Customer Ratings & Reviews

Not the best sound quality, definitely needs a sub woofer

Need a dedicated subwoofer and dts virtual x sounds horrible.

I was so excited about getting this soundbar since I heard so many good things about it. Sadly it could not pair correctly with my LG smart tv. Now I don’t have an old LG, I have a $2500 LG bought less then a year ago. I tend to be electronically savy and I couldn’t get it to work no matter what I did. I brought in the experts. I actually called Yamaha and spoke to their so called “experts” and they couldn’t figure it out. So I sadly send it back. Maybe it was a lemon and wasn’t working but I’ll never know.

As far as sound goes, I would have given this five stars. It is sleek and fits under the front stand nicely and sounds fantastic. Setup was easy and I love that I can control it with my phone. Bluetooth is nice and allows other services to play through the speakers. It looks great and makes a nice addition to my television. The one feature that is lacking is that it does not automatically turn on with the television. My previous products were automatically one when I turned the TV on. I have not found a way to enable this. While it is a small inconvenience, it requires locating the remote each time we want to watch something. Overall, it's a very nice soundbar and it has a low enough profile that it does not interfere with my remote signals.

Blue tooth malfunction Volume and quality of sound B- Ease of use B- App on phone mediocre Remote control did not work Sent for repairs after using sparingly for a month !

piece of junk wont work on tv Bluetooth to phone works good but wont work hooked up to tv and thats what i bought it for ,

I wanted for my 70in LG TV. I was disappointed on the sound level of the sound bar. The TV sound louder. This sound bar is more ideal for small rooms.

Good sounds quality for bedroom TV, easy to use APP, and has Alexa built. Used primarily for music and would definitely buy again. For price and Yamaha brand of speakers, a top buy

works great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Yamaha sound bar has many great features, sounds great, but feels like there is still room for improvement. My first thoughts right out of the box is that the sound bar seems slightly smaller than expected. It is slightly larger than most smaller sound bars, but not as big as the nice high end ones, if that makes sense. It is somewhat average in size. It is also slim, not very tall. I thought this would impact the sound, but it doesn't. The slim design will actually allow it to fit under some spaces that most sound bars cannot. The look and feel are all very nice and premium. The sound bar includes the remote, an optical cable, some foam spacers, instructions, and a wall mounting template that is thick stock and will making the wall mounting very easy. You can plug everything in and enjoy this sound bar right out of the box, but you can install the app and connect it to your home wifi for the full experience. There is a Yamaha sound bar app specifically for their sound bars. It is user friendly and very intuitive. I actually enjoy using the app. It allows you to connec the device to you Alexa account, control the sound settings, check network settings, change sources, and play music via Spotify and Tidal. That is pretty much it, there are no in depth settings to change things like auto shut off (more on this later). Overall the app is clean and gets the job done. I first connected this to my TV via the optical cable and switched to input to TV. It played sound crystal clear and I was very impressed. I played Iron Man 3 and the sound was impressive. The bass was nice and tight and voices were nice and clear as well. I think the sound was better that a high end Samsung sound bar I have. Then I browed around some VUDU movies and spent a few minutes trying to figure out what I wanted to watch. I finally found a movie I liked and played it...there was no sound. I had to get up and take a look at the bar to make sure it was still on and it was. It was on stand by. It auto shuts off when there is no sound for a few minutes. I don't know exactly how many minutes, but this happened to me several more times when I tried browsing Youtube videos as well. This is very frustrating because you have to keep turning the unit on just to keep using it while you browse. You have to either keep the remote near you or keep asking Alexa to "switch the audio source to TV" to get it to power on. This also happens after you shut off the TV and turn it back on later as the TV remote does not control the unit when plugged in via the otptical cable. All of my other sound bars I have used allowed me to control their volumes from the TV remote when plugged in via the optical cable. I then switched over to connecting the unit via the HDMI. This is a much different experience. I plugged my cable box into the sound bar, then the sound bar to the HDMI ARC port on my TV. This woke up all of the features in which my TV remote controls the sound bar. It wakes up when I control the volume from my remote, and it turns on when i turn on the TV. This is what I am used to when controlling a sound bar. This does not work like this if you are using optical only which would be the case if you only use antenna (cord cutters). The Alexa function also needs improvement. There are several times where my family and I are having a conversation and the sound bar beeps and starts listening. This causes the sound to cut off while it is listening. This is because the sound bar thinks you said the magic word (Alexa) when you really didn't. This happens very rarely on my Echo or Echo Dot devices, but happens a few time a day on the sound bar. This is also frustrating. Also, you have to say very sepecific phrases to change the input on the bar, like "change the input source to ....". Once it is playing you can simply ask it to higher it or lower it, that works fine. It is nice having Alexa around to answer questions and provide info if connected to a room that doesn't already have an Alexa device. So overall I think in the right setup this sound bar will be the best option for upgrading the sound for your TV viewing experience. For some it will be slightly frustrating and sometimes annoying. The sound is spot on and you will at least enjoy that. I like it, I just wish it was more refined with the tech/smart features.

