Is Yamaha YHT-299 worth buying?

[bikram_singh]

Hi,

I am building a media room at my home for which I am planning to buy a home theater system Yamaha YHT-299 along with a decent 3D Projector. The size of my would-be media room will be 25 feetX15.5 feet and I guess projector screen will be of anywhere between 100" and 150".

I'll hook my xBox, Blu-ray player, Tata SKy HD, Asus oPlayer, and a Philips DVD player with it. And I'm looking forward for watching HD movies, TV series, documateraies (downloaded from web or purchased on disc).

I want to know if Yamaha YHT-299 is a good bet?

Thanks
Bikram

 

[skul82]

What is your budget? Considering a price tag of 35K, 299 is a great system. But for your room size i think you should go for higher models of Yamaha, Pioneer, Denon, Marantz, but again all depends on your budget.

 

[bikram_singh]

What is your budget? Considering a price tag of 35K, 299 is a great system. But for your room size i think you should go for higher models of Yamaha, Pioneer, Denon, Marantz, but again all depends on your budget.

If a system is good I can expand my budget to 60-90K. I think I may not be able to go beyond that. Please suggest good alternatives for my room size. Although price is not the first consideration, I'd like to not go much above. A decent priced one would do.

 

[skul82]

If a system is good I can expand my budget to 60-90K. I think I may not be able to go beyond that. Please suggest good alternatives for my room size. Although price is not the first consideration, I'd like to not go much above. A decent priced one would do.

I am no expert in AVRs but based on what I have came across I can suggest following,

For 60-90K budget it will be hard for you to build a component system with AVR, speakers and sub purchased separately. I think that will go much above 1-1.5L.

YAMAHA is a good system with a warm sound (not very heavy on bass, but it gives good amount of bass). So try some higher end models in Yamaha.
Marantz, Denon and Pioneer also have complete packages in that range so try that as well. These are all having good reviews.

Alternatively, you can initially buy a good AVR and 2 speakers. Later you can keep adding sub and other components to make it complete.

So decide if you want to buy a complete 5.1 package or you are ready to wait out and build a system. If you decide to go this way then I leave it to the experts to suggest AVRs and speakers.

 

[bassguitar]

Buy a entry level AVR from yamaha(375, 475), onkyo or marantz and go for a good 5.1 system
1) Paradigm CT100
2) Definitive Technology ProCinema 600(or 800)
3) Jamo etc
Or buy dedicated speakers as slowly build your system as per availability of budget...

 

[bikram_singh]

Buy a entry level AVR from yamaha(375, 475), onkyo or marantz and go for a good 5.1 system
1) Paradigm CT100
2) Definitive Technology ProCinema 600(or 800)
3) Jamo etc
Or buy dedicated speakers as slowly build your system as per availability of budget...

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if the following will make a good system for the room-size specified above?

Marantz NR1604 AV Receiver and BOSTON ACOUSTICS SOUNDWARE S 5.1 HOME THEATER SPEAKER SYSTEM?

 

[efernand1]

Hi

The NR1604 is a 7.1 AVR which is 50w RMS x 7 where as the NR1504 is 5.1 AVR with the same output. I use the Boston Acoustic SOundware XS 5.1 with the Marantz NR1402 and it really rocks...I used different AVRs for the past 11 years ranging from Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer including BOSE and found that nothing compares to Marantz for its looks, suite of music/movie/gaming modes, the depth and warmth you get when playing music and the ample connectivity options...most important Audyssey auto setup or manual setup with 9 band adjustable graphic EQ for each channel. True value for money...both would cost around 51k odd on HiFiMart.

The system works fine for a 200 sqft area....If budget permits, instead of the Boston Acoustics Soundware, perhaps you can go for Boston Bookshelf speakers, center speaker, floorstanders and a decent powered sub.

There are tons of reviews for all products and you can decide based on your taste and budget.

Hope this helps.

 

[bikram_singh]

Hi

The NR1604 is a 7.1 AVR which is 50w RMS x 7 where as the NR1504 is 5.1 AVR with the same output. I use the Boston Acoustic SOundware XS 5.1 with the Marantz NR1402 and it really rocks...I used different AVRs for the past 11 years ranging from Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer including BOSE and found that nothing compares to Marantz for its looks, suite of music/movie/gaming modes, the depth and warmth you get when playing music and the ample connectivity options...most important Audyssey auto setup or manual setup with 9 band adjustable graphic EQ for each channel. True value for money...both would cost around 51k odd on HiFiMart.

The system works fine for a 200 sqft area....If budget permits, instead of the Boston Acoustics Soundware, perhaps you can go for Boston Bookshelf speakers, center speaker, floorstanders and a decent powered sub.

There are tons of reviews for all products and you can decide based on your taste and budget.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply. It was really helpul. Now I'm not going to buy Yamaha YHT-299 now. But I was wondering if Boston Acoustic SOundware XS 5.1 with the Marantz NR1504 will be good enough for a 400-sqft room?

And can you also suggest a good 3D HD projector for the room? Light will not be an issue in the room because I am building a dedicated Media room, which will have not have any window. I'd like to add that picture quality is something I'd not like to compromise on.

 

[sash]

If you have a dedicated room, the dynamics will be very different and surely you'll want more. So my advice would be that you visit hifi stores in your city, audition and then decide. For example - you will want to play movies really loud because you can afford to, so you'll want speakers that can do that and a receiver than can drive those speakers to those volume levels.
Another factor is the subwoofer. Subwoofer is one of the most important components in a modern movie sound experience - so you'll need a really good sub. Please take it easy, audition a lot, look for brands like Polk, Tannoy, Jamo, Klipsch etc and get something that will keep you satisfied for few years at least.
Someone that has taken the time to build a dedicated media room must spend a lot of time auditioning systems - otherwise you'll be tempted to upgrade very soon.

 

[bikram_singh]

Hi

The NR1604 is a 7.1 AVR which is 50w RMS x 7 where as the NR1504 is 5.1 AVR with the same output. I use the Boston Acoustic SOundware XS 5.1 with the Marantz NR1402 and it really rocks...I used different AVRs for the past 11 years ranging from Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer including BOSE and found that nothing compares to Marantz for its looks, suite of music/movie/gaming modes, the depth and warmth you get when playing music and the ample connectivity options...most important Audyssey auto setup or manual setup with 9 band adjustable graphic EQ for each channel. True value for money...both would cost around 51k odd on HiFiMart.

The system works fine for a 200 sqft area....If budget permits, instead of the Boston Acoustics Soundware, perhaps you can go for Boston Bookshelf speakers, center speaker, floorstanders and a decent powered sub.

There are tons of reviews for all products and you can decide based on your taste and budget.

Hope this helps.

Which all speakers and sub you'd buy for NR1504 in a budget of around 80-90 K?

 

[Vinod.R]

There is of course the pre owned way,

Where you can easily get a top system inside your budget.

 

[skyjay]

I bought YHT 299 just 20 days before. and installed it 4 days before. Quite happy with it. I am hollywood movie watcher and enjoying with 299 now.

 

[skul82]

congratulation and enjoy your system. have you used YPAO for calibration or u did it manually?

 

[bikram_singh]

congratulation and enjoy your system. have you used YPAO for calibration or u did it manually?

dropped the idea of going with this HT, instead bought the following:


Polk Audio TSx 440T Tower Speaker
Polk Audio DSW PRO550
Polk Audio TSX 250C Centre Channel Speaker
Polk Audio TSx 110B Bookshelf Speaker

which I will hook with Denon X2000 AVR, which I am yet to buy. Any suggestions on AVR?