Yamaha YHT-397 5.1-Channel Home Theater System
- 5-channel powerful surround sound (100W per Channel)
- HD Audio format decoding: Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio; Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
- 4K pass-through for next generation super high resolution images
- Front panel USB Digital Connection for iPod and iPhone
- YPAO sound optimization for automatic speaker setup
The YHT-397 Home Theater System provides simple operation, yet includes essential capabilities for high definition home audio video enjoyment, offering popular features like USB input for iPhone and color on-screen display, as well as a 5.1 channel speaker system with a powerful 8″ 100W subwoofer. This system is also ready for the next generation with sophisticated technologies like 4k video pass-through and ECO mode for lower power consumption.
List Price: $ 449.95
Price: $ 354.46
Sony HTSS380 3D Home Theater System
- 1000 watt 5.1 channel surround sound (167 W x5 + 165 W)
- Three HDMI inputs: single-cable High-Definition AV connections
- HDMI Repeater with 3D pass-through
- iPod/iPhone dock for video, music and photos
- BRAVIA Widget unified on-screen interface
Embark upon an amazing cinematic experience from the comfort of your own couch with this HT-SS380 5.1-channel surround sound 3D home theater system. Outfitted with three HDMI inputs with 3D pass-through, you can easily connect compatible devices-like a PS3 system, 3D HDTV or 3D Blu-ray Disc player-and experience eye-popping 3D. With 1000 watts of powerful, 5.1-channel surround sound, get blown away by your music and the sounds of your favorite movies and games. Play songs stored on your co
List Price: $ 349.99
Price: $ 298.00
Good for the price, but falls a touch short,
You really can’t beat this unit for the price. It came as advertised and only took a couple hours to set up. The instruction manual was lacking, but the disc that accompanied it is very thorough. I am pretty savvy with home theater equipment and this unit seemed too good to be true. Well, it is and it’s not………
It was easy to put together and does the job as advertised. The sound is really good for a unit of this price. Yamaha has always had a good name and hasn’t let it go with this unit. The surround sound “auto” set up is very easy and works really well. It’s easy to tweak the settings if need be as well. There are a lot of inputs for various devices. Although, the inputs area is exactly where I have an issue and I’ll address that below…..The unit is very easy to navigate through the menu and adjust things and customize things for you. The USB input on the front of the unit is great for your ipod/iphone. Don’t knock the sound or the speakers until you have set it up completely and have customized everything. Once it’s set up, the entire package sounds pretty good.
The idea of a home theater system, to me, is to have ALL the devices going to the unit and then ONE cable (HDMI) going to the TV. This is NOT that unit. The only things that travels through the HDMI output cable are the HDMI inputs, as well as sound from the other inputs. Video from the AV or Component inputs does NOT get transferred through the HDMI output to the TV. On this unit they require a separate cable going from the AV output or Component output to another input on the TV, which to me defeats some of the purpose of having a “system”. Now, if your TV is on a stand sitting right above the tuner then not as big of a deal, although you will still have to change the input on the TV if you want to play your playstation or whatever is not running through the HDMI cable…..a pain, but possible. BUT, if your TV is mounted on the wall and your cables are running through the wall then that significantly complicates the installation since you will then have to run more cables through the wall to all the different inputs on the TV. And again, kind of a pain to have to change the input on the TV depending on what device you’re using. This is my only con regarding this unit, albeit a very big one IMO. Luckily they make a Wii to HDMI converter and I’m putting my PS2 in the other room for my son. So for now, the 4 HDMI inputs are going to be enough. But if you have more devices than 4 then you will have the issue that I mention above.
Right now I couldn’t afford the actual system that I really wanted. I bought this as a temporary filler for a little while and it is definitely going to do the job and do it well! I should have only given this 3 stars because of the issue I mentioned above, although, for the price and what you get, this is worth a 4 star rating.
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|Great Buy,
Installation took about 3 hours and I had my young apprentice electrician son-in-law do it. I could have but he knew what he was doing.
