Speaker gizmo from Yamaha....wow!!

http://www.yamaha.ca/av/YSP1/main.jsp what do you all think of it?

i bet it will be pricey. and man would you have to have a nicely laid out room for optimum performance. god forbid a beam of sound disappearing out a window or down a hallway or something... sounds reflecting/being distorted will never match sound actually coming from where it is supposed to.

Looks like you would have to have all square, solid walls.
If someone displayed it without a name I would say it's BOSE!!!
I wouldn't ever consider it. I love the look of my 5.1 speakers.

what does a tenth of a speaker look like?

I didn't see a sub woofer, but it must be a whooping 3" er!

Speakers Section: 1-5/8" (4 cm) x 40 drivers, 4-3/8” (11cm) x 2 woofers

Digital Amplifier 120 W total power: 2 W x 40 + 20 W x 2

Dimensions: (W x H x D) 40-9/16” x 7-3/4” x 4-5/8”
1,030 x 194 x 118 mm

Weight 28.7 lbs.; 13 kg

They also say a subwoofer output is available, and they recommend the use of a subwoofer.

I would say that this type of unit is for those who value a Spartan-clean appearance over sound quality. The higher frequencies will 'steer' more easily than mids and lows, so if the room is Spartan (uncluttered, without items to distrupt wave propagation) with walls having 'good bounce,' then there will be a 'sense' of some surround effect, but certainly not the same as discrete transducers.

High quality HT fans, read the last Q&A in the FAQ section!

Bottom line IMHO: a novelty item.

Now that is a lot of drivers crammed into one cabinet...



Certainly an interesting and novel bit of design - a very rudimentary receiver (two optical inputs, one coaxial input, two stereo analog inputs, a composite video output for OSD, and a subwoofer output) tucked in with a set of digital amps (40 at 2W each and two at 20W each) and a whole slew of drivers. That field of little drivers looks really nifty, but - as others have already noted - the approach is going to be seriously effected room geometry, much moreso than traditional speaker configurations. The target market (plasma screen owners who don't want the clutter of conventional speakers or the installation hassle of in-wall speakers) will most likely appreciate it because they can bolt it to the wall and forget about it, but overall I think bestbang4thebuck's hit the nail on the head. Novelty item.

Supposedly pretty cool but true, it will depend on room for best use. Also, it's really not being made for most people found on an audio forum who already have 5 to 10 speakers for their surround sound system. It's more of a niche product for those looking for "better" sound with their new flat panel televisions and who don't want speakers all around their room.

Look for a list price around $1500. And yes, it does have a subwoofer output.

info direct from my friend at my neighborhood audio store

edit: Gonk, sorry to paraphrase you.