Like I said yesterday, Yamaha hardware is pretty nice hardware.  And I had a real surprise when I took on the Yamaha YSP-4000BL, a speaker system that looks a whole lot smaller than the sum of its output.

You won’t believe the kind of sound you get out of the Yamaha YSP-4000BL, a hundred and twenty watt digital sound projector that offers a variety of surround sound decoders, XM Satellite Radio capability (when you subscribe to XM Satellite and get the associated extra components), FM tuner (this one is included), the Yamaha propreitary IntelliBeam calibration system to figure the best angle of the speakers, video upscaling (to 720p or 1080i), seven selectable beam settings to target the places you most want sound as well as seven Cinema DSP programs to get the best sound quality for each individual situation, two optical digital audio inputs, two coaxial digital audio inputs, two analog audio inputs, two component video inputs, two HDMI inputs, one component video output, one subwoofer output and one HDMI output.

Between the sheer stunning quality of the sound and the accompanying utility (room for all sorts of components old and new here, plus plenty of capabilities once you’ve got it hooked up), you won’t believe what this thing can do.  I don’t understand all the science behind the whole “beam sound” concept, but man…does it sound AMAZING.

Viewed in that light, it actually makes the eighteen hundred dollar price tag almost look rational by comparison.  It’s nightmarishly expensive, but the sound quality will make up for it in abundance.  Indeed, the Yamaha YSP-4000BL is downright impressive in pretty much every sense, so if you’re looking to upgrade your home theater audio, consider this one.