Polk Audio SurroundBar360° DVD Home Theater System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)Observations
Pros: Built like a tank
Simple setup
Cool factor of 10
Cons:
Should have blue ray at this price point.
Frankly I think it needs a subwoofer, Tried it for a few days with a Polk subwoofer and without. Yes it sounds decent without a sub, but only decent, not great. I have yet to hear anything even close to 5.1 or any type of surround. Upon contacting Polk, I was advised that this bar was NOT (unlike the soundbar series) designed to be used above the tv only below with the optimal placement directly in the front of the tv. Frankly the soundbar sitting in front of a 56 inch tv looks horrible, under it it looks built in. Polk indicating that could affect the sound field. Well thats just cute, the whole POINT of this system was it was supposed to give you the 5.1 effect regardless of placement or your position in the room!
It is a nice system, could use a tad more volume, not amazing with the surround, even though the wide open setup I heard at best buy was nothing short of amazing, but in my 12 X 12 living room, far less than spectacular.
Finally save your money, at this price point the 360 is not ready for prime time. If you are looking for solid tight sound in a high end soundbar this is it. If you are expecting the results Polk claims you will be badly disappointed.My old 5.1 theater in a box $300.00 system sounded a tad better frankly.UPDATE:
After owning this a few months I must say it is a complete waste of money.
There simply is no separation in the soundfield regardless of the input signal.
I have tweaked this system to no end with lackluster results.
For a grand there is a endless amount of equipment that you could purchase that would put this system to shame.
Polk missed on this one, if your heart is set on one, wait a while as the price is certain to go down due to the LARGE amount of people disappointed in this system.
This is nothing more than a fancy expensive 2.1 system. Save your money.

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Polk Audio SurroundBar 360-degree DVD Theater is a complete home entertainment system. It incorporates the enveloping sonic benefits of our SurroundBar SDA technology and our patented PowerPort bass venting technology with the convenience of a control console that is a DVD/CD player, amplifier, and an AM/FM radio. The SurroundBar 360-degree has sleek, contemporary design and simple, single-cable speaker hookup which makes it ideal for anyone who wants big, rich surround sound home entertainment without any of the hookup hassles of multiple speakers and wires. The SurroundBar 360-degree DVD Theater employs 8 drivers. A patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry produces the vivid three dimensional surround field that exists on the original recording. What you hear is essentially the same as if sounds were actually coming from all around and behind you.

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Sony BDV-F7 3D Blu-Ray Disc Soundbar Home Theater System Review

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(More customer reviews)I never write reviews. But since my interest was piqued with this system; I was surprised with the dearth of user reviews on the net. And because of this, I was indecisive and it took me a week or so until finally 'bit the bullet' and went with this system. So, I thought I would write this review and help those who are unsure of this system .
On the face of it, this system had everything I was looking for. It's sleek, simple and powerful. And it was a design match for my new Bravia. I acquired this system because I wanted a simple system for my second home. I also wanted something that would complement my new Bravia 55" TV. First, this system is not only sleek and a work of modern art, it produced amazing sound which belied its size. I installed in a relatively large great room and the sound filled the room fully, powerfully and with clarity. We listened to Pandora music, and both my wife and I were simply amazed of the high fidelity. Yes, it's not 5.1, but all I just wanted a simple sound bar and small woofer with great sound. And the small subwoofer fit perfectly behind my TV stand, and was more than adequate to shake my room.
It was relatively simple to set up. You connect one Ethernet cable to the cable box which was right next to my unit; although you have the option to do a wireless hookup. Then there was one set of speaker wires to the sound bar and one wire to the subwoofer. But the HDMI connection is where I had a problem. One of the reasons why I wanted this system was because of the ARC -HDMI connection. For those who don't know, the ARC feature basically enables the TV and added components to communicate back and forth.I incorrectly took it for granted that all the HDMI inputs were ARC enabled. In this case, I had incorrectly installed my cable box to the ARC HDMI and the system was connected to the standard HDMI. And because of this, I couldn't get any sound when everything finally connected up. I was mystified. I had to re-read both the TV manual and also the system manual, to finally `get it." I switched the connections, and all was well. But Sony should have really made this clear that the system must be specifically connected to the HDMI input indicated with only ARC enabled HDMI input. Sony should really address by highlighting this. The other issue is that you cannot easily switch back and forth to regular TV viewing and BD viewing. Unless I am doing something wrong, you have to deal with 2 remotes and remember the process. But it's not a real problem for me, because I don't really watch a lot of DVD's. All in all, these are really minor issues.
But I have to say, the system greatly exceeded my expectations. It's a clean set up and the monolith design of the system matches perfectly to the Bravia TV. Also, I found that the upright position of the unit is a big advantage for me. I have my TV mounted on a stand and the upright unit hides my router modem. The sound is full and the woofer rumbles my room while watching Avatar. The BD also played perfectly.BTW, I supplemented the sound bar with the TV speakers. I recommend this. I also programmed my cable TV remote, and with one button everything powers up. Channel, home theater volume and power.Plenty of internet channels such as Netflix, Pandora, etc. Once you have the sound bar going, you won't go back to `just `TV speakers. In actuality I have a top of the line Bose 5.1 system at my primary home and it's just too overpowering sometimes for just for regular TV watching. But this sound bar system is just right for regular TV watching as well as the occasional BD or movie watching.
All in all, I couldn't be more thrilled and I highly recommend this system. It's well worth the price and I am giving it five stars. If you are thinking of getting this system, I suggest you act quickly since Sony had discounted it, and it might be discontinued soon. And they may or may not have a similar replacement from a design standpoint. And at current prices, it's a tremendous value. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!



