Pros: Have had this systems for six months now and i like every bit of it. The sound is awesome, the controls and settings infinite and the more i use it the more hidden features i find. The buttons on the remote at first were a bit too much but now i love it cus it controls everything in my room including an old RCA VCR. Lots and lots of connections.

Cons: cable, cable, cable.!!! Haven't replace my but it looks lousy. At lest Yamaha could have given us something better. Not really cons; The speakers could have been a bit elegant but hey i knew what i was getting. Wish the scene selection lights could be tuned off.

Pros: This is a phenomenal system for the value!
- Comes with real fiberboard speakers, not some cheap looking plastic ones.
- Great receiver, lots of options. Dolby Digital and DTS decoding works flawlessly. I have it connected to digital cable TV and to an iMac through TOSlink cables.
- Once calibrated correctly (see other thoughts below), it sounds superb! My friends have a custom Harman Kardon/Polk setup worth a lot more and I don't hear a difference at all. You will not find anything better in this price range.
- Definitely gets loud enough, the bass goes deep and strong enough without problems to shake the room and p... off the neighbors! I run mine at 4/10 volume and it fits perfectly with the rest of the sound and still manages to fill the room well. If yours doesn't, play around with placement and with the subwoofer phase inversion setting.
- The custom "scene" settings come in quite handy.
- The remote even controls my Samsung LCD TV... neato!

Cons: - No real cons for the product! Just go buy it! NOW!
- Your family will hate you for getting such an awesome system while they sit on their plasticy Sony-DVD-player-which-wants-to-be-a-1000Watt-receiver-with-tincans-for-speakers (for which they probably paid more than for this).
- Speaker cables are horribly thin 24awg, just buy some 14 or 16awg instead.
- It doesn't have HDMI upscaling, or component to DVI conversion, but that's well known when you buy this and shouldn't be expected anyhow in this price class.
- The outer box, when delivered, was torn to shreds. While this is a con for UPS, this is actually a pro for Yamaha's excellent packaging. Each inner box was made of high density cardboard, sealed super-tight and cushioning each component with lots of styrofoam. Everything was in perfect condition! Go Yamaha!

Other Thoughts: Make sure to calibrate this receiver correctly:
- First of all, the speakers it comes with are 6 Ohms impedance, but the receiver is initially set to 8 Ohms. Make sure to switch it to 6 and it will sound better!
- Looking at the sub's and speaker's specs in the manual, you should set the cross-over to be at around 110Hz and not the receiver's default 80Hz.
- Make sure to set the speakers to "Small" and to calibrate the distance to the listening position correctly.
- Set the sub to a volume level that fits with the rest of the sound-track. For me it was slighly less than half the volume (4/10).

Pros: Plenty of connections, options, and great sound.

Cons: So many wires and options...

Other Thoughts: Been using the system for a couple of weeks and still not sure I have it figured out 100%. The sound quality is great. I assume most any available system would have exceeded the 25 year old standard stereo system this replaced. I prefer to have separate components so this was my first choice. I just hope it lasts 1/2 as long as the last one did.

Pros: Awsome some or the money.

Cons: Difficulties getting rear speakers at an appropriate volume and multiple manuals.

Other Thoughts: First of all, you could THROW the box off every delivery truck it was shipped on and it would probably be fine. Everything has it's own box and there's enough padding that nothing could possibly be damaged. Set-up was pretty easy, except for sound volumes. I am still having difficulty getting the rear speakers loud enough. I've tried just about everything but I'm guessing it's either bad room acoustics or I just need to read one of the twenty manuals that came with it.

Pros: Sounds good. For the price I wasn't disappointed.

Cons: Minor one. Speaker cables are very thin gauge.

Pros: Excellent sound quality when properly tweaked and using quality speaker wire, convenient preset "listening environments," strong & natural bass response, nicely finished cabinets (this system looks far more expensive than it is), good tuner reception, plenty of inputs, and plenty of ways to customize the sound.

Cons: Mediocre included speaker wire (at this price, buy yourself a lower gauge spool to use), manual isn't written/translated well, too many multi-function buttons on the remote, and the unit will likely intimidate people who aren't tech savvy. HDMI inputs only allow for audio pass-through, but that's common in this price range, and a Toslink cable will provide fine audio quality.

Other Thoughts: I'm extremely pleased with this system. I had another Yamaha HTIB system before this, but it was damaged during a recent move. I was happy enough with Yamaha's quality that I bought this one. The sound quality is excellent; I've heard setups in the $1,000-1,500 range that don't sound as good as this one. There is good sound range and the bass response is natural and can thump if you want it to. I have it set up in my 20x20 living room and it's more than powerful enough for the space. It seems like it could perform well in a larger room, as it seems to have plenty of power to spare. As usual, Newegg's pricing and shipping speed left me happy. I had it the second day after I ordered it with ground shipping. I don't see how you can go wrong purchasing this system from NewEgg!

