Yamaha YSP 1100 - Digital Sound Projector Five CH... Owner's manual

WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
Introduction
I remember spying the YSP-1 at the 2005
CES Expo in Las Vegas. Audioholics is no
stranger to this technology, but I had never
personally gotten my hands on a Digital
Sound Projector to review.With that about
to change I readied a couple of reference
rooms and thought about different ways I’d
like to test such a progressive product. Many
companies have employed dual channel
virtual-surround systems using various
technologies (and even some gimmicks) but
I had never heard any systems that truly
worked well enough to satisfy
anyone who had previously
heard respected discrete
surround sound. It’s one
thingforyourAuntMartha
to listen to two speakers
with DSP and phase delay
and be impressed with the
“surround” effects – it’s
an entirely different thing
to impress a seasoned
listener. Well, I’m writing
this review in real time,
so I’ll let you know when
I’m impressed – right now
there’s a world of potential
given Yamaha’s reputation
for understanding DSP and
I’ve resolved myself to be
“skeptimistic.”
First Impressions
The YSP-1100 is a third-generation
product,soYamaha has had plenty of time to
refine what was already a pretty impressive
looking package. One of the things that
attracted me about doing a review of
their newest Digital Sound Projector was
that Yamaha had added in the ability to
Yamaha YSP-1100
Digital Sound Projector:
Surround Without Boxes
Getting the 5.1 Surround Effect
Out of One Speaker Box
Review by Clint DeBoer of Audioholics.com
automatically set up the IntelliBeam using a
YPAO-like configuration process. Mark my
words, I’ll do both a manual and automated
setup,but the presence of this“convenience”
feature takes this product and makes it
much more user-friendly for the intended
consumer and custom installer audience.
review date
3.7.07

2
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
3
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
my deconstruction mission I did manage
to get ahold of the LCD panel for a closer
look. The components I saw were all of
high quality (most of the real interesting
technology is located behind the YSP-1100
front panel and drivers, not below it).
Design Overview
The very nature of this system shows that
Yamaha is fully capable of combining form
and function into a stylistic box that looks
as good as it performs. From the blue LCD
display on its piano gloss black finish to the
silver or black steel grill which covers the
42 drivers,Yamaha’s YSP-1100 is an elegant
piece to look at.As we mentioned, it will fit
well underneath a 42-inch flat screen and it
almost begs to be wall-mounted. With this
type of system there is a ton of flexibility in
placement but the best rooms are going to
want to cater to this box, not use it as a last
resort for rooms that cannot support rear
speakers.To do that would be a shame.
Setup
When installing the YSP-1100 (or any
other Yamaha Digital Sound Projector
product) it’s important to note a few things
about your room before selecting a location
or moving forward with the placement of
the system. If you think the YSP-1100 will
work in any room under any conditions
you’ll need to check out a few scenarios
where we do NOT recommend placing this
type of system:
• In a heavily acoustically-treated room
or where reflective surfaces have been
minimized
• In a room where furniture obstructs
the beam paths (firing at roughly 30
degrees and 60 degrees from the
center of the unit if parallel-mounted)
• In a room that is more akin to a
football field or warehouse than a
listening room (the room has to be
within 23’ x 23’ and preferably less
than 12’ tall)
• Rooms missing both side walls
• In the middle of a casino
(ok, that last one is obvious)
Here are some scenarios where the
Digital Sound Projector will work, but in a
reduced capacity:
• Seating areas that are very close to
or against the back wall (3-Beam
mode and Stereo modes will work
as will My Beam mode)
• Corner-arranged rooms where one or
more side walls include large openings
• Normal listening rooms where one or
more side walls include large openings
• Rooms missing an entire wall
• Rooms with high levels of ambient
noise (this goes for any speaker
system)
OK, you’ve found your ideal location
and eliminated the 4” thick first reflection
acoustic materials you had custom designed
for your listening room prior to purchasing
the YSP-1100. Now what? Well, you can
mount the YSP-1100 on top of or below
the TV. A 42-inch flat panel is the perfect
match, but to be honest it looks fabulous
with anything up to 50-inches (I had it under
a 47-inch LCD display). I tried a number of
configurations, but my favorite was actually
placing the unit on top of a StudioTech DP-
2 RW flat panel/AV component stand and
mounting the LCD display high enough for
it to clear the Yamaha. If you have a wall-
mounted display, then pick up the optional
SPM-K1 wall hanging bracket and put the
unit on the wall below (preferred) or above
the set. If you are doing a corner mount,
consider mounting the speaker above the
TV in order to ensure that you get some
additional clearance for the beams. In either
case take a look around the room and
see what might be getting in the way
of good “beam steerage” (start throwing
that terminology around at the office on
Monday morning).Also remember that with
a corner mount location the system will
operate in Stereo + 3Beam mode with the
front three channels coming directly out of
the system (5Beam is disabled).
