Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha YHT-300 5.1-Channel Home Theater System

Yamaha YHT 300 system is great. The HTR-5540 receiver has 6.1 Matrix (virtual not discrete), which means it will give rear center speaker effects virtually. The receiver has Quad-Field Cinema DSP, Virtual Cinema DSP and Silent Cinema features. Does not have S-video or component video. (Connect your DVD player directly to TV's component/s-video video inputs.) This receiver gives you inputs for DVD-Audio and SACD. Front, Surround and Center speakers are average. Do not be bothered by 75x5 watts, this is more than enough for your medium sized living room.

The best thing about this package is its 55 watts Advanced-YST Active Servo sub-woofer. Before that I bought the sony 100 watts sub but the Yamaha 55 watts, which comes with yht-300, has way too deep and rich bass. The sub-woofer has two inputs on the back, L(eft) and R(ight/MONO) if your receiver has split sub-outputs (connect to MONO input if you have one sub output). Sub also has speaker outputs.

All in all, I am having an excellent experience. Hookup is easy. Along with the receiver manual, there is a hook-up booklet, 100 ft good quality speaker wire (low quality speaker wire came with sony set).

I highly recommend this system if you are in this price range...

Before I bought this system, I went to a store and played with several home theaters all in the same price range as this Yamaha. I liked its sound more that that of Sony and Kenwood, although it was hard to make a good judgement in a noisy environment. Two weeks after I bought it, I am quite happy with the purchase. The included main, center, and rear two-way speakers are quite small and inobtrusive-looking. The sound quality should be judged separately for movies and for CD music. Indeed, the movie sound consists mainly of conversation and some ambient noises, sound effects, and background music, which do not require too much from the sound system. I am totally satisfied with the sound quality when watching the movies. The sound is clear, and the bass is as powerful as one can possibly need. Playing more demanding music, such as classical CDs, reveals that the sound lacks transparency and depth, particularly when you listen to the music loudly, as it would sound in a symphony hall. I would blame it primarily on low-end speakers. Of course, one should realize that a pair of good speakers designed for high fidelity sound reproduction usually costs more than this whole system including the receiver and the subwoofer. Unlike the speakers, the receiver has very good parameters (0.06% THD at 75 W per channel, frequency response from 10 Hz to 100 kHz at -3 dB , and 100 dB signal to noise ratio) and an excellent selection of decoders: Dolby Pro Logic (to decode Dolby Surround used on VHS tapes, TV broadcast, and digital cable (left, center, right, and one rear channels)), Dolby Pro Logic II (advanced version of Dolby Pro Logic which can create a quasi-5-channel sound from Dolby Surround and create an illusion of surround sound from standard stereo audio tracks), as well as Dolby Digital and DTS (two competiting technologies to record 5 channels of sound plus a low frequency effects channel, therefore labelled 5.1). Additionally, it has a variety of "sound fields" which essentially are the sound reflections in big theaters or cinemas imitated by delaying the signal in selected speakers by several milliseconds. The headphone jack works well. I tested it with my Sennheiser HD600 headphones and found the sound quality to be slightly worse, but close to what I get from a dedicated Creek headphone amplifier. Most functions can be controlled both from the remote and using the buttons on the reciever's faceplate. The number of inputs and outputs is adequate, you can connect 6 audio analog and 2 audio digital sources. The receiver also can redirect the video signal from cable converter or VHS (or DVD player if you do not use component connection) to the TV simultaneously with switching the audio source.

The things that I am unhappy about are minor, but are worth mentioning. First of all, the accessories included with YHT-300 are not sufficient even to try the system out. For instance, a mono audio cable required to connect the receiver to the subwoofer is not included. Likewise, there is no optical or digial coaxial cable in the package which is required to get dolby digital or DTS 5.1 surrounding sound signal from the DVD player (this sound encoding is not transmitted over a regular video-audio RCA cable). Instead, Yamaha included an EXTENSION (male on one end, female on the other) RCA cable - I am still guessing what use it was intended for. The second thing to mention is that the manual could have been written a lot better. Even with my technical background it took me several readings to understand what all these buttons on the remote do.

Overall, it is a very decent system (excellent for the movies, more or less OK to play CDs) and a good value for the price.

This is probably the best entry level setup
you can buy.Not the most powerful but without
a doubt the most feature packed and versitile.
First of all the sub is a 60 watt not 55 watt.
It clearly states 60 watts on the back of the
sub and I haven't found anything in the manual
to indicate otherwise.Yeah you can get a 5 or
600 watt system for the same price but you'll
only be getting just that...A few more watts.
If you think Sony or Kenwood is gonna give
you a richer,better sound,forget it.Yamaha makes
top notch audio equipment.Contrary to one of the
reviews I read,you most certainly can acheive
true 6.1 by hooking an external decoder to the 6.1
channel inputs.Jesus,do the research before you go
spoutin' off.Need a bigger sub to stroke your ego,get
one,Yamaha makes'em up to 150 watts.No component vi-
deo out's but you don't need them on a receiver! It
would have put this system over $400 to add component
video out's.
As long as your dvd and t.v. has them you're all set.
They also have systems all the way up to 870 watts and
192khz.As far as the speakers go,they're good speakers.
They're not going to box these things up with a $1000
speaker set,think about it,if you've got the money you
can hook up whatever speakers you want.This is a better
than average setup and worth every penny,Yamaha is the
poor man's Bose,no doubt about it!

First of all, let me say that the customer reviews are one of the most valuable buying tools I enjoy on this web site. When I first looked at the YHT-300 package,I must admit I was skeptical. However, the positive customer reviews finally convinced me to give it a try. Now, I must join in agreement with those who have stated that this system performs far beyond its ... price. The setup instructions were easy to follow and the receiver is simple to operate. I replaced a 125 watt, 12" JBL subwoofer with the 55 watt Yamaha that came with the package and the Yamaha is definitely the better unit.

A couple of words of advice:

1. While the HTR-5540 receiver supports 5.1 analog input through the 6-channel input mode, unless you are playing DVD audio, I recommend you use either the digital coax or optical connection for your DVD and let the DSP in the receiver handle the decoding. You'll find you have much more control over the way your movies sound.

2. If you are using your DVD player to play audio CD disks, either connect the DVD player to the receiver through the digital coax (which is the default setting for CD input) or connect your DVD player's analog outputs to the analog inputs for CD and change the setting on the receiver. Don't try playing regular, 2-channel audio CDs through the 6-channel input option. The unit will play exactly what it sees on the disk which is 2 channels; one for left main and one for right main. No center, rear or subwoofer signals.

Other than these two notes, just have fun with it! Its an excellent choice for the price.

I recently purchased the YHT-300 and I am very pleased with the sound and overall performance. The system is quite easy to set up and start using. I have several components that I run the audio though, but not any video connections. Video connections should be run directly into the TV.

To run my Toshiba 50H82, I needed a Home Theater system. The YHT-300 fits the bill perfectly. The HTR-5540 AV Receiver delivers 75 watts of power to each of the 5 speakers. The stand alone powered Subwoofer has 55 watts of power. This makes the system ideal for smaller rooms, and yet it has the power to fill a large room with clear and crisp sounds. You can adjust the surround sound rear speakers, the center speaker and the subwoofer independently by using the remote control. Whether you are playing video through a VCR, DVD recorder, or a progressive scan DVD, the results will surely please you. Movies played in either Dolby Digital or DTS are remarkably like being in a theater. Remember to set up your DVD player to bitstream for both of these modes.

I would highly recommend the Yamaha YHT-300 to any first time buyer or even as an upgrade to an older home theater system.