Yamaha YSP-2500: The true entry-level digital sound projector

Yamaha has a wide range of digital sound projectors and after checking out their new entry-level sometime ago, we are now taking a look at the next model up the YSP hierarchy - the YSP-2500 sound bar.

Note: This article from 17th October 2014 was re-published on 10th July 2016 as the product is still relevant and available in the market. If you've been thinking of getting a good sound bar, you won't be disappointed with this.

On to The Next One

When it comes to sound bars, or digital sound projectors, few do it better than Yamaha. And with the recent release of the YSP-1400, Yamaha now has a model at just about every price point. In the past, the price of entry to Yamaha’s world of digital sound projectors began at a four-figure range, but the YSP-1400 was markedly more affordable than anything else before it, and marks Yamaha’s intention to increase the appeal of its digital sound projectors.

The YSP-2500 is a two piece speaker system made up of a center speaker unit and a wireless subwoofer.

The YSP-2500 is a two piece speaker system made up of a center speaker unit and a wireless subwoofer.

To be sure, the YSP-1400 is a decent speaker. It is reasonably slim for sound bar that eschews a dedicated subwoofer and in fact integrates dual smaller subwoofers in its cabinet's design. It manages to deliver big sound and wide soundstage. However, it felt like a normal pair of speakers and was missing that famed surround sound effect that Yamaha’s digital sound projectors were renowned for. So this time, we are kicking things up a notch and in our labs with the next model up in the range - the brand new YSP-2500. Compared to the YSP-1400, the YSP-2500 is a whole different animal. It costs considerably more, sure, but it also comes with beefier specifications and more bells and whistles. Let’s take a look at the unit now.

 

Design & Features

Unlike the YSP-1400, the YSP-2500 is a two-piece speaker system consisting of a center speaker unit and a separate subwoofer. The center speaker unit is also noticeably larger and features a brushed aluminum chassis. Even though it is larger, Yamaha has designed the center speaker unit to lie low and thin so that it does not block TVs’ IR receivers - the YSP-2500 stands at just 73mm high! The speaker's stands are also adjustable for height and can even be completely removed. However, if removing the stands is still not enough, the YSP-2500 also has an IR pass-through function, that relays signals from the TV’s remote control to the TV’s IR receiver. Thin as it may be, the YSP-2500 is pretty wide and while it can be mounted on walls using a wall mount bracket, we think it will look awkward as it juts out much more than any modern TV. In our opinion, the YSP-2500 looks best on a TV deck.

The center speaker unit sits relatively low, but it is wide. Note the brushed aluminum finishing on the chassis. There are only these four buttons on the speaker itself.

The center speaker unit sits relatively low, but it is wide. Note the brushed aluminum finishing on the chassis. There are only these four buttons on the speaker itself.

The YSP-2500 uses 16 beam drivers to reflect sound around its environment to create a true surround sound effect.

The YSP-2500 uses 16 beam drivers to reflect sound around its environment to create a true surround sound effect.

Inside the YSP-2500’s sound bar, users will find that it has double the number of beam drivers that the YSP-1400 has - 16 to be exact - though their size and power ratings are the same - 2.8cm and 2W each. These beam drivers are angled and were designed to work with the speaker’s DSP systems to reflect sound off their surroundings to create a realistic surround sound effect. As a result, your listening environment actually plays an important role in the performance of these speakers, but we will elaborate more on this later when we talk about setting the speakers up.

As for the subwoofer, it packs two 10cm cone woofers and has a rated power output of 130W. The subwoofer also works wirelessly, but you'll still need to source for a power outlet. This means less wire clutter, but more importantly, gives greater freedom as to where you can place the subwoofer. Additionally, it can be positioned upright or on its side for even greater flexibility.

The subwoofer is tall but actually pretty slim and compact. It can be positioned vertically or horizontally.

The subwoofer is tall but actually pretty slim and compact. It can be positioned vertically or horizontally.

The various input and output ports of the YSP-2500. Its worth noting that the YSP-2500 supports the latest HDMI 2.0 standard, which means it can passthrough 4k content at 60fps.

The various input and output ports of the YSP-2500. Its worth noting that the YSP-2500 supports the latest HDMI 2.0 standard, which means it can passthrough 4k content at 60fps.

Behind the YSP-2500, users can find a good selection of input and output ports. As for inputs, the YSP-2500 has no less than three HDMI input ports, two optical digital jacks, a digital coaxial jack and a RCA input. And if you do not have a dedicated audio receiver or if you have an older Blu-ray player or source, you will be happy to know that the YSP-2500 also offers native decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio. On top of all these, the YSP-2500 also support Bluetooth wireless audio streaming. This means you can stream music wirelessly to the YSP-2500 from your smartphone, tablet or even your notebook or desktops. That said, like the YSP-1400, the YSP-2500 also does not have a USB port.

As for outputs, the YSP-2500 has a single HDMI output that supports the latest HDMI 2.0 standard. This means it can output 4K video content at 60fps - the older HDMI 1.4 standard could support 4K video content but at only 30fps. On top of that, there’s also a headphones jack, subwoofer jack (for those who have a specific subwoofer that they want to use in conjunction with the YSP-2500) and a system connector.