Connecting Your Gear
OK, now that the unit is positioned you’ll
want to make your physical connections.
Fortunately, the YSP-1100 comes with a
plethora (I still love that word) of inputs for
the typical home theater user and certainly
well targeted for a lifestyle product. Let’s
take a brief look at the back of this device:
As you should be able to see here, there
are dual component inputs as well as three
sets of composite inputs.Audio can be either
analogue (2 inputs) or digital (3 inputs).
The idea is that you would mate digital
inputs for each of the component inputs
and then mate analogue for each of the
two composite inputs. That leaves another
digital input and composite input which can
either be utilized or retained for an option.
A subwoofer output connection is present
and should be connected to the mono line
level input of your powered subwoofer.
The system itself is a combination of 42
drivers and amplifiers along with all of the
basic electronics you’d find in a digital AV
receiver. This means that the YSP-1100 can
take the place of an entire 5.1 surround
system. From 6 boxes (5 speakers and a
receiver) down to just 1 box is bound to
make lots of spouses very happy.
In comparing the YSP-1100 to the original
YSP-1 we reviewed in 2005,there are several
notable differences and improvements (see
chart page 3).
As you can see, the majority of changes
with the system occur in software. The
addition of more DSP power to handle
YPAO-like optimizer setup functionality
is the largest improvement and deserves
kudos. The original YSP-1 was a bit difficult
to setup and became a bit of a hassle
for non-installers to configure. Manual
configuration is still available, of course, but
this is a stellar improvement that should be
a “Page 1” notation.
Build Quality
The YSP-1100 is available in either silver
or black. The non-removable grill cover is
made of steel that is carefully designed not
to ring or rattle. It also works well with
the design to not disrupt the intended
frequency response of the system. The
effect of the unit as a whole, with it’s almost
29 pounds of mass, is that of a serious piece
of equipment. If this unit were designed
any sturdier it would
be suitable for
military use. Let
me just explain
something…I
wanted to get
y’all a picture
of the actual
drivers. Well, after
removing about 40
screws and still not coming
to the end of what I needed to
safely remove the steel grill I gave
up and reassembled the unit (and after
going though this process I recommend
that no one try this).That’s what I call build
quality!
The gloss black lower portion of the
Sound Projector carries a blue LCD screen
which delivers valuable information in a
way that is easily visible but not overt or
intrusive (i.e. you won’t be blinded or drawn
to it like a moth during movies).As part of
Speakers:
Main drivers: 40 x 1 5/8” drivers
Midrange: 2 x 4 3/8” woofers
Beam modes: 5-beam, stereo, 3-beam,
stereo + 3-beam, My beam
Compatible Decoding Formats:
Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic/II
Music/Movie/Game, DTS Neo:6
Music/Cinema
Cinema DSP:
Concert Hall, Music Video, Jazz Club,
Spectacle, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Sports
Power:
40 x 2W (main drivers)
+ 2 x 20W (midrange);
0.1W standby power consumption
Dimensions:
40 9/16”W x 7 5/8”H x 4 5/8” D
(1030mm x 194mm x 118mm)
Video Connections:
3 composite video inputs and 1 composite
video output, 2 component video inputs
and 1 component video output
Weight:
28.7 lbs (13 kg)
Audio Connections: 2 optical/1 coaxial
S/PDIF digital inputs, 2 analogue audio inputs,
1 subwoofer output terminal
Misc Connections:
Remote in, RS-232C interface, IntelliBeam
optimizing microphone input, IR OUT
terminal
Accessories:
Detachable power cord, multi-function
programmable remote control (with
batteries), optimizer mic with cardboard
stand, composite video cable, analogue
audio cable, optical S/PDIF cable, cable
clamp & fasteners
Optional Accessories:
SPM-K1 wall hanging bracket,YST-FSW100
Slim Subwoofer (silver or black)
Features & Options
YSP-1100 Custom Home Theater System
Review Summary
YSP-1100
Custom Home Theater System
Manufacturer: Yamaha Elec. Corp.
