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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Enhance your listening experience

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Yamaha SR-B20A Sound Bar: Product Advertises: “Built-in subwoofers, DTS® Virtual:X™ virtual 3D surround sound, and slim enough to fit in front of your TV or wall-mounted. • Built-in subwoofers for deep bass in one slim sound bar • Clear Voice for enhanced dialogue clarity • DTS Virtual:X virtual 3D surround sound • Bluetooth streaming that allows easy switching between two devices • Simple setup with HDMI® or optical” Box Contents: • Sound bar • Remote • Quick Start Guide, Safety Brochure, Warranty, ect… • Cardboard Mounting Template and wall spacer foam • Optic cable • Power Cable • (shoe not included, just needed to prop up the box to prevent photo glare) Other Accessories: • The Sound Bar Remote App by Yamaha My Review: Let’s start with a general question. Why should you consider buying a sound bar? Ever noticed that all flat screen TV’s nowadays, no matter the screen size or picture quality, have speakers in the back of the TV? Yeah, the sound bounces off the wall behind it back to the viewer, but definitely reduces the sound quality that you would hope to get for the money you paid to have the big 4k picture. A sound bar would solve the issue and maybe even give you better sound quality than the TV speaks would if they were actually in the front of the TV. Sound bars are the cheaper option than going all out and buying a surround sound set up. Initial Setup (5/5): Super easy to set up! The connection options are Optic, HDMI ARC, or Bluetooth connection to the TV (assuming that your TV has any of these capabilities though I don’t recommend using Bluetooth to connect to the TV). Turn the sound bar on, change the setting on your TV to the output you are using to connect, and you’re all set to enjoy! It is recommended that you use an HDMI ARC connection if you have the output for it, this allows you to control the volume and the power on the sound bar with your TV remote (when the TV is set to the audio output for the sound bar). Alternatively, you can use a regular HDMI port along with the Optic port to have the same affect. There is a remote app that you can down load and connect to the sound bar using Bluetooth, but this is not necessary for setting up your device. The sound bar is a bit bulky if you are limited with space to put it. If your TV is mounted on a wall, you could mount this sound bar below it. Unlike the traditional sound bars that I was use to a few years back, this sound bar projects the sound from the side and top of the device. So mounting on the wall wouldn’t take away from the direction the sound waves travel from the device. Sound quality (5/5): There are three different sound settings (Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround) and four different sound programs (Stereo, Standard, Movie, and Game). You can select one of the sound program options with or without any of the sound settings at a time (excluding the Stereo program with the 3D Surround setting). • Stereo: This provides a 2-channel stereo playback for music. Not my kind of a listening setting, but that’s just me. Can be used with Clear Voice and Bass Extension. • Standard: This provides a nice surround sound for general content like regular TV stations. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Movie: My preferred program to use across the board, though it is designed specifically for Movie content. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Game: Designed specifically for Game content. Can be used with Clear Voice, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround. • Clear Voice: This mode definitely amplifies voices while watching regular TV content or even movies without reducing the other sounds in the content. It has an odd effect with playing some songs by amplifying voices along with a few of the instruments. I don’t recommend using this with music playback. If you don’t know the lyrics, search the web. • Bass Extension: This setting is supposed to enhance the bass of the current sound program that you are using. Standard has a subtle bass that can be heard but not really felt, with the setting on it amplifies the bass sound while providing the feel of it. The subwoofer is adjustable in this setting ranging from -4 to +4 so you can surely find the right level of bass for your preferred listening experience under any of the programs. • 3D Surround: This setting moves the existing surround sound in more directions. I prefer to have this on while watching TV, listening to music, or playing games. It provides a richer, even surround sound that enhances the sounds perfectly to my liking. This device provides a variety of sound options that should be able to suit anyone’s needs. I prefer Movie, Bass Extension, and 3D Surround together for everything except general TV content, then I turn off the bass. I didn’t encounter any issues with the timing of the playback not tracking with the content even with playing PS4 Horizon Zero Dawn, Fallout 4, Uncharted 4, and GTF 5. Remote (2/5) and Remote App (4/5): The physical remote is pretty basic and dull, then again most speaker remotes are. No light indicator when you press buttons, but the sound bar indicators will light up. Not to mention that you have to point the remote right at the bar. I prefer to use the App to set the sound settings and programs since you can easily see what sound settings are active without walking to the sound bar indicators, but the app is not necessarily the best tool to adjust the volume without over adjusting. Though if you have the HDMI ARC or the HDMI/Optic connections, your TV remote will adjust the volume without any issues. It also has the added bonus of not having to point a remote in the direction of the device. You can also adjust the options on sound bar itself, but it doesn’t appear to have control options for the subwoofer adjustment. Overall (4/5) and closing remarks: I would recommend this device to enhance your TV experience without diving into a multi-speaker surround sound system. The ability to connect via Bluetooth with other devices to playback music is an added bonus. If you are looking for a total surround sound system experience, this would not be the device for you.

