Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha YHT-390BL Home Theater in a Box (Black)

I spent months picking a stereo system; reading reviews, listening to different systems at big box stores, and ultimately settled on this one.

The reason is simple: this 5.1 system sounded better than any other I tested, even those that cost twice as much! The sound quality of this system is simply amazing at this price. You could drop 3x as much on a Bose system and be less satisfied.

Pros:

2 HDMI inputs with full 1080p pass through. Have a lot of devices? No worries. You can connect a game console, a cable box, and a DVD player, all with zero loss of resolution and picture quality. There are more expensive systems that lack this feature. However, the audio pass through from HDMI cable goes directly to your tv, meaning you have to run a separate digital sound cable from your DVD player or CableBox. Not that big a deal as optical and digital cables are cheap these days, but it does mean one more cable to worry about. Here is a very reasonable Optical Digital Audio Cable and here is a Digital Audio Cable - both of which would be perfect.

Amazing sound quality. This system has a powered sub woofer, which is a MUST for high quality, deep bass. Other systems in this price range lack this feature. The speakers are solid wood construction. Although not glamorous, they feel so much better than plastic, and will still be around when cheaply made plastic bodied speakers are in a land fill.

The speaker themselves produce accurate, high quality sound, from the highest highs to deep bass. I put them through their paces with both DVDs and music CDs, and everything I threw at them sounded wonderful. (My test included "Hero," "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," to test the surround sound processing. For music quality, I tested "The Killers: Sam's Town," "Copeland's Clarinet Concerto," and "Metallica: S&M."). Surround sound processing was great in entertain: surround mode. This system has made watching movies and TV a new experience!

High quality build from the amp to the speakers. Some other systems I considered ran VERY hot (Like the Onkyo HT-SR800). You could feel the heat coming off the amp without even touching it. This system runs a lot cooler, and makes me less worried about it burning out. It also helps the other devices in my audio cabinet stay cool and happy.

Many pre-sets, and a reasonably well designed remote. The remote is functional but not exceptional. One of my few frustrations with the system is it's limited ability to change the speaker pre-sets. You can only switch between a few of them with the remote. I frequently have to change them by hand using the buttons on the front of the amp. I've adjusted to this my making use of the four presets for "DVD watching, TV Watching CD Listening, and Radio Listening" each of which you can assign your own audio presets. Now, depending on what I want to watch, I can hit 1 button and I'm done. My wife loves this feature as she can get a DVD going in about five seconds without headaches!

Cons:

The speaker wire that comes with the set is thin. Spend the cash to get some good 16 gauge wire (and by good, I don't mean overpriced Monster brand wiring!). Any solid 16 gauge wire will work. This speaker wire would be a reasonably priced option.

This system has exceeded my expectations. I have some quibbles with the remote design, but presets take care of the majority of them. If you want amazing sound from a 5.1 system for under $400, you can't do better. You can even spend twice as much and get less for your money than you do with the Yamaha YHT-390BL.

This is my first surround system, and I was lucky I happened to stumble across it. I was a bit leery about the quality when I first saw the price, but I read others' reviews and know that Yamaha is a reputable brand, so I went with it.

I hooked up my DVD player and XBox 360 via TOSlink, and everything sounds superb! I was amazed when the first movie I watched with this system tricked me into thinking there was lightning outside, when it was coming from the surround speakers! I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking to get a reasonably priced entry level system.

I ordered it with a pair of these Atlantic 77305018 Satellite Speaker Stands (Black) which work fine for holding the front speakers next to the TV.

EDIT: I should mention that I bought this Philips Spooled Speaker Wire - 100ft - 16 gauge with the system because one of the other reviews stated the wire that comes with the system is pretty cheap. I didn't even really look at it, I just used the Philips wire.

EDIT: I just hooked these Polk Audio Atrium 45 All-Weather Speakers (Pair, White) up to the system as my "B" speakers out on my patio, and that sounds great too!

I'd like to start by saying Amazon.com is about $100 cheaper than a walk-in store. I bought this system and the sound quality is much better than my old Kenwood system. The speakers are decent sounding with typical particle wood construction and a "piano" finish. It has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output. There isn't audio decoding through HDMI, though if you are like me, I use the toslink for everything (Sat, DVD and Xbox360). Bass from the subwoofer is deep and powerful. The user manual could be written a little better. The price vs. sound quality strikes a perfect balance and I am glad I purchased it.

The Yamaha YHT-390BL does have truely great sound for the price, but I feel that it is also misleading. When I did my research for a home theater center, I wanted to find a receiver that could handle HDMI. I had an older Samsung that was a component receiver. Although component is a a type of HD, it is not as spectacular as the HDMI standard. I had read that some of the newer receivers are HDMI compatible.

That is where I did my research to find the best brand at the lowest price. I own a Yamaha digital piano, and could not be more happier with it. Yamaha has found a way to give the user a "natural sound" that you couldn't tell the difference between it and a real grand piano. So I figured that their receiver set would be the same. Yes it was. I am very happy with the sound produced from it.

What I'm not happy with it is that it does not give HDMI sound. You have to buy a separate optical or coaxial cable to have surround sound audio. Otherwise you just get sound through your tv speakers.

So what is the point of advertising a "HDMI" receiver that doesnt give you HMDI surround sound? My old receiver can do exactly what this yamaha can do. If it wasn't for the spectacular surround sound generated, I would have returned it.

I guess you get what you paid for!

To sum it all up, if you want spectacular sound at an affordable price, this is perfect for you. If you are looking for a TRUE HDMI receiver, this isn't it! Part of me feels tricked by Yamaha, and the other part of me feels stupid for not reading about its features carefully.

Yes there are some receivers out there that give you HDMI sound at a higher price. Some people say its a lot of money, but hey, if you want top technology, you got to pay for it! I sure would have. When all receivers come standard HDMI all around, its us the owners who will have
obsolete receivers.

NOTE: A passthrough just means it passes through to the TV. Nothing more. All you get is sound to the tv, NOT the surround speakers. If you want surround sound, you need an optical cable, component cables, or standard RCA cables. A TRUE HDMI receiver gives you sound through a HDMI cable to surround speakers. Don't get me wrong, its worth the buy. I just wish Yamaha would be a bit more truthful with their advertising.

I bought this system after researching for two weeks. I was looking for a system under $500. I was also looking for a system that did NOT include a DVD player as I want to upgrade to a Blue-ray player later on. I liked the price at Amazon and the fact I didn't have to pay sales tax and shipping. When I received the system, I placed the speakers where I wanted them (I also purchased the iPod dock which I think should have been included). You will have to cut and splice the speaker wire but that is not a big deal. My system is hooked up to an HDTV and it sounds great. There are plenty of hook-ups in the back so you can build on this system. There are better products out there but for the money, I think I made out like a bandit. I really love this system!