Yamaha YHT-S401BL Front Surround Home Theater System

by Yamaha

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 35 x 20.5 x 8.8 inches ; 26.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 28 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• 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: B005YXXU0U
• Item model number: YHT-S401BL
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,699 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #7 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Speakers > Soundbar Speakers

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Yamaha YHT-S401BL Front Surround Home Theater System

Key Features

• Front Surround System with center speaker provides clear dialogue and an expansive sound field for greater TV enjoyment
• Oval center speaker ensures natural sound reproduction with low listening fatigue
• Powerful Subwoofer-Integrated Receiver can be used horizontally or vertically to deliver robust bass with a sharp kick
• AIR SURROUND XTREME provides powerful 7.1-channel surround sound
• UniVolume keeps programs and commercials at the same volume level

High Sound Quality

Soundbar with Center Speaker Provides Clear Dialogue and an Expansive Soundfield

The YHT-S401 consists of a soundbar and receiver/subwoofer, which you can position conveniently near the TV. The soundbar has three speakers including a center speaker for clear dialogue from movies and TV programs. Yamaha’s rich, natural sound and expansive surround fields will greatly enhance the enjoyment of all your media sources.

5.5cm (2- 1/8”) Full Range Speakers Delivers Crisp Richly Detailed Sound

The 5.5cm (2-1/8”) full range speakers use extra-large voice coils to provide fast sound attack, wide dynamic range and highly detailed sound. You’ll enjoy impressive surround sound quality from all your audio and video sources.

Oval Center Speaker Ensures Natural Sound Reproduction with Low Listening Fatigue

The oval center speaker has a paper cone with excellent vibration mode characteristics, so unnecessary vibrations do not affect sound quality. Dialogue and vocals sound exceptionally clear and natural.

Saran Net Grille Enhances Sound Definition and Vocal Clarity

The grille protecting the speaker unit is a saran net that allows unimpeded sound flow. All sounds, including vocals and music, are clear and pleasant to listen to.

Subwoofer performs beautifully in both vertical and horizontal positions.

Powerful Subwoofer Outputs Robust Bass with a Sharp Kick

Powered by a 100W built-in digital amp, the subwoofer has a voice coil optimally positioned for superior response. It delivers clear, powerful bass with a sharp kick for movie sound effects and music.

Fill your room with sound of the YAS-101's realistic and impressive sound field.

Surround Realism

AIR SURROUND XTREME Provides Powerful Surround Sound

Yamaha’s exclusive AIR SURROUND XTREME reproduces 7.1-channel surround sound with high quality, excellent imaging and rich presence, far superior to that of any other soundbar system. You’ll experience an extremely realistic and impressive sound field, with clear dialogue in the front and dynamic sound action at the back and sides.

Full HD Audio Compatibility

The YHT-S401 decodes HD Audio signals to ensure that you hear the best possible sound from Blu-ray Disc players, as well as from all other digital sources.

Digital USB Connection for iPod/iPhone

MP3 Audio Compatibility

A USB terminal makes it quick and easy to plug in an iPod or iPhone. Since the digital signal from the iPod/iPhone is transmitted directly, noise interference is minimized and sound quality is optimized.

Extended Stereo

Yamaha uses advanced sound processing to extend the stereo soundfield (wider sound imaging) so you have more choice of optimum listening positions.

The piano-black finish of the YHT-S401 matches flat-screen TVs perfectly.

Headphone Jack for Multi-Channel Sound

The headphone jack lets you plus in your own headphones and enjoy virtual 7.1-channel sound in private.

Clear Voice Makes Dialogue and Narrations Easy to Hear

Clear Voice raises the level of dialogue and narrations while maintaining overall sound quality. Movies and TV shows, sports commentary and news broadcasts are more clearly audible.

UniVolume Maintains the Same Volume Level

This welcome feature, made possible by Yamaha-developed technology, maintains a consistent volume level between different channels, programs, commercials and input sources. It can be switched on and off.

Music Enhancer Makes Compressed Audio Sound Fresh

When music is encoded in a digital compressed format such as MP3, frequency response suffers in the high and low ranges. Yamaha employs sophisticated digital signal processing with exclusive algorithms, enabling faithful reproduction of the original music, for excellent sound quality.

Product Specifications

Woofer:	5 1/4" cone
Tweeter:	Dual 2-1/8"cone, 4"cone
Max Front Input Power:	50 watts each
Max Sub Input Power:	100 watts
Frequency Response:	35 Hz – 20 kHz
Crossover frequency:	150 Hz
Impedance:	Sub:3 ohms, Speakers:6 ohms
Soundbar Dimensions:	31-1/2” , 3-1/8", 3-7/8”
Sub/Receiver Dimensions:	17-1/8", 5-3/8", 14- 1/4"
Weight:	Bar: 3.3lbs, Sub/Rec: 17.4lbs

Similar Yamaha Products to Consider

Yamaha YAS-101BL Front Surround System -- The Yamaha YAS-101 is a single speaker home theater Soundbar system with a built-in powerful subwoofer. With easy setup, stylish design, and luxuriously rich surround sound, this soundbar takes video enjoyment to a new level. This powerful sound bar system is designed with a focus on simplicity and elegance.