Will not stay connected to TV speaker out and the app will not find the soundbar

Returned same day. Had to turn the bass almost all the way down to stop the 3" woofers from sounding extremely distorted. Thought it would be a good little soundbar for the price. I was wrong. Returned it and purchased the Bose 300 soundbar. Far... FAR superior. Bose still isn't the best, but WAY better than this Yamaha.

First one I bought the remote wouldn't work more than 2 ft away. Yes I had fresh batteries, multiple times. Returned the first, got replcement, and had the same exact problem, the remote not working more than 24in from sound bar. Very weird from Yamaha. I do NOT recommend this sound bar.

No so great trouble sounds just was satisfying with it

The Yamaha soundbar out of the box is elegant and compact in its design and feel. It truly compliments our entertainment center and blends right in. It is a very simple and quick setup with just one connection via the optical cable provided or a HDMI cable not included. You can wall mount it with just two keyhole screw mounts or just sit on top of entertainment center. I have it set desktop style for now but am considering wall mounting it for the design appeal and probably better sound deflection. I initially just plugged in the soundbar and connected the optical cable and it was up and running. I did not use the included remote control because I set it up with my Fire Cube control. That being said, this sound bar does come equipped with voice assistant Alexa but I use the Alexa on the Fire Cube so muted the mic on the soundbar after testing it to make sure it works. It did function with no issues turning the volume up and down with just the sound of my voice. I also tested the Spotify function and It did what it was supposed to do, so no worries there. Not much different than any other voice enable device enabled with Alexa or competing voice assistant. The WIFI connection was very simple to setup via the app which is basic and user friendly. I am not a huge fan of included apps because it just seems like adding another remote control. The app does allow for the control of the different features if the remote is not accessible. So, after initial testing of the mic and the soundbar producing a decent sound out of the box, I wanted to see what it could really do for the size of it. On the top of the sound bar are where the touch sensitive buttons are located. They are all led lit and very inconspicuous unless you are close enough to see them. I am somewhat blind and the markings on the buttons are very small and hard to see so I reverted back to the included remote control to set the soundbar to my liking. After experimenting with all the different feature packed items of this soundbar I was surprisingly impressed! This thing produces a full robust sound for such an entry level priced soundbar with no stand-alone subwoofer! It has a bass extension button that automatically adds a decent amount of bass to any video or song playing. Just be careful not to turn the volume too high for audio that is heavy in bass because it starts to distort and doesn’t sound great. The 3d surround is a must after hearing it for the first time and trying to go back to a standard or stereo setting for movies. It fills the room and you can hear it consistently at the same level from any angle you are sitting in the room. The clear voice setting is supposed to enhance the voices in movies or shows so you can hear them more, but to my ear it is only very slightly enhanced, that may be because I have the bass turned up a bit too much. You can control the subwoofer/bass volume separately via the remote control which makes a difference when trying to hear the voices I found. Overall, this soundbar is what every tv’s speakers should be stand alone when purchased. It produces a full robust surround sound pleasing to the ear for most rooms. The design is beautiful, and it feels built to last. I am very pleased with this soundbar it will be going in the main family room for entertainment.

Not sure why this has good reviews. It is difficult to use and does not sound as well as expected. The speakers point up and not forward. I would recommend looking for something with a subwoofer and better front-facing speakers.

This soundbar replaced a more compact system with modest sub-woofer from another manufacturer. This Yamaha YAS-109 looked pretty much the same as the YAS-209 other than lacking a separate free-standing sub-woofer. With a sub-woofer already sitting around, the 109 seemed like the better choice. For those willing to switch between different sound settings for music, movies, ‘regular’ TV, sporting events on TV – all these settings are available through the included remote, and also through a phone app. With all the choices available, I recommend switching through the different settings available to find the best settings to match the room acoustics and the particular use for the soundbar. There are several settings that can be pretty much “set it and forget it” that will provide good sound for whatever is being played, but there IS a difference between the settings and if you are planning on using the sound bar for a particular purpose for a period of time, it is worth selecting the best setting for that particular purpose. Some may consider this too much to do if they use the soundbar for different purposes during the day, and they may want to find the best sound for general use and leave the system at that setting for everything. The display for settings consists of a series of tiny lights on a dark plastic panel (on the soundbar) and the one thing I would like to see changed is an easier to read display. It is difficult to tell what is going on with the system if you rely on the indicator lights, as the lights are nice and bright but what they are showing is hard to tell. The best solution is to get comfortable with the remote and/or the phone app to control the system, and not to rely on reading the indicator panel on the sound bar. This is not really a big deal, as after setting up the sound bar and tucking it away behind the TV, the display panel is out of sight anyway. It was during the initial setup and testing that I found the indicator panel to be hard to decipher. This isn’t something that would be much of a problem once the system is set up and installed, so no big deal. The sound is excellent, and a definite improvement over the more compact system it replaced (that actually lists for a higher price). In all fairness, if you are used to any type of sub-woofer, even a small unit, then you may miss the extra range that the sub-woofer provides. With that said, I added a modest 10” sub-woofer to this system with an inexpensive crossover mixer and the result was as good as the more costly YAS-209. So if you already have a decent sub-woofer, then the YAS-109 should work well as the main bar and you can simply plug in your sub-woofer for the extended range. If you do NOT have an existing sub-woofer, I really recommend the YAS-209 if you can swing it so you don’t feel the need later on to add on a sub-woofer for the full sound experience. The built-in Alexa works just fine if you like having that available, and will respond to request to play different music from streaming services and change settings on the sound bar. Personally that was OK to play around with but not something I will be using very often. Alexa DOES work, and can be set up in the same way as most Alexa devices. If you have a "Smart Home" with loads of IOT devices, then this may fit in nicely with your voice-controlled system. Overall, the sound quality is what you would expect from Yamaha, and there are distinct differences between the various settings – which shows that they really do make a difference for the sound purpose and quality, and are not just “different” in name but not much different in output.

