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Yamaha YAS-71BL Front Surround System (Black) Features
Yamaha YAS-71BL Front Surround System (Black) Overviews Yamaha's newest Air-Surround XTREME system delivers great surround sound and includes a powerful, stylish subwoofer for added dynamic bass output. The YAS-71 provides a unique Home Theater solution. Related Products
Customer Review Best Customer Review : I've had the Yamaha YAS-71 for about two weeks now. First, some background on me: I'm a music composer/audio engineer as a side job, so I'd like to think that I have a very critical pair of ears. I can hear EQ adjustments in .1dB increments, but take that as you will. This is also my first soundbar, and I have no other soundbar experiences to compare it with. However, I am not new to the world of audio, and I run a high-end monitoring setup with Lavry converters in my music studio. I was looking for a budget solution to upgrade my existing bedroom sound experience, as my LCD TV speakers just weren't cutting it when watching Blu-rays on my PS3. A 5.1 setup was out of the question, along wit a 2.1 setup - I just did not have the space for separate speakers. A soundbar came to mind, and is something I wish I had considered sooner rather than later. After much research, I narrowed my interest to three: the Sony CT-100, the Yamaha YAS-71, and the Denon FS-3. These are all models you can find below 0. There are a lot of higher end models out there than what I set my sights on, but I felt the price of these higher end models (0-00) just didn't justify its functionality, especially in a smaller type room like mine (16ft x 14ft). The Sony generally had favorable reviews but one thing that kept coming up time and again was that it did not get loud enough, and that the center speaker generally made it more difficult than necessary to hear dialogue. The Denon would have been my top choice, but upon looking at the measurements, it would have blocked my IR receiver if placed in front of my TV. I also discovered that the channel levels on the Denon cannot be adjusted. I ended up getting the Yamaha YAS-71... ...and I'm glad I did. I was a bit skeptical at first because the YAS-70 model garnered some unfavorable reviews over at AVS due to it's sound quality not being up to par against other models, and its less than stellar surround effect. However, name aside, the YAS-71 seemed to have a different design in its drivers, using four 3" drivers instead of the YAS-70's six 2" drivers. I am also quite fond of Yamaha's DSP effects on their receiver line, so that also influenced my decision. After hooking it all up to my PS3/Cable box via optical cable, it was time to taste this baby out! Notable Features- Four DSP Modes: Movie, Music, Sports, Game Movie: Wide horizontal projection, and a medium forward projection. Sound had a touch of reverb to it, and audio had greater low end. Music: Narrow forward projection and medium horizontal projection. No reverb. Sports: Stadium like effect. Heavy reverb. Game: Like Music, except a very large forward projection, with a dip in the lower frequencies. Dimmer: You can reduce the brightness on the front of the display up to four levels, or have it off completely. When making adjustments when it is off completely, you can see the adjustments you are making but after a few seconds of idle, the display then shuts off. Very nice. Audio Delay: Essential function for syncing the soundbar's audio to your TV, as now audio and video are two separate sources. You can delay audio in steps of 10ms from 0 - 200ms (I don't remember the max number but it was somewhere around there). Without this function, I would have returned the unit. Enhancer: Adds harmonic noise to enhance high frequency perception. Works very well for what it is, but in most cases, I left this off. Sound Quality: First impressions were very underwhelming. The sound coming out was more muddy than what I am used to. The subwoofer sounded bad no matter what level it was adjusted to. However, it still sounded better than my TV speakers, and that was the idea, right? After about an hour or so, I started to notice some subtle improvements in the audio quality, due to warmup time. As I was calibrating the audio, I noticed the surround did add a "chorus" type effect to the overall sound, mainly due to the rear speakers being simulated by the front. Once I turned this down, the unit sounded significantly better. I found that Game mode sounded the best out of the four, by a large margin, mainly because I could hear blooming in the other DSP modes, and the bass sounded the most natural in Game mode. After tweaking the center and woofer channels, I became very happy with the unit. Contrary to other opinions, I thought the surround worked well, and there was a perception of hearing sounds behind you as if the audio were expanding from the