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Value Rating: 5/5 Stars
MSRP: $1,699
www.yamaha.com/yec
Pros
• Optional wall-hanging bracket
• Comes in silver or black
• Multiple “Beam” modes for easy
“on-the-fly” customization
• Wider sweet spot than any other
“virtual surround” system we’ve heard
• Improved programmable remote
control
• Perfectly sized for 42” flat panel
displays
Cons
• No component video upconversion
• No OSD via component video
• Auto setup requires manual tuning in
certain room configurations
• Remote control not backlit
YSP-1100
(3rd generation)
YSP-1
(generation 1)
MSRP: $1,699 $1,499
Finish: Silver or Black Silver
Auto Setup: Yes No
Room EQ: Yes No
Weight: 28.7 lbs. 28.6 lbs
Standby Power: 0.1W 0.5W
Remote: Revised (still not backlit) Original

4
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
5
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
You don’t necessarily need a subwoofer
with the YSP-1100, but your system will
sound much better with it. OK, I changed my
mind – you do need a subwoofer. A single
composite (for OSD or legacy devices)
or component video output (best quality)
sends video to your display.
Automatic Setup
Automatic setup isn’t too difficult and
involves a couple of easy steps, depending
upon whether you are running a full setup
or just applying the Sound Optimization
to an existing Beam configuration. To run
the Auto setup simply plug in the included
optimizer microphone (the input is on the
left side of the enclosure), place the mic on
the included cardboard stand and position
it at the listening position (try to ensure it
is at ear height).At this point you can either
press and hold the “Auto Setup” button on
the remote for 5 seconds or enter the Auto
setup using the on-screen menu system.
TheAuto setup is not without its potential
hang-ups, but as with all room optimizations
systems, not every room configuration can
be accounted for. For example, in one of my
reference rooms I ran the Automatic Setup
twice and both times it thought my corner-
positioned YSP-1100 was set up for parallel
installation.The end result worked, but I got
a much better sound when I did a manual
configuration and switched to a calibrated
Stereo + 3Beam mode. Keep this in mind as
you set up your own system and remember
that you can set up the Beams manually and
simply run the Sound Optimizer portion of
the auto setup independently.
The Sound Optimizer portion of the
Auto Setup configures the distance delay as
well as the volume and EQ settings for each
of the beams in order to correctly blend the
level and tone of all channels.
Manual Setup
If you’re a tweaker you probably won’t
be using a YSP-1100 in your main room.
If, however, you’re like me and have a
secondary reference system, or you are a
custom installer, then the Manual Setup is
likely going to occupy some of your time
during the setup process – at least if you
want the best results. I found the manual
setup process to be a very handy tool for
fine tuning the settings – and for ensuring
that the system doesn’t make incorrect
assumptions about your room or setup.
The Manual Setup menu is composed
of four main areas with corresponding
submenus: Sound, Beam, Input, and Display
menus mark the top level and, unlike some
menu systems I’ve seen, are well-named for
their functions. I’ll point out some of the
areas I think should be highlighted below.
Sound Menu
The Sound menu is where you have
access to Tone controls, Subwoofer settings,
Mute level (either full or -20dB), and Audio
Delay (0-160ms in 1ms steps). The Room
EQ submenu also present here does not,
as some will think on initial glance, provide
automatic room EQ. Instead, it sets the
mounting position of the YSP-1100 (shelf
or wall) and whether the room is “Normal”
or “High Echo”. If you don’t have much
furniture and have wood floors, you may
want to select “Hi Echo”.
Beam Menu
In the Beam Menu you are presented
with Settings Parameters (corner or center
wall placement and height) and the Beam
Adjustment menu. Here you’ll have access
to horizontal and vertical angle adjustments
as well as the beam travel height, focal
length and treble gain. But what exactly
that means will ultimately determine if any
of this info is useful to you. First of all, the
system gives you pink noise for Horizontal
andVertical Angle adjustments, as well as for
focal length, but not for the other submenu
items. This means that the first two can be
done from the listening position using your
ears (imagine that!) but the last three will
need to be a combination of measuring and
trial and error.This, of course assumes you
weren’t satisfied with the Auto Setup which
configures all of this for you.