 

Setup and the Home Theater Controller App

As we mentioned earlier, the YSP-2500 relies on its environment to bounce sound off to create a true surround sound effect. Therefore, the positioning of the YSP-2500 within the room and the room layout are both crucial to the listening experience. In fact, the YSP-2500 will actually work better in a smaller room rather than a large one where the walls are spaced too far apart for them to be reflected properly.

When you fire up the sound bar for the first time, you will be greeted by this screen (when hooked up to the TV), which will help you setup the speakers for optimal performance.

When you fire up the sound bar for the first time, you will be greeted by this screen (when hooked up to the TV), which will help you setup the speakers for optimal performance.

This microphone helps fine tune the YSP-2500 by listening out for test tunes from the speakers.

This microphone helps fine tune the YSP-2500 by listening out for test tunes from the speakers.

To ensure optimal positioning and a good listening experience, the YSP-2500 features IntelliBeam technology, a sound-tuning technology found on Yamaha’s higher-end digital sound projectors. When users first power up the YSP-2500, they are prompted to place the special IntelliBeam microphone at their listening positioning and asked to leave the room while the unit auto tunes itself. It does so by projecting sound and then references the microphone to adjust itself so that sound is properly reflected to the microphone. This can be fine-tuned later using the remote controller and entering BEAM settings.

The supplied remote control is actually not shabby and is intuitive to use.

The supplied remote control is actually not shabby and is intuitive to use.

However, if you misplace the remote control, you can control the YSP-2500 using a Bluetooth-enabled iOS or Android device and the Home Controller app.

However, if you misplace the remote control, you can control the YSP-2500 using a Bluetooth-enabled iOS or Android device and the Home Controller app.

The app gives you a wide range of control over the YSP-2500 including DSP settings and even tweaking the beam drivers.

The app gives you a wide range of control over the YSP-2500 including DSP settings and even tweaking the beam drivers.

Alternatively, one could also do fine-tuning by using the Yamaha Home Controller app that is available for free on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Home Controller app lets your smartphone or tablet double up as a remote controller and offers a wide range of controls over the YSP-2500, such as volume controls, DSP selection and more. One downside is that, like the YSP-1400, the YSP-2500 can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time. This means that if you are using your smartphone or tablet to control the YSP-2500, you can only stream music from that same device. This can be problematic if most of your source material is on another device, like your notebook or desktop system.

Speaking of DSP, the YSP-2500 offers no less than 10 different DSP settings that falls under three broad categories - Movie, Music and Entertainment. Under Movie, there are three additional settings - Sci-Fi, Adventure and Spectacle. Under Music, users can choose from Music Video, Concert and Jazz Club. Finally, under Entertainment there’s Sports, Talk Show, Drama and Game. On top of this, the YSP-2500 also features Clear Voice, which raises the volume of dialogue and narrations; and Univolume, which helps maintain the same volume levels regardless of your source and even channels and programs. 

MP3 Testing

To begin our evaluation of the Yamaha YSP-2500, we decided to put it through our MP3 test tracks. And since the YSP-2500 does not have a USB port, we had to stream our music over Bluetooth. This is not ideal since streaming over Bluetooth degrades the music quality since tracks need to be compressed, and this is compounded by the fact that MP3 itself is a lossy audio format. Nevertheless, we expect most people will make use of Bluetooth since it is so convenient and it will still be a good chance to evaluate the YSP-2500 musical performance.



Pairing the YSP-2500 to your Bluetooth-enabled source is dead simple. Simply put the YSP-2500 into Bluetooth mode by using the remote and then identify it on your source and you are good to go. Streaming performance for the most parts is good and consistent, however, we did notice that audio did drop and stutter at some instances.



As usual, we begin with Hotel California by The Eagles, an audiophile favorite for testing tracks. When it comes to audio experience, size sometimes does matter, and having a separate subwoofer meant that YSP-2500 has a very strong bass performance. The bongo drums during the introduction not only sounded forceful and strong, but it was also very clean and sharp. We also found Henley’s vocals to be very clear and textured and the strings had a nice clean and transparent sound. The YSP-2500 also sounded loud and unhurried and had a wide, expansive sound that easily filled the room. However, actual stereo performance was lacking and it was difficult to place the positions of the band, which normally should not be the case especially during the dual guitar solo towards the end of the track.



Adele’s Melt My Heart to Stone was deftly handled as her vocals sounded powerful, buttery smooth and bright. The heavy drums in the background were managed nicely by the subwoofer and provided a nice beat to the song.



Tiesto’s Elements of Life is a very fast and bassy trance track and the YSP-2500 showed no weaknesses here either. Thanks to a separate subwoofer, the YSP-2500 provides not only strong but very clean and defined bass. The speakers also showed very good speed and dexterity.



Finally, we come to Buckethead’s Sail on Soothsayer, an instrumental guitar ballad that punctuated by some very fast sections. Again, the YSP-2500’s exhibited good speed and agility and also showed that it had the finesse to handle the slower sections of the track. To add, Buckethead’s guitars also sounded very clear, bright and the distorted effects were rich and textured.



