Customer Reviews

Yamaha YSP-4000BL Digital Sound Projector (Black)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I now have the new Yamaha YSP 4000 and having tried it out on over twenty different disks, can say without equivocation that it is amazing. So long as you have a room with a good back wall and at least one sidewall, it will deliver incredibly good 5.1 surround sound. Will it be as good as top end systems with five distinct and separate speakers costing $5,000 or more? Of course not. Will it be as good as or better than receiver/speaker systems available today for $3.000? Yes. In other words, this newest Yamaha stands clearly at the point of diminishing returns. After installing it and listening to it, you may decide that you do not need a subwoofer. It did Chicago beautifully. I decided I wanted one for some of the accurate bass on great classical music.

The setup is easy, but when the screen tells you to get out of the room - GO! The sounds emitted during the setup are designed to send cats and dogs into fits of madness. Do not try to audition this unit in a 'big box' store. It relies on nearby walls to help it work. If you have a friend who has taken the plunge, go and listen to it within a real listening area. Anyone who lives in or visits Central FL leave a comment on this thread and I will cheerfully invite you to visit and make up your own mind. If you live in a place where you cannot drill holes in your wall or if you do not want wires and speakers all over the place - this may be the solution for you. It was for me.

Great solution to surround sound when you don't want a complex installation or are unable to run wires to surround speakers. Easy setup, upscaling looks fine, audio sounds much better than tv speakers. I have this hooked up with a DirecTv HR21, Samsung DVR-VR357 (Combo DVD-VCR) and am very happy with the features. Auto setup was quick, easy and very effective. HDMI cable reduced the clutter from about 8 cables to 2. The upscaling even makes vcr media look acceptable on a 32" LCD.
I would point out this is not a audiophile system. I much prefer my home theater setup for dedicated audio listening. Great for rooms with 4 walls, and some space (maybe 3-6ft) behind the normal listening positions to give the rear projected sounds room to work. I would also caution against trying to have more than 2 or 3 devices attached as the input selection and switching functions are somewhat limited.

Bought the sound bar a month ago now and have been thoroughly happy with it. Sound is great, easy to set-up. As a relative novice audiophile I wanted something that was easy and looked good - last thing I wanted was to drill holes run cables and pay someone to have to redecorate.

Couple of things that I think Yamaha could do better; the menu is a little 1980's pong like and difficult to navigate. There is also some confusion on DVD/TV/STB naming on the screen (but I did find an attached addendum doc in the box). I'd like to have seen a couple more optical inputs - I'm using both for my Sonos and TV. I've also had some problems with centralizing my hdmi sources (I wanted to run the cable HDMI in and then output to my old component plasma; I'm not 100% sure whether its my lack of experience or a gap - but the documentation isn't great and I didn't get it working.

All in all, I've been happy. The selection of different sound enhancements does definitely make a difference.

I also bought a FSW050 subwoofer with it. I tried with and without the subwoofer and it makes a big difference and is well worth the extra hundred bucks to take some of the strain off of the soundbar.

[Update] I've had the system now for two months. All in all I'm happy with it but it does limit some of your options for upgradability. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As a piece of technology is still rocks, sound is excellent. I think it's short 1 HDMI to be honest. Some of the advanced configuration is also difficult and as yet I'm not sure of the best way to proceed. The wife also now wants the ability to listen to the TV in the kitchen, so I think an audio out for a potential 2nd zone would also be useful (wireless speakers are getting better...).

All in all - Still happy but make sure you are 100% adamant that this is the way you want to go before investing what is a good chunk of cash.

[Update 2] I felt I should put this in.... I've since fully loaded the YSP and have been very happy with the flexibility you have on configuration. You can effectively use digital and analog inputs together and toggle via the remote. This has allowed me to run a computer (via a svideo videocard to component video adapter) and a wii (also with a component video connection). This really completes the set-up and means I need just one hdmi cable to go to the TV which is fantastic simplicity. I now have:

Cable box [HDMI]
Oppo DVD [HDMI]
Sonos [Digital Audio]
Computer [Coaxial Digital Audio + Component]
Nintendo Wii [Analog Audio + Component]

The unit continues to amaze me and I'm very happy... but still would like to see another HDMI.