Input Menu
The Input menu gives the user manual
control over input assignments, modes,
and trims. You can also rename the inputs.
I was pleased to see level trims included
in this menu. What is not present are
any options for upconversion – this unit
doesn’t even convert composite video to
component. This means that you’ll need
to run both component video to your
television as well as composite should you
happen to have legacy equipment or use
more than two devices with component
video outputs.Another thing to note is that
the YSP-1100 does not allow the on-screen
display to function over component video
(the signal paths are completely separate
and isolated). While this may actually yield
higher quality component video it also
serves as a potential hassle for setting up
the unit or making adjustments.
The final menu controls the front panel
dimmer. It actually allows you to have an
auto-dim mode and set the brightness.
Alternatively you can leave it on full brightness
or turn it off. This is also where you select
meters or feet for the measurements and
settings menus.
Remote Control
I’m going to keep this brief. It’s efficient,
easy to program and seems to have
everything one would need to run the
system – including basic functions for
controlling aTV, DVD player or other legacy
device. The big thing it lacks is backlighting
– which I think should definitely be included.
Direct input buttons
are included – a plus,
and all of the buttons
seem to be well within
reach – at least for
my fingers. I liked the
easy sliding switch on
the right side which
flips the remote from
YSP-mode to TV/AV
(so that the number
buttons can control
auxiliary functions
in addition to the
IntelliBeam controls.)
It’s a decent remote
that gets a good rating
and could use some
minor improvement.
Listening Tests - Music
As always music is an important part
of what we do here at Audioholics. It was
important, to me at least, to see how
well the Yamaha YSP-1100 would handle
surround music as well as stereo. With a
unique system such as this I was curious and
quickly fired up several different discs and
tracks with which I was very familiar.
High Resolution
96 kHz/24-bit PCM Stereo:
Jonathan McEuen One Step Ahead
(corner placement)
On this album
(which also has
surround sound
tracks) I wanted to
see how well high
resolution stereo
played back on
the Digital Sound
Projector. The
first track “Two of
Us” is a beautiful
song and I felt that the quality of sound
reproduction was very good. Vocals lacked
any boxiness that plagues certain systems.
The soundstage was pretty narrow, but this
was a two-piece acoustic session.In any case,
engaging Stereo +3Beam mode widened the
stage significantly and recessed the vocals
ever so slightly so that they were front and
center, but no longer directionally coming
from the exact center of the speakers
(actually a nice effect).
“YouWill AlwaysWin” is another acoustic
piece (the basic and successful format for
this album) that really came though with
solid main vocals and well-blended backing
harmonies. I flipped this disc into surround
mode – I just couldn’t resist – and settled
back to hear the differences between
authentic surround and the Stereo + 3Beam
mode. Wow. Immediately I could hear the
natural room reverb on my right and left.
Jesse Siebenberg’s backing vocals too, on
a more open and airy sound and the mix
suddenly felt “right”. I felt as though the
sound was now truly in three dimensions
instead of two and the Yamaha seemed to
really excel at bringing through this new
type of “boundary-free” surround sound.
Just a couple more songs… “Lowlands”
is tied for my favorite track on this album
and I have heard it now on several different
loudspeaker systems in several different
rooms – numerous times.The YSP-1100 put
forth a very different experience, but one
that again was convincing and completely
without boundaries. Violins were in the
room and vocals had good separation. The
banjo had that solid fingering sound and
the bass wasn’t missing the lower midrange
tonality that I experienced on other systems.
If you want a more defined surround field
then direct radiating speakers will deliver
that to you, but the immersive feel of the
Yamaha was something to behold.
High Resolution
96 kHz/24-bit PCM Stereo:
Jonathan McEuen One Step Ahead
(parallel placement)
Wow, with an immense soundstage this
album really takes off. There seemed to
be a slight mid-bass emphasis that is more
noticeable without a sub than with one
(and you really have to have a sub with this
system – have we beaten that into your
head yet?) “Two of Us” had a realistic guitar
sound and vocals, while a tad bit sibilant,
had a natural quality. If McIntosh can use a
hundred and ten drivers in a single cabinet
and charge $40k, I suppose it’s possible for
Yamaha to get $1,600 worth of excellent
sound out of 42!