Overall, the YSP-2500 is a very competent set of speakers for listening to music. It produces a very rich sound that is clear, bright and expansive. Bass performance is also exceptionally good as it was powerful yet controlled, with no muddiness whatsoever at default settings. It is also worth mentioning at this point that the subwoofer has 40 different level settings (-20 to 20), so tweak to your heart’s content. Though at default setting (which is 0), we felt that it was powerful enough. Our only complaint about the YSP-2500 is that stereo separation is lacking. However, playing around with the DSP settings does alleviate it a little. It must also be said that the different DSP settings do affect the way music sounds quite significantly, so play around to get the sound you like best.

MP3 Testing
Score
Hotel California - The Eagles
8.5
Melt My Heart to Stone - Adele
9.0
Elements ofLife - Tiesto
9.0
Sail on Soothsayer - Buckethead
9.0

Blu-ray Testing

We tested the YSP-2500’s cinematic chops using the Blu-ray discs of Michael Jackson’s This Is It and the movie Superman Returns. While music is a primary component of This Is It, the show also features lots of dialogue, giving it a good mix. On the other hand, Superman Returns is your standard cinema fare and will give the YSP-2500 the chance to demonstrate its surround sound performance and its ability to reproduce a good cinematic experience.

Given the YSP-2500’s excellent performance in our MP3 testing, we expected it to shine on This Is It and it did not disappoint. Michael Jackson’s classic pop tunes were dealt with aplomb and sounded really fun and upbeat, thanks to the punchy and excellent subwoofer. Dialogues and narrations were slightly underwhelmed at times, but this can be rectified using Yamaha’s Clear Voice technology, which automatically increases the volume of dialogues, without making it sound too artificial or processed.

On Superman Returns, the YSP-2500’s impressed with its sonic abilities. It has three different DSP settings for movies - Sci-Fi, Adventure and Spectacle - but we felt that they all sounded quite similar. But even without any DSP settings, the YSP-2500 sounded good and this was mainly due to its ability to recreate an authentic surround sound experience. In the opening sequence, we could clearly hear debris from the supernova swishing past us. And in the scene where Lex Luthor experiments with Kryptonite for the first time, we could hear and place the sounds of the train set as it moves about in the basement. Additionally, the powerful subwoofer added lots of oomph and makes for it a good cinematic listening experience.

Blu-rayTesting
Score
Michael Jackson's This Is It
8.5
Superman Returns
9.0

 

The true 'entry-level' Digital Sound Projector

In our review of the YSP-1400, we called it "your entry-level ticket to Yamaha’s world of digital sound projectors". Practically speaking, this remains to be true, since it is the most affordable speaker in Yamaha’s lineup. But if we were to be completely honest, the YSP-2500 should be regarded as the true entry-level Yamaha digital sound projector.

Let us explain why. For one, audio performance is much improved in all aspects. The clarity of the YSP-2500 is admirable and the bass performance of its subwoofer is exemplary - forceful, clean and well-defined. But most of all, we like the YSP-2500 for its expansive and wide soundstage and its ability to replicate a true surround sound experience - a hallmark of Yamaha's high-end digital sound projectors. For listeners and users who are new to sound bars, it is hard to imagine that a single speaker is capable of such effects, but the YSP-2500 delivers on this front.

This is not to say that the YSP-1400 is a bad speaker, it still sounds great for its price point, but it is lacking in some areas (a limitation of most in that price category) and most notably it cannot create a true surround sound experience, unlike the YSP-2500. But of course, you might be thinking, the YSP-2500 costs so much more. Admittedly so, but it just goes to show that if you want a true and believable surround sound experience from a sound bar or single-piece speaker, the old adage of "you pay for what you get" does apply.

The Yamaha YSP-2500 might be pricey, but if space is something you lack, this two-piece speaker set offers a true and believable surround sound experience.

The Yamaha YSP-2500 might be pricey, but if space is something you lack, this two-piece speaker set offers a true and believable surround sound experience.

As for price, the YSP-2500 officially retails for S$1699, but it is possible to get for slightly less (S$1599) if you look around at the various consumer electronics giants such as Gain City and Harvey Norman. At this price, it is roughly S$900 more than the YSP-1400, but we feel that the YSP-2500’s excellent performance justifies the premium. Furthermore, there are few competitors in this price category. Philips’ Fidelio HTL9100 is a prime contender, considering it was our winner in the sound bar category at this year’s Tech Awards; however, it has the benefit of having two rear surround speakers.

That said, the YSP-2500 is not perfect. While it sounds great, we cannot help but feel that a true surround speaker setup consisting of multiple speakers will sound better. Additionally, for the YSP-2500 to work, its environment is important as it needs walls to be able to reflect sound off, hence the YSP-2500 would not work in more spacious rooms. Also, we are miffed that it does not include an USB port, which would have made it more versatile, especially for users who are not fans of Bluetooth streaming.

To sum up, if you are looking for a true surround sound experience from a minimal speaker setup, the YSP-2500 will not disappoint. And this is especially true for readers who want to buy into the Yamaha digital sound projector experience. The YSP-2500 should be your starting point.

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