Pros: Best sound for the money. Detailed adjustments (but see cons)
Tons of inputs
Classic style, wood speakers
Yamaha quality.

Cons: Not for a plug and play type, menus are not trivial to navigate, out of the box sound weak, needs to be set up right.

Other Thoughts: The sub works just fine when set up to be musically correct. Crank it up so the movie explosion shakes you, and it will protest. I have it at about 3/10.

The wire provided is fine for most front and center speaker setups, ie less than ten feet. Need thicker wire (lower gauge number) for most rear speaker setups. I'd also replace the sub wire, since they give you a long one.

Pros: This thing has some pretty impressive sound. I hooked it up in my living room to a 46" flat panel. The volume goes from -45db to +45db. I have not yet had it very far over 0 and at that point this system is shaking the house. I compared this system to others that cost 3 times as much and I could not tell the difference. It comes with a real receiver as opposed to other home theaters in this price range that come with a glorified DVD player. The bass from the subwoofer is pretty impressive for the size. It thunders in our large living room at about 3/4 of the max bass setting. If you are looking for a punchier tighter bass, the receiver allows for 2 more speakers. The receiver also has a ton of connectors, pretty much all the average to above average user needs. Adapters can get you even farther if needed. There are a lot of ways you can tweak this system and I have not had time to do that (or much reason to want to). Can't imagine anyone having a major complaint about this.

Cons: The speaker wire could have been better (thicker). Also, the settings for this thing could have been a little more user friendly. The guide for this thing is thick. The remote is a little out of control for sound system. but its nice to have the options if I ever get motivated enough to figure out all the settings. Took a bit of trial and error to figure out how to get this how I liked it for each input and how to change sound schemes. Again, the manual could have been a bit simpler and more concise. But like I said, they squeeze a lot of potential into this affordable system, for now more than I really need. People that like to play with this stuff will probably like that.

Other Thoughts: The box that arrived looked like it fell off a truck in a rainstorm, but each component was boxed individually inside and in pristine condition.

Took me about 2 hours to get the speakers in place, wired, receiver connected to my devices, and the sound configured. When it was all said and done it was worth it! I would have paid twice as much for this system. I am impressed every time I turn on an action movie and I get that movie theater sound. I get compliments on it from everyone that comes over. I know at least 2 people who have turned around and bought this after hearing it. If you are disappointed with this system you are either too picky, or did something wrong. You might be able to do a little better if you spend over $1000.

Pros: Good quality speakers for the price. Good power for a small/medium room. EXTREMELY ACCURATE SOUND. Yamaha quality!

Cons: The sub is rather weak (it can quack on really loud, bassy music) but this only occurs when cranked wayyyyy up. With the money you save, though, upgrade the sub.

Other Thoughts: For the poor audiophile, this is a good choice.
I listen to DVD-Audios, vinyl, and FLAC through this, and have always been happy with it.
I bought some "upgrade" speakers at BB because of the stellar reviews... AND THESE YAMAHA SPEAKERS OUTPERFORMED THEM! I promptly returned the BB junk.

I push these speakers just about every day (lots and lots of music to listen to!). They work for 4-6 hours a day on average, usually at loud volumes. They have never let me down!

Pros: Powerful. Lots of sound field options. Configurable. Loud, clear. Lots of inputs. It has a real receiver. The HTIBs with DVD players are for suckers.

Cons: Where are the mounts on the front speakers? Am I missing something? Cheap cables.

Other Thoughts: This is a great system. Dunno why I'm writing this review instead of listening to it. The cable that comes with it is garbage. It's loudspeaker wire. Buy something else.

The key to using this system is learning all of the configuration options. You can output music equally through all 5 speakers, you can watch movies with thumping bass, you can turn on night mode if your neighbors complain, you can watch things in sports mode which outputs more ambient noise. Most importantly you can combine input sources and sound fields to create "scenes" they call them. This is awesome.

Pros: Large speakers = Loud sound. Nice and crisp....whether you play in 5.1 or 2 channel encoder it sounds amazing. I knew this set would sound good based on the reviews I have read and from what many people in the business have told me. But this system sounded a lot better than I thought. I am truly amazed and very very pleased with my purchase. Also you get an ACTUAL RECEIVER, unlike a lot of the other sets that come with a DVD player that acts as a receiver.

Also, some people claim that music does not sound good on this. Well I am sorry but you are wrong. Music sounds amazing on this system, whether you are playing a CD, DVD-A in 5.1 or a live music DVD it really hits hard. It is loud and crisp.

