Yamaha YHT-150 600-Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater in a Box (Silver)

by Yamaha

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 58.4 x 26 x 22 inches ; 55 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 17 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B0001XAJDY
• Item model number: YHT-150
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 30, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Hunting for exciting, dynamic surround sound on a budget? You've landed at the right system. It's no mirage: Yamaha's affordable YHT-150 includes the 5-piece NS-AP1500 speaker ensemble, a YST-SW010 subwoofer, and Yamaha's HTR-5730 home theater receiver, which pumps 100 watts per channel x 6 discrete channels (at 1 kHz) and offers a host of options for rendering the type of surround sound best suited to your taste or programming.

The powerful HTR-5730 receiver accepts the DVD player's Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS 5.1-channel surround signals and routes each channel to its designated speaker. Additionally, the receiver's Silent Cinema and Night Listening modes enhance headphone and low-level listening, respectively, while Yamaha's 32-bit Cinema-DSP processing gives you an additional 24 surround effects to enhance your movies and music. With the HTR-5730's 5.1-channel analog inputs, you're ready for high-resolution DVD-Audio/SACD playback, too, whether from your current disc player(s) or from any future devices to which you might upgrade. The receiver offers a total of 4 AV inputs, and its tuner section offers 40-station AM/FM preset tuning.

The 6-speaker complement includes the 5-speaker NS-AP1500 for the front, center, and surround speakers and Yamaha's YST-SW010 subwoofer for deep bass, which is important for effective home theater sound. Each speaker in the NS-AP1500 ensemble uses a sealed, acoustic-suspension design with dual 2.5-inch pulp-cone woofers. The center speaker is specially configured for TV placement and--as it handles upwards of 70 percent of a movie's audio, including most voices--it's engineered for slightly more full-bodied sound than the other speakers.

The 100-watt, 6.5-inch subwoofer uses a spruce-cone driver and Yamaha's patented Advanced Active Servo Technology (Advanced YST), generating incredible bass from its small enclosure. Advanced YST uses negative-impedance feedback in the amp and a Helmholtz resonator in the speaker to provide strong and accurate bass.

QD-Bass (Quatre Dispersion Bass) technology uses a down-firing driver with square, pyramid-shaped reflective plates to radiate sound with equal effectiveness in all directions. The sub's individual volume control permits the perfect matching of the sub's output to the overall volume of the system. The sub has a signal-sensing circuit, too. When it detects an audio signal, it powers right up. When it senses no signal for several minutes, it shuts itself off.

All speakers included with the YHT-150 feature magnetic shielding, so they can be placed near a TV or monitor and cause no picture degradation.

What's in the Box
Surround amplifier, 5 speakers, a powered subwoofer, a remote control, remote batteries, a user's manual, all requisite cabling.

Product Description

YAMAHA YHT-150 -- Selecting components for a Home Theater System one by one can be as tedious and technical. And there's little reason to bother, with one-stop-shopping options like this! Package includes:
HTR-5730 Digital Home Theater Receiver 192kHz / 24-bit DACs A/V Connections - 6-Channel External Decoder Input; 4 Video Inputs, 1 Output; 2 Audio Inputs, 1 Output; 2 Optical, 1 Coaxial Digital Inputs; Subwoofer Output 40-Station AM/FM Tuner Presets NS-AP1500 5-Channel Speaker System Acoustic Suspension Design Magnetically Shielded Satellite & Center Components - Dual 2-1/2 Drivers Satellite Frequency Response - 100Hz-20kHz Center Frequency Response - 75Hz-20kHz Satellite Size - 6-11/16H x 3-5/8W x 4D Center Size - 3-5/8H x 11-3/8W x 4D YST-SW010 Subwoofer 100 Watt Amplifier Advanced YST Active Servo Frequency Response - 30Hz - 200Hz Size - 12-13/16H x 11W x 11-1/2D Includes All Required Cables DVD Player NOT included

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice system, but maybe not for a large living room., August 12, 2004

By 

JeffB (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-150 600-Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater in a Box (Silver) (Electronics)

We wanted an HTB (Home Theater in a Box) for less than $300 for our Master Bedroom, to go with the new small HDTV. We already had the other components (DVD, etc.), so we wanted an HTB without the DVD but with plenty of component connections for future expansion. After some shopping we purchased the Yamaha YHT-150.

However after purchasing this product, I struggled for 2 weeks to like it, but in the end I finally did. I debated about taking it back and I looked at several other systems during these 2 weeks, but really couldn't find anything better in this price range.

Both the receiver and the powered subwoofer are excellent, but my 2 week struggle was with the other 5 speakers (NS-AP-1500s).

After setting the system up, I tried the DVD movie "Twister" (always a good HTB test movie), but the sound was "flat", "hollow", somewhat "tinny" and low volume (IOW, had to turn the volume way up). The speaker sound reminded me of being at the drive-in theater (remember what those speakers sounded like). This is when I entered my 2 week struggle with the system.

To start sorting it out, I tested 2 of the speakers on another system, and quickly discovered that they are not very efficient (it takes power to get sound out of them), but I also discovered that the sound they produced was very clear and clean, unlike the YHT-150.