Once installed, it performed exactly like I hoped. We had both gotten the point where we were using subtitles to understand movie dialogue. That is no longer necessary. When at a moderate sound level, the sound is clear and crisp and easily understandable. When turned up for music or action films, the system gives the feeling of being in a theater.
Great buy for the price.
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|Quite satisfied with a few caveats for some folks,
I purchased this system as a gift for somebody, but have operated it extensively for the past couple of weeks. Bear in mind, that my setup is somewhat unique based on the 651SV 65″ Vizio it was being connected to and the Time Warner digital cable box being used. Everybody will have different setups, so my case might be a little unique.
First off, the box that it comes in is fairly heavy…as can be expected with this amount of audio equipment. Yamaha sells all of these components separately, so they are boxed separately. To simplify, you are shipped 1 box, but then there are 3 boxes inside of that box for your 5 channel speakers, subwoofer, and audio receiver(which is actually the RX-V373 series receiver I believe, even though it is labeled HTR-3065 in this setup). Everything was shipped in tip top shape and had no problems there…it was packaged quite well by Yamaha.
Installation:
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I took my time hooking it up, but it was no real biggie as I just drilled some holes into the floor and ran the speaker wire through the basement. The room I placed this system in was 24′x13′ and instead of using the thin wire Yamaha supplies you with, I just purchased the 100′ roll of 16 guage RCA wire that is available here on Amazon. It is thicker, carries a signal a farther distance, and improves the clarity of sound when you are carrying a signal a farther distance…in other words, pretty much mandatory in my opinion. This is no slight to Yamaha, as all manufacturers sends you cheap and thin wire. I also purchased the Scientific Atlanta adjustable speaker stands for the rear surround speakers and they pair up beautifully together, although you need to add a spacer(I used a nut) to the screw that attached the Yamaha speaker to the stand as the screw can only screw in so far, leaving space between the back of the mount and speaker.
Yamaha provides you an easy setup guide and CD-ROM user manual, which is effective enough, but I would suggest just downloading the manuals for all the equipment in the system from Yamaha’s website directly, so you can read through them while they are shipping to you. It helps you understand all the ins and outs much better(especially for the receiver).
Hooking up the speakers is pretty obvious…you run your length of wire, use wire cutters to cut and splay the ends so you can hook them up into the lever actuated port holes(obviously making sure you have all the positives and negatives straight…I made the white line my positive). The only difference is the rear surround hook up on the back gives you the option to use banana plugs. I’m not quite sure why they did this ONLY for the rear surround channels, but they did. If you don’t want banana plugs, it’s fine, and you can still screw them out and then screw down your splayed ends and just use the wire by itself.
The sub is an actively powered sub, so you will have to plug it in separately into an outlet. It connects via a single RCA jack into the back of the receiver with an INCLUDED RCA sub wire that is 5m(~15ft) long. The power cord isn’t as long, but as long as you have an outlet nearby, it’s nice to have the flexibility to move the sub around to a place where you have optimal audio output and clarity.
Initial impressions:
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Out of the box, this system is actually 500 watts, not 600 watts. What do I mean by that? The receiver is actually preset at 8 ohms of impedance which nets 80W x 5 channels + 100W sub…500W. Now you can easily change the impedance on the receiver to 6 ohms as all of the speakers are rated to handle 6 ohms of impedance, but I found 8 ohms(500W total) to be more than enough for my application in a 24′x13′ living room. I can crank it up and shake the house with the active powered sub, so I found no reason to even try 6 ohms(600W).
The setup is different for all, but you have 4 HDMI ins with pass through signalling through the receiver and 1 HDMI out to your viewing source(TV). I intially set up the Time Warner Cable Box and Blu-ray player to the HDMI inputs on the receiver and then ran the HDMI out on the receiver to the HDMI input on the TV. Once you go through the setup button on the receiver remote and go to HDMI, you can enable “HDMI control” which syncs the receiver with your TV and you can utilize more of the simple functions into 1 remote control(in my case, my digital cable remote). Keep in mind, you need to enable the CEC/HDMI control/Device Disovery/etc. on your TV as well, ASSUMING your TV has the ARC(audio return channel)HDMI feature built into your TV.