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Yamaha YAS-71BL Front Surround System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been searching for a simple budget out of the box home audio solution that had great sound, ease of use and set up, all the connections I needed and lastly esthetically pleasing and not an eyesore. I looked at all the recommended budget 5.1 and 7.1 system (Onkyo is the best deal for full 5.1 systems) and was frustrated by the price and the over engineered complexity of them all. Real surround sound would be cool but ultimately I just wanted a simple solution with strong, rich sound and any simulated surround would be nice too. I have a Samsung 630 and love the TV but the sound sucks. This YAS-71 sound bar and sub-woofer really have enhanced my home theater experience tremendously. I want to watch all the movies I've already seen in HD again now just to hear them in fuller sound. My wife even likes it, I don't think she's nearly as intimidated by it as much as 5.1 component systems would.
This unit has 4 audio inputs plus a connector for an ipod dock; 3 of the inputs are digital audio inputs (2 optical, 1 coaxial). 1 RCA audio input. I highly recommend using the digital audio inputs to get the best and clearest simulated surround sound. I have a PS3 (my Blu-Ray player), a Toshiba DVD player and my DVR hooked up to the digital inputs and the Yamaha ipod dock hooked up. The ipod dock works well and you can control the ipod to some extent with the remote, though the screen on the front of the bar gives you very minimal information and control for your ipod. There are times I'd rather just select my ipod manually on the ipod itself. My 3G iphone worked with it as well as a 30 gig ipod. They all sounded great.
I have a very boxy, enclosed small to medium sized living room (12' x 18') in an older home and it's perfect for that environment. At volume level 50 (halfway) it really fills the room up with rich sound, at the higher levels it gets surprisingly loud without distortion and blowout. Though If you have a very open or large contemporary living room I wouldn't recommend this system; I'd go with more powerful true surround system where you could space the speakers out to fit the room. This YAS-71 really works best in a room with defined walls to work off of. I wouldn't expect any true surround sound from the YAS-71 but there are times while watching 5.1 DVDs and Blu-rays I notice that some sounds really feel immersive and you can feel the simulated surround effect. Prices have dropped on these recently, they used to retail for $500-$600 and for around $300 this is an exceptional deal.
Positives:
* Easy to set up, there aren't a bunch of wires to run around your room.
* User friendly. Wife friendly.
* 4 audio inputs (3 digital) plus yamaha ipod connector
* Clear, surprisingly powerful, robust simulated 5.1 sound for such a contained unit.
* Great value for the money if you can find it at or under $300
* Looks nice in front of most HDTVs. It virtually matched my piano finished black Samsung.
* Great for enclosed rooms.Negatives:
* No onscreen information and controls on your TV screen, info is only on the soundbar screen. This does not have any video passthrough. (this hasn't been a problem for me though).
* It might not have have all the audio connections you need. Check your setup.
* All the inputs are on the sub woofer, so keep that in mind, you might need longer cables.
* Remote controlling ipod is very minimal.
* ipod dock sold separately ($50-100)
* Not so good for open areas.
Conclusion:
Powerful, clear sound and a good number of inputs for most needs. A simple solution for better home audio. I couldn't be happier with it.