sides. Let's be real though, room type and placement will have a large role in how well this will work, and don't expect to hear sounds behind you from just a front speaker. After a week or so, my thoughts on the system remained the same. Very happy with the unit. I noticed that the rubber feet on the unit were pretty...well, flat. I purchased some isolation pads from Radio Shack (.50) and applied them. Result? BIG difference. Sound was a lot more crisp and frequency energies were properly transfered (to the air, and not my TV stand). I was able to knock the surround channel up a notch without hearing that chorus effect. All of the DSP modes sound great, and now I am liking the Movie setting the best, which is strange because prior to applying the pads, I liked Movie mode the least... I also must comment on the volume of this thing. It does loud, and it does loud well. I've cranked this thing to around 80% (at which any louder would begin to hurt), and showed no signs of any tinnyness. Lovin' it! Pros: Great sound Easy one touch mode selection Easy channel adjustment Some nice features (enhancer, dimmer) Audio Delay Loud Great price Cons: Finicky with placement and adjustments No HDMI No settings lock (the settings save, but there is no lock to prevent them from being changed) Other thoughts: If you plan on using a power conditioner, make sure it is TRANSPARENT, otherwise you will be sacrificing forward projection and some filtered frequencies. A power strip with surge suppression is all you need. Customer Review 1 : Sounds Great!! - Daniel Shidid - Dallas Well after much research and looking at other products i have to say that choosing the Yamaha YAS-71BL sound bar was a great choice. It sounds great with my tv, wii and movies. The only reason I did not give the sound bar 5 stars is because of the missing HDMI connections. If you are looking for a sound bar under 0 this is your best choice. Customer Review 2 : excellent sound - mcp - I bought this for my father's birthday after considering the sony ht-ct100. I listened the sony in best buy and the sound was weak and cold. I originally liked the sony because it has more inputs (3 hdmi among others) than any reasonably priced sound bar, but after listening to it I felt the inputs were not worth it since my father's t.v. already has 4 hdmi outputs. All I really needed was 2 optical inputs, which is exactly what the yamaha has. So I bought the yamaha based on the reviews of its sound having never heard it. Construction This system is heavy and well made. The glossy black finish is much nicer than the dull finish on the sony and it matches my father's panasonic plasma perfectly. Overall the system is sexy, compact, and durable. Features The system could have more inputs, especially hdmi compatability or at least a video pass through. However, if you are willing to use optical cables it is fine for 2 components. Many sound bars only have a single audio input, so I can't fault the yamaha too much. Sound The sound on this system is unbelievable. The room the system is in is huge with 20 ft ceilings and the system fills it with sound at 50% volume. In fact it is too loud at half volume. I was worried it would not sound much better than the t.v. speakers as the T.V. is the top of the line panasonic that has 4 speakers. My worries were definately unjustified. There is clear separation of the center channel speaker from the virtual surround speakers and the bass shakes the entire house when watching movies at 50% volume. Basically, what you are getting is surround sound without the rear channel, so when watching sporting events the broadcasters voices are clearly separated from the crowd noise. We have a much more expensive surround sound system with 7 bose speakers and a yamaha receiver in our basement and this thing sounds almost as good less the rear speaker effect. Ease of use The system sets up in minutes and adjustments are minimal. It is nice that you can easily raise or lower the volume of the center channel, virtual surround speakers, or subwoofer using the remote. This comes in handy if you would like more or less crowd noise when watching games. For the price this system cannot be beat in my opinion. I listened to the polk, boston acoustics, sony and samsung systems and this sounds the best by far and is cheaper than the others. The only system that comes close is the boston acoustics but that only has a single input for sound. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a cheap easy way to get a movie theater effect in there house without having to run wires everywhere. This system meets and exceeds my expectations. |
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Yamaha YAS-71BL Front Surround System (Black)
Posted by richy | 9:35 PM | (Black), Surround, System, Yamaha, YAS-71BL | 0 comments »
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