Yamaha YHT-595BL or YHT-695BL

I could've probably answered this in your other thread as well but if 4k passthru is something you don't need, I'd go with the 595 and use the price difference to upgrade the speakers. You never really did state a budget so that might be helpful for us to know. The best way to build a HTS is by individual pieces, not a HTiB, but that can get very pricey very quickly. Give us a max price range and we'll spend your money for you

Hmmm, ok. The MLT-2 5.1 speaker set can be had for around $350 the last time I checked. The receiver for the YHT-395 Yahama HTiB system is the RX-V371. I haven't priced it separately but being as it is their "entry level" AVR, and an older model, it should be around maybe $200. The reason I suggest the MLT-2s is that they have a bigger driver (4" I think) and tweeter (1") so that is going to give you a much better dynamic range and sound stage at 8 ohms than practically any HTiB system under $500. They have a slightly bigger bookshelf footprint than the Yamaha speakers and binding post connectors (at least I think so) so they can be connected to virtually any receiver. The Yamaha speakers are clip in so they would work with any receiver as well should you choose to change your receiver some day and keep the speakers (extra satellites, rear speakers, etc). FWIW, I really like my RX-V371 because it suits our needs perfectly and sounds fantastic. I do wish it had the iPod connector on the front like the 595 does but we don't use it that much for music (other than movies) anyway. We have a separate room (living room) with it's own stereo system for listening to music etc. Audyssey audio calibration is also a big deal to some so any receiver that has a mic calibration system may be a desirable feature as well. There does seem to be some differences of opinion on how truly useful auto-calibration with a mic is on the entry to mid-level systems so you'll have to decide for yourself on that. I would think that with really nice speakers it would be a good way to go but the definition of really nice is also open for discussion and certainly out of my price range. Just keep in mind that if you or anyone else changes seating positions relative to the front sound stage, the audio characteristic will change as well regardless of how you calibrated it. For some, not a big deal. For others..........
Edited by Otto Pylot - 11/9/12 at 12:24pm

The audio calibration on the RX-V371 is manual in that you set the distance to the speakers and adjust the volume for each speaker if I remember correctly. It doesn't correct for the room acoustics like I believe Audyssey does. Mine sounds just fine so it all depends on how particular to you are. I did have to figure out the correct cross-over frequency for the sub to make the fronts sound better but that was trial and error and a lot of help from the Speaker forum. The MLT-2s have a much better dynamic range than the speakers that come with the HTiB system so you can probably get away with a 80MHz x-over for the sub and keep the other speakers at Small.