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Yamaha YAS-70BL Front Surround System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was tired of speakers and wires all over the room just for Surround sound for home theater. Then I came across this sound bar. It was perfect!
A sound bar plus woofer speaker is all that makes up this system. But it somehow sends great sound all around the room. And the quality of sound is like nothing I've gotten from many other tested multi-speaker wired systems. Bells and high sounds sound real. Storms make you want to look outside to make sure its not real. Explosions, gun shots, you name it, very realistic.
I'll never go back to a wired multi-wired speaker system. Why bother?
My only issue is it has only three connections. One digital optical, one digital coaxial and one analog rca L/R (I don't use).
I added a digital optical switcher, to solve this issue. But they could have designed at least 3 optical and three coaxial as standard inputs.
This system sounds so good, why not complement it with more than enough inputs? However, they did not skimp on sound quality in any way.
Highly recommended! Fits perfect above plasma or LCD wall mounted HDTV's.


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Samsung HT-BD8200 Blu-Ray Sound Bar Home Theater System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)When my 10 year old projection TV finally died recently, it was finally a good enough reason to buy a flat panel TV. I ended up buying the Samsung UN55B6000 55" LED. Of course once I got it home it confirmed to me what I knew would be the case, the sound on flat panels isn't great. It's just hard to make speakers small enough for a flat panel that are big enough to be good.
So after all of my hunting, I found the HT-BD8200. I thought it would be perfect. I could get rid of the stack of stereo and AV components and replace them with this. In theory it can replace the Radio tuner, CD player, DVD player, Blu Ray player and receiver.
I received it, hooked it up and started admiring it (I discovered rather rudely that Samsung does not put an HDMI cable in the $800 box so had to go buy one). The wireless subwoofer is awesome and I was able to hide it out of view behind the couch. The unit itself looks like it was made for my TV. It's the same glossy black glass look with the red touch of color.
I had visions of wall mounting my TV with the HT-BD8200 wall mounted right under it (it comes with a wall mount kit).
The controls on the unit are super cool touch controls. No buttons, just symbols on the top of the disc drive area that light up. Just touch the glass over the control and a small beep lets you know it's activated.
It comes with a wifi adapter so that you can stream netflix, pandora, blockbuster etc. to it over your wifi network at home.
I could babble on forever about the cool things it does which is why it breaks my heart to have to list the bad things and ultimately why I had to return it.
Once I got over the thrill of having a new toy, I started to notice buggy behavior that makes me think Samsung rushed this out or cobbled it together without enough QA testing.
- "MODE NOT SUPPORTED"
Since I connected the unit to my TV with HDMI, it activated the Samsung "Anynet" feature which basically let's the TV and soundbar talk to each other and activate Samsung specific features. For example, when you put a disc in the soundbar, it'll automatically change the TV to the correct input and start playing the disc so that you don't have to go through the "source" menu on the TV. What I found was that from time to time I'd put a disc in the soundbar, it'd change the source on the TV but then the TV would just display "Mode Not Supported".
Nothing in the manual said anything about this error and a google search came up with a million unrelated postings about the error on various Samsung products. I was able to get around it by switching the HDMI cable to another port on the TV. When the error would come up again, I'd switch it back to the original port and it would work again. Pretty crappy for an $800 product.
- "Misbehaving Night Light"
Like my TV, the soundbar has a small accent light at the bottom of the center of the unit. You can set it to be on while the unit is on, off, or all the time. I set to to be on when the unit is on. When I went to bed I turned the unit off and the light went off. The next day when I came home from work the light was on and the unit was off. I checked the setting in the menus and it was still set to be off when the unit was off... but it was on. Annoying
- "Ghost in the machine"
The soundbar started to turn itself on by itself. The first time it happened I thought maybe I had left it on without realizing it. So I made it a point to verify it was off when I went out the next day and sure enough it was back on when I came back that night. I had to start leaving it set to an unused input before turning it off to make sure it wouldn't come on blasting the radio mid day or mid night.
- "Low Volume on TV"
The volume when watching movies or listening to CD's can reasonably loud. Don't get me wrong, you cannot ever go deaf listening to this unit on max volume because it just doensn't go that loud but watching TV, the max volume seems to be roughly one third lower than on movies. I found myself watching tv on maximum volume all the time. If it was loud outside or someone was making noise in another room, max wasn't loud enough.
I thought maybe the HDMI audio was the issue so I went and bought an Optical Cable (buy the AmazonBasics one, good price and decent quality). I hooked up the Optical cable to my TV and the result was exactly the same. I then hooked the optical cable directly to my cable box. Exactly the same. Nothing could make the soundbar louder while watching TV. The TV speakers themselves were often similar in volume or louder than the soundbar. The difference was that the soundbar had richer sound. Still not acceptable when the main reason I'm buying it is because I need more volume.
- "Anynet" annoyance
As this list grew and my patience thinned, I finally hit the last straw. I wanted to play a music CD while putting around the house. The TV and soundbar were off. I turned the soundbar on and dropped in a CD. The soundbar automatically activated the anynet feature, turned on the TV and switched to the HDMI input for the soundbar as if I was going to watch a movie. Apparently Samsung didn't bother programming the soundbar not to switch if it's an audio CD. "no big deal, turn off the TV" you say? I did... and Anynet promptly shut the soundbar off with the TV. ARRRRGH!
Could I just disable anynet? Sure! But losing a big chunk of functionality when I bought two Samsung products that are supposed to work together is unreasonable to me, especially when they are as expensive as these are.
So I resigned myself to thinking this was a defective unit and I'd give it another try. I boxed it up and sent it back to Amazon. I was ready to reorder a new one, but they weren't in stock. I decided this was a good thing as if mine was defective, hopefully I'd get a newer one from a newer batch.
I waited a couple of weeks and Amazon finally got them back in stock. I ordered another and it arrived. I connected it and found that only ONE of the issues above had gone away. The new unit didn't turn itself on by itself. All of the other issues were still there.
I finally had to give up and admit that this product is just not what I hoped for and the quality was not worth $800. I sent it back and am now looking for an alternative.

