Denon DHTFS3 or Yamaha YSP500/600

[turnma]

I've been going around in circles for a few months now trying to decide about speakers and have got as far as deciding that a soundbar is the way to go for me because I simply can't face filling the room with speakers.

The high-end Yamaha YSP models seem to get good reviews, but they are so enormous that they're unfortunately out of the question, mostly because they're too tall to fit on my TV stand. For that reason I'm considering the YSP500 and the imminent YSP600 models. I'm hoping that they will provide decent sound despite being designed more for smaller TVs (mine is 42").

I've also had a look at the Denon DHTFS3, which looks a lot nicer than the Yamaha and comes in at a comparable price once you add the sub to the Yamaha.

I've had demos of the YSP500 and the DHTFS3, although both were in a high street dealer where there was a lot of noise from the street. I was left less than impressed with both, with the Denon seeming to be lacking in mid range and the Yamaha sounding rather flat. However, I'm tempted to think that they can't really be that bad given that they've had reasonable reviews, and I'm prepared to give poor setup and the acoustics of the shop the blame.

I'd appreciate if anyone who owns either of these could give some real world impressions. Intended use is mostly for films and the odd bit of music. I'm prepared for them to not be true 5.1 killers by any means, but I don't want to be feeling disappointed about the overall quality of the sound.

thanks

 

[adge]

I purchased a ysp-500 from sound and vision this week and thought I'd share my thoughts on that product.

I have an odd shaped room so real speakers were not going to an easy fit.

I also needed a smaller width box than the larger ysp's as the rack I was putting it into would not have fitted a wider projector.

I've had a couple of days to set it up and at first I wasn't too sure, but I had only done an auto setup (which is very easy to do) and then my wife wanted to watch the lost finale so I couldn't fiddle with it. But after sitting down with it and selected different beam modes (and cranking it up when the kids were at school and not in bed) I'm very impressed.

Finding the right beam mode is important, music sounds too distributed on a 5 beam setup, but focusing it in it sounds fantastic. I ran some movies through it on 5 beam vs stereo + 3 and there is a nice balance between the two with varying levels of ambience and width of sound-stage, 5 beam needed the volume cranked up a bit more but as less beams were directed at the centre.

I have a corner set-up with an L shaped room and I thought it might suffer, I also sit against the wall as a result of this the rear sound can be a little quiet but as putting speakers up was not an option, but the projector does an amazing job. Actual speakers do sound better at the rear, but the difference is not a massive one.

I'm very far from disappointed with the size of the sound-stage and the separation between sounds. Shutting your eyes during surround sound scenes delivers an immersive experience where sound washes over you and moves naturally around the room.

I'm amazed that a box 61cm wide can deliver such a rich and impressive sound, it's very loud and even when turned up high I got no rattle or distortion. I paid £281 for it, for that money it represents amazing value.

 

[scaper]

but better at 99.95 (richer sounds)