I want to buy a soundbar - Yamaha YSP-1600 or something else?

nightrider1470 said:
Yamaha soundboard are pants
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The fact you can't even spell soundbar makes me disregard your post immediately.

I bought my Mum a Yamaha YSP-1400 a couple of years ago and was hugely impressed by it. The bass response far exceeded my expectations. If I was buying a soundbar for myself, Yamaha is probably the only way I'd go.

For the record, my own setup is built up around a Yamaha DSP-AX620, NAD C352 and B&W 603/601/LCR 60 speakers so I have fairly good idea of how decent audio equipment should sound.
 
nightrider1470 said:
Yamaha soundboard are pants
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Care to elaborate in a less obnoxious font size?

Thanks folks, think the Yamaha is my best bet. There was a Samsung one I saw recommended in a couple of reviews for the Yamaha also, but it seems to be discontinued as I can't find it anywhere despite it seemingly being a new model last year. There was a HEOS one that looked good too, but it doesn't support 4K passthrough which could be annoying in a few years if/when I upgrade my TV.
 
TheVoice said:
Care to elaborate in a less obnoxious font size?

Thanks folks, think the Yamaha is my best bet. There was a Samsung one I saw recommended in a couple of reviews for the Yamaha also, but it seems to be discontinued as I can't find it anywhere despite it seemingly being a new model last year. There was a HEOS one that looked good too, but it doesn't support 4K passthrough which could be annoying in a few years if/when I upgrade my TV.
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The Yamaha sound bars are very dependent on the shape of your room and the what fixtures and fittings you have in place. I tested the Yamaha 1600 in the corner of my sitting room and it didn't sound good at all.

I would go for the Samsung J6500 or the J7500. They are truly amazing sounding in any room.

But, Richersounds normally allow you to demo some of the sound bars, so you should really try them out at home if you can before deciding.
 
As i've already stated Yamaha are usually the ones to go for if you can afford their better YSP models. Samsung are now being reviewed very highly. I wouldn't tough any other company bar those 2 as it currently stands.

With any yamaha you can usually add a sub if you want more bass. They are wall mountable. They also have IR repeaters so you can place them directly in front of a tv.

They do use walls to bounce sound off of and obviously this won't suit everybody but they are "virtual surround sound" bars which can surprise you at times that the sound does actually sound as if it is coming from behind you or to the side of you at times. It' has caught me off guard once but it depends a lot on the source material and configuration.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
As i've already stated Yamaha are usually the ones to go for if you can afford their better YSP models. Samsung are now being reviewed very highly. I wouldn't tough any other company bar those 2 as it currently stands.

With any yamaha you can usually add a sub if you want more bass. They are wall mountable. They also have IR repeaters so you can place them directly in front of a tv.

They do use walls to bounce sound off of and obviously this won't suit everybody but they are "virtual surround sound" bars which can surprise you at times that the sound does actually sound as if it is coming from behind you or to the side of you at times. It' has caught me off guard once but it depends a lot on the source material and configuration.
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I think in my new place it should work fairly well, the TV's off-centre in the room but I know from reviews the Yamaha can be configured to compensate for that. Seems like a good one for the price. I'll give RS a call tomorrow and see if they have one in stock.
 
That one looks quite good and nicely priced, unfortunately it's a bit too tall so it'd block the bottom edge of my TV. The Yamaha has a fairly low profile.
 
I'm not an audiophile so don't expect professional advice but I have the YSP 1600 and am very happy with it.

My setup is next to a window so isn't the best position for the simulated 5.1 but haven't noticed anything obviously wrong.

Games such as Oblivion (might just be it's age) do tend to sound fish bowly in movie mode so usually set this to stereo.

Again, might just be my position with the window but don't expect realistic surround sound, it's simulated (speakers slightly tilted to different angles in the bar) so there are occasional moments where it genuinely sounds like there is something behind you/in the other room but having had a proper 7.1 on my PC years ago, isn't the same realism.

Sound quality though us a huge step up from the TV speakers and my old Sony CT790.

I have a separate Yamaha sub but TBH, I am actually very impressed with the bass the soundbar provides.

Seamless spotify support is nice too.

Only niggle I have is there is no visual volume number on the bar/TV, only a +/- so you can't remember a fav level.
 
Hiijinx said:
Games such as Oblivion (might just be it's age) do tend to sound fish bowly in movie mode so usually set this to stereo.
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It's just the way that source was encoded. I get this too with stereo sources such as music. I have to set music to stereo otherwise it sounds funny. Most stuff I leave in "movie" mode. If it sounds off then I'll switch it.
 
As luck would have it, RS have just emailed out a £25 voucher off any £300+ soundbar. I've also just been looking at the Samsung HW-MS650 but I'm not sure it's worth the extra. I've seen it for £479 elsewhere so I might be able to get them to price match, but that's still a chunk more than the Yamaha.

Hiijinx said:
I'm not an audiophile so don't expect professional advice but I have the YSP 1600 and am very happy with it.

My setup is next to a window so isn't the best position for the simulated 5.1 but haven't noticed anything obviously wrong.

Games such as Oblivion (might just be it's age) do tend to sound fish bowly in movie mode so usually set this to stereo.

Again, might just be my position with the window but don't expect realistic surround sound, it's simulated (speakers slightly tilted to different angles in the bar) so there are occasional moments where it genuinely sounds like there is something behind you/in the other room but having had a proper 7.1 on my PC years ago, isn't the same realism.

Sound quality though us a huge step up from the TV speakers and my old Sony CT790.

I have a separate Yamaha sub but TBH, I am actually very impressed with the bass the soundbar provides.

Seamless spotify support is nice too.

Only niggle I have is there is no visual volume number on the bar/TV, only a +/- so you can't remember a fav level.
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Thanks, great to hear from someone who's got one. It will be mostly for TV and gaming and a bit of music, the reviews seem to indicate it should do pretty well for that.
 
TheVoice said:
As luck would have it, RS have just emailed out a £25 voucher off any £300+ soundbar. I've also just been looking at the Samsung HW-MS650 but I'm not sure it's worth the extra. I've seen it for £479 elsewhere so I might be able to get them to price match, but that's still a chunk more than the Yamaha.



Thanks, great to hear from someone who's got one. It will be mostly for TV and gaming and a bit of music, the reviews seem to indicate it should do pretty well for that.
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Sorry to pull up the old thread, but i'm in a similar position now. I'm looking at either the 1600 or the Samsung HWMS-650.
Which did you go for in the end?
 
someone mentioned to me a Canton DM75 Glass Soundbase (not sure difference between a soundbase and a soundbar) but he said it was very good
 
jonessa said:
Sorry to pull up the old thread, but i'm in a similar position now. I'm looking at either the 1600 or the Samsung HWMS-650.
Which did you go for in the end?
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I had the Yamaha for a couple of weeks but took it back. It sounded great most of the time, but I kept getting audio dropouts on services like Netflix and Amazon Video with it, so it seems like it didn't want to play nicely with my TV. I also didn't like the user interface or the abundance of LEDs on the front that don't really mean anything unless you're close enough to read the tiny labels.

I'll probably give the Samsung a try next, my TV is also Samsung so I'm hoping it should work nicely.
 
TheVoice said:
I had the Yamaha for a couple of weeks but took it back. It sounded great most of the time, but I kept getting audio dropouts on services like Netflix and Amazon Video with it, so it seems like it didn't want to play nicely with my TV. I also didn't like the user interface or the abundance of LEDs on the front that don't really mean anything unless you're close enough to read the tiny labels.

I'll probably give the Samsung a try next, my TV is also Samsung so I'm hoping it should work nicely.
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So are you going to buy the model mentioned above?

I'm half tempted to wait until Black Friday now!
 
jonessa said:
So are you going to buy the model mentioned above?

I'm half tempted to wait until Black Friday now!
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I'm not sure, the Samsung appeals but for £420 it needs to be pretty damn good. I have my old Onkyo 5.1 system set-up again at the moment and although I wanted rid of it, now it's all there I might just keep using it.
 
I picked up a new soundbar around 6 months ago. Budget wasn't a huge issue as I wanted something fairy decent. After listening to bars by sonos, dali, Samsung and Sony I ended up with a monitor audio asb-2. Got a brand new one for £400, so it was cheer than all of the others I listened to but it's sounded to my ears the best by far.

New they were over a grand but are cheap as chips now. They don't allow you to add wireless surround speakers, or bounce sound all the room with processing , but it has a big, bold, detailed sound with a good deal of slam. Great speaker if you have the room
 
kidloco said:
I picked up a new soundbar around 6 months ago. Budget wasn't a huge issue as I wanted something fairy decent. After listening to bars by sonos, dali, Samsung and Sony I ended up with a monitor audio asb-2. Got a brand new one for £400, so it was cheer than all of the others I listened to but it's sounded to my ears the best by far.

New they were over a grand but are cheap as chips now. They don't allow you to add wireless surround speakers, or bounce sound all the room with processing , but it has a big, bold, detailed sound with a good deal of slam. Great speaker if you have the room
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I'll take a look. £400 is pretty much top whack for me as I cant justify anymore (12x12 lounge with a 49inch KS7000). Also, the sofa is against the back wall so I can;t justify a full on 5:1 system. Also hoping to avoid an external sub. Heading to Superfi/RS tomorrow to check a few out.
 
jonessa said:
I'll take a look. £400 is pretty much top whack for me as I cant justify anymore (12x12 lounge with a 49inch KS7000). Also, the sofa is against the back wall so I can;t justify a full on 5:1 system. Also hoping to avoid an external sub. Heading to Superfi/RS tomorrow to check a few out.
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£400 could get you excellent standmount stereo speakers and a AVR. ie Celestion A1 plus similar AVR to my Yamaha 671 would be possible with £400, if bought second hand.

As for sofa and back wall, you could get away with bipole surround speakers.
 
kidloco said:
I picked up a new soundbar around 6 months ago. Budget wasn't a huge issue as I wanted something fairy decent. After listening to bars by sonos, dali, Samsung and Sony I ended up with a monitor audio asb-2. Got a brand new one for £400, so it was cheer than all of the others I listened to but it's sounded to my ears the best by far.

New they were over a grand but are cheap as chips now. They don't allow you to add wireless surround speakers, or bounce sound all the room with processing , but it has a big, bold, detailed sound with a good deal of slam. Great speaker if you have the room
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Far too tall unfortunately, it needs to sit in front of the TV.
 
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