it sounds good (I am not sure if it sounds non-directional) from the reviews makes it less of a concern for me.

I do like the CT500's NightMode which kills all the bass at the push of a button (or is it in the menu...).

If only somebody who has compared them both in similar circumstances can comment on the sound quality of both units...

Thanks.

OK... so between the two of you (shenrei and mathruj), you've got me reconsidering the YAS-71.

So, shenrei, here's my concern regarding the lossless HD audio streams. I realize that quality-wise they mean nothing on a 2.1 or 3.1 system; however, if the only audio stream in a BR-ripped mkv file is the HD audio stream, will YAS-71 be able to play it? I am not sure if you have used the WDTV, but, will the WDTV pass this audio stream through its optical output (I know that it passes DTS and DD5.1 streams to the receiver)?

I share your opinion of the YHT-S400. That and the price is a fair bit more than what I had planned to spend.

I know you've said this before, but, I just want to clarify - is a 15' x 15' room stretching the YAS-71's abilities/range, or, will it be a good fit?

One last (for now) question... how is the YAS-71 for playing music - predominantly classical? I have a Creative XMod XFi wireless player that I am planning on hooking up to the RCA input jacks of the YAS-71. The music files are predominantly 128kbps mp3 files. I am currently using a set of Logitech computer speakers to play them and so, this should be better. But, how is the quality of the speakers for music in general? Will it be loud enough (and pleasant enough) to listen to from an adjoining room?

Thanks for all your help!

Thanks again shenrei.

My living room is a 15' square - call the 4 walls A, B, C and D - walking clockwise along the square so A and C are opposite sides.

The TV is in the middle of A on an ~ 18" tall TV table (you know the kind with wheels and a single shelf for equipment). The viewing location is a sofa against wall C - right behind the sofa is a huge window with horizontal wooden blinds. Side D has a fireplace in the middle. Side B has a half wall - the back/rear half is open and leads to the kitchen. The roof is either 10 or 12 feet high. The seating position works out to about 12 feet from the TV.

I intend to either place the speakerbar on the TV table right in front of the TV or, velcro it to the top of the TV - not sure how well the velcro solution works, but, I've read about others doing it. Where would you recommend placing the yamaha soundbar? I've read your review and know that you tried different positions and settings.

As for the isolation pads that you purchased from Radio Shack, would you happen to have a link to the item, or, a picture? Can it be anything that raises it above the surface, or, does it have to be a particular material?

Good to know that it sounds great with music.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the link to the pads.

Good to know that the tabletop (at 18") is a poor choice for placing the soundbar. Ear level or slightly higher would mean the top of the TV.

What are your thoughts/opinions on sticking the soundbar to the top of the TV using velcro strips?

The 12 feet distance from the TV - I arrived at this by subtracting approximately the distance of the sofa seat from the rear wall and the TV from its wall; I've measured the wall to wall width to be exactly 15'. Even if the distance is 12 feet, if I mount the speakers above ear level, it should still sound pretty darned good, right?

Thanks.

I am sold. Just purchased the YAS-71 from buy.com this morning.

If the volume/distance ends up being that big an issue, I'll convince my wife to move the sofa closer to the TV. It's probably easier said than done (the convincing, not the moving)...

kirsch92, thanks for posting. That's good to know that the yamaha performs well in a room that size. How and where do you have the soundbar mounted?

Thanks!

Shoot... you are right. Buy.com is not an authorized dealer for Yamaha products.

I called Buy.com and the CS rep said that they've never had issues with Yamaha not honoring the warranty on products they've sold.

I called Yamaha and a pretty rude/curt CS rep said that since buy.com was not on the list, Yamaha would not honor the warranty for items purchased from them.

Buy.com has a 30 day exchange policy for defective items (with free return shipping).

Part of me feels that if it works defect-free for 30 days, it will work for the next 11 months (I've never had electronics components fail within their warranty period - except a couple that were DOA and easily exchanged). Also, even if I had the warranty, Yamaha does not refund return shipping; so, if I had to return the speaker to Yamaha for servicing/repair, I would have to ship it by UPS - which would cost close to $100.

Another part of me is convinced that since I've typed the previous paragraph, I've jinxed the soundbar and it WILL fail within the first year.

Regardless, I am not sure if it is worth the hassle of refusing buy.com's shipment (it's already shipped!) and ordering it from elsewhere.

Again, I solicit opinions.

Thanks.

I purchased the soundbar with a Visa Signature card which has a Warranty Manager feature - it doubles the manufacturer warrant by a year. I called them, described the scenario and asked them if they would cover it. They said that as long as the product itself came with a warranty and I registered it with the Warranty Manager service as soon as I received it, they would cover/honor it regardless of the manufacturer's policies about warranties and authorized dealers.

So, I guess I'll keep the soundbar from buy.com. It cost me $262 with a 10 off 200 coupon for new customers (a new email, userid and password is a new account) and 3% cashback from FatWallet.

Another person has posted on the other YAS-71 thread that he was able to talk to the Sales Manager at 6th Ave (an authorized dealer) and get the YAS-71 for $249. This is probably the best approach for others interested in this soundbar.

Thanks guys for all your help, opinions and suggestions. I really appreciate it. Will post back with my comments after I receive it and set it up.

Thanks.