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Yamaha YSP-3000SL Digital Sound Projector (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)The HDMI version on this product is 1.2. It supports only 2 channel LPCM audio over HDMI. The HDMI switch will also clip BTB and WTW information passed in from the source.
Otherwise, when setup properly in a square room without furnitures, the surround effect works pretty well. But only if you sit directly in front of it.

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The New YSP-3000 offers great new features such as 1080p-compatiable HDMI, iPod compatibility and wide variety of beam settings including My Surround for true multi-channel surround sound enjoyment from a single component. The YSP-3000 applies the Digital Sound Projector technology to precisely control the orientation of the sound by focusing it through multiple beams. The center channel sound is heard directly, while sounds from other channels are heard after reflecting off walls. The result is true multi-channel surround sound that sounds just like a multi-speaker system but without the need for extra speakers! As amazing as it seems, the YSP-3000 can actually deliver multi-channel sound that surrounds listeners the same way that sound from front, center and rear speakers does. DVD movies and other digital sources sound just the way they are supposed to. Dolby Pro Logic II is included, so even 2-channel TV's sound can be heard in true multi-channel surround. Its elegant space-saving design avoids the need of numerous speakers and cables. It can be wall mounted or placed on a shelf or rack. . It powers the 21 beam drivers at 2W each and the two woofers at 20W each, for a total of 82W of power. There is no need for the customer to purchase an additional amplifier or receiver, so the system is compact and economical.

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Yamaha YSP-4000SL Digital Sound Projector (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Yamaha YSP provides great sound and value. Within a few days after ordering I had the Yamaha YSP installed and delivering WOW to the family and guests. HDMI connections and you are ready to go. Although, you can connect most systems old or new. XM or an IPod connects easily as well. No need for hole in walls or running wires to build out your home theater and the sound is amazing. Digital TV / Sound Sports and Movies will never be the same.


