Yamaha YHT-299 Home-Theatre System Review 

  Yamaha, a mass market favourite, always has a lot of AV options across a wide price-bracket. If the brand has high-end HT Systems and speaker packages then it also has AV products for AV aficionados who are on a shoestring budget. Here, we have reviewed the budget YHT-299, that is modestly priced at Rs 40,000. This may not be the modest amount after all for quite a few people out there, but with the decreased rupee value we have to appreciate and say that this is the new budget that all audio and videophiles must now save for. 

Yamaha YHT-299

OUT OF THE BOX
In terms of looks, this type of design and exterior finish has been done by Yamaha a number of times before. As home-theatre progresses into newer worlds, we expect better designs and more colours to be introduced other than the standard black range. However, we at AV MAX and designers alike have always been a fan of curved loudspeakers, because of the inherent acoustic properties and reduced internal standing waves. No sharp edges means less re-radiation of sound back into the room and so on.  Moreover, the net cover on all the loudspeakers also provides the required protection from external elements, but it’s the glossy black finish that you will have to take care of from smudges and finger prints. The AV receiver is a strong beast too, its top metal perforated finish looks neat and good, and the font display area also has less buttons, which makes it look more mature and high-end.

The AV Receiver in YHT-299 set

TECHNOLOGY
With HT Systems, the primary hub of technology is the AV receiver, as this is where all the latest innovations, wireless applications and home-theatre technology can best find its home. The AV receiver in this system is the HTR-3066, a 5.1 AV receiver that comes along with an YPAO* calibration microphone to assist setting up the entire HT system.  The AV receiver is capable of dishing out up to 70 watts of power per channel when two channels are driven. The AV receiver boasts of discrete amplifier configuration, this is where the power supplies are separated from the processing circuits to keep the audio output as pure as possible. The HTR-3066 possesses four HDMI outs at the rear and is capable of transferring 3D and 4K video signals thus ensuring its compatibility with future 4K flat panels. In terms of connectivity, it is to be noted that the speaker terminals for the centre and surrounds have spring type terminals. However, the front channels have rotary type binding posts which are indeed commendable as this is very rarely seen on budget based HT Systems and individual AV receivers.  

Coming to the satellite loudspeakers, the fronts and the surrounds share the same design and driver components, each of them possess 2.75” full-range capable of handling a power in flow of up to 30 watts each. The centre channel, too, has a 2.75” full-range driver with similar power handling capabilities. All the five satellite loudspeakers have spring type cable terminals, so you cannot attach broader gauge loudspeaker cables to them. Instead for the review, we made use of the thin colour-coded loudspeaker cables that came along with the HT system. The subwoofer contains a 6.5” front firing driver and a side firing bass port. On the rear of the subwoofer, you will find a single RCA input and a volume control knob. So, all crossover controls have to be done from the AV receiver itself. The entire HT system has a frequency response of 30Hz-25 kHz, and from the AV receiver’s setup menu you can cross the subwoofer and the five satellite loudspeakers anywhere between 40Hz to 200Hz. However, a crossover point above 120Hz is best recommended by us as the full-range satellite loudspeakers will not perform well closer to the 100Hz mark.
source-tech2