New Yamaha YSP-600 Surround Sound Bar April 02, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , HDTV , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , LCD

Yamaha was the first company to plough the new trend for surround sound bars and the company is expected to release a new one this May.

Targeted at those that want a simple, clean, wire-free – albeit pseudo-surround - system in their living room, the YSP-600 will cost around £500, is 1080p compatible and sports two HDMI In and 1 HDMI Out ports. It's also smaller than its cousins for less conspicuous postioning.

It measures 61 x 22 x 12cms and should sit comfortably in front of any 32in - or larger - HDTV without looking too big. In terms of power it has 16 2W drivers and 2 15W subwoofers in-built. Like its predecessors, the YSP-600 fires sound off the walls of your room to create the surround sound effect but, unlike its predecessors, it’s the first with a feature called My Surround which provides surround without the wall-bouncing in order to cope with odd-shaped rooms.

It sets up automatically and there are now some extra ‘beam’ modes to allow you to choose which sound suits you best. These include 5 Beam, 3 Beam, 3 Beam + Stereo and 2ch Stereo. Sound formats supported include Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6.-Martin Lynch

[Yamaha Australia]