Great Deal Yamaha YSP-3050BL Digital Sound Projector
The Yamaha YSP-3050 is my first soundbar purchase, and I settled on it after reading lots of reviews (both professional and peer) which praised its sound quality. I was interested in a soundbar because I was averse to setting up a true 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system for various reasons, and Yamaha was consistently rated at the top of the field. I took advantage of Amazon's offer of a free Yamaha YST-FSW050BL Advanced YST II Down-Firing Active Subwoofer with purchase.
SOUND: This is the most important factor, in my book. I'm happy to say the reviews I read were accurate, and the sound quality of the device does not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a job the soundbar does at simulating 5.1 sound. My room does not match either of the "ideal" layouts described, and I utilized the automatic calibration function, and the sound is excellent in 5 beam mode and stereo + 3 beam mode. My friend owns a Sony HTC Soundbar, and he commented that the Yamaha seemed to have slightly superior sound. Either way, the audio for my Blu-Rays and video games have never sounded better. I haven't spent as much time testing out "built-in" subwoofers because I have an external one, but from what I can tell the addition of the external subwoofer is a substantial benefit for bass fans. I'm glad I got it.
SETUP: Setup was relatively simple, especially for HDMI devices. It should be fairly obvious what connectors go where. However, there are a few potential snags for the unwary. One annoyance was the fact that all the inputs/outputs (except HDMI) on the rear panel are downward facing, so reconfiguring them requires turning the entire soundbar on its side. Another confusing feature was the ability to reassign audio inputs to video inputs. As an example, you can select AUX1 optical as the audio input to associate with your component video input, or you can select an RCA analog input to associate with the same video input. This is an extra level of configuration that is helpful (and by design saves space on the rear panel), but can be confusing to learn. Unfortunately the manual doesn't do an amazing job of explaining this feature either. Generally speaking, the manual is great at covering the basics, but lacking on the advanced features (which I would assume are the ones users would be more likely to refer to the manual for).
For those who are having trouble figuring this out, the confusion arises because the remote control selections are labeled by AUDIO input, but the input assignment menu is grouped by VIDEO input. So although it looks like you are assigning AUX1 audio to Component Video, for example, in reality you are assigning Component Video to AUX1 audio. This is because the mode you will select when operating the soundbar is AUX1, and the soundbar will then know to pass through Component Video to the television set. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense as written, but it's somewhat non-intuitive as I explained.
So far, my biggest gripe is actually with a technical limitation. The YSP-3050BL only supports up to 1080i input through component, and not full 1080p as it should. (Though some will mistakenly claim otherwise, component video does indeed support full 1080p, and I've been using 1080p over component on my Xbox 360 for a long time now.) This limitation was not made obvious anywhere, and took an e-mail to Yamaha support to determine why my component video was not being passed through. Thus, I have been faced with the choice of lowering the quality of my video to 1080i or sending the video signal directly to the TV and not taking advantage of the receiver-function of the soundbar. To Yamaha's credit, their support was knowledgeable and quick to respond.
PRICE: Let's face it, 00 is a little steep, especially when major competitors (e.g., Sony HTCs) are in the 0-range. That being said, all accounts point to the Yamaha as offering superior audio. It's probably not 0 worth, and you certainly can find a full 5.1 system for less than 00. But there are many reasons a full 5.1 or 7.1 setup are not practical, and if you have the extra cash this is guaranteed to deliver a good audio experience.
Sounds good, but has limited HDMI inputs - Mike B - Maryland
I was debating 4 or 5 stars on the rating its probably 4.5. The setup/manual is a little daunting . Took about 2-3 hours to decipher the remote buttons, the different hookup options and set my specific system up. Came nicely packaged like you would expect for premium Yamaha audio items. The calibration process is neat to watch.
Only problems so far are limited HDMI inputs. A DVD and a cable box are bare minimum HDMI connections and thats all the YSP3050 supports. If you have other HDMI inputs you are out of luck. I decided to hook the optical PCM TV outputs into the YSP3050 instead of putting the YSP3050 as central to my system via HDMI switching and having to rewire all the HDMI connections. Although with the PCM optical hookup the readout on the box indicates 2 channels in not sure if/why I can't get 5.1 out of the PCM optical port.
