Yamaha Debuts Two New ""Instant Home Theatre"" Systems

A source, a TV or monitor, and some popcorn - plus one of these new one-box systems from Yamaha and you've got an instant home theatre. The company has just introduced two new ""Instant Home Theatre"" systems - and one incorporates Dolby Digital decoding. Both provide Yamaha Digital Sound Field Processing. Each of the new systems, designated YHT-22 and YHT-16, pack a versatile home theatre receiver, five full-range speakers, and a high quality subwoofer in a single, easy-to-buy/easy-to-set-up and easy-to-sell carton. YHT-22 Yamaha's HTR-5140 is the receiver that forms the heart of the new YI-IT-22 system. In addition to Dolby Digital decoding, the new receiver delivers 70 watts to each of its five channels and provides 11 Digital Sound Field Processing movie theatre and music modes, including Yamaha's Tri-Field Processing. The receiver can handle three audio and four AV sources and features video outputs as well as inputs. The receiver provides 8-video and three music soundfields. A newly designed Yamaha ASIC, YSS-908, provides Dolby Digital, Dolby ProLogic, Tri-Field, and Cinema DSP processing. The back panel also provides 6-channel analog inputs which allow the installation of an outboard DTS Digital Surround, DVD-Audio or other 5.1-channel processor. Yamaha has also incorporated a high quality AM/FM stereo tuner with presets that will automatically select the 40 strongest signals in the user's area. In addition, those presets can be user modified. Other features of the HTR-5140 include high/low impedance switching, speaker A/B switching, linear damping factor circuitry, sleep timer, three center channel modes, universal remote control keypad incorporating preset codes for popular brands of source components, and features Yamaha's new V-profile front panel. The YHT-22 utilizes the NS-AP327 speaker ensemble consisting of four two-way acoustic suspension satellites and a center channel speaker. All are magnetically shielded. The satellites each contain 3-1/2-inch Hi-Polymer coated woofer and a 3/4-inch mylar dome tweeter. Yamaha includes the NS-AC327 center channel speaker which uses identical drivers to the satellites and contains two woofers. Completing the system is Yamaha's new YST-SW45 subwoofer which uses an 8-inch spruce cone driver and Advanced Active Servo Technology. Yamaha engineers developed Active Servo Technology a decade ago. The servo system is part of the amplifier built into the subwoofer. It senses impedance variations and feeds reciprocal voltage into the circuit to compensate for the effect of static resistance. This application of negative impedance is said to stiffen the speaker cone and makes it nearly as rigid as the cabinet itself. Thus, the cone moves more air. Much of the low frequency energy created in this way is then delivered into the room via the subwoofer's port, creating an ""air woofer."" The built-in amplifier provides 50 watts and the subwooferís frequency range is 30 to 200 Hz. The subwoofer is magnetically shielded, so it can be placed next to a TV or monitor with no picture degradation. Other features of the YST-SW45 include auto power on/off, 50Hz to 150Hz continuously variable high-cut filter, and banana plug compatible speaker terminals. Yamaha's YHT-22 has a suggested retail price of $749. YHT-16 Yamaha's second new ""Instant Home Theatre"" system, the YHT-16, is built around the company's R-V703 home theatre receiver which delivers 80 watts across the front three channels and 20 watts each to the rear surround channels. It also features back-panel analog inputs for an external 5.1-channel decoder. Other features include Dolby Surround ProLogic and 8 Yamaha DSP and Cinema DSP modes, Yamaha's high quality AMIFM stereo tuner section features presets which will automatically select the 40 strongest signals in the user's area. In addition, those presets can be user modified. The system comes with the NS-AP1G speaker ensemble which includes five two-way acoustic suspension design speakers. Each speaker contains a 5-inch cone woofer and S-inch cone tweeter, and all five are magnetically shielded. Again, Yamaha's YST-SW45 completes the system. It uses an &inch spruce cone driver and Advanced Active Servo Technology. The built-in amplifier delivers 50 watts, and the subwoofer is magnetically shielded to prevent picture degradation. Yamaha's YHT-16 has a suggested retail price of $499.For more information contact Doan Hoff at 714 522 9290 or visit the Yamaha web site at http://www.yamaha.com.