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  This review is from Yamaha - SR-B20A Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofers and Bluetooth - Black

  Posted 4 years ago by TJB426

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  GREAT SOUND BAR – ALMOST PERFECT

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 250 Contributor

  REVIEW: YAMAHA - SR-B20A SOUND BAR WITH BUILT-IN SUBWOOFERS AND BLUETOOTH - BLACK Best Buy Tech Insider Network GREAT SOUND BAR – ALMOST PERFECT Full disclosure I am a Yamaha Hi-Fi enthusiast. I think that Yamaha makes great sounding equipment from musical instruments to receivers to soundbars (Jet Skis too!). This is the 3rd Yamaha soundbar that I own, and it is the best of them all so far. Especially when paired with a Subwoofer (optional), it can more than hold its own on family Movie night. Overall, especially for the price, you likely won’t be disappointed. This is a very good bar at this price point and probably even worth 2X-3X more. I would much rather have a high quality (sounding) bar like the SR-B20A than a bad sounding system with a bunch of cheap speakers. I just returned another 5.1.4 soundbar that cost 5X the amount in favor of the SR-B20A. Give this bar a try before you move onto really expensive units that don’t add that much to the sound experience. BEST FEATURES - Easy to use and decent sized Remote - Easy to use simple App for a Remote (I prefer it over the remote) - Sub Woofer Out for added bass if desired - Multiple Sound Formats Supported - Strong overall sound stage - Built in Power Supply (no brick just a cord) SETUP Everything works as expected and was easy to setup and use. For modern use, for the most part, you just connect your existing TV ARC HDMI port to the same on the Yamaha SR-B20A. My 6 year old TV instantly recognized the soundbar which allowed me to control the volume with the TV remote, without any additional setup. I find the android app helpful for fine tuning the sound field (movie, standard, clear voice, bass, etc). I use it more than the remote, even though the remote is also perfectly good. MINOR NOTE 1: There is no 3.5 mm analog port on the soundbar. Generally, you don’t need it unless you are connecting very old devices. You could, if needed, for about $20 get a converter that converts analog to optical or bluetooth. MINOR NOTE 2: The bar is really designed to be wall mounted and would look best that way. It works fine on a shelf (as I use it), but then you can’t see the volume lights and controls that are on the top. If you use the APP as your primary remote then this is not an issue. Additionally, typically your TV remote would be used to control the volume. I did not find any real difference when leaning the bar against the wall instead up flat on a shelf. A hard surface below the bar really highlights the bass from the built in subwoofer. THE APP: is really easy to use, and I like it more than the remote. The remote is good, but the app lets you see the current state of your settings instead of only toggle on/off. It is cool in that the same app auto senses “which” Yamaha bar you are close to and changes available buttons to match the capability of that specific bar. I do wish it had a custom “favorite mode”. For example, to watch a movie, 1 Press for Movie Mode, then 1 Press for Surround, then 1 Press for Voice enhancement, then 4 Presses to max out subwoofer, etc. Then to switch back to every day TV I need to turn all those setting off again. Not a big deal, but it would just a nice to have feature on the app. TESTING I ran three tests for music (vinyl and mp3), every day TV Watching, and action movies. MUSIC / VINYL (BLUETOOTH) – Right off the bat is my first little let down. No analog input. I had to use an analog to Bluetooth adapter. Overall, it was better (crisper) than my older similar class, Yamaha ATS-1030 soundbar (about 7 years old). I cranked the SR-B20A up to over 100db and it still sounded great. MUSIC / MP3 (BLUETOOTH STREAM FROM ALEXA) – Very Good / Competent sound throughout the full volume range. Using the remote setting for stereo music makes a good difference in Left/Right separation. I will say the SR-B20A very slightly underperformed my old Yamaha ATS-1030 in the bass department. Listening to Eric Clapton / BB-King – “Riding with the King” the low end was not as pronounced. It was still very good, don’t get me wrong, just not thumping like the older Yamaha bar. Once I activated a separately purchased subwoofer, it was very impressive. Almost as good as a stand-alone receiver with high end speakers. TV VIEWING IN 10 X 20 ROOM (HDMI-ARC) – The SR-B20A excels at everyday TV viewing (HDMI-ARC From the TV). I had to turn down the bass to -4 for everyday use, but especially with Clear-Voice enabled, the sound was great and not too much bass. MOVIE VIEWING (HDMI-ARC) – My go to movie for testing audio is The Avengers. There was good bass and clear vocals, and explosions were good overall. Eventually, I hooked up my old SubWoofer (Yamaha YST-SW012 8-Inch). This really made all the difference for the movie. This is almost as good as my 10 year old 7.1 Yamaha receiver and full size speakers. (minus the rear surround sound of course). If my full receiver (Yamaha RX-V1400) and large speakers rates a 9/10 for movies, then this bar with an optional sub-woofer is at least 8.5/10. Without optional subwoofer I would still rate it 8/10 compared to my full stereo. That is a really good rating for a fraction of the price. After testing the SR-B20A I decided to declutter my family room, and to move my AV receiver and big speakers to the basement and then just use the bar for everyday sound. (it is that good). One last note on Movies. While the bar does decode DTS:Virtual X, it does not decode ATMOS. Since it is not an ATMOS system, that is not huge deal breaker, but it would have been nice to have it as a supported format. I have looked very hard and tried (and returned) several ATMOS bars. They all have various problems and are very expensive. On top of that, their poor rear and height speaker performance makes the soundstage worse than a simple 2.1 bar like this SR-B20A. For my needs the SR-B20A outperforms other expensive ATMOS systems for everyday use. OVERALL IMPRESSION I also have the little brother to the SR-B20A, which I use for a small room and small TV. While that other unit (SR-C20A) does a good job at everything, it does not excel in many areas other than medium to low volume music and everyday TV listening. For a few $ more (range +$20-$40 more), the SR-B20A is easily double the performance of its little brother. It gets louder with less distortion and has deeper bass, even without an additional subwoofer. The SR-B20A supports more decoding formats natively (DTS Virtual X for example). It is just a better all-around bar. The only drawback I have with this bar is the lack of an analog input. (but I will get over it). SUMMARY / CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATION I would definitely recommend the SR-B20A for a fantastic everyday listening experience. If you are into strong bass this bar is very good as is. If you pair the SR-B20A with a powered subwoofer (I suggest Yamaha of course) then you are not that far away from a mid-level receiver in terms of movie listening experience. For pure music only listening, I still prefer a full receiver and full-sized speakers over a bar. However, you can’t beat the bar for the convenience of everyday use, including movies and Music.

