14 DAY TRIAL // Surround sound always comes at a premium when talking about home entertainment systems. But what to do when there's not enough optimal room for a 7.1 speaker system? Yamaha thought about this issue and released flat panel faux-surround sound systems. The single flat panel speaker has 40 individually-amped 1? drives that are used to aim sound in different directions across the room. It supports Dolby and DTS formats and all this goodness without a bunch of little speakers around it, but keep in mind that it is a rather long piece of equipment.
Apart from those 40 little tweeters, the system features two woofers with SRS TruBass effects to boost them up. People that have already tried this system say that the two woofers don't really replace a real subwoofer. YSP-1100 can control the orientation of sound by focusing it into beams. The central channel sound needs no post-processing as it is heard directly. The other channels are post-processed and heard after reflecting off walls. The system is recommended to video enthusiasts who wish to build a serious home theater combo around a large flat screen TV and also look for a neat design to match their room interior.
Yamaha includes the IntelliBeam automated system in order to calibrate the YSP-1100 for the optimal listening experience. The system comes pre-set with 5 selectable sound options: 5-Beam Mode, Stereo Mode, 3-Beam Mode, Stereo+3-Beam Mode, Stereo Mode and a ?My Beam Mode? for user pre-sets. YSP-1100 comes with an IR remote control and an on-screen display for easy selection.
YSP-1100 will be available in late September, 2006 and will cost $1700.