Many people aren’t aware of whether their rooms are considered “reflective” or
not. A quick and easy method for determining this would be to get into the listening
position and clap your hands loudly. If it takes longer than 1 second for the decay of
that sound to go away, you can pretty much assume that your room is a bit reflective.
Items that contribute to this are: sparse furniture, wood floors, high flat ceilings and
oversized rooms. If you can read this entire paragraph while the echo of the clap
reverberates through your listening room, well then you better go get a throw rug
and some drapes!
Editor’s Note: Reflective Rooms

6
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
7
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
DVD: The Incredibles
(parallel placement)
During the “100 Mile Dash” chapter
the surrounds were engaged in overdrive.
Environments were summersive and Dash
frequently showed up in the surround
tracks as did the flying vehicles. In the
ending battle scene against the giant robot
there was a lot of “off-screen” action which
was well represented directionally by the
YSP-1100.This scene in general is excellent
testing material for surround effects and
making sure you are correctly configured
for 5.1. I would have to say that parallel
placement won this round as well – the
room simply did much better and having
the option of 5Beam mode and Stereo +
3Beam was a plus. The difference in having
the 5Beam mode was amazing. The front
left and right channels were separated
in a much wider soundstage – so much
so that the system was able to position
these channels at the extreme edges of my
Stewart projector screen – that’s about
four feet outside of and the same amount
higher than the edges of the YSP-1100.
What’s possibly more impressive was that
the perception was that the sound was
coming from behind the Yamaha, which was
positioned in a temporary spot 1.5 feet in
front of the screen.
DVD: Hero
(corner placement)
On this DVD I
wanted something
a bit more epic
that could allow
me to hear more
of a feature film
mix of production
audio and sound
design. There
are also some
excellent scenes
where surround sound is fantastically
demonstrated. Chapter 7 “Advance Ten
Paces” has a well-known scene where Jet
Li’s character takes out an entire room of
bamboo in the blink of an eye.The YSP-1100
recreated this in an almost eerie manner.
With no direct radiating speakers the effect
was of being in the room itself. Instead of
surround sound it was more of a “real”
sound that literally came from all directions.
The right side was still a bit weak due to my
room, but I looked forward to re-evaluating
the setup in the next room with a parallel
installation and four solid walls to utilize the
5Beam system.
The following chapter “Flying Snow”
was even more impressive, with falling
wooden arrows that literally came down
from everywhere. I found that if I leaned
forward or back the imaging would change,
but that is where configuring the system
properly comes into play.Most of the sound
was locate in front of the seating position
slightly, but the effect was still immersive.
DVD: Hero
(parallel placement)
This was a night and day difference.With
the system set up in parallel mode in my first
reference system (with all acoustical panels
removed) the effects of the YSP-1100 were
nothing short of breathtaking.To get this type
of surround sound presence from a single
box is absolutely astonishing. In Chapter 7,
Jet Li floats around the room and the sound
of the bamboo breaking is unmistakably real.
In addition, the height adjustments made by
the Auto Setup rendered the final sequence
where he catches the cup on his sword
perfect – the cup sounded as if it landed
directly on the sword – in the middle of
my 100-inch screen. Keep in mind that the
Yamaha Digital Sound Projector is situated
about 1.5 feet below the bottom of the
projector screen.
During“Flying Snow” it sounded again as if
the wooden arrows fell all around the room
– however this time the soundstage was
immense. In addition the sound extended
to beyond the seated position, unlike in the
other reference room with a corner install.
Viewing this allowed me to realize that the
system could be optimized in a myriad of
rooms, however the more rectangular you
can get it, the better your overall results will
be (this corresponds to suggestions made
within the user manual as well).
Recommendations
Making recommendations to a company
like Yamaha is tough – they almost seem
clairvoyant in their ability to provide new
products with advanced features and
bug-free performance. The Auto Setup is
acceptable on this system, but users may
have trouble with corner placement. It
would be cool to have a “lock-down”
mode whereby the type of setup (corner
or parallel) is selected as part of the setup
process.Then the system can calibrate from
that fixed position and information.
