Yamaha YSP-1000, Surround Sound Projection

[Wayde]

New "holographic surround sound" technology is used in the YSP-1000 to create a single box replacement for a five channel speaker system. One rectangular speaker positioned under your TV is supposed to beam sound around the room to create five channel sound comparable to five separate speakers. That's right, just one speaker in front to replace five speakers positioned throughout your room. If it works it's the ultimate in spousal approval for a surround sound speaker system. I know what the skeptics among you are thinking. If you're like me, you're thinking "holographic, schmolographic"! The product description seems so ambitious that it can't possibly work as advertised. Sure, you might get tinny ambient sound effects. But can such an effect really reproduce the intended effects of a Dolby Digital soundtrack?

When I finally got a demo of the product I was impressed. As expected it's a system with limitations. But the YSP-1000 presents multi-channel sound, separation and directional effects that will make you think there is indeed a speaker hidden behind the couch.

I got a chance to listen to it in a demonstration room at Natural Sound in Kitchener. I sat on a couch in a small enclosed square room while we engaged the system's Automated System Calibration. Just plug and position the included microphone and like many like higher end receivers today the speaker system calibrates itself using a series of test tones. The moment I heard the first alien sounds coming from places I knew there were no speakers I was impressed. But a few test tones are a long way from real multi-channel sound.

The wide rectangular speaker box is compact and fits comfortably under a 42" in widescreen display for which the YSP-1000 is optimized. Inside the unit, covered by a silver grille, are 40 tiny drivers powered by digital amps. The drivers produce sound beams that reflect off surfaces in your room. But can beams of sound really produce localized full range acoustics outside the confines of a speaker? Yamaha promises the YSP-1000 can deliver Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo: 6.

We popped a demo disk into the DVD player that gave us outdoor sound effects. I heard crickets chirping in generalized 'reflections' around the room. It was an ambient effect similar to what Dolby Pro Logic could do. As immersive as it was I thought that's it, this pony has just demonstrated its trick. Then we heard the sounds of bullfrogs. A single frog croaking in one corner of the room was a more localized sound compared to the ambient crickets. I could actually point to where I heard the frog, but it was also a sound that required some frequency response. I started warming to this system when we popped in a copy of Master and Commander in DTS for one of my favorite acoustic demos, the naval battle in the opening scene.

A sub is required to give the YSP-1000 5.1 otherwise it's only five speakers that are too light on bass for home theater. The details in the buildup to the naval battle at the beginning of Master and Commander provided suitable tension. The wind sweeping across the deck made me forget I was in a small square room. The subsequent cannon fire sounded like a real 5.1 system. The acoustic effects were not wanting for proper sonic imaging in its reproduction of the DTS soundtrack. In terms of producing left / right and front / rear movements including footsteps running around the ship were reproduced as if it were from a well positioned speaker system. It was difficult to believe all this only came from a single rectangular bar up front.
The sound quality was similar to what you can get from a less expensive satellite speaker system. The sound beams were surprisingly good at producing wide range sound but they won't provide the kind of detailed sound at a dynamic range you might expect of larger speakers. If you need to fill a mid to large sized room with sound this isn't the way to go. The YSP-1000 needs a symmetrically shaped smaller room to work its magic. It needs walls behind and beside the listening audience to reflect onto. The Room Acoustic Optimizer and Automated System Calibration is surprisingly good at finding objects to bounce sound. There is even a Target Beam Mode that allows you to center the sweet spot on unusual places in the room. But if you don't require the convenience of the sound projection there is no benefit to using a system like this as a substituted for five separate speakers placed around the room. That you can get a complete 5.1 speaker system that will sound better than the YSP-1000 for much less money should come as no surprise. MSRP on the system is about $1700 US dollars but you can find it on the streets for less.

Special thanks to Natural Sound in Kitchener ON for providing the demo of this remarkable new technology.

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