Customer Reviews

Yamaha YHT-360 XM-Ready 5.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black)

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I had originally bought a wireless surround speaker home theater in the box from Amazon because I didn't want the hassle of putting long wires around my family room in order to have surround sound. The system worked with a transmitter connected to the receiver and another wireless receiver that was hooked up by wires to the surround speakers. This worked perfectly for about 2 weeks when the system started making "popping" noises that were not related to the music or television sounds. I called the company and they said to send the transmitter and receiver to their repair shop. The entire system was only 2 weeks old and I decided to return it to Amazon and look again.
I checked the latest Consumer Reports and found that their top rated Home Theater in a Box systems were made by Yamaha. I noticed that the Yamaha YHT-360 wasn't listed but the 450 was. I bought the system and it's actually better sounding than the other wireless system and I solved the problem of having long wires go around the baseboards of my carpeted family room with those wire hiding enclosures that are available at Lowe's or Home Depot.
The Yamaha has better sound, more controls, and better documentation to help you set up the system. I was also able to include my two "old" stereo speakers from my previous sound system that I replaced with the surround sound system. Now I have 7.1 speakers connected instead of the system's included 5.1 speakers which already sound great. There are many options and variations to the surround sound and once you get a working knowledge of how what you want to hear, you can make the needed adjustments to make it sound exactly the way you want. Overall, it is a much better deal than all of the "wireless" surround sound systems out there. You just have to put in a little more effort to place the wires where you want them and to minimize the clutter, put them in wire enclosures.
A great deal for the money and the best sound you'll get from a surround sound system! Don't bother with the "wireless" surround sound speaker systems that can fail and cause unwanted noises and repairs and stick with a wired system that sounds great!

Well, I finally found use for the 2005 consumer reports buying guide, and this time it really came around. I was looking for the best "Home Theater in a Box" and according to Consumer Reports, the Yamaha YHT-450 their rated highest. I was shocked to find that Bose wasn't all the way up there. According to the many reports I read thourgh my research, Bose may have the greatest speakers but Bose's Lifestyle® systems doesn't have very good compatibility with other recievers. You pretty much have to stick with their Special Lifestyle® systems in order to to achieve that sound with their Home Theater in a Box set up. I ended up purchasing this system at BEST BUY® about 3 months ago, and am 100% happy with the purchase decision I made. I took the time to test it for long use before I actually wrote the review.

But, if you have experience setting up surround sound systems, and want to spend the money to buy a seperate reciever, and spend all the money for the speakers also, which totalled to $ 1,800.00 when you add the Acoustimass® 16 home entertainment speaker system and a high level reciever, it still doesn't achieve the high quality that Yamaha's system achieves according to one of BEST Buy's® representatives. According to the representitive I spoke with, Bose is known because of the sound quality from small speakers, not for the quality itself.

This Home Theater in a Box systems, made by Yamaha is the Yamaha YHT-360. Although it wasn't listed, the only difference between the 450 and the 360 is the speaker that the 450 has one additional speaker which is situated behind the audiance (Note: the reciever for the 360 DOES NOT have compatibility to use a sixth speaker). Outside from that single speaker, it is nearly the same system. I bought this system and it's actually the same quality as the Bose system I tried at the store with two differences... The Yamaha one is more movie theater like and I can get a lot more noise out of this one. ;) But, you have to relize the problem of having to set up such an intricate little set-up it requires.

The Yamaha has some really great instructions to help you set up this system. The system took me about 2 hours to set up, but note that I have had experience with this kind of stuff... I have been messing with my dads old system since I was about 9 and I'm 15 now. But I'd say that someone new to this probably could set up the whole system in about 3-4 hours if you just have a dvd player and a cable box to connect to it. Its fairly simple, but be careful not to use a knive to strip the wire. Use a wire stipper to prevent cutting the copper wire as it is stranded wire.

Also you should keep in mind that when you use surround sound, that in order to actually achieve the full 5.1 surround sound that you should use digital fiber optic cables for all the sound inputs that you can use it for. It has capability for two which is all you should need. (CD players and video cassets don't have 5.1, most only have 2.0)I recommend using the Monster Standard Cables, but I'm not saying you should buy the best ones they offer. I found some cheapers ones made by Monster Standard for 20 dollars a cable. (They sell ones at 120 dollars a cable too YIKES!!!) I must also note that this system has capability for two more speakers to be added, but adding these two speakers does not make it a 7.1 surround sound system. This still is a 5.1 surround sound system beacuse the two slots are just to add side speakers that do not actually have their own channal. They share it with the front speakers.

