We haven't reviewed a soundbar or a surroundbar or digital sound projector in ages. One of the first ones we did was the YSP-4000 , a near top of the line offering from Yamaha.

App Control; Enough inputs; Subwoofer output; Bluetooth works well; IR Pass Through for Blocked TV IR Receivers

Sibilant; Even in optimal room; surround effect unconvincing; Wall mounting may look a little goofy; Bass light; Weak stereo separation

Yamaha's new YSP-1400 Digital Sound Projector ($400) may look like your run-of-the-mill sound bar at first glance, but as its title implies, the "sound projector" does things a little differently.

Good clarity and detail; Deep bass response for a stand-alone unit; Dimensional sound stage; Highly configurable audio settings

Can get too aggressive in the treble; Not ideal for music playback; No ARC connection/trouble with programming our TV remote

I have purchased a number of items from New Egg and they have been great. They always identify Open Box items and give a discount. (I never buy them) This item on the other hand was not identified as an open box item and was supposed to be new which is why I only give this 3 eggs.

Nice Sound and easy setup; Much better sound than the TV speakers and those down driving sub woofers provide plenty of base

IR repeater doesn't seem to work, but I need to play with it more; Also having only one optical and one coaxial can be a draw back when both your DVD and TV only have only HDMI or Optical.

Some people spend thousands of dollars piecing together an expensive audio system for their home theater. A more affordable solution for a great-sounding movie is to use a sound bar . One of the best sound bars on the market is the YSP 1400 from Yamaha.

This sound bar has a rich; realistic sound and 5.1 channels for maximum performance

The design is a little bulky; so it may get in the way of your TV remote sensor

Lots of sound bars promise to create "virtual" surround sound from a single speaker enclosure, but Yamaha's Digital Sound Projector line have historically been the only models that can actually do it well.

The Yamaha YSP-1400 sound bar features the company's Digital Sound Projector technology that bounces sound off the walls in your room to create credible virtual surround sound; The system has built-in Bluetooth and an IR repeater, so it won't block your signals from your TV's remote control.

Getting a true surround sound signal to the YSP-1400 can be difficult; While it does sound more spacious than a standard sound bar, it doesn't match the true virtual surround magic of Yamaha's pricier sound bars.

The bass is not as sharp as a component audio system, but delivers enough to make an impact. The preset speaker modes are nice and easy to use. Thought the LED indicators would be insufficient but they actually are more than enough. The remote is simple and clean.

all in one; clean; simple; bluetooth works well with iphone 5 and samsung galaxy s3

no hdmi input

Lots of sound bars promise to create "virtual" surround sound from a single speaker enclosure, but Yamaha's Digital Sound Projector line have historically been the only models that can actually do it well. It's an impressive feat, accomplished by bouncing sound off nearby walls and furniture, but the catch is the pricing tends to start at $1,000, putting them out of range for most buyers.

Yamaha's YSP-1400 brings the company's Digital Sound Projector technology to a budget price point, but a couple of caveats keep it from being a standout sound bar.

The Yamaha YSP-1400 sound bar features the company's Digital Sound Projector technology that bounces sound off the walls in your room to create credible virtual surround sound; The system has built-in Bluetooth and an IR repeater, so it won't block your signals from your TV's remote control; There's also onboard decoding for both Dolby Digital and DTS; And its budget price is far below Yamaha's other Digital Sound Projector sound bars.

Getting a true surround sound signal to the YSP-1400 can be difficult; While it does sound more spacious than a standard sound bar, it doesn't match the true virtual surround magic of Yamaha's pricier sound bars; And the lack of an external subwoofer means bass won't be quite as deep or powerful as systems with a separate sub.

The soundbar is lovely, easy to setup (works within 30 seconds of unpacking) and great quality. The only issue i have with it, it shares the frequency of my Toshiba TV - so when i switch TV on/off the soundbar does the same (volume control works the same way)

Sound quality and ease of set-up is great, unfortunately the soundbar intermittently does not connect to the source. My friend has the same speaker and has no problems. I will likely need to send mine back for replacement or repair.

A ll sound bars use speakers contained inside of an enclosure. To get multichannel audio, not just stereo, either a sound bar comes with a pair of satellite speakers or uses a psycho-acoustic program to simulate the "effect" of added speakers.

Dialogue enhancement; Can learn the TVs remote

Audio adjustments can vary widely depending on the room's configuration