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  This review is from Yamaha - SR-B20A Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofers and Bluetooth - Black

  Posted 4 years ago by TheOffice1234

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Rich Full Sound

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I am a self-proclaimed audiophile; I think that music is a part of our life that helps express our moods and feelings. I picked up the Yamaha SR-B20A to mount in my 28x16 shop in my backyard, I have spent a lot of time there since the pandemic hit. The sound quality is pretty amazing right out of the box. The SR-B20A fills a space with a rich full sound. There is no real need for an external Subwoofer, since there are dual subwoofers built in with dual reflex ports. Stream your favorite music from any streaming device to give your ears what they deserve. Connections: You can connect the Sound bar to your audio source by either Optical cable, HDMI, or Bluetooth. If your TV has a HDMI jack labeled ARC then you will only need to connect the HDMI cable. If your TV does not have the ARC HDMI port, then you will have to connect the HDMI cable and the Optical cable. If you are using with HDMI control function, the soundbar should come on when you turn the tv on. When you use the Bluetooth connection just select and pair and you’re ready to go. Remote: The remote has some basic features, but it also has a lot of nice upgrades when it comes to the audio output. There are 4 listening modes, Standard, Movie, Game and Stereo. These modes are self-explaining, but all except for Stereo have Surround Playback active. There are also 3 main adjustments, 3D Surround, Clear Voice and Enhanced Bass. 3D Surround elevates the surround sound to multiple levels and heights giving a greater sound experience. Clear Voice makes it easier to hear when there is a lot of background noise and sound effects. Enhanced Bass creates a more powerful Bass experience. Besides a Volume Control there is also a Bass Control on the remote App: Besides the Remote, Yamaha has an app that controls the functions of the soundbar, like the remote would. It has the Input, the sound settings, the sound program, led indicators, volume bass control. The one thing that I feel is missing is an equalizer, when streaming music, having to switch between apps to adjust the Treble, Mids. and Bass is an issue. Most of the Streaming services do not have an equalizer since most audio components have one. It would be a great benefit if they were to come out with some presets or an adjustable equalizer.

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  This review is from Yamaha - SR-B20A Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofers and Bluetooth - Black

  Posted 4 years ago by UnkinB