Yamaha YHT-450 Home Theater System

I went to replace my 10 year old Kenwood receiver ...

Strengths: # of sound fields, powered subwoofer, piano finish on speakers, ease of set-up

Weaknesses: Remote

Summary: I went to replace my 10 year old Kenwood receiver that had Boston Acoustic speakers that my wife said were "too large" and had 10 year old technology. On the budget I had, I narrowed down my search to 2 systems: the Onkyo HT-S770 and the Yamaha YHT-450. I went to two well known electronic stores several times to listen and play with each. Each time I went, I changed my mind...which one did I want? It took me about 3 weeks and 4 visits to each to make up my mind. The reasons I chose the Yamaha are as follows. 1) The powered subwoofer. Although Onkyo has one, it seemed to be limited...to hear the bass, you had turn up the volume. I like to listen to jazz on a Sunday morning softly and not lose the low end portion of the music. Yamaha allows you to adjust the volume of the bass so you can hear the bass line play even when the wife is sleeping. 2) The receiver is easy to use. Both systems have similar receivers, but Yamaha has made theirs more user friendly for someone not familiar with their products. 3) As with all "in-box" theater systems, get good speaker wire. Both systems I looked at do give speaker wire, but go to Home Depot or Lowes to buy bulk 12 or 14 gauge wire, it is worth it. 4) The number of surround modes. Yamaha gives you 50+ surround modes...that may seem like too many, but why should you be limited? 4)The sound! Very crisp and pure. Onkyo was more focused, but how often do you sit in one spot and listen to your system? Good luck with your purchase, the Yamaha will be a great system for someone looking for a $500 system. I wrote this as there was only one other review for this system while there were over 50 for Onkyo's and more reviews could have saved me a couple trips to the electronic stores.

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This is an amazing 6.1 home theater in a box syste ...

Strengths: 6.1 surround-Neo and Pl2x decoding-All DTS decodings(Matrix-Ex etc)-Amazing movie decodings(Spectacle-Adventure etc) 3way front centers-Amazing QD-Bass Subwoofer-Cinema DSP processing-Hi Fi feature

Weaknesses: NONE

Summary: This is an amazing 6.1 home theater in a box system. The amount of decodings for DD and DTS are unbelievable. This truly sounds like you are in a movie theater. There are settings you can even adjust such as parameters and manual speaker placements if your room is too small or you have trouble placing your speakers in the proper distance. If you buy a nice DVD player that decodes DTS and DD you are in for the most amazing expierience of DTSDolby EX Surround with Cinema DSP processing, and the many more features this reciever decodes to give you the best expierence. There are so many features with this system. Even the FM Radio has a Hi Fi decoder. This system is the DIGITAL KING! The only thing the system is missing is THX,hehe! This has everything you'll ever need and the best quality sound. My ears are still hurting me from the Bass of this amazing system. There are so many features that relate to the signal processing such as delay times and different dB levels and so much more.The sub has a frequency and Volume control as well. Yamaha's business is music and I have read the manuals and it is amazing at what they put into their products. THIS SYSTEM IS A MUST HAVE! YOU WILL GUARANTEED HAVE NO REGRETS WHATSOEVER.

p.s you can see how excited I am over this product. It is truly amazing!

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I researched a lot of systems, read reviews, went ...

Strengths: Great sound, lots of setup features (e.g. converts 2-channel TV sound into great-sounding 5.1 sound). Remote control can be programmed to run TV, DVD player, etc. One of the few black designs out ther

Weaknesses: No built-in DVD player. Wish it had more inputs (can we ever have enough??). No volume leveling (at least, did not find it yet)--e.g. switching between TV and radio may require adjusting volume.

Summary: I researched a lot of systems, read reviews, went window-shopping. Finally, I decided that no-one in our family can detect (hear) the difference between a $400 stereo and a $2000 stereo. However, we *can* detect the difference between easy-to-use and difficult-to-use. This system is relatively easy to set up and calibrate (figure on 2-3 hours). Once set up, it is VERY easy and a joy to use. Great system for first-time home theater folks (like us) or for a secondary room. It has been discontinued, but you can still find it new in some places and certainly find it used. In addition, Yamaha still makes several very similar systems. You won't go wrong with this one.

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the system is great...great sound...perhaps the on ...

Strengths: sound quality

Weaknesses: bulkiness

Summary: the system is great...great sound...perhaps the only issue is the bulkiness of the product...i had to unpackage everything in order to make it fit in my car...but everything else is great.

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