So back to the YHT-150, I realized that the speaker wire that came with the system was only 22 gauge wire (though it looks heavier) which I used to set it up. So I theorized that this wire was too small for the power required to drive these speakers, and that this might be responsible for the unwanted sound effects. So I bought $5 worth of cheap 16 gauge speaker wire at Home Depot for a test, and rewired the front 3 speakers. Then I turned on the local classical FM station, and WOW, what a world of difference the 16 gauge wire made! I could hear richness and detail in the piano solo, and even people quietly moving around in the background of the recording.

However at the new more powerful and cleaner sound levels, I could now hear that the speakers had no low-end bass (which is noted in the manual specs), but the subwoofer was not filling in the bass correctly to compensate for this. There would be a sound from the speakers (like a voice for example) that should have a bass component, but only a rumble from the subwoofer. This problem turned out to be the cheap subwoofer cable that came with the system.

So I ordered a 100ft roll of good quality 16 gauge speaker wire and a good quality subwoofer cable, both for $38 total (I caught both on sale), and both of these have transformed the system. The speakers now deliver good clean clear sound at significantly reduced volume settings. The required volume settings are still higher than I'd like due to the speaker inefficiency, but the receiver has more than enough power to drive them in a bedroom setting, so this is not an issue. The excellent subwoofer is now very clean and tight, and it accurately fills in the bass for sounds that have bass.

In the end, I've come to like this system, and it does a really good job for the reasons we bought it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for a large living room as I don't think it has the power to fill a large room, but it can fill a bedroom or a smaller living room just fine.

I have a couple of other issues with the sytem. First, the remote looks a little cheap, but it works fine. Second, the system was a little complicated to figure out and setup, and I think this system needs to be setup correctly for it to deliver its excellent sound potential.

All in all this is a nice system, and I recommend it.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Purchased and Haven't Looked Back, September 7, 2004

By 

Tyler F. (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-150 600-Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater in a Box (Silver) (Electronics)

The Yamaha YHT-150 home theater is a superb surround sound system. Before I bought it I tried a used all-in-one Panasonic system and was extremely disappointed (returned it the next day due to multiple problems). I then purchased this system to hook up to the coax sound-out on my existing DVD player and have not looked back. The sound is crisp and fully supports 5.1 channels. 600 watts should be plenty for small to medium rooms and/or apartment situations. Unless you have a large room in a house where you can really crank it up, you won't need anything more powerful than this amp.

Note to those customers considering an all-in-one system: I would highly advise against it. A system such as this one that has completely swappable speakers and is not tied to a DVD player is much more preferable and cheaper in the long run. If something breaks, the option to replace it with something completely different exists. With an all-in-one solution, you're locked-in.

This system supports all the sound inputs I need and then some. The only input related complaint I have is that it doesn't support S-Video inputs, only the standard RCA. This isn't a huge deal, it just means that when I switch devices I have to switch the sound and video input on two separate devices rather than just one. But that only applies because I prefer S-Video inputs rather the RCA ones. It may not apply to you.

As usual, the supplied speaker and subwoofer cables are rather thin. I wired 14 gauge from the get-go and would recommend at least 16 gauge. It will provide better sound and allow your amp to not have to work as hard to deliver loud & crisp sound to the speakers. The subwoofer cable is essentially a long RCA cable that was also very thin. I found a bargain cable that was much thicker and had gold contacts--now the bass is noticeably better.

As another reviewer mentioned, the satellite speakers lack decent bass output. If this is a big deal to you, consider another system or upgrading the front speakers. I consider myself moderately picky about sound and haven't found it to be quality-degrading yet.

My only real dislike is the remote. It looks cheap and is meant to control other Yamaha devices as well. That's great if you have a Yamaha TV, DVD player, etc, but even so, it's ugly. It does its job well, but it's ugly.

Overall, for the price of $300, I'd say it's a great system that will last me many years. In short, I especially like that no component is dependent upon another--even the powered subwoofer. My silver unit is very stylish. There are plenty of different sound/environment filters. And all the speakers have equal power--in other words, the front and rear speakers have equal power, which most surround amps don't support. Be sure to pay attention to that when shopping.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First impression generally positive, June 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-150 600-Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater in a Box (Silver) (Electronics)

I have owned this system for about 48 hours now. Setup was standard... almost. Since it doesn't come with a DVD player, they furnish no cables to allow you to connect one to it. No RCA, no S Video, no fiber optic cable. (In fact, come to think of it, I don't recall an S Video connection on the back of this unit. I'm no expert, so I don't know if this is a bad thing or not.) There are a TON of input ports, though, including two fiber optic inputs for your DVD / CD and cable / satellite. Anyhow, setup required two visits to my local hardware store to pick up the necessary cables, and I am now fully connected. Also, so long as I am talking cables, I am pleased to point out they included higher-gauge speaker wire (although not quite enough of it).

Sound is acceptable, for a $300 unit. I don't think anyone would mistake it for a much costlier piece of equipment, but for what I consider a bargain-basement home theatre system, it's pretty good. The Sub stays busy, even while watching golf. I am disappointed that my digital cable system did not have a fiber optic output from the box, but that is a different issue, and obviously not the fault of the Yamaha.

The interface to set your system settings is a little cumbersome. It took me a number of attempts to successfully define my speaker landscape, room size, and all that. I do appreciate that the remote seems quite capable of subsuming the responsibilities of other remotes. It was easy to get it to

I'll try to update my review after a few months with the system.