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The new YSP-4000 Digital Sound Projector offers versatile new features such as 1080p-compatible HDMI, analog video to HDMI digital video up-conversion and component/composite inputs. Other features include iPod and XM HD surround compatibility, built-in FM tuner, RS-232C for custom installation and a wide variety of beam settings. This includes My Surround Beam(TM) for a true multi-channel surround sound experience from a single component. The YSP-4000 applies the Digital Sound Projector technology to precisely control the orientation of the sound by focusing it through multiple beams. The center channel sound is heard directly while sounds from other channels are heard after reflecting off of walls. The result is true multi-channel surround sound that sounds just like a multi-speaker system but without the need for extra speakers. It powers the 40 beam drivers at 2W each and the two woofers at 20W each for a total of 120W of power. DVD movies and other digital sources sound just the way they are supposed to. Dolby Pro Logic II is included so even 2-channel TV sound can be heard in true multi-channel surround sound. Its elegant space-saving design avoids the need for numerous speakers and cables. It can be wall mounted or placed on a shelf or rack. The YSP-4000 has a built in powerful digital amplifier so there is no need for the customer to purchase an additional amplifier.

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Philips AmbiSound Home Theater Sound Bar with Integrated 1080p-Upscaling DVD/MP3 Player, HTS8100/37 Review

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(More customer reviews)Always a tricky one when reviewing something which sounds great, but doesnt really do what it says on the tin.
I read a few reviews on the Phillips sound bar and decide to go for it rather than the Yahama, due to its inclusion of an upscaling DVD player being built in.
My house just doesnt lend itself well to placing 5 speakers, particularly rears, so I thought what the heck I'll try this.
The audio quality is excellent, deep bass (not quite sharp enough with movies on normal settings but that can be fixed by tweaking the audion settings and cranking the treble)and a huge array of different pre set movie and audio settings to suit your ear.
But as far as virtual Surround Sound capability goes...there isnt any as far as I can tell. I've tried various DVD's with scenes I know bring in the rear speakers on full systems and there is no distinguishable surround effect.
Disappointing really, although I have to say I still love the overall sound when its cranked up, it really booms out.
So if you want a boost to your TV sound and have a beautiful looking sound bar with built in DVD (and it does look awesome), you cant go far wrong. But if you are thinking you can change the laws of physics and have surround sound without rear speakers, think again, cause this just doesnt work!

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Yamaha YSP-4000BL Digital Sound Projector (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I now have the new Yamaha YSP 4000 and having tried it out on over twenty different disks, can say without equivocation that it is amazing. So long as you have a room with a good back wall and at least one sidewall, it will deliver incredibly good 5.1 surround sound. Will it be as good as top end systems with five distinct and separate speakers costing $5,000 or more? Of course not. Will it be as good as or better than receiver/speaker systems available today for $3.000? Yes. In other words, this newest Yamaha stands clearly at the point of diminishing returns. After installing it and listening to it, you may decide that you do not need a subwoofer. It did Chicago beautifully. I decided I wanted one for some of the accurate bass on great classical music.
The setup is easy, but when the screen tells you to get out of the room - GO! The sounds emitted during the setup are designed to send cats and dogs into fits of madness. Do not try to audition this unit in a 'big box' store. It relies on nearby walls to help it work. If you have a friend who has taken the plunge, go and listen to it within a real listening area. Anyone who lives in or visits Central FL leave a comment on this thread and I will cheerfully invite you to visit and make up your own mind. If you live in a place where you cannot drill holes in your wall or if you do not want wires and speakers all over the place - this may be the solution for you. It was for me.

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The new YSP-4000 Digital Sound Projector offers versatile new features such as, 1080p-compatible HDMI, analog video to HDMI digital video up-conversion, and component/composite inputs. Other features include: iPod and XM HD surround compatibility, built-in FM tuner, RS-232C for custom installation and a wide variety of beam settings, including My Surround Beam, for a true multi-channel surround sound experience from a single component. The YSP-4000 applies the Digital Sound Projector technology to precisely control the orientation of the sound by focusing it through multiple beams. The center channel sound is heard directly, while sounds from other channels are heard after reflecting off walls. The result is true multi-channel surround sound that sounds just like a multi-speaker system but without the need for extra speakers! As amazing as it seems, the YSP-4000 can actually deliver multi-channel sound that surrounds listeners the same way that sound from front, center and rear speakers does. DVD movies and other digital sources sound just the way they are supposed to. Dolby Pro Logic II is included, so even 2-channel TV's sound can be heard in true multi-channel surround. Its elegant space-saving design avoids the need of numerous speakers and cables. It can be wall mounted or placed on a shelf or rack. The YSP-4000 has a powerful and efficient digital amplifier built in. It powers the 40 beam drivers at 2W each and the two woofers at 20W each, for a total of 120W of power. There is no need for the customer to purchase an additional amplifier or receiver.