Yamaha YHT-S400BL Front Surround Unique Home Theater Package -- The Yamaha YHT-S400 is a unique soundbar home theater system that's more compact and versatile than conventional soundbars. Yamaha was able to build a subwoofer into the surprisingly slim receiver, eliminating an extra unit (and cables) and allowing convenient placement. Plus, the YHT-S400 is one of the slimmest soundbars on the market. No matter the space, you can fit a complete home theater system into even the most unforgiving of rooms.

Yamaha YSP-2200 Digital Sound Projector -- The YSP-2200 applies sophisticated sound projection 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every penny!!!, December 14, 2011

By 

Osvaldo Nodarse "Ozzie" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-S401BL Front Surround Home Theater System (Electronics)

After searching and reading all kind of reviews for about 2 weeks, I got confused and frustated in get a decent soundbar for my bedroom. I am a fan of the good quality sound and video. I didn't want to open holes in the walls to run the satelite speakers wires because my wife will kill me,so I decide to look for a good hardwire ( no wireless subwoofer) soundbar with a decent review. I was opening to any brands. I already have a powerfull and excellent YHT492UBL system in the living room connected to a 3D Blu-ray and a 55" LED 3D TV and HD channels from my provider, so I know about quality. Because this unit ( YHT 401BL) is new in the market and almost none review I was so scare, but I took the risk. Oh my lord!!! it's unbelivable the sounds. The projection of the expandable surround sound is very clear and realisty. The subwoofer is part of the receiver ( I was scare about this too), it's giving the perfect balance, clear of the BOOM sounds without distortions. I coonected it to a 42" LED 3D samgsum TV 7000 series and I feel so happy about it that here I am, writting a review. If you close your eyes like I did and get inside the room with the system on , you may think that you are listening the most expensive surround system in the market. I know is no cheap, but worth every penny. Buy it, you won't regrete it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 3D video pass-through does not work!, January 20, 2012

By 

Lain (Beverly Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-S401BL Front Surround Home Theater System (Electronics)

Ok sound and the clear voice option works great. I was no longer asking my boyfriend "what did they just say?" every 10 mins. Sadly, the 3D video pass-through doesn't work with our ps3 & Panasonic ST 30 with HDMI 1.4 highspeed cables setup. We called tech support & they told us it should be plug & play, so we exchanged it hoping it was a defect. Unfortunately this was not the case. 3D works great when the ps3 is hooked directly to tv, but 3D signal dies when played through soundbar system. 2D menus and content work fine through the system, but soon as 3D signal kicks in, it fails to push through the 3D video and only audio comes through the sounbar.
Basically, if you don't plan to watch 3D, I'd rate it as 4stars (assuming you don't mind owning a product where not all functions work).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Think I've finally found a winner, January 10, 2012

By 

B. Sanger (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha YHT-S401BL Front Surround Home Theater System (Electronics)

Have been using the YHT-S401BL for a couple of days now and initial impressions are, well, impressive.

It sounds great - with all input sources - the HDMI switching is incredibly convenient, there are numerous input options (3 HDMI, analog R/W, digital toslink AND coax connections, not to mention the FM tuner), the hard-wired bass gives a good thumping and the speaker itself is outstanding, with a surprisingly small footprint to boot. The picture doesn't do the size of the sound bar justice quite frankly.

All video source are relayed at their highest resolutions possible (1080p, 1080i and 720p sources), with no visible signal degredation at all. There are many more wires to connect than you might be expecting however, so be aware of that fact. All wiring from input sources run into the sub/receiver unit, which connects to the sound bar with a speaker cable that has six connections on each end. I have three HDMI cables (Blu-Ray, Roku, AppleTV) running into the receiver/sub, as well as a toslink (Xbox) and digital coax (FIOS STB). Then, one HDMI cable runs from the sub/receiver to the TV. (I decided to keep my video signals with the Xbox and FIOS separate because sometimes I like to game or watch TV while listening to music and that would not be possible running those video signals through the HDMI switcher on the sub/receiver, because then those are the active signals and it doesn't allow you to access audio from a different input while watching video on another. Hope that made sense.)

The instruction manual is not always easy to comprehend, especially with regards to activating HDMI control. It claims to be CEC compliant, but I could not get that feature to work with my Samsung DLP, which is CEC compliant as well - and works fine with my Samsung Blu-Ray. I went through the directions several times and it just never worked. Could be because the TV is from 2008, when the HDMI CEC movement was in its infancy. Not a big deal, as I will eventually set up my Harmony to control everything. Besides, the included remote works extremely well and isn't that big. It's no problem keeping it nearby to adjust the volume or input when necessary.

After my experience with the Boston Acoustics TVee Model 30 I'm not going to jump the gun just yet and anoint the S401BL the clear winner, but right now I see no reason why it won't be staying with us. It's a big step up from the entry level Yamaha and for my money, performs much better than the Yamaha DSP-2200, which I did not like at all. If you're on the fence, I'd say give it a shot.