There are a whole list of options and variations that the surround sound system can achieve, and once you get a hang of it, it will be well worth the effort to learn it all. You shouldn't use certain settings for certain things, like using the stero setting for an action packed movie. It simply won't produce as great of a result if you do. Once you've got it under your belt, you can get the movie theater sound that most people want... Well, maybe you might not want it, but I sure do.

Overall, this is definitly worth the money to buy it. It might take time to set it up, but you will be happy with the results you get. I would say on a five star rating scale I would give the YHT-360 a 4.90.

© 2005 - David Chen - All Right's Reserved

When I first set this unit up, I was not prepared for the results I was about to obtain. The set up was quite simple (except the VCR setup was a bit troublesome)so I proceeded to test the system. I did supplement with the Yamaha DV-S 5750 natural sound DVD player (I wanted to maintain product continuity).

I used various favorites such as Star Wars, Aliens, Sum of All Fears and Saving Private Ryan...WOW..!!!

I was stunned at the quality of sound that was coming through. I truly felt as though I was in the middle of the action. You could actually hear (and feel) mortars launching from behind. You could hear a latteral explotion sweep from one side to the other. The room is filled by the subwoofer (all low and ultra low frequencies are perfectly sounded). The YHT-360 has made it possible for me to attain better-than-theatre quality sound.

I used Accoustic Reasearch optical cables for audio and it was worth every penny for the cables.

Bottom line is that if you thought you needed to invest $1500 plus to achieve absolute high quality sound, please try this package out. Everything you need is included in the box(including speaker cable). If you are on a budget and want years of the best surround has to offer, I urge you to take a change on the Yamaha YHT-360.

I bought the "Yamaha 720W 5.1-Ch. XM-Ready Home Theater System(YHT-360)" on tuesday(06/15/05) at a retail store, and I have only had it for one day and I have to say I am really impressed with this home theater system that is compared to my ten(10) year old(if not older) 2-channel(only 2 speakers) Sony stereo receiver.
It took a few hours to get it kooked-up and set-up properly and to understand all the different settings and sound effects, there are so many different settings which all really do make up and have different sound effects to them that it will take more time(days and/or weeks) to decide on which I like better.
One thing that I have already noticed is that each of the different sound effects works/sounds differently with different types of movies, like space movies(Star Wars/Star Trek) have a setting(s) that works(sound) with those types of movies but the same setting does not work(sound) right with a comedy or a drama type movie(s).
Watching any of the Matrix movies or any of the Star Wars movies or any movies for that matter sound great on this home theater system, I really can't believe my ears because it sounds like I am in a movie theather which I should know because I go to the movies atleast once per week.
I think for the price(around $400.00) it is for sure worth it.
I would say on a one(1) through five(5) rating scale I would give this "Yamaha 720W 5.1-Ch. XM-Ready Home Theater System(YHT-360)": 4.75 rating out of a 5 rating.

agentxfile

Replaced a high-end Sony system that was 7-8 yrs old. Very impressed with ease of setup, quality and volume of sound. Takes a while to try all the different settings you can choose from. Sound is fantastic, Highly recommend

When shopping for an HTIB, I was looking for something with component inputs, did not have an integrated DVD player and would pass the WAF (wife acceptance factor). She liked the black finish of this set as opposed to the silver of many other units. Out of the box this was relatively easy to setp up and sounded pretty good. Have made some speaker level tweaks to optimize the sound for my living room and I think I have just about got it right.

Pros: Built in XM tuner (should I decide to activate it on my account), powered or line level output for subwoofer, 5.1 inputs for SACD/DVD Audio, user assignable digital inputs
Cons: Only one coax input

Would recommend to people who are looking for an inexpensive HTIB that looks and sounds good.

So I have had my HDTV for 2 years now and always held off on the surround because my friends said, "Don't waste your time on a theater in a box". These friends have $3,000 to $6,000 in their sound systems and they sound great. Well, I finally decided to buy a higher end theater in a box and went with the Yamaha YHT-360. For the $400 I spent I can't believe how rich the sound is. Music is crystal clear, the bass is perfect and the system is so customizable. I would recommend this system to anyone. You don't need to spend $$$ to get great sound.