Second issue is the vague or non-existant mounting instructions. It would be nice if there were mount plates provided or built in mounting holes. For me an ideal location is above the TV and there is no clear way to do that with no apparent sturdy YSP3050 mounting holes for the 25 lb box.
My Harmony remote was able to be programmed to handle all the needed functions so the TV/cable/dvd/appleTV/game console all work with the YSP3050 albeit not thru HDMI. Although Harmony setup lists the device as a audio amplifier not a sound bar.
I've re-done the auto setup cal a few times as I move things around, just takes a minute or so. It does seem to setup the level of the external sub woofer also so you don't need to play with your sub outputs by ear. You can always go back to the sub after the cal and adjust the signal up or down to your tastes but when you do the next cal the YSP will flatten out the changes again.
One of the other posts said there was no remote control of the sub, however there is a "night time" mode which cuts the sub outputs down. Its in the manual.
Last little nit was the built in FM tuner. The sensitivity with the provided antenna plugged into the RF coax connector is pretty low. Almost all the local FM channels sounded slightly noisy. I'd probably basically skip that or try a larger external antenna. It was handy for a quick power up check of the unit, I have not used the built-in FM since.
Easy Surround Sound - V-Ron - Pittsburgh, PA United States
I received a large screen Panasonic HDTV for my birthday, and although I loved the picture, I was not satisfied with the sound coming from the built-in speakers. The TV is in our bedroom, and therefore, I did not want to go with a multi-speaker setup. I decided to look at soundbars. I probably would have gone with the soundbar made by KEF or Definitive Technology, because they make such excellent speakers in general, but the soundbars made by those 2 companies do not come equipped with built-in amplification. Again, I wanted to minimize the number of additional pieces of equipment which had to be added, so I decided to look into Yamaha's sound projector selection, due to the fact that Yamaha has an excellent reputation, has been making sound projectors for longer than most other manufacturers, and does include amplification in the single unit. Yamaha has a wide selection of sound projectors, ranging in price from around 0 to over 00. I felt that I wanted to spend no more than 00, which led me to the YSP-3050. At the time, Amazon was offering it as a "bundle" with a free Yamaha subwoofer, and that convinced me to take the plunge. Although the sound from the YSP-3050 is significantly better than the sound from the TV speakers, I do not think it is as good as would be expected from separate speakers and a receiver. Of course, that is also not what Yamaha promised. All things considered, for someone who does not want separates, I would strongly recommend this system. I have 2 cautionary things to mention: First, Yamaha states that this system is simple to set up. However, the manual is close to 100 pages long! It is true that the initial setup is relatively simple, but perfecting the system for your room, and understanding the variations that can be implemented, is not so simple. Second (and I think this is a big one): some of the higher priced Yamaha sound projectors come with a jack that allows you to turn the subwoofer on and off with the remote control from the sound projector. The YSP-3050 does not include that jack, so the subwoofer has to be turned on and off manually. If you plan on getting a Yamaha subwoofer, you might want to consider one of higher priced Yamaha sound projectors which come with this jack.
Rating : 4.5
Price on Sep 26, 2010 00:02:24 : $1,199.95
Offer Price : $529.99
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Yamaha YSP-3050BL Digital Sound Projector Features
- True multi-channel surround sound
- Analog to HDMI video upconversion, scaling to 720p/1080i
- Built-in FM tuner and XM Radio ready
- iPod compatible via optional YDS-10
- 23 speakers - 82W total power
Yamaha YSP-3050BL Digital Sound Projector Overviews
The new YSP-3050 Digital Sound Projector offers great new features such as 1080p-compatible HDMI, analog video to HDMI digital video upconversion, XM Satellite Radio ready, iPod compatibility and wide variety of beam settings including My Surround for true multi-channel surround sound enjoyment from a single component.
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