Issues:…
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|Great sound but some minor quibbles,
I purchased the HT-SS380 at the store after realizing that the HT-SS370 had been discontinued. I assumed that since the systems shared a common look and nomenclature that they would have the same features (with the added 3-D functionality in the HT-SS380). I was wrong.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HT-SS370 AND HT-SS380 SYSTEMS:
While the HT-SS380 does have 3-D capabilities, some other notable features are missing. The HT-SS370 had options for purchasing additional components in order to add wireless rear speaker capability. The HT-SS380 has no wireless expandability options. The HT-SS370 speakers came with wiring that featured proprietary connectors on one end for connecting to the receiver, but the speakers themselves featured standard wire clips, making them available to use with any other system that featured a standard clip design. The HT-SS380 speakers, on the other hand, still feature the proprietary clips on one end, but the other end is firmly connected to the speaker and is not able to be removed. Therefore in order to use the speakers with any other system, the wires would have to be cut and spliced to additional wire. The HT-SS380 does however contain a iPod/iPhone dock, whereas that component had to be purchased separately for the HT-SS370.
PROS:
The HT-SS380 has great sound for a minimal price. The speakers are plenty loud when it comes to filling a moderate-size room with crisp sound, and the passive sub-woofer puts out bass that you can feel. Sound quality is one of the most important aspects of the system for me, and so that’s why I applied a 4-star rating instead of a 3-star rating. The system as a whole is very sleek and stylish. The included tuning microphone does a good job of setting up the speakers for optimal sound, although I ended up making tweaks and adjustments to suit my preferences. The system contains 4 HDMI connections and features BRAVIA-sync (cooperation between Sony devices such as a Sony TV or PS3).
CONS:
The LCD on the front of the receiver is small and there are elements that are practically unreadable unless you are mere inches from the screen. There are no composite connections on the receiver, so hooking up older, non-HDMI devices (like the Nintendo Wii) is difficult (you would have to purchase a Wii composite cable or a third-party Wii2HDMI connector). The tuning microphone should plug into the front of the system somewhere since once the system is tucked into a media cabinet, it becomes difficult to pull it out and re-attach the tuning microphone if you want to run the diagnostic again. And the aforementioned proprietary speaker wires aren’t a deal breaker, but it would have been nice if Sony had allowed their speakers greater versatility.
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|HTSS38380,
Not bad for price. Beware speaker connectors are proprietary and the lengths included are not exactly generous, particularly for rear surround. good luck finding extensions from Sony – tried without success. i think it is 18 gauge but even Sony support could not confirm gauge but it is pretty darn thin and btw, the speakers are a bit on the cheap (1000 watts won’t do you much good with cheap speakers) so you are mainly paying for the receiver.
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|Big Fan! Normally not a Sony buyer, but I think I’ve been converted!,
Throughout the years I haven’t been a huge fan of Sony products as they’ve always been overpriced in comparison to other companies that offer the same products with more features at a lower price…but after buying a refurb Sony 46″ Bravia and this home theater system, I think my eyes have been opened!
Now sure the items are still a bit on the expensive side, but how amazingly well they “play nice” together is worth it (just like Apple products).
The sound is fantastic and the Bravia Sync is AMAZING as you just plug in the HDMI cables and it’s completely set up with the TV recognizing that you’ll be using the sound system for sound instead of the TV speakers with a lot more beyond that!
Even when it comes to my PS3 it rocks as both the TV & Sound system remotes work with the PS3′s DVD/Blu Ray playing functions, so it eliminated the need for me to buy a seperate Harmony remote piece just to get it to work (I might even sell my Harmony remote all together the Sony remotes work so well).
All in all, if your looking for a good lower end priced home theater system with some great features, I’d think you would very pleased with the HT-SS380!
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