Lastly, we’d like to see a flagship model
with component video upconversion and
an on-screen display that doesn’t limit itself
to the composite video outputs only. HDMI
would be nice as well, but I don’t see it as
a necessity with this style of product – at
least not right now.A backlit remote rounds
out my suggestions and completes this
short “shopping list” of suggestions.
If you’re planning on using this in your
room for home theater or more than just
occasional casual listening, we recommend
a subwoofer.The included TruBass feature is
nice and it does add some lower frequency
perception, but you can’t beat a real
subwoofer (or two). Adding a sub really
completes this system and brings it to the
next level – so make sure you add that to
your list.
“Ocean” features acoustic bass and a gentle
guitar intro with solid, heavily reverberant,
vocals. As the reverb is natural and not an
effects box, this was a good demonstration
of the YSP-1100’s best effort to fill my
reference system with a nice, smooth and
reverberant sound. It accomplished the
goal and soundstaging was wide and open.
Nothing seemed out pf place or forced by
the system. Yamaha seems to have found a
very natural method of steering the channel
information where it needs to go. As with
the other discs, a parallel setup was clearly
superior to the corner placement – again
due to the wider front soundstage which
is hard to reproduce in Stereo + 3Beam
mode.
DVD: Marillion
Marbles on the Road
(corner
placement)
Marillion is cool.
They just walk out
onto stage when
they play – no
fanfare needed,
just excellent
performances and
talented musicians.
From the opening
number, crowd noise filled the room –
though it didn’t quite make it behind me
– likely due to the corner placement and
room/wall issues. The 5.1 Dolby Digital
track on this DVD is a “stage mix” where
you are in the audience, so everything is
pretty much up front with ambience and
crowds in the “surrounds.” For this type of
music, the Yamaha seemed to do very well.
Steve Hogarth’s voice was clear and natural.
Drums and cymbals came through with a
nice edge and no audible distortion or lack
of upper midrange. Guitars had a good clean
and crisp top end and the synths seemed to
exude a gentle reverb that leaked into the
listening room along with the watery vocals
of the first track,“The Invisible Man”.
“You’re Gone” is one of my favorite tunes
and man did it sound good on the Yamaha.
With the room full of Hogarth’s lyrics and
the melodic guitar line following through in
crisp detail I thought this was one of the
coolest ways I had yet experienced this
disc. When the chorus kicked into its jazzy
crescendo I felt the overall presence in the
room step up a notch. The mix took on a
fuller feel and the YSP-1100 reacted to the
additional surround info and poured it into
the listening environment.
DVD: Marillion
Marbles on the Road
(parallel placement)
On this disc the surrounds were not
changed as much – crowd noise was still
well-place and evident from the opening of
the song through each interlude. The front
imaging, again, was much more convincing
and realistic. The 5Beam mode is clearly
a winner here and it does amazing things
with music DVDs. As Marillion’s Steve
Hogarth sings the opening track in his sultry
voice, bass and synthesized guitar effects
permeated the room and generated a very
full mix. As I skipped to “You’re Gone” I
realized that I hadn’t really checked out the
DSP modes of the YSP-1100. I tried out the
various Music modes and made some notes
(you can switch back and forth from each
mode and “Off” quite easily):
• Concert Hall: Adds more front channel
information into the surrounds and
also adds a reverberant delay.The
front vocal is a bit less “centered”
with the DSP on and it seems to get
sent, to a greater degree, into the left
and right channels.
• Jazz Club: Vocals remained anchored
in the front center of the soundstage,
though they were pulled a tad into the
surrounds. Guitars were more present
in the surrounds and the soundstage
appeared to be a bit wider overall.
It is a good effect and does seem to
recreate a more “live” environment
without bringing in too mush reverb.
• Music Video: This DSP mode seemed
to almost squash the sound a tiny
bit. In a sense it decreased the sound
stage and the overall fidelity – which
I suppose would blend quite well
with many of today’s pathetically
obtuse and poor quality music videos.
This mode had the least effect on
the original sound.