This system can go loud, I was playing it at -15db which was really really loud, trust me. And it goes up to +16db I believe.

Cons: Depending on what you are planning to hook up you may need to get some optical cables and extra HDMI or RCA cables. I hooked up my 360 and PS3, and it was complicated but I had to hook up the 360 using the component cables from the 360 to the receiver and than RCA cables from the receiver into the component slots on the TV. The PS3 would only play sound if you used a optical cable, Strange I know...had to hook up an HDMI/optical cable from PS3 to receiver and another HDMI out from receiver to TV....but if 5.1 is your purpose for hooking up the PS3 (blu ray, movies, etc).....then you are set.

So just a few complications with hooking up what I wanted to it.

Other Thoughts: I have been doing a lot of research on a reasonably priced 5.1 system. Took me a few months and I finally decided that this was the one to get and boy was I right.

Pros: Great Product

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: To the guy below, NewEgg does sell Clothes and everything else! Check it out!

Pros: This is sweet, hands down a perfect choice for those who care about quality in sound. I currently have it hooked up in 5.1 to my computer running Blue-ray movies and a various assortment of other movies on my hard drive and the 5.1, hooked up correctly works like a dream.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Interesting little tid bit that I did not know about this device, there are a limited number of inputs so, say you want to output your TV via S/PDIF and the only input available is the DVD S/PDIF, you can remap the names to correspond to what ever name you want it to.

COOL!

Pros: Great sound, lots of options and all the necessary settings for anyone interested in calibrating sound levels properly. "Scene" modes are simple to set up, and make switching between frequently used sources easy. There are lots of inputs, and the optical inputs can even be reprogrammed to work with different video inputs. Don't miss the "B" speaker outputs, which let you pump sound to another room. When headphones are plugged in, the system automatically switches to an effects mode that gets the most out of a nice pair of headphones.

Cons: Really cheap speaker wire, you will need to get some better stuff before you hook this system up. The manual can be a bit confusing when it comes to advanced setup and calibration. You will need an extra cable to get sound out of an HDMI source, like an optical cable.

Other Thoughts: Go get a cheap analog sound meter, and a decent calibration DVD. It won't cost you much, nor is it very hard to do, and it will really help you set up this system the right way.

Pros: Good sound. Easy to set up and use. For the price you can't beat it. Lots of inputs.

Cons: HDMI only passthrough. Power switch on Sub seperate, cannot turn off with remote.

Other Thoughts: I was on the fence till I read some reviews. Then it was on sale, so I bought it. I am not sorry. I am enjoying it right now!

Pros: Scilent Cinima and Night Cinima are good for when you want to go play pool with Roman and the wife wants to sleep so she can go to work in the morning. A and B front chanel speakers are a plus; you can put your outdoor/garage spleakers on B. What? Free Shipping!

Cons: All Minor Cons: The remote is not user friendly (probably not a problem for you, but your non-electronicly inclined friend/mom/gf/wife/whoever will not know what to do and their head will explode); cat5 and shoe strings will carry more amperage than the wire that comes with it; HDMI audio and vidio is only pass through - will need optic cable from PS3 to reciever to bust up Liberty City in Surround Sound.

Other Thoughts: Didn't find it anywhere on the package, but I guess the speakers that come with it are 6-Ohm; you need to change the setting from 8 ohm to 6 ohm during initial setup.
You will definately seem cooler than your friends because you have a Yamaha sound system from Newegg and they bought a Sony from BB to match thier TV - Taxes are for people who can't find the internets. Newegg Should have clothes and groceries so i don't have to leave the house.

Pros: Ample power to make the living room sound great.

Cons: lame speaker wire, sometimes too many options (i know how crazy that sounds)

Pros: This is not bad for a second room setup. The speaker wire is not the best, but the speakers sound well and look nice.

Cons: HDMI does not pass sound to the speakers, but to the tv only. composite and component do not up convert to HDMI monitor out.

Other Thoughts: Price was $40 less than BB, no shipping and no tax makes this a no brainer. Unbelievable delivery... it was delivered a day early. NE can't be beat on delivery.

Pros: Overall sound and functionality is way better than expected for a unit in this price range. Very easy install and setup.
I am currently running my dvd player, cable box and TV using cheap RCA cables until my component cables arrive and am amazed at how good it sounds.
With this system, you can mix and match speakers as well so you aren't stuck with the entire package like you are with other Home theater in a box systems.

Cons: Speaker cables leave a lot to be desired......I would recommend picking up some better ones.

Other Thoughts: I was looking for a home theater in a box for under $500. I shopped around and listened to about everything I could find in that price range and finally decided on this one.
I also found this system at my local electronics superstore for $599, very glad I went with Newegg.