The Yamaha AV-S7 is a competent home theatre in a box, for a modest price. The system contains five voiced matched satellites and a subwoofer/processer. Included in the system is 200 yards of speaker wire (conveniently color coded), and wall mounting brackets. For even the most novice audio enthusiast, setup should be a breeze. The satellites themselves are very small and can match the decor of most rooms (I have mine hidden behind the curtains in my living room.) The processer is also rather small, but has sufficent power to envelop an average sized room with sound. The system contains 6 listen modes: Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Pro Logic Enhanced (ala 35mm movie mode), Concert Hall, Stadium, Mono Movie, and Stereo. While the Pro Logic decoding is up to par with many receivers, 35mm movie mode is horrendous. The sound isn't comprable to a moviehouse as stated by Yamaha, but rather muddled, echoey, and truly impossible to understand any voices. Concert Hall plays music quite well, and for sporting events, the Stadium mode is outstanding. I could not do it justice with my words. When not using a DSP soundfield, plain stereo is fantastic. Strereo imaging is amazing, all sound seems to come from a focal point in the center of the room. Yamaha released this system to compete with the highly over priced Bose Acoustimass Systems. Originally priced at $599, this system was an insult. After a few weeks, the price began to fall drastically. I purchased mine on sale for $199. Though honestly, Bose does sound better than this system, and better than many reviewers at this site have led us to believe, a $1,000 price difference makes Yamaha the front runner in my eyes.
After looking at other satellite/sub systems on the market, I grew very curious. I decided to test the tonal accuracy of five systems including the AV-S7. Here are the results:
1.Bose Acoustimass 10- Gave the flattest and most accurate readings along the graph.
2.Yamaha AV-S7- Gave fairly accurate readings, with only modest spikes in the 50-150hz range.
3.Cambridge Ensemble Soundworks- Generally performed well.
4.Infinity RS-1/BU-2- Performed quite poorly in comparison to top three
5.Paradigm Monitors- Amongst the most inaccurate speakers I have ever tested
As a primary home theatre system, I would not recommend the AV-S7, unless you are willing to forgo Dolby Digital AC-3 for the time being. For a bedroom or den, and for $199, the system can't be beat. Though I would like to give the system 4.5 stars for containing some foibles, for general purposes, I'll round up.