Listening Tests - Movies
I utilized the Manual setup since I had
a corner placement setup at the start of
evaluation (I’ll actually be evaluating the
system in two reference systems – so take
note of my setup details). Auto Setup did
not correctly configure the system as being
in a corner-oriented installation, so I was
unable to use the auto setup.
DVD: The Incredibles
(corner placement)
I queued up
Chapter 23 “100
Mile Dash” to see
howwell thecorner
configuration
would work with
the surround-
heavy material in
this section of the
movie. Right off the
bat my observations through the manual
setup process were also discerned by the
listening tests.The surround left channel was
almost impeccable. Sounds coming from the
rear were not nearly as impressive though
the overall envelopment was excellent. As
Dash runs across the water and enters the
cavern the ambience correctly changes and
you could almost “feel” it in the room (this
happened again a short while later when
Violet produces a bubble which saves them
from the gunfire. In the ensuing family battle
against the spinning ships, envelopment
was almost total, with only a slight lack of
presence on the right side due to my lack of
a full side wall and corner placement. Keep
in mind that in this first pass the system was
operating in Stereo + 3Beam mode (the
only option for surround sound with corner
placement).
Overall the effect is a bit uncanny.Switching
between stereo and Stereo + 3Beam really
allows you to hear what the YSP-1100 is
doing. It’s a feeling of surround envelopment
without point sources. Whereas dipole
speakers attempt to diffuse surround fields,
the Digital Sound Projector completely
achieves this goal.
“I was very impressed by theYSP-1100’s build quality.
The non-removable grill cover of the YSP-1100 is made
of steel that is carefully designed not to ring or rattle.
If this unit were designed any sturdier it would be
suitable for military use.”
Clint DeBoer

8
WWW.AUDIOHOLICS.COM
Conclusion
The Yamaha YSP-1100 is NOT a
typical pseudo-surround system. This is a
sophisticated device that literally does what
it says. Taking just one physical box you are
able to convincingly recreate a 5-speaker
surround environment – but that’s not
exactly true.While 5 speakers can give you
surround sound, and inexpensive system is
often localizable and highly directional. The
Yamaha YSP-1100 almost envelopes you in a
sound“bubble” and is an altogether different
experience. If you think you’ve heard these
“one speaker does all” systems before, take
another look – the YSP-1100 is NOT like
anything else I have ever encountered in the
industry. This is breaking new ground and I
like where it’s going. Perfect for consumers
who are looking for lower profile system,
the YSP-1100 replaces an AV receiver as
well as a surround sound speaker system.
Taking into account that there are a host
of manufacturers who charge more for a
simply combined flat panel LCR speaker, the
YSP-1100 is a veritable steal and has earned
its 5-star value rating.
By Clint DeBoer
Email - [email protected]
Non-exclusive reprint rights have been provided to Yamaha
Electronics Corporation to reprint and freely distribute this
review. Any other uses or instances of this review by other
parties or by Yamaha Electronics Corporation are prohibited
without prior approvals from Audioholics. The original review
can be viewed online at www.audioholics.com
About Yamaha
Yamaha Electronics Corporation (YEC),
USA, based in Buena Park, California, is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. YEC
offers home theater components and
systems, featuring A/V receivers, amplifiers,
DVD/CD, speakers, mini-systems, video
projection, as well as A/V & IT convergence
products.
Yamaha Electronics Corporation
6660 Orangethorpe Avenue
Buena Park, CA 90620
[phone]
www.yamaha.com/yec
The scoring below is based on each speaker doing the duty it is designed for. The
numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus
giving a rating equal to: Performance x Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com Note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening
and objective testing of the product in question.The rating scale is based on performance/
value ratio. If you notice better performing speakers in future reviews that have lower
numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other
Audioholics reviewers may rate speakers solely based on performance, and each reviewer
has their own system for ratings.
Audioholics Ratings Scale:
Outstanding (reserved for features or areas that exceed market norms)
Above Average
Average
Below average
Very poor
Score Card
METRIC RATING
Build Quality 1/2
Ergonomics/User Interface 1/2
Features 1/2
Television Performance 1/2
Video Performance 1/2
Overall 1/2
Value 1/2
METRIC RATING
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Clarity
Midrange Accuracy
Midbass Quality
Bass Extension NA
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Macro Dynamics
Micro Dynamics
Remote Control
Overall
Value
METRIC RATING