The bass is horrible, one you disconnect from WiFi it will never let you reconnect. I checked online and it’s a common issue that has not been rectified don’t buy this

It didn't workin the ARC port so I had to send it back. Alexa is limited on this and other programs can't be added

As an owner of a Yamaha receiver which I absolutely love and has loads of features, I would say I’m surprised by the quality of this sound bar, but I’m no as Yamaha hasn’t disappointed me with their products and the quality. The main point of the review is the sound. It’s good, despite not even having a separate physical subwoofer, the sound is quite good and it can get pretty loud. Remember though that this is a sound bar, not a full Surround System and you won’t exceed your expectations. The Sound Bar is perfect for something of a small bedroom and will most definitely fill the room. You’ll even get some boominess from the dual 3” Subwoofer’s built in to it. It won’t shake the house down, but you’ll get more definition and depth than you from say using just your TV speakers. That is really where the target is for this product though. I have these connected using the Optical cable out from the TV, it’s an older Samsung LED panel. It doesn’t have the ARC HDMI port on it so this was the only option if we wanted to keep the TV speakers for when the Sound Bar isn’t needed. Clear Voice helps when you’re watching the News as it brings everything more front and center. The Surround does help when watching movies or other things designed for home theaters with surround sound. It’s obvious that it won’t hit that same level, but since we’re looking at a sound bar here, odd’s are you don’t have the room. There’s plenty of High’s and quite a bit of Bass for this unit. Mids do seem a bit muddled, but not enough to completely detract from the experience. The setup was quick too. I hooked up the TV to it, plugged it in, turned it on and it was working within seconds. You can control it a couple of ways, either with the very small, likely to get lost remote, or thankfully using their app on your mobile device in case the remote does go missing. The app is super easy to use and is very minimal and straight to the point. To get it connected to your network you just do so by putting the Sound Bar in a kind of Pairing-Mode and then the app will have you connect it to your Network. It’s quite quick and easy. I did have an update available for mine which prompted nearly immediately after connecting to my home network. It didn’t take too long to install; I want to say between 5-10 minutes but once was done I was able to get back to using it. I do wish there was at a minimum two HDMI inputs on the sound bar though. The room it is in has a Roku and a TiVo so the options I had was to one of them plugged in or to leave them in the TV and use the Optical Output. So far, the latter has not had any issue. It’s just a slight inconvenience since a lot of folks may have 2 devices connected to their TV, especially if it’s not a Smart TV. There is also an output on the Soundbar should you want to connect an external Subwoofer to give you more complete 2.1 experience so that is a big plus. I believe this model is also available with a separate Subwoofer should you have the space. Alexa is one of those hit or miss, like it, love it, hate it things. I've not really used it all that much despite having a few Alexa enabled products, but it does work without issue. It's a nice way to adjust the volume or input if you can't find the remote or your phone isn't nearby. Last thing I want to touch on is the size. It’s quite bulky. It’s between 5-6 inches in depth. If you’ve limited space where your tv is, then you may not be able to use this. I didn’t think it was going to be as deep as it was, but we did still have room for it so it wasn’t a big issue. It is a bit cumbersome with its size. One of the nice things Yamaha did was include a folded piece of card stock that is the same size of the sound bar that you use to mount the Sound Bar on a wall. This is very thoughtful of them as some may want to place this on the wall and it takes all the guess work out aside from leveling it. I imagine that having it on the wall versus it being flat on a TV stand would give you some better sound, especially when using the surround option. So long as you keep your expectations in line with what your buying, this won’t disappoint. It provides a nice sound stage for something such as a Home Office or Bedroom or a smaller Living Room. If you’re looking for something for a larger Living area you will likely want to look at something more complete such as full 5.1+ Surround system or maybe a Sound Bar system with a separate Subwoofer and in addition surround speakers.