Home theater in a box (HTIB) systems are for consumers who simply want surround sound in their homes without having to look at the nitty gritty stuff related to speakers, subwoofers and receivers. Believe me, once you start looking into each of those components separately, you’re either going to thoroughly enjoy it or have a splitting headache.

I’ve owned a Yamaha HTIB system before, their YHT-500. I honestly did not know what I was missing until I upgraded my speakers. The only bad thing I can say about HTIB systems is that they probably will not give you the best audio experience. If you’re goal is simply to have surround sound without knowing the technicalities, these Yamaha offerings are good enough. What’s also good with Yamaha HTIB systems is that their speakers do not use proprietary connectors to connect to the back of the receiver. This would allow you to upgrade your speakers in the future and keep the receiver if you choose to.

And now, for the contenders!

The Yamaha YHT-791 (MSRP $849.99) is the only latest HTIB configuration supporting 7.1 channel surround sound.

The Yamaha YHT-591 (MSRP $649.99) is definitely for those who want to match their speakers with the aesthetics of flat panel TVs.

The Yamaha YHT-491 (MSRP $549.99) includes slim-profile floorstanding front speakers.

The Yamaha YHT-391 (MSRP $449.99) features a compact satellite speaker package.

• All HTIB systems mentioned above feature HDMI inputs, with the YHT-791 and YHT-591 having four, while the YHT-491 and YHT-391 have two. All the included receivers’ HDMI inputs are 1080p-compatible.
• These systems work with the optional Yamaha iPod Dock (YDS-11) and Bluetooth (YBA-10) wireless audio receivers. The speaker systems of the YHT-791 and YHT-591 are couple with 10-inch subwoofers while the YHT-491 and YHT-391 are paired with 8-inch subwoofers
• The top two models also feature HD audio decoding (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio).
• YPAO room calibration technology is only available for the YHT-791 and YHT-591.

You can read Yamaha’s press release on these new HTIB systems here.