Customer Reviews

Yamaha YHT-160 5.1-Channel Home Theater System (Silver)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this theater system yesterday after wanting to find a good sounding surround sound system for a 26 in. widescreen tv in a small family room. I noticed this system in Best Buy and in comparison to others, it seemed like a great price for a lot of power. Having purchased Yamaha products in the past, I did not hesitate to buy this, and needless to say, I am very satisfied with the sound. It is easy to set up and provides clear, crisp sound at any volume. The bass response is awesome and can really rock the house! I watched and listened to a couple of concert DVDs in DTS surround sound and also a suspense movie, with an intense, musical score, all of which sounded magnificent! The sound fields are varied and will give you options in selecting the appropriate sound for the concert or movie you are listening to. The front channel speakers sit nicely on top of my widescreen tv, and although small, they sound incredible!I was quite impressed overall and certainly found the system well worth purchasing. Another great job by Yamaha!

This was my first stereo and i bought it from Best Buy. The price tag is more than i paid, but it is definitely worth it. First and foremost buy a stereo similar to this instead of the other HTIBs because it has a full receiver. It looks appealing and i can control everything with my remote no matter what devices i connect to it. The speakers are a good size and the larger center channel is just as appealing. The performance is where this shines however. Can handle anything you throw at it in terms of connections no matter how many. Right now i have two TVs, DVD player, IPOD, Laptop, PS2 working all at once. The sound can get very loud but there is very little distortion at any volume. All of the 20 sound fields are different and provide unique changes.

I'm honestly surprised to see some of the reviews from those who do not own the system and complaints about the sound... For less than $300 you'd be lucky to get a receiver nowadays so the fact that you can get this amazing system is a feat worth recognizing! This is my first home theater system and I purchased it after envying my brother's $500+ Sony home theater... I used all of the digital audio outputs pretty quickly (coax = DVD player, optical 1 = Digital TV, optical 2 = Xbox) and initial set up was very easy to do because Yamaha packs great directions in the box. My favorite features are the Night Mode (turns off or lowers the subwoofer dramatically so as to not affect those who may be sleeping!) and the sleep timer.. The remote control is a bit flimsy and the battery compartment cover keeps sliding off but the receiver itself and the speakers feel very solid and well built. Now for the breakdown:

Xbox - Every four to five years a brand new video game system rolls off the assembly line with promises to bring us closer to the games we are playing and make it a much more realistic experience. With the introduction of the Xbox and Xbox 360, 5.1 surround sound takes the games to the next level! You haven't lived until you've played Need For Speed: Most Wanted and hear the police vehicles behind you or the cars to each side of you revving their engines! My surround sound system revived my interest in gaming and gave me the experience I was always hoping for!

DVDs - This is the part I couldn't wait to get to! Wow! Wow! Wow! So THAT'S why everyone buys home theater systems... I couldn't choose what movie to watch based on sound alone so I tried "The Transporter" and watched the scene where they destroyed his house with a fury of bullets and series of rockets.... BOOM! The floor shook, bullets whizzed by my head and fire was everywhere! I couldn't believe the quality of this theater system for the price! For the novice home theater buyer or even someone on a budget, this is hands down the BEST home theater system under $300 for DVDs!

Digital/HDTV: This was an unexpected added benefit! Turn on HBO/Showtime/TNT HD and indulge yourself in the movies! Want to find yourself hiding under the bed waiting for the commercials to begin? Wait for Twister to come on TNT HD and prepare to slide! On non-5.1 channels, the center channel works exceptionally well at projecting the voices of the people on tv and I frequently find myself turning the receiver DOWN whereas before I was always turning the tv up because I couldn't hear what they were saying... Once again this home theater adds a new dimension and sense of appreciation in tv that I've never experienced before!

You can also hook up video to the receiver which I don't use because my tv (see the Panasonic widescreen 30" HDTV review that I wrote) has more than enough inputs to acommodate my needs and there is also an AM/FM tuner built-in if you wish to listen to the local radio (I personally use iTunes' radio station selection). I would highly recommend picking up speaker brackets (each satellite is 2 lbs and the center channel is 4 lbs so make sure the brackets are able to support the speakers!) and Monster optical/coaxial digital audio cables from Amazon. I bought 100 feet of speaker wire but ended up not using it because the wire included with the system was more than enough for my small room.

This home theater system is set up in my bedroom and I was faced with the unique issue of having to place the speakers where the door wouldn't hit them when I opened it. Just be aware that Yamaha recommends the speakers on all sides to be placed slightly above ear level (when sitting) and approximately 6-8 feet apart in front while about 10 feet apart in the back (my room is 10'7" by 12'9" so needless to say it was a tight fit!).

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this system to anyone looking for an affordable, well built and quality name brand home theater for small to medium size rooms! Lastly, my brother came over to check out the new Yamaha system and he said his $500+ Sony system SUCKS compared to my $300 Yamaha system... Ah, the satisfaction of research and bargain shopping online! ;)

------

Update: July 28, 2007

The subwoofer is completely dead. I didn't use it too much (or maybe I did?) but it died last month. It's still a killer system for $300 (or the used price you get it at now that it's no longer available) but you do get what you pay for! I have no regrets!