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Yamaha YSP-3000BL Digital Sound Projector (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first heard about the Digital Sound Projector from Yamaha I thought it would be a prefect solution for my family room where I do not (or cannot) run the cables to hook up rear (L/R) speakers. I pre-ordered YSP-3000 from Amazon in September 2007.
I have the YSP-3000 hooked up in my family room for more than a week now, here is the list of good and bad about the device:
The good:
-Excellent sound quality with Dolby Digital 5.1 supported sources such as my digital cable box (via HDMI interface/cable).
-Setup is easy. You ran Intelibeam from the device; in less than 20 mins you got a customized sound projecting environment. You can always tweak the settings manually but I found the auto-setting works just fine.
-YSP-3000 also functions as HDMI switch (1 output, 2 inputs) where you can switch audio/video between DVD player and cable TV without selecting input source from your TV set. That is, connect the output HDMI port off YSP-3000 to your TV, then connect your cable box and DVD players to YSP-3000. You only need to use the YSP-3000 remote to choose between DVD and cable box.
The bad:
Here is my biggest problem with YSP-3000. It does NOT support newer version of Dolby Digital TrueHD, nor Dolby Digital Plus off the box!!
I hooked up a Toshiba HD DVD player (model# HD-A30), and guess what, my audio channel on YSP-3000 became 2-channel stereo instead of 5.1. To by pass this problem, I had to hook-up my DVD player using optical audio connection as oppose to HDMI, and change the video output from HDMI to component video output. By doing so, I no longer can switch between DVD and cable using YSP-3000, and (in theory) receiving less quality image because I cannot use HDMI for my DVD.
I contacted Yamaha support, I was told that YSP-3000 does not indeed support Dolby Digital TrueHD nor Dobly Digital Plus, which have became the standard audio format for every HD DVD movie shipped out there. My Toshiba HD DVD player only offers three choices of audio output 1) AUTO (which is the one I am using, and it is recommend for digital sound), 2) PCM (which is 2-chanael, not 5.1 with surround sound, and 3) Downmix PCM, which is also 2-channel instead of 5.1.
So I have the latest Digital Sound Projector (YSP-3000), with latest HD DVD player (Toshiba HD-A30), with latest HD-DVD movies yet I cannot enjoy 5.1 sound environment without downgrading my video output from HDMI to component. That's a shame. I hope there will be a firmware upgrade in the future with either Yamaha or Toshiba devices (by the way, I already updated the firmware on Toshiba HD DVD player to v1.1, which is the latest as to date) to provide support of DD+, or DD TrueHD.


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The New YSP-3000 offers great new features such as 1080p-compatiable HDMI, iPod compatibility and wide variety of beam settings including My Surround for true multi-channel surround sound enjoyment from a single component. The YSP-3000 applies the Digital Sound Projector technology to precisely control the orientation of the sound by focusing it through multiple beams. The center channel sound is heard directly, while sounds from other channels are heard after reflecting off walls. The result is true multi-channel surround sound that sounds just like a multi-speaker system but without the need for extra speakers! As amazing as it seems, the YSP-3000 can actually deliver multi-channel sound that surrounds listeners the same way that sound from front, center and rear speakers does. DVD movies and other digital sources sound just the way they are supposed to. Dolby Pro Logic II is included, so even 2-channel TV's sound can be heard in true multi-channel surround. Its elegant space-saving design avoids the need of numerous speakers and cables. It can be wall mounted or placed on a shelf or rack. . It powers the 21 beam drivers at 2W each and the two woofers at 20W each, for a total of 82W of power. There is no need for the customer to purchase an additional amplifier or receiver, so the system is compact and economical.

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Yamaha YSP-3050BL Digital Sound Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)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, $1000 is a little steep, especially when major competitors (e.g., Sony HTCs) are in the $300-range. That being said, all accounts point to the Yamaha as offering superior audio. It's probably not $700 worth, and you certainly can find a full 5.1 system for less than $1000. 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.

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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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