I bought one of these last week, it's one of the coolest products I've ever bought. It produces outstanding surround sound. Drilling holes in the floor or walls to run speaker wire was not an option for me. I plugged the Yamaha in, ran the auto set up and boom... surround sound. It sounds like I hung speakers from the rear walls. One thing, without a subwoofer it didn't quite have enough bass. I picked up a cheap subwoofer...and this thing sounds great.

Purchased this product 2 weeks ago, very pleased with it. I wanted to avoid alot of wires due to brick walls and no atic in tv room, soundbar seemed logical. I tried the sony hct 100, it had teenie tiny sound and i promptly returned it. I installed this unit with a polk 505 12 inch subwoofer, very impressive sound, it literally shakes the walls. Pros--1) Impressive surround sound, it really works 2) easy hdmi connections 3)great dynamic theatre sound 4) easily integrates with my Harmony One remote 5) really looks great mounted on wall directly under my 52 inch sony w4100. Cons---1) You have to change volume through ysp, cant dislay volume on your tv 2) heavy, in a good way, get some help when installing it 3) Needs a subwoofer- I highly recommend the polk 505 12 inch subwoofer. It rocks and amazon has it for ~250. I Feel with these two pieces I have the great, dynamic, room shaking theater system I wanted. I am done.

If you do not want to run cables all over your room for a surround-sound system, this is the option for you. It's a nice looking unit - it complements my TV very well - and the sound is fantastic, especially when paired with a subwoofer. The initial setup is incredibly easy (makes you wonder why more manufacturers don't do the same) and takes only 2-3 minutes. Once that's done you've got amazing sound coming from this one box!

One word of note: Purchasing this will require your switching be done through this unit, rather than through your TV. If you have HDMI-CEC components (e.g. a TV and disc player) hooked up via HDMI cables (and why wouldn't you?), you might have to turn off the HDMI-CEC functionality in order for the switch to operate correctly at start up.

Coupled with a subwoofer, this is perfect for the person who wants a movie experience without the overload of multiple speakers, receivers and wires. You can't go wrong, best surround bar on the market.

I have been investigating "sound bars" for close to two years. This unit is NOT a sound bar, its a sound projecter and there is a HUGE difference between the two. I owned a 200w 7.1 surround sound system (200w per speaker). While this unit does not replace the sound from that system it does sound incredible and is well worth the loss in sound quality for the freedom from wires and the speakers crowding my living room. I have compared over 30 different brands and listened to the offerings that are available. This is by far the biggest bang for your buck. I have not found any that can even compare to the sound quality from this unit. Plenty of connections and HDMI for most people and easy set up. Spend just a little time researching and I think you'll come back to this Yamaha. It's a winner.

Ok well 1st of all this product works great, as long as you plan to play dvds, it is an excellent system. I STRONGLY recommend that you use the manual setup feature, it is infinitely better than auto (though auto is pretty good too)

HUGE CON
the ysp 4000 cannot decode Dolby True HD audio
THAT MEANS DON'T GET IT IF YOU WANT TO WATCH HD DVDs THROUGH HDMI because you can only watch/listen to your awesome media in stereo, while you watch your lower quality DVDs in 5.1 surround sound (I cant remember what audio formats bluray uses but I know most use Dolby True HD as well)

while it is a great sound solution, I am seriously considering returning it because this is a terrible flaw for anyone who cares about audio at all

Good:
-Great simulated sound
-Good alternative to wiring several speakers for surround sound
-Soundbar correctly switches sound (cable box to ps3 or vice versa) when I
change HDMI source on the televsion.
-HDMI upconversion
-Easy setup
-FM Tuner


Bad:
-Expensive
-No sub included - needs a little more bass
-Changing channels gets slower when cable box goes through the soundbar via
HDMI.


SETUP:
-HDMI IN: PS3
-HDMI IN: -
-HDMI OUT: LCD TV
-OPTICAL: Cable Box (did not use HDMI due to slight delay in channel changing)