This system is a great deal for the price. The sound is crisp and clear. I have noticed no distortion. The sound is powerful and great seperation when watching dvds or anything broadcast in dolby. Some reviews say the system gets somewhat distorted when high volume levels are used...well how loud can you play and enjoy it anyways? You arent going to play a movie at max volumn anyways. There are 2 optical jacks which is more then any brand name HTIB system offers. For pure sound from your cable box or dvd player, optical is your best source. You can connect 8 speakers, multi rca jacks and componant jacks means you cant get better connection quality. If your going to pay 300 bucks for a Home theater system, you should spend a few bucks more on better speaker wires and optical jacks to get the best sound possible, This thing is heavy and I hope the solid build means good quality. The speakers that come with it are 6 ohm so you get alot of the high tones. A switch on the back of the receiver allows you to switch to 8 ohm speakers if you so desire. I didn't see any other brand for this price which allowed this. You can allways get different speakers if you arn't satisfied with these speakers. The speakers that do come with it are good quality and definatly do the job. The sub woofer does all the wall shaking it brags to do. You do have to power on the sub woofer and it has its own seperate volumn control. This is good for if it ever breaks, you can get a new woofer without having to get a new sytem, the bad thing is remembering to turn it on. This system offers many different pre set tone selctions to enjoy movies or concerts with different effects... I have found this feature to be a plus. This system does not include a dvd player which in a way is good. In a complete system if the dvd player goes down, your whole system is done with. You can always get a good dvd player for 50 bucks or so. I recomend getting one with an optical jack to achieve best sound proccesing possible. You are getting a brand name audio company product. Although it is low end price wise, doesnt mean low end quality. I recomend it for the features it offers and for the quality. Having a HTIB even if it is low end is better than having none at all.

After seeing the reviews here, I went to a local store to listen to this system. Yes, the sound is exceptionally clear and accurate across the entire range. However, the plastic casing of the speakers makes its presence felt. The system has the unmistakable sound of plastic. Bottom line: fine for watching movies, but don't expect to enjoy listening to music on it without buying at least two decent speakers to replace the ones that come with it.

***UPDATE TO BELOW --- after several more months of testing out the Yamaha YHT-160, I continue to be happy with its performance. I ended up replacing the speaker wire to 16 gauge very quickly --- not because there was any real problem with the in-box wire, but I figured, it was worth it to be sure. I would note that the remote could be simpler, and it probably has *too* many settings (which might appeal to an audiophile). But it's an excellent value for the $$!

At this price point, Yamaha's YHT-160 is an excellent value. I did quite a bit of comparison, looking at systems as expensive as $600 before ultimately settling on this far less expensive model --- why? Because the more expensive models' bells and whistles didn't justify the higher price, not to mention that some did NOT even have the great features this Yamaha has! **Notably, this YHT-160 has TWO digital optical inputs (and a third digital coax input!), which I think is crucial for anyone with multiple electronic "toys" these days. MANY higher-end receivers only have one digi-optical input, which is limiting if you have a good DVD player and an XBox, etc., both of which support digital audio out.

I just set up this system with a Toshiba DLP and an HD cable box. So far, the sound is impressive, though I have read that certain Yamaha models (the 150, the model below this, to be specific) come with too-thin/cheap speaker and subwoofer wire (that can be cheaply replaced). I have not noticed poor sound with the in-box speaker wires for this model, though I'm tempted to replace it with wire I'm sure is 16-gauge.

In any event, when I tested this baby out with "I, Robot" to check out the surround sound --- WOW. Excellent sound for a medium-to-large family room (the room is about 12-13 feet wide and 25 feet long, I'd guess....) I have not played CDs on this yet, but the radio sounded great too.

If there are any drawbacks, I'd say the size of the receiver is one. It's pretty darn big/heavy --- but this being my first true Home Theater system, I have no point of comparison, and it's not really an issue, it just struck me as pretty big compared to a DVD player, VCR, etc...

Awsome sound and fills up a room with all the highs and the lows.

dang this thing can thump I went into best buy to day and I was looking for some wireless head phones and I heard this monster and forgot all about the headphones. It Does a great gob with the highs and the lows. WORTH THE MONEY !!!

I had to return 2 receivers to Best Buy. The first unit I bought had a short somewhere inside, and wouldn't stay on for more than 10 seconds. The replacement unit wouldn't give me any sound from the left side... and I tried both "A" and "B" left speaker positions. I usually trust Yamaha... but this one is apparently their low end model so if you decide to buy it, make sure you know the store's return policy!

My husband and I received this system as a gift and have had it for over 2 years now and we LOVE it. I'm not an expert in the sound field or familiar with other sound products but this instantly made our den turn into a surround sound experience like you would experience in the theater at your local box office.

The sound is crisp and clear every time and the surround sound still surprises me when I hear a movie sound in the back of the room travel to the front of the room (from back speaker to front speaker). It just makes watching movies more fun.

We also have our nintendo gamecube hooked up to the system. My husband especially enjoys playing football and hearing the crowd scream all around him. :)

Unlike one of the other reviews, I did not find the remote difficult to use and I like how I can control all aspects of our entertainment from one remote.

I also have to disagree with the review that says listening to CDs is not great. We listen to CDs/music all the time on our system and it sounds fantastic! You can sit back and close your eyes and it nearly feels like you are sitting in the concert hall.

Bottom line, if we had to do it over again and buy our own system we would choose this one and recommend it to all of our friends and family.

Love it, love it, love it!!!