Yamaha YHT-491BL Home Theater in a Box (Black)

by Yamaha

Product Details

• Item Weight: 86 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 86 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001S2RD8Q
• Item model number: YHT-491BL
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,625 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Yamaha YHT-591BL Home Theater in a Box (Black)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bought it. Love it., June 16, 2009

By 

C. Day - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-491BL Home Theater in a Box (Black) (Electronics)

To the 1-star reviewer: You Sir, cannot be taken seriously. Maybe if you had posted an actual review of the product instead of a paranoid rant you could be taken seriously, but as it is your words are a flaming tower of babble.

For me, purchasing a surround-sound decoder and speaker system was the last link in my HT setup. I decided on the YHT-491BL for 5 reasons in particular:

1. I decided all I really needed is 5 speakers for great surround sound, not 7. I've heard the
difference and 7 speakers just isn't kosher for a living room that is being asked to do double-duty as a theater.

2. The price point of the 491BL fit my budget. Also, free shipping was a $55 value.

3. HDMI, optical, and coax digital inputs: my DVR, PS3, and Mac Mini connect easily.
Note: The HDMI inputs are video only and you will still need to connect your digital sound
sources to the receiver via TOSlink optical (2 avail), or digital coax cable (1 avail).
These digital audio cables are very inexpensive.

4. Sound quality from the active-servo subwoofer: I've owned a pair of Yamaha desktop computer speakers (YST-M15) and matching subwoofer (YST-MSW8) for over 10 years and I have never tired of the smooth sound and surprising power from these little studs. The 491BL did not disappoint me from the second I turned it on. The active-servo subwoofer keeps the bass tight and accurate, and the crossover slope from the bass to the mid frequencies is very smooth. The front left and right channels are mounted on good looking stands -- which gets the sound off the floor and puts it at the level it's supposed to be. So far these speakers sound awesome with movies, games, and music.

5. Yamaha quality. The long-lasting aforementioned desktop speakers, and a well-built Yamaha motorcycle have made me a believer in the quality of Yamaha products. Now if I could only learn to play the piano...

I am very happy with this system and have no complaints.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yamaha YHT-491BL Home Theater in a Box (Black), May 30, 2009

By 

Luci Vandolay "We're in Latex" (Vandolay Industries NM) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-491BL Home Theater in a Box (Black) (Electronics)

Has great sound and was fairly easy to set up. This set is ideal for less than full size home theatre such as a smaller room where space is limited. I picked because of the space it would save. Two speakers are on pedestals, so are not intrusive. The center speaker is smaller than I expected, just about 10 inches but thats 3 speakers so far and all have great sound, then the two rear I mounted on the Atlantic very low cost speaker stands that Amazon sells. Worked great for this, and then theres the 600 Watt powered amp with great controls and remote. The last piece was a large subwoofer for the bass and booming sounds. all of this gave me perfect surround sound like the big sets. The way It fit, nothing had to be moved or repositioned at all and the other reviews were right, the 491 has perfect sound and everything you need in the box.(Except should buy the pair of Atlantic stands and a roll of good speaker wire. The wire that came with it was a lower grade. I bought on ebay a full roll of good grade speaker wire, Phillips for $7.00 plus shipping,(the spool had a chip out of it.) Caution, I used a complete 50 ft roll of Phillips for the setup, none to spare. Area wasnt that large, just takes a lot of speaker wire for all 6 included speakers. The price was dropping on this 491BL set for months. it was hung up at $479 then moved to $449 then $439 then $429, I bought it at $399.95. The price drops over time weren't due to the quality. Its that Yamaha and so many others offer so many types of speaker systems, its hard to get a share of the buyer market, so price lowering happens to find that point where a buy takes place, (Like me). Greatest thing is if put items in the shopping basket, everytime you go online they tell you the new prices. They all seem to go up and down daily like the stock market. I caught this Yamaha system at $399 and change, and bought it. Other online sellers prices were all much higher. With Amazon I paid no shipping or tax either. This is my first review. I am just trying to help someone because the reviews have been helping me on Amazon for all the things I want to buy that I am not sure of. I learned all about this setup, the Atlantic Stands $33.00 and sound from other reviews. Yamaha makes many numbered sets of all types and through reviews i narrowed them down to the one with the most attributes I needed but most of all which had the best sound, This one has that, just like the reviews said. This one is the least bulky too. I was thinking bookshelves for speakers. But stands are practically invisible for the 4 Fr/Rr,& the subwoofer is on the floor in back of a chair and the center of course sits easily on the front of Tv. That My experience.First Review and I like the Yamaha 491 BL, The Atlantic speakers and the phillips 50 ft roll speaker wire.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great quality, good price, June 18, 2009

By 

Si Feng "Si Feng" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-491BL Home Theater in a Box (Black) (Electronics)

Everything works fine, looks cool.

Problems: doesn't decode audio via HDMI input, you need to use optical instead (for example, PS3 = HDMI + optical, you need both cables). So you'd better connect HDMI directly to your TV, and only use the receiver to decode audio.

My settings:
PS3: HDMI to TV, optical to receiver;
HTPC: HDMI to TV, 5.1 RCA to receiver (no optical on my HTPC, but if you have one, use it instead. The receiver has 2 optical inputs marked as "DTV/CBL" and "CD").

The benefit is that when you don't need Dolby 5.1 or DTS, you can just use TV (video and audio via HDMI to TV). When you need it, mute the TV, turn on the receiver, and then enjoy great sound.

Very nice set at great price. I love it.