For the longest time, I am a firm believer of home theatre systems where you have multiple systems such as 5.1, 7.1 and what have you. A good amplifier, an excellent subwoofer and a wonderfully calibrated sound system will bring out the joy of home theatre.
I still believe in those. But somehow in the immediate smallness of our HDB flats in Singapore and in the closeness of our neighbours (who would retaliate the thumping of your woofer with either a hard knock on your door or even chain smoke their way to your window), it is really hard to do a good home theatre system. Unless you have a well designed and isolated room set aside for that. Or you live in United States where the nearest neighbour is 1000 miles away.
Anyway, this week, I sold away my 5.1 system and even my amplifier that has been with me for a long time. I took in delivery of the Yamaha YSP2200 Sound Bar. Have I given up the home theatre dream.. I dun think so. I still dreamt of the day where I have a wonderfully set up home theatre room.. till then, the Yamaha YSP2200 is a worthy replacement. Almost worthy for the purist.
Photos here on the unboxing. Photos of the set up to come in next blog.
Arrival of the box. Huge long box:
Neatly packed:
The remote and cables. NO HDMI cable provided. You do need the provided YELLOW Video cable for calibration and set up. They also provide a digital audio cable (Toslink). And a repeater in case your TV’s remote is blocked by the YSP2200. And a calibration mic… which I will share in the next blog.
And here’s the YSP2200 Sound Bar:
3 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out. In the old ways, this would have been enough. I find it too little.. there are just too many gadgets in the living room nowadays 🙂
To the subwoofer:
And how it looks in front of a Samsung LCD TV:
The subwoofer. U can place it flat or standing.
Shoes for the subwoofer:
Will share set up steps next…
Hi, actually my search on YSP-2200 brought me to your blog. Thank goodness for that. I really enjoy reading it.
I am planning to build a HTPC. It is used mainly to watch movies I 'obtained' from the net. I intend to get a good soundcard i.e. Asus D2X or a Creative THX card.
My problem is speakers. I dont want to be hassle by 7.1 or 5.1 but rather just a 2.1. I was almost settled on the Z623 until I read reviews on this YSP-2200. It just seems too good to be true.
So how is it using it so far? Can you tell me, how is your entertainment system set-up? What do you use?
I look forward to hearing from you.
It is pretty good so far.. however, a lot (a lot…really) depends on your room environment. As I have a very open living room (windows on the left, large space opening up to an open kitchen on the right), the YSP 2200 cannot perform at its best. For all soundbars that want to provide surround sound, they almost 100% depends on a good closed environment.. so basically you should have a nice square room for maximum impact… with walls on both side to bounce the sound off..
I dun have a HTPC..I used Apple TV2 running XBMC and/or AC Ryan and all prawns (hee.. stuff obtained from net) sitting on a NAS… then the output (video and audio) of these 2 machines go to the LCD TV via the YSP2200. So the YSP2200 also provides “switching” of sources..
So far, I am happy.. happier if i have a dedicated audio/video room 🙂
Hmmm, looks like your living room config is the same as mine. Balcony and windows on one side and a large space on the other leading to the dining and kitchen.
Looks like i have to go down for a demo viewing.
But why did you purchase another smaller Yamaha soundbar?
And also, did you go to the Sight and Sound exhibition at ParkRoyal hotel?
Hi.. the smaller one is for my parents' place :). The size there is much smaller but at least they have square walls so the impact is better..
Nope.. not this year, I did not go… lazy to go… went a few years and always quite disappointed.. maybe the price of the stuff are too eX for me 🙂
I love the way you used pictures to show the steps to calibrating your system – very helpful! Manuals should be set up like this for the “newbies” like me! Can you do this for 2200 soundbar set-up to help out a “newbie” get his system set-up?
I just bought the 2200. I have a non-ARC Sony KDL 50EX645 HDTV and a Sony Blu-ray (no cable or satellite at present). Just wondering about proper configuration. I did AUTO set-up (resulting in recommendation of “5 beam”), but think I am missing a step in terms of actual connections. Have optical cable connecting TV to soundbar, and HDMI connecting soundbar to TV, as well as HDMI cable from sound bar to blu-ray. I know I need the optical cable b/c my TV does not support ARC, but can I still use the ARC port as an HDMI, or is it “out of bounds”? Basically, I need some clarification in simple terms as to what components I connect to what, and using which HDMI ports.
I set speakers to external audio on TV, and it does sound much better than TV speakers, but not what I would call surround. The blue light is on soundbar when playing blu-ray, but not DVD (orange light). There are no indicators on the display showing Dolby or anything else.
When watching Netflix the sound keeps reverting back to TV speakers – not sure how I prevent this, but it results in a lot of frustrating pre-watching “adjustments” as I have to enter the menu system to switch back to external audio.
So after all that…two questions.
1. Do I have everything connected properly, or am I missing a connection (or have one too many)? There is a mild sulphorous-metallic smell emanating from either the TV or soundbar that leads me to believe something is amiss – or could this just be a “new system smell?
2. How do I “lock in” the TV to external audio (soundbar)?
Thanks!
Travelling now. Will reply once back in town 🙂
OK – looking forward to your response! Just to clarify, the blue light goes on and I get very good sound (although not surround or Dolby indicators) when playing a blu-ray, orange light when playing DVD’s, and no sound whatsoever from the 2200 soundbar when using Netflix through TV. (I have to revert to using the TV speakers )
To review, I have the following connections currently set-up:
1. optical cable running from Digital (TV) on the 2200 soundbar to the TV
2. HDMI cable running from sound bar (OUT- ARC) to HDMI 1 on TV.
3. I have an HDMI running from In on the 2200 soundbar to the blu-ray
4. HDMI cable running from IN2 on the 2200 soundbar to HDMI 2 on the TV.
I had thought the ARC was not working, and it may not be, but I get sound from the blu-ray with that connection, and get no sound when it is not connected.
Thanks!
Further addition – I disconnected #4 – there is no longer an HDMI cable from soundbar IN2 to HDMI 2 on TV.
No change. Perhaps I should plug this back in and remove the soundbar ARC to TV HDMI 1 connection?
I am beginning to think that this would have been a lot easier if I had all Sony or all Yamaha components. Anyway, looking forward to some clear direction – it will be much appreciated!
I am sure I am not off by much,as I can watch blu-ray with soundbar audio, just not netflix through TV without resorting to inferior TV sound.
Hey pal
Are you still having problems with the bluray and the tv sound ? For me, i have my TV through a cable box and that cable box has HDMI. So it goes from Cable box -> HDMI -> YSP 2200 -> LED TV. For your case, you have TV -> Optical -> YSP ?
Also how are you getting your netflix ?
Thanks – I have it now – I am running Netflix through the Blu-ray, as I could not get the Netflix through the TV with good sound. The sound is great – not sure why I was unable to go through the TV Netflix, but the Blu-ray Netflix sounds wicked through the soundbar!
Happy for you ! 🙂