Yamaha YSP-4100 (photos)
The Yamaha YSP-4100 offers better surround effects, superior sound quality, and more features than competing sound bars do; however, it's expensive and most buyers won't need all of its functionality.
Yamaha YSP-4100
The YSP-4100 packs a ton of features and performance into a single speaker cabinet, but you'll have to pay for it. It's currently selling for about $2,000, which is much more than its competitors and doesn't include the price of a separate subwoofer--which many competing systems include. On the other hand, it's a better choice than the step-up YSP-5100, as we found very little sonic difference between the two models. Yamaha's high-end digital sound projectors are excellent products for the niche they serve, but the YSP-4100's high price will keep that niche relatively small.
Connectivity
The rest of the YSP-4100's connectivity is generous, too. Three digital audio inputs along with two stereo analog audio inputs are enough to handle any older, non-HDMI devices you still have. We're surprised that the YSP-4100 doesn't offer a minijack input, but it does include the YIT-W10 wireless iPod dock, discussed later.