Yamaha YHT-S400,,, I got one, but have questions, need opinions ??

You should probably see someone for the Soundbar addiction

Yes Davyo. This soundbar addiction
is an illness.
Ooops,.. off to my shrink.. :-)

@Davyo, I think you should start a Audio Review Blog atleast that way MAY be all the Manufacturers will send you review kits

The Yahama seems kind of a let down, from your review.. but as you said lets see if members who own this thing can come up with some tips.

Sweet! There are not many pics out there of the S400, can you take a shot of the bar and the sub next to your TV. Thanks, Davyo YTMD!

I'm posting cause I want to show a little love for the Yamaha sound bar. I've had the S400 for a number of months now and I'm happy with it.

I had actually purchased the Boston Acoustics tvee 2 sound bar. I had listened to it at Best Buy against the Sony CT100, which I felt lacked volume and also did not have a wireless sub, something I wanted. BB also had the Polk sound bar/wireless sub combo, and while I felt that it and the BA were both powerful and immersive I felt that the BA had a fuller sound with more depth and bought it. That it was stereo sound had no impact on me, guess the virtual surround sound concept was feeling a little like voodoo magic to me. That I had soon after experienced the CT-500 at the Sony store did nothing to change my point of view.

Anyway, got the BA home, set it up and liked it. With all the demo audio blasts and booms at Best Buy one of the things I did not notice until I got it home was that the dialog was a little difficult to hear through action sequences and musical scores. It probably didn't help that my first test disk was Terminator Salvation with Christian Bale mumbling his way through. The other thing that I wasn't thrilled with was when using my cable remote to control sound on the unit, the TV sound would also be adjusting at the same time, which makes sense since the unit learns your remotes commands. When I turned off the TV sound in the TV menu system each time I used the remote for sound with the BA the TV would pick up the signal and display an icon telling me that the sound was off. Anyway, not ideal and I ended returning the unit.

I had seen the (original) Vizio at Costco and just wasn't feeling it, visually the sound bar just felt huge and overpowering to me and I was concerned that placed in front of my TV it would block the remote from controlling the TV. And while sound was an important factor, for me the choice was certainly not all about the audio. If it was I would have probably gone in a different direction from a sound bar altogether.

Without first seeing and strictly from reviews I ended up with the S400. The reviews from those who had demoed the unit were pretty upbeat about the audio and I was happy with that. I also really liked the funky receiver/subwoofer form factor and the super slim sound bar and how it would work in my setup. Like others I was concerned about vibration but thus far it's been a non-issue. I wanted a discrete setup and this was it, a sound bar with feet that sits low yet above the TV stand and therefore can be placed snug against my 40 TV and visually meld into the TV to a greater degree than any other sound system I'd seen. The vibration issue aside I also liked that there was no sub hanging off the end or apart from my setup and instead would sit as part of my setup on a shelf discretely. Clean is what I wanted and what I got.

In term of audio, I'm happy with both volume and dynamic sound quality. It's clear, sharp and has power. Like the BA it's not really surround, though if you play it loud enough I guess sound is going to fill the room. Other things I like. Setting for the center channel, really nice feature for bringing out dialog. Setting for HDMI pass through, this way with Yamaha off, some of the technology challenged in the house can watch TV with TV audio just like normal, and with the Yamaha on TV sound is disabled and the Yamaha takes over. And while I picked up a remote with the Yamaha, I also lost the TV remote because the Yamaha remote takes over the job of HDMI switching and that's all I was using the TV remote for. Has FM reception, which I find myself using on occasion, it's a nice add on. I'm also thinking that changing from surround modes to extended stereo mode may get more of the surround sound some may desire.

The unit has a variety of surround modes: movie, music, sports and game. For me, they all sound the same so I'm wondering if someone with the unit can tell me if their experience is similar.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

hi dave!! i just ran to this post saying you had the S400....i was Shocked on your review...damn i was about to get one; like you all i have read was good in Europe.....

I am stunned that for you not only was the bar a deception, but it was also the worst bar you had in your life...it's not even in your top 5!!!

my question DAVE: i was torn between the CT150 and S400.....main priorities are:

1. Best dialogue clarity
2. Best bluray audio quality (PCM)
3. Best surround (hell you say the sony is MUCH better, so won't ask which is better!)
4. Subwoofer quality


So aside from 3....which one wins???

Confused now.....the sony is 50% less than the yamaha, should i go with that???

ps: don't tell me to go JCV....i need HDMI

Hey Davyo, thanks for the welcome. Yes, I am reading this stuff and have seen enough to recognize and appreciate that the excellent sound bar related experience on this forum exists in no small part due to your contribution.

I understand what you are saying about the store demo experience.

Also Davyo, if you or anyone with the unit, can let me know if you are (or recall) hearing any variances between the movie, music, sports and game surround mode effects. I don't notice any differences and am wondering what others are experiencing.

Isn't this JVC model no longer being manufactured?

thanx DAVEYO, once again.....unfortunatly where i live no JVC can be had...i would have to ask someone to get it from france or something, a real hassle...
so my guess is to go with the CT-150....as it will be available here in end of september.....
will keep reading this forum until then............
damn i really wanted the S400....

lol Dave...you and soundbars.....you will become sick one day!

Going to get another CT-150.......i never thought of that.....in any case man life is short, just get a soundbar and settle down for some time until a sony CT true 5.1 wireless soundbar comes out next year with HD decoding

Davyo,

Since you are the resident tester and people here look for your reviews, ever consider trying out the Samsung HW 450? I know there is no HDMI, but it did get some pretty good reviews too.

I would love to hear your comparison of the Samsung to the JVC.

Looks similar. A few more watts, same connections, wireless sub.
It has an autovolume feature, and a few different modes too. I heard it in a best buy and it sounded pretty decent in the large warehouse/store.

It also has a lot of decent reviews and a good look to it.

I am trying to decide between this Yamaha (YHT-S400) and Samsung HW-C450. Has anyone compared the sound differences between these 2?

Thanks in advance....

@Davyo, you can use this Video only processor
http://www.amazon.com/DVDO-EDGE-High...2752539&sr=1-1

but its a bit expensive for what it does..
Dont own it, but from the product description you can do HDMI switching and as also get optical out from various sources switched to one single Optical output.

I am considering getting the YHT-S400 due to some unique space limitations that I have.
My question is will my Directv remote be able to turn on the S400 and run volume. I know Directv has Yamaha listed w codes but I want to be sure it will work before I might buy.
Anyone knowing answer will be appreciated.

Do not know a definite answer. I did own a Yamaha sound projector and it would not work with any codes with the universal remotes that came with my cable box or TV. My son now has the Yamaha and it does not work with his DirectTV remote. Both Yamaha and Direct said there were no available codes for this. Both I and my son ended up with Logitech Harmony remotes to bypass the problem and it did make our lives (and even more important those of our wives) much easier.

Thanks for the response. One question more.
Did you mean your son now has the Yamaha YHT-S400 and Directv remote will not run it??
I was thinking too that I can go the Logitech universal remote route if I have to but the Directv remote is better obviously.
I did call Directv and they could not really guarantee anything but said if none of codes work you can also scan for codes and they can help with how to do it. I sure hate to spend money without knowing these answers for sure.

no his son has an older model (an YSP 900 i think it was that one)

Correct you are. I had gone through this exercise in 2006 with Yamaha and Comcast for my cable remote. My son repeated the exercise in 2009 with Yamaha and Direct with equally frustrating results. As always, dads come through with purchasing a new Harmony remote